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Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year


The Passing Of The Year
by Brother Robert William Service
(1874 - 1958)

My glass is filled, my pipe is lit,
My den is all a cosy glow;
And snug before the fire I sit,
And wait to feel the old year go.
I dedicate to solemn thought
Amid my too-unthinking days,
This sober moment, sadly fraught
With much of blame, with little praise.

Old Year! upon the Stage of Time
You stand to bow your last adieu;
A moment, and the prompter’s chime
Will ring the curtain down on you.
Your mien is sad, your step is slow;
You falter as a Sage in pain;
Yet turn, Old Year, before you go,
And face your audience again.

That sphinx-like face, remote, austere,
Let us all read, whate’er the cost:
O Maiden! why that bitter tear?
Is it for dear one you have lost?
Is it for fond illusion gone?
For trusted lover proved untrue?
O sweet girl-face, so sad, so wan
What hath the Old Year meant to you?

And you, O neighbour on my right
So sleek, so prosperously clad!
What see you in that aged wight
That makes your smile so gay and glad?
What opportunity unmissed?
What golden gain, what pride of place?
What splendid hope? O Optimist!
What read you in that withered face?

And You, deep shrinking in the gloom,
What find you in that filmy gaze?
What menace of a tragic doom?
What dark, condemning yesterdays?
What urge to crime, what evil done?
What cold, confronting shape of fear?
O haggard, haunted, hidden One
What see you in the dying year?

And so from face to face I flit,
The countless eyes that stare and stare;
Some are with approbation lit,
And some are shadowed with despair.
Some show a smile and some a frown;
Some joy and hope, some pain and woe:
Enough! Oh, ring the curtain down!
Old weary year! it’s time to go.

My pipe is out, my glass is dry;
My fire is almost ashes too;
But once again, before you go,
And I prepare to meet the New:
Old Year! a parting word that’s true,
For we’ve been comrades, you and I—
I thank God for each day of you;
There! bless you now! Old Year, good-bye!

(Brother Robert W. Service was a member of Yukon Lodge No. 45 in Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. He is best remembered for his poem, The Shooting of Dan McGrew).

2 comments:

  1. My Brother, where did you find, might I ask, my photo that accompanied this post? I thought I had gotten all available copies...sigh

    [My wife thinks it looks just like me...is that a compliment? No, don't answer...please...as I might have to send her to the eye doctor.]

    Wishing you and yours (and ALL the Brethren and theirs) a Happy and Healthy New Year.

    (Now were did I put that file...hmm, did my wife get into it and send it to the web...no, she wouldn't do that...she loves me...doesn't she???)

    Fraternally,
    DE Eaton, Sr., MM
    Burlington (NJ) Lodge #32, F&AM

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rather, best known for the "Cremation of Sam McGee."

    ReplyDelete

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