 | Household Verses |  |
99
A STRANGER'S MEMORIAL.
I knew thee not! and unto thee
Could be but known by name;
Yet thy loved memory has, to me,
No slight or transient claim:
'Tis one that will not be gainsaid,
Haunting me till this debt be paid.
Could be but known by name;
Yet thy loved memory has, to me,
No slight or transient claim:
'Tis one that will not be gainsaid,
Haunting me till this debt be paid.
However fragile be the wreath
Thus to thy memory twined,
Early, like thee, to fade in death!
Yet, if it leave behind
Sweetness like thine—it may not be
Worthless to some who mourn for thee.
Thus to thy memory twined,
Early, like thee, to fade in death!
Yet, if it leave behind
Sweetness like thine—it may not be
Worthless to some who mourn for thee.
100
The flower, whose beauty charmed the eye,
May fade before its noon;
But while its odours yet supply
Their unexhausted boon,
Shall we regard as wholly dead,
What can such lingering perfume shed?
May fade before its noon;
But while its odours yet supply
Their unexhausted boon,
Shall we regard as wholly dead,
What can such lingering perfume shed?
No! he whose cherished memory still
In fondest hearts is shrined,
There wakening many a tender thrill
Of love—by death refined;
Whose death but makes him loved the more;
He is not lost—though gone before.
In fondest hearts is shrined,
There wakening many a tender thrill
Of love—by death refined;
Whose death but makes him loved the more;
He is not lost—though gone before.
For thus to live, is life more pure
Than fleeting breath can give;
Because its essence must endure
Long as the soul shall live:
Mortality can ne'er unbind
What links immortal mind to mind!
Than fleeting breath can give;
Because its essence must endure
Long as the soul shall live:
Mortality can ne'er unbind
What links immortal mind to mind!
101
Hence they who miss and mourn thee most,
With many a silent tear,
Love thee too well to deem thee lost,
While yet they feel thee near:
And in their spirit's inner shrine
Communion sweet can hold with thine!
With many a silent tear,
Love thee too well to deem thee lost,
While yet they feel thee near:
And in their spirit's inner shrine
Communion sweet can hold with thine!
“Some natural tears” must often flow,
To think how brief thy day;
Yet much to soothe the mourner's woe
May wipe those tears away:
Oh! mourn not for the “early blest,”
Who soonest “from their labours rest!”
To think how brief thy day;
Yet much to soothe the mourner's woe
May wipe those tears away:
Oh! mourn not for the “early blest,”
Who soonest “from their labours rest!”
Nor deem that all too soon his sun
Hath gone in brightness down;
Because by him can ne'er be won
Eld's honoured, hoary crown!
For an eternity sublime,
Grudge not the brief date given to time.
Hath gone in brightness down;
Because by him can ne'er be won
Eld's honoured, hoary crown!
For an eternity sublime,
Grudge not the brief date given to time.
102
The age we honour—standeth not
In long-protracted years;
But in a life that knows no blot
To sadden sorrow's tears:
Wisdom is still grey hairs to man!
A spotless life—its noblest span!
In long-protracted years;
But in a life that knows no blot
To sadden sorrow's tears:
Wisdom is still grey hairs to man!
A spotless life—its noblest span!
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