I think that we were children long ago

I think that we were children long ago

In some far land beyond the gates of death,

Where souls, too innocent for bliss or woe,

Wait for renewal of their mortal breath.

I think we played together on the shore

Of some blue inlet of eternity,

And heard the waters rolling evermore,

And saw the mystic light on land and sea.

I think we roam'd together, side by side, -

Heart link'd to heart in childhood's guileless love –

Haunted by fears of Ocean waste and wide,

By gleams of glory from the worlds above,

By faint remembrances of days on earth,

By dim forebodings of our second birth.