A quiet room, an easy chair,
With firelight all aglow,
Two loving hearts beat happily--
Ah, quickly time doth flow.
A breathless parting for a year,
A tear from sweet, dark eye,
A joyful meeting at its close
Ah, quickly time doth fly.
A fancied bond of friendship,
A whispered confidence,
A wicked heart to prompt deceit,
And happiness flies hence.
A stolen page, a recreant love,
Ah, what is left to tell!
A broken heart, a weeping throng,
And then--a funeral knell.
A wounded heart, a home bereft,
No daughter grace now lends,
Long, weary years of loneliness,
And thus the story ends.