We spend most of our time here talking about Lew, but Susan was also an accomplished individual. She published six books and numerous articles and poems. Several of her poems are about special occasions. She wrote this poem for Lew, and we thought it would be a good one to share today.
A New Year’s Gift
As I watch the old year out
I remember that sweet May,
Whose bloom and perfume linger
About my path to-day.
Fleeting years since then have swept
Some joy away from me,
Yet each one brought me nearer,
Nearer, love, to thee.
My heart in even currents
Beats echo to thy name;
Thy pulses leap to answer
The bugle call of Fame.
All the colors of my being
Have taken richer tone,
And deepened into stronger tints
In blending with my own.
Our morning-dreams are broken,
And castles, day by day,
With far and floating banners
In distance fade away.
Dim arcade and airy tower
I never more may see,
But all my lost ideals
Are found again in thee.
The tender spell of starry sky,
The charm of summer night,
Soft pictured dreams, and visions
That haunt the misty light
Of the shadowy Borderland
‘Twixt Youth and Childhood free,
Can never fade from out my heart,
For they are part of thee.
But rosy morning blushing
To wake the world from rest,
And lily fair, and fairest rose
Upon her glowing breast,
And evening’s balm and beauty,
And birds’ sweet minstrelsy,
And all earth’s summer lovliness,
Are nothing without thee.
Ah! were but mine the minstrel’s hand,
The minstrel’s heart of song,
How would I sing beloved years
Whose memories round me throng!
The past so dear–the future
A dread unbounded sea,
Is neither dark, nor drear, unless,
It parts me, love, from thee.
– Published in Home Journal
