Bessie Brent Madison, "Down at the Feet of the Years" (1925)
Down at the feet of the years we shall find them
All of the dear vanished things,
All of the dreamings that never came true,
All that 'might have been' for me and for you.
Find our dead flowers fragrant with dew,
Growing by life-giving springs.
Down at the feet of the years we shall find them
Tenderly hidden away,
Wee little laddies that never were men,
Wee little lassies that never knew sin.
Down at the feet of the years we shall find them
Jewels that once were our tears.
Find all our losses were infinite gain,
Mysteries too deep for our dull, human ken,
Kept for a happier day.
Find perfect joy that we once thought was pain.
Praise in abundance that once seemed as blame,
Down at the feet of the years.
Published in The Crisis, January 1925