Each happy new year brings good resolutions,
Which wane and wear out ere the change of the moon;
We picture new plans at each revolution,
Which we find, when to late, have failed us too soon,
And our visions of happiness, pleasure, and cheerfulness
Are changed, ere the end, to sorrow and tearfulness.
Oh, would that this year, unlike all preceding,
Could show a clean record of well-kept resolves—
Good plans well perfected, fair promises heeding—
Instead of a picture that daily dissolves;