University of Virginia Library

TO MRS. MARY WORTHINGTON MORRIS,

(THE AMIABLE AND BELOVED WIFE OF MY MUCH ESTEEMED FRIEND AND BROTHER-POET GEORGE P. MORRIS.)

The seer of old, whose name I bear,
The prophet who anointed Saul,
Predicted many a bright affair
To grace the rising chief withal:
So I, once gazing on a youth,
From boyhood just emerging,
With genius, talent, virtue, truth,
To acts of greatness urging—
Predicted that an angel's hand,
Would lead him to the promised land.
Years rolled away, and Fame was his,
With blessings of the wise and good;
And while o'er Hope's sad obsequies
Thousands as drooping mourners stood,

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He smiled in triumph—for success
With liberal hand had crowned him;
And Beauty's smile, with Love's caress,
In silken cords had bound him.
I saw the angel at his side—
'Twas thou—his counsellor and guide.
New York, May 20th, 1833.