And half of a century's tears,
Lost in the mighty silence
Of the past and vanished years!

Oh, what a sea of memories
Surge back from the time gone by--
The waters of Life's river;
How many a smile or sigh--

Has made them dance and sparkle;
Or, storm-tossed as they ran,
Adown the course of Being,
Since the current first began!

How many a note of gladness
Has the music of their flow,
Brought to the hearts of others
To lighten their load of woe!

How often, too, has Duty
Claimed its sacrifice of pain?
How many hours of sorrow
Have been for another's gain?

No mind can weigh or measure,
The light that a woman's love
Casts on Life's darkened pathways,
Save that of the God above.

From out the time that's vanished