To a Dog

Listen to:

To a Dog (1:00)

by John Jay Chapman

performed by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode

Past happiness dissolves. It fades away, 

Ghost-like, in that dim attic of the mind 

To which the dreams of childhood are consigned. 

Here, withered garlands hang in slow decay, 

And trophies glimmer in the dying ray 

Of stars that once with heavenly glory shined. 

But you, old friend, are you still left behind 

To tell the nearness of life's yesterday? 

Ah, boon companion of my vanished boy, 

For you he lives; in every sylvan walk 

He waits; and you expect him everywhere. 

How would you stir, what cries, what bounds of joy, 

If but his voice were heard in casual talk, 

If but his footstep sounded on the stair!