Thus, step by step, we trod adown the years,
Thus, side by side, with ne’er a break between;
We shared our laughter and we shared our tears,
Nor deemed inexorable Fate might intervene
To sever the strong cord
That bound us, Fate with its “abhorrèd shears,”
That is man’s over-lord.
XXII
You that in Autumn came, in Autumn went;
How vain to say the mourning word! how vain