Stains and obscures the gladness through and through.
Old Year, which barely touched him as he passed,
This grace abides with thee now thou art dead,
Of Time’s brief vanished heirs thou wert the last
To lay a blessing on his honored head.
We saw thee greet him with mysterious smile,
We did not mark how sad the smile and strange,
But deemed all well, then in a little while
The skies grew dark with swift tempestuous change.
Led by thy hand he vanished from our eyes,