An Anniversary, The 31st Poem by William Bell Scott

ADDRESSED TO A DEAR FRIEND.

Spring comes with all the firstlings of the year
Leaping around her, careless of the cold;
Soon summer's tale so charming will be told,
The last rose fall, the sun shrink as in fear;
Alas, the weeks fly faster, and more near
Yule seems to Easter, when the hair grows gray,
Sooner it seems the swallows fly away,
And wintry floes brim full the shivering weir.

What matters it, these are old ills we know
That pass us by as Chronos gives command:
But still your smile is bright as long ago,
Still can we gather shells on life's lee shore,
We still can walk like children hand in hand,
Friendship and love beside us as of yore.