Stanzas Addressed To A Lady Coming Of Age.

There are moments we can look to, we can cherish in the past,     As the fleeting days that numbered them are dwindling to their last,     Like the roses in the autumn that are severed from their stem,     Like the dew-bespangled petals when we sit and sigh for them.     There were sweetnesses unrivalled in those halcyon days of truth,     Yet fairy hopes are budding in the sunset glow of youth,     When like the cloudlets o'er the far horizon of the sea,     Each fringed with sheeny splendour, are the days of infancy.     Yet there are days and moments for enjoyment on before,     Tho' the golden skies of youth shall never smile upon us more,     When the brow of early womanhood looks forth to pleasures new,     And sweeter, lovelier visions are unfolding to the view.     O take the gift and when though look'st upon it let it be     A token of the wishes, of the hopes I have for thee,     A silent language which can speak when Friendship's voice is dumb,     A small yet dear remembrancer in years that are to come.