James Whitcomb Riley wrote a poem about the old year:

As one in sorrow looks upon

The face of a loyal friend

By the dim light of New Year’s dawn

I saw the old year end

The eyes that had once shed their bright

Sweet looks like sunshine, now were dull

And ever lidded from the light

That made them beautiful

And he wrote about the New Year too:

The chimes of bells were in the air

And sounds of mirth in hall and street,

With pealing laughter every where

And throb of dancing feet.

The stanzas just read were included in Riley’s book of love lyrics published in 1883. This book also includes a number of poems where roses are used to symbolize his beloved. For example, one love poem is entitled “The Rose” and its first stanza is as follows:

It tossed its head at the wooing breeze;

And the sun, like a bashful swain,

Beamed on it, through the waving trees

With a passion all in vain,

For my rose laughed in a crimson glee,

And hid in the leaves in wait for me.