The Hammock Of Last Year

What mem’ries hover round it,

     The hammock folded now;

What visions, when I found it,

     Beneath the apple bough.

What mem’ries of the maiden,

     I swung and nestled near;

It held hearts lightly laden,

     The hammock of last year.

And then, – the pain of parting!

     The hammock laid away;

The tears that would be starting,

     The words we could not say.

The hammock folded neatly,

     The tiresome journey drear;

The promise, given sweetly, –

     The hammock of last year!

She promised not to use it,

     And then – away the train!

Brand new, she’d not abuse it,

     Until I came again.

And now, what’s this? I’ve landed,

     The hammock swinging near;

But old, and stretched, and stranded, –

     The hammock of last year!

April 25, 1896

B. Courier,

Dec. 26, ‘97