Yesterdays — Trifles

TRIFLES

Only a spar from a broken ship Washed in by a careless wave;

But it brought back the smile of a vanished lip, And his past peered out of the grave.

Only a leaf that an idle breeze Tossed at her passing feet;

But she seemed to stand under the dear old trees, And life again was sweet.

Only the bar of a tender strain They sang in days gone by;

But the old love woke in her heart again, The love they had sworn should die.

Only the breath of a faint perfume That floated up from a rose;

But the bolts slid back from a marble tomb, And I looked on a dear dead face.