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1809–1894

BEFORE THE CURFEW

Oliver Wendell Holmes

ALONE, beneath the darkened sky, With saddened heart and unstrung lyre, I heap the spoils of years gone by, And leave them with a long-drawn sigh,

Like drift-wood brands that glimmering lie, Before the ashes hide the fire. Let not these slow declining days The rosy light of dawn outlast;

Still round my lonely hearth it plays, And gilds the east with borrowed rays, While memory's mirrored sunset blaze Flames on the windows of the past.

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BEFORE THE CURFEW · Oliver Wendell Holmes · Poetry Cove