HOW are they waned and faded from our hearts, <br />The old companions of our early days! <br />Of all the many loved, which name imparts <br />Regret when blamed, or rapture at its praise? <br />What are their several fates, by Heaven decreed, <br />They of the jocund heart, and careless brow? <br />Alas! we scarcely know and scarcely heed, <br />Where, in this world of sighs, they wander now. <br /> <br />See, how with cold faint smile, and courtly nod, <br />They pass, whom wealth and revelry divide- <br />Who walked together to the house of God, <br />Read from one book, and rested side by side; <br />No look of recognition lights the eye <br />Which laughingly hath met that fellow-face; <br />With careless hands they greet and wander by, <br />Who parted once with tears and long embrace. <br /> <br />Oh, childhood! blessed time of hope and love, <br />When all we knew was Nature's simple law, <br />How may we yearn again that time to prove, <br />When we looked round, and loved whate'er we saw. <br />Now dark suspicion wakes, and love departs, <br />And cold distrust its well-feigned smile displays; <br />And they are waned and faded from our hearts, <br />The old companions of our early days!<br /><br />Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/old-friends-17/
