Old years and new years, all blended into one, <br />The best of what there is to be, the best of what is gone- <br />Let's bury all the failures in the dim and dusty past <br />And keep the smiles of friendship and laughter to the last. <br /> <br />Old years and new years, life's in the making still; <br />We haven't come to glory yet, but there's the hope we will; <br />The dead old year was twelve months long, but now from it we're free, <br />And what's one year of good or bad to all the years to be? <br /> <br />Old years and new years, we need them one and all <br />To reach the dome of character and build its sheltering wall; <br />Past failures tried the souls of us, but if their tests we stood. <br />The sum of what we are to be may yet be counted good. <br /> <br />Old years and new years, with all their pain and strife, <br />Are but the bricks and steel and stone with which we fashion life; <br />So put the sin and shame away, and keep the fine and true, <br />And on the glory of the past let's build the better new.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/old-years-and-new/
