A Memory

I came across the marsh to-night, And though the wind was cold, I stayed a moment on the bridge To note the paly gold

That lingered on the darkening bay; The creek which ran below Was frozen dumb; the dreary flats Were overspread with snow.

The college bell began to ring, And as the north wind blew Its distant janglings out to sea, I thought, dear Friend, of you;

And how one warm September day, While yet the woods were green, We strayed across the happy hills And this wide marsh between.

The hay-stacks dotted here and there The water-meadows wide: The even lines of sluices black Were filling with the tide.

Then this salt stream, now winter bound, Fled softly through the sedge, Retreating from the sparkling Sound; And there along its edge

We strolled, and marked the far-off sloops, And watched the cattle graze. O'erhead the swallows rushed in troops, While bright with purple haze,

West Rock looked down the winding plain-- Ah! this was long ago; The summer's gone, and you are gone, As everything must go.