Thomas Hardy - The old neighbour and the new lyrics

'Twas to greet the new rector I called I here,   But in the arm-chair I see My old friend, for long years installed here,   Who palely nods to me. The new man explains what he's planning   In a smart and cheerful tone, And I listen, the while that I'm scanning   The figure behind his own. The newcomer urges things on me;   I return a vague smile thereto, The olden face gazing upon me   Just as it used to do! And on leaving I scarcely remember   Which neighbour to-day I have seen, The one carried out in September,   Or him who but entered yestreen.