The days gone by — they were so very sweet:
I wonder if my spirit-self shall meet
Them resurrected in the world to be,
That vast, beneficent eternity
Whence all things lovely pass to when they die —
Dear days gone by.

Tears never touched their loveliness, — they were
Like fragrant flowers the cruel winds could not stir —
No time can dim their fairness, for they seem
Still golden to me in my memory dream —
O petal-shed hours, your stalks are lean and dry —
Dear days gone by.

They were so perfect that the gods deemed wise
To take them from me — but their ghosts arise
And moan like plaintive children to be nursed
Into my arms again; and so immersed
In memory can I help but hear their cry —
Dear days gone by?