Louisa Stuart Costello

Song (The transient time, for ever past)

The transient time, for ever past,
   How shall I dare review!—
The fatal day we parted last,
   And wept out last adieu!
Alas! that day has swell'd to years—
That sorrow to a sea of tears!

I would the mournful thoughts would fly,
   Regretted, loved in vain,
Among the dreams of memory
   That never come again!—
Would their remembrance might decay,
Swept like the autumn leaves away!