A relic of the days gone by,

That in the years when we were young

We sang together, you and I.

It told of garden and of grove,

Of blossoms bending on the bough,

And light and life and woman's love, -

Alas, we never sing it now!

For then, responsive to the strain,

Our hearts took up its minstrelsy,

And echoed back the blithe refrain

In all its melting melody.

We sang it in a careless mood

Beneath a sunny southern sky,

While life still seemed supremely good, -

No more we sing it, you and I.

The youth that fanged its lines with fire, -

That youth has found in Time a tomb;

And slow the lagging years expire

Like embers glowing in the gloom:

And now that life is nearly spent,

And we are sitting here alone,

Its music seems a dumb lament,

And tears are trembling in its tone.

- Acta Columbiana.