Remembered Days

In the quiet of the evening,When the shadows gather deep,When the violets fold their petalsAnd the merry songsters sleep;When the little firefly flashesThrough the gloom his tiny light,And the crickets add their musicTo the voices of the night;When the heavens show their splendorAnd the far worlds brightly shine,Then I think with passionate longingOf a heart that once was mine;And once more I cross the meadowsWith a lover's springing tread,While my pulses thrill at memoryOf the maid I hoped to wed;And again I see her seatedAt the foot of some old tree,With that tender smile of greetingThat she always kept for me.Thus in fancy oft I seek herAs I sought her long ago,In the old familiar pathwaysWhere our feet were wont to go;And I catch a faint reflectionOf the joys of that lost time,As I gaze in memory's mirrorAt that old sweetheart of mine.Would she know me now I wonder,Will she know me when we meetIn that land of truer visionWhere our lives shall be complete?Will she have a smile of welcomeFor the earthly love she bore,Those old days will she remember,When we meet to part no more?