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James Whitcomb Riley - The Old Year And The New
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I.

  As one in sorrow looks upon
    The dead face of a loyal friend,
  By the dim light of New Year`s dawn
    I saw the Old Year end.

  Upon the pallid features lay
    The dear old smile--so warm and bright
  Ere thus its cheer had died away
    In ashes of delight.

  The hands that I had learned to love
    With strength of passion half divine,
  Were folded now, all heedless of
    The emptiness of mine.

  The eyes that once had shed their bright
    Sweet looks like sunshine, now were dull,
  And ever lidded from the light
    That made them beautiful.


  II.

  The chimes of bells were in the air,
    And sounds of mirth in hall and street,
  With pealing laughter everywhere
    And throb of dancing feet:

  The mirth and the convivial din
    Of revelers in wanton glee,
  With tunes of harp and violin
    In tangled harmony.

  But with a sense of nameless dread,
    I turned me, from the merry face
  Of this newcomer, to my dead;
    And, kneeling there a space,

  I sobbed aloud, all tearfully:--
    By this dear face so fixed and cold,
  O Lord, let not this New Year be
    As happy as the old!
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