Classic Poem

Ah ! who remembers
The cinders lying
The whitened embers
The few sparks flying
That soon expire
When burning brightly
The next morn lightly
The flames leap higher
From the new fire?

Who will remember
The frosty, snowy,
Decayed December
That, wild and blowy,
Undid the year.
When fresh and flowery
And summer-showery
With days blue clear
June joins us here?

Ah! who remembers
The absent faces,
And who remembers
The careworn traces
Of tears wiped dry,
When pain departed
And happy hearted
For hours that fly
New friends come by?

These in their season
Have spent their treasure
Have had their reason
And wrought their measure
And lived their day
New words but bring us
What old songs sing us
And youth grows gray
The old, old way.