Grand Haven Daily Tribune  February 9, 1903

In the Long Ago.

—

BY DAVID FLETCHER HUNTON.

—

In Vermont State lived a maiden,

In the long ago;

In the little town of Hayden,

I became her beau!

Then her cheeks were red as cherry—

Teeth as white as snow;

And her heart was blithe and merry,

As the brooklet’s flow!

Then her form was light and airy,

In the long ago:

How I loved that pretty fairy,

None but God can know!

But my beau ideal faded,

In the long ago,

And my life was sadly shaded,

By a cloud of woe!

Thus the precious one I cherished,

In that long ago,

In her angel beauty perished,

Like the flowers below!

Still, ‘twas years after we married,

She my heart loved so,

To the tomb was sadly carried,

In the falling snow!

In God’s beautiful forever,

She is there, I know!

Can my heart forget her?  Never!

No, my loved one, No!

In that world of promised glory,

We shall meet, I know!

Then, we will rehearse the story,

O Love’s long ago!

We shall walk and talk hereafter,

As we did below;

And I’ll hear her angel laughter,

Echo high and low!

In the groves of Eden, yonder,

Arm in arm, we’ll go—

Still, we never can be fonder,

Than in long ago!

Grand Haven, Mich.

Thanksgiving Day, 1902.