NEW YEAR’S EVE.
All sound was hushed, except the sad sad bells,
Chanting their requiem o’er the dying year;
Alone I knelt beneath the watchful stars,
And held communion with my restless soul.
* * * * *
The Old Year died, the sad bells all were stilled,
And o’er a silent city, shone the pure cold moon.
Then unrestrained my soul poured forth its cry,
“O God Eternal, Changless, Sacred, O. M.
Let my past die with the Old Year to-night.
And when the joy-bells hail the New Year’s birth,
Let each sweet note waft up a pæan of praise,
Straight from a new-born Soul unto its Maker.”
* * * * *
The New Year dawned, madly the bells clashed forth
Beneath the stars, I still knelt on—in peace.
Katie Duncan King.