2-982-425 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

English Songs and Melodies - "Joys of the Past", 1858. Illustration to sheet music. 'Joys of the past! are they vanish'd for ever? Flow'rets soon gather'd, and sooner decay'd : Ripples of light upon Time's flowing river, Lost with the breath o'er its bosom that stray'd? No! there are hours in the heart's happy sadness When they return, amid sunshine and rain; Memory, bright as a rainbow of gladness, Spans the dark sky with their beauty again. Visions of glory, half-cloud and half-splendour, Flash on the soul looking back through the years: Hopes that were lofty, and loves that were tender, Gleam through the haze of our passionate tears. Vainly, oh, vainly our hearts would restore them; Fair though they glitter, how quickly they're gone! Echoes that die with the music that bore them, Lights that are darken'd the moment they've shone!'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.