Poem by Madison Julius Cawein

Then and Now

    When my old heart was young, my dear,
    The Earth and Heaven were so near
    That in my dreams I oft could hear
        The steps of unseen races;
    In woodlands, where bright waters ran,
    On hills, GOD'S rainbows used to span,
    I followed voices not of man,
        And smiled in spirit faces.

    Now my old heart is old, my sweet,
    No longer Earth and Heaven meet;
    All Life is grown to one long street
        Where fact with fancy clashes;
    The voices now that speak to me
    Are prose instead of poetry:
    And in the faces now I see
        Is less of flame than ashes.

1. Rembrandts
2. Two Lives
3. Elfin
4. Take Heart
5. Love's Calendar

John McCrae Then and Now ("Beneath her window in the fragrant night")

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