Even as a miser counts his gold,
Those hours the ancient timepiece told,
“ Forever -

never !
Never - forever!"

From that chamber, clothed in white,
The bride came forth on her wedding night;
There, in that silent room below,
The dead lay in his shroud of snow !
And in the hush that followed the prayer,
Was heard the old clock on the stair, —
“ Forever

never !
Never - forever!”

All are scattered now and fled,
Some are married, some are dead;
And when I ask, with throbs of pain,
“ Ah! when shall they all meet again ! ”
As in the days long since gone by,
The ancient timepiece makes reply, -

“ Forever -- never !

Never --- forever !”

Never here, forever there,
Where all parting, pain, and care,
And death, and time shall disappear,-
Forever there, but never here !
The horologe of Eternity
Sayeth this incessantly,

6 Forever - never !

Never - forever!'

THE ARROW AND THE SONG.

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song ?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow still unbroke ;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.