The Worn Wedding-Ring
Your wedding ring wears thin, dear wife; ah, summers not a few,
Since I put it on your finger first, have passed o’er me and you;
And, love, what changes we have seen,—what cares and pleasures, too,—
Since you became my own dear wife, when this old ring was new!
O, Blessings on that happy day, the happiest of my life,
When, thanks to God, your low, sweet “Yes,” made you my loving wife!
Your heart will say the same, I know; that day’s as dear to you,—
That day that made me yours, dear wife, when this old ring was new.
Years bring fresh links to bind us, wife,—young voices that are here;
Young faces round our fire that make their mother’s yet more dear;
Young loving hearts your care each day makes yet more like to you,
More like the loving heart made mine when this old ring was new.
The past is dear, its sweetness fresh our memories treasure yet;
The griefs we’ve borne, together borne, we would not now forget.
Whatever, wife, the future brings, heart unto heart still true,
We’ll share as we have shared all else since this old ring was new.
—W. C. Bennett.
Alternate Reading: Acts 11: 1-18.