III. — Section 119

I have a hoard of treasure in my breast;

The grange of memory steams against the door,

Full of my bygone lifetime’s garnered store—

Old pleasures crowned with sorrow for a zest,

Old sorrow grown a joy, old penance blest,

Chastened remembrance of the sins of yore

That, like a new evangel, more and more

Supports our halting will toward the best.

Ah! what to us the barren after years

May bring of joy or sorrow, who can tell?

O, knowing not, who cares?  It may be well

That we shall find old pleasures and old fears,

And our remembered childhood seen thro’ tears,

The best of Heaven and the worst of Hell.