Explore "Best" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
In the gruesome night and the wintry weather, / I watched two dear friends die, / And I buried them both in one grave together. / Oh! who is so sad as I? / For the old love, and the old year, / They both have passed away; / And I never can find the old cheer / Come what will or may.
I heard the bell in the tall church steeple / Clang out a joyful strain. / And I thought, 'Of all the great world's people, / I have the bitterest pain. ' / For the old year was a good year, / And the old love was sweet; / And how could my heart hold any cheer / When both lay dead at my feet.
Life may smile and the skies may brighten, / Winter will pass with its snows; / Grief will wane and the burden lighten -- / And June will come with the rose. / But it cannot bring the old cheer / To fill my empty breast; / For the old year was the one year, / And the old love was best.