Gazette Of The United States And Daily Evening Advertiser

ON THE NEW YEAR

AGAIN the monthly returning year,
Beneath fair skies serene and clear,
Completes its gentle round;
Sweet bells, and tuneful sounds, express
Gay thanks for rural happiness,
And months with plenty crown'd,

While yet remains the courteous guest,
Oh be my grateful thanks express'd,
Unmix'd with grief or fear
Farewell, ye seasons! roll away;
I wish not to prolong your stay,
Tho' age brings up the rear.

Cheerful I trust, for future good.
I ne'er had hand, which all the past bestow'd;
Nor heed life's shifting scene.
Farewell, kind year; which still has blest
My days with peace, my nights with rest,
And leav'st my mind serene.

Not yet; but now impends the stroke.
The far-resounding midnight clock
Has summon'd thee away;
Go mingle with the countless past,
"Till time himself has liv'd his last,
In soft oblivion stay.

But then with smiling grace appear,
Thou blameless, grief unsullied year;
Oh smile once more on me;
And witness, that thy golden hours
Have all been priz'd, as summer flowers
By some industrious bee.