Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, NEW YEAR, by MIRIAM DEL BANCO


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NEW YEAR, by                    
First Line: The stream of time glides ever swiftly by
Last Line: This glad refrain; a happy, bright new year!
Subject(s): Calendar; Holidays; New Year; Time


The stream of Time glides ever swiftly by,
Now in the shade now in the sun's bright ray,
And flower-laden, hung with rosy mists,
Has brought to us another New Year's Day.

All rainbow-tinted floats a tiny speck
Upon the tide; no fairy hand reveals
What hidden lies beneath its mystic shade,
How much of joy and sorrow it conceals.

But, as it nears, a child in raiment white,
A winged form with radiant face we see,
An echoing born in hand, and borne aloft
To greet mankind, by Faith, Hope, Charity.

All eagerly we greet the fair young year,
Nor heed the phantoms that with measured tread.
Keep weary vigil, where the Old Year's form
Upon the farther shore, lies cold and dead.

He brought to each of us a flower of joy;
To each he brought a sorrow and a tear;
Within each heart a trace; upon each brow
A kiss;—the stern, the just, the dead Old Year.

We part from him reluctant yet content,
Sweet memories and dreams will linger near,
But mankind, hopeful, turns to something bright,
And Israel welcomes in her glad New Year.

How sweet his countenance, though yet 'tis dim
Within the glimmer of the morning ray,
But on his fair young brow a star he wears—
The morning star of the Atonement Day.

But list! a song of joy is on his lips,
A song as silv'ry as had sweet bells rung,
The words, which echo o'er the stream of Time;
"The God of Israel—our God is One."

Till Israel hears the song and swells the strain,
Which ever echoes on like one glad cheer,
While to all mankind on this broad earth flows
This glad refrain; A happy, bright New Year!





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