And in the hush that followed the prayer Was heard the old clock on the stair, "For ever - never! Never for ever!" 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, "For ever- never! Never here, for ever there, Where all parting, pain, and care, And death, and time shall disappear, For ever there, but never here! THE ARROW AND THE SONG. I SHOT an arrow into the air, I breathed a song into the air, Long, long afterward, in an oak |