496 HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH TENNESSEE REGIMENT

And felt that pulse beat fast, Lorena,

Though mine beat faster far than thine;

A hundred months twas flow ry May,

When up the hilly slope we climbed,

To watch the dying of the day,

And hear the distant church-bells chimed.

We loved each other then, Lorena,

More than we ever dared to tell,

And what we might have been, Lorena,

Had but our loving prospered well

But then, tis past, the years are gone,

I ll call not up their shadowy forms;

I ll say to them, & quot; Lost years, sleep on,

Sleep on, nor heed life s pelting storms. & quot;

The story of that past, Lorena,

Alas, I care not to repeat,

The hopes that could not last, Lorena,

They lived, but only lived to cheat ;

I would not cause e en one regret,

To rankle in your bosom now ;

For & quot; if we try we may forget, & quot;

Were words of thine long years ago.

Yes, these were words of thine, Lorena,

They burn within my memory yet;

They touch some tender chords, Lorena,

Which thrill and tremble with regret;

Twas not thy woman s heart that spoke;

Thy heart was always true to me

A duty, stern and pressing, broke

The tie which linked my soul to thee.

It matters little now, Lorena,

The past is in the eternal past,

Our heads will soon lie down, Lorena,

Life s tide is ebbing out so fast;