PAST.
That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.—Ecclesiastes, iii. 15.
The past lives o’er again,
In its effects, and to the guilty spirit
The ever-frowning present is its image.
Coleridge.
Who bears no trace of passion’s evil force?
Who shuns thy sting, O, terrible Remorse?—
Who does not cast
On the thronged pages of his memory’s book,
At times, a sad, and half-reluctant look,
Regretful of the Past?
J. G. Whittier.
Full many a mighty name
Lurks in thy depths, unuttered, unrevered;
With thee are silent fame,
Forgotten arts, and wisdom disappeared.
Thine for a space are they—
Yet shalt thou yield thy treasures up at last;
Thy gates shall yet give way,
Thy bolts shall fall, inexorable Past!
All that of good and fair
Has gone into thy womb from earliest time,
Shall then come forth, to wear
The glory and the beauty of its prime.
W. C. Bryant.
Whene’er upon the past I gaze,
Though thorns and clouds appear,
Rich gifts from Heaven demand my praise,
Gifts to the heart most dear,
The strong One’s arm, the friend above,
The fulness of Redeeming Love.
Through childhood’s hours and youthful snares,
That Arm my footsteps led,
That friend amid the heart’s own cares,
The balm of pity shed,
And raised my drooping soul to feel
How deep the wound Love’s power can heal.
W. J. Brock.