University of Virginia Library

in memoriam. H.C. ob. Feb. 24, 1886

I have no heart to wish thee back again
To this sick earth, poor friend, who may have found,
Beneath the kind cold shelter of the ground
That calm memorial light that with much pain,
Thou lost in thy last years and sought in vain.
Nay it is better thus! thy life is crowned
Tho' but in death with peace—no jarring sound
Shall ever break the sleep wherein thou'rt lain.
Yet when I mournfully recall to mind
The fragrant summer days I spent with thee
In such calm unison and how thy kind
Unruffled cheerfulness would oftimes free
My mind from brooding thought I look behind
And fall before the shrine of memory.