| William Wilfred Campbell, comp. The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse. 1913. | | | | It Seems but Yesterday | | By William Edward Marshall (1859–1923) |
| | | | O joy! that in our embers |
| Is something that doth live, |
| That nature yet remembers |
| * * * * * |
| Delight and liberty, the simple creed |
| Of Childhood, whether busy or at rest. |
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IT seems but yesterday, that I, a boy, | |
| Made life a play; | |
| But yesterday, my little cup of joy | |
| Was full alway. | |
| But ah, ’twas long ago! | 5 |
| —That yesterday of joy and play— | |
| And yet, it may be so, | |
| That part of my eternity | |
| Is playtime’s yesterday in me. | |
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| And yesterday it seems, I, ere I laid | 10 |
| Me down to sleep, | |
| In simple faith clasped childish hands, and prayed | |
| The Lord to keep | |
| My soul. But ’tis not so! | |
| —The grave of yesterday is deep— | 15 |
| And yet I feel and know, | |
| That part of my eternity | |
| Is that same faith and prayer in me. | | | |
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