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CLOSING THE LEDGER

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Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 12, 1857

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 9, No. 19.

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CLOSING THE LEDGER.

By H. M.

Close up the Ledger, Time! Slowly and sadly, but let it be; Mournfully passeth by the year. What are the records, for you and me, Left by the falling fingers here? What for passion, and what for love? What for avarice and crime? What for hope, and heaven above? What of the Ledger, Time!
Close up the Ledger, Time! Many a name, for good or ill, Fills to the margin your blotted scroll— Many a high and haughty will— Many a low and humble soul; Yet one page to each is given, Marking the changing path we climb— Holding the balance of hell or heaven; What of the Ledger, Time!
Close up the Ledger, Time! Say, are we creditors for aught? Have we a store of noble deeds, Springing from high and generous thought, Such as our fallen brother needs? Have we laid up for coming years, Words to weave in a funeral rhyme, Names that will call up grateful tears? What of the Ledger, Time?
Close up the Ledger, Time! Say what promises Hope has drawn; Say what drafts stern Truth has paid; Say what bankrupt hopes have gone, In the grave with memory laid. Say if the heart has kept its own, Gathering beauty with lure and lime. If it has turned to senseless stone;— What of the Ledger, Time!
Close up the Ledger, Time! Hark! the knell of the year goes by. Have I run out my golden sand? Where shall I be when the next shall die? Where shall the soul within me stand? Naught beyond may the Ledger tell— Naught be known, but in guilt and crime— Listen! I hear the new year's bell! Shut up the Ledger, Time! [H. M.
A Song for New Year's Eve