Happy New Year
A HAPPY NEW YEAR
by Robert Storey
There was gloom, there was grief, in the year that is sped;
But ’tis gone, and we will not speak ill of the dead!
Many joys it has left us, in friends that are dear;
And we’ll wish one another a happy new year!
Many joys it hath left us, but some it has ta’en—
There were faces we never shall look on again;
Kind hearts, ever ready to welcome and cheer,
That now cannot wish us a happy new year!
And some we must think of, the friends of our soul.
Though far they may be from our board and our bowl;
We know they have hearts that are warm and sincere;
And we’ll wish them, though absent, a happy new year!
For those that are with us—their glances attest
That the same tide of feeling is high in each breast;
That one chain of kindness links all that are here,
As we wish one another a happy new year!
Then, old friend, take my hand; and be sure, when I clasp, “
There is heart in its pulse—there is soul in its grasp!
And, if you could doubt it, this truth-speaking tear
Will tell how I wish you a happy new year!
from: The Adelaide Observer, Saturday, 11 January, 1868, page 11
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