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The works of Mrs. Hemans

With a memoir of her life, by her sister. In seven volumes
Hemans, Felicia Dorothea Browne (1793-1835)

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VOL. I.
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VOL. II.
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VOL. III.
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VOL. IV.
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VOL. V.
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VOL. VI.
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SONGS OF THE AFFECTIONS;
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MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
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MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
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NATIONAL LYRICS.
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VOL. VII.

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XV.—IMAGES OF PATRIARCHAL LIFE.

Calm scenes of patriarch life!—how long a power
Your unworn pastoral images retain
O'er the true heart, which in its childhood's hour
Drank their pure freshness deep! The camels' train
Winding in patience o'er the desert plain—
The tent, the palm-tree, the reposing flock,
The gleaming fount, the shadow of the rock,
Oh! by how subtle, yet how strong a chain,
And in the influence of its touch how bless'd,
Are these things link'd, in many a thoughtful breast,
To household memories, for all change endear'd!
The matin bird, the ripple of a stream
Beside our native porch—the hearth-light's gleam
The voices, earliest by the soul revered!
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