226 BOULDER REVERIES. 



And so I drifted, day by day, 



Till years had sped on wings of time, 



And then the mists were torn away 

 And nature's beauties shone, sublime. 



Too late it was; youth's potent powers, 

 To see, and hear and understand, 



Had vanished with the fleeting hours ; 

 And gone, the cunning of the hand. 



And so to-night, in silent thought, 

 I live again the days of old, 



And wish for what can ne'er be bought 

 With yellow scales of purest gold. 



And round the world, in sad refrain, 

 I hear that wish by other men; 



Its burden ever is the same, 



"O, would I had my youth again !" 



