 | Lines in Pleasant Places |  |
157
CONGRATULATORY.
[To S. L. Clemens (“Mark Twain”) on his Marriage.]
Dear brother of the happy pen,
Your card is just beneath my ken
Announcing that 'mongst married men
You've taken place:
Well, Heaven bless you, “but and ben,”
With fortune's grace.
Your card is just beneath my ken
Announcing that 'mongst married men
You've taken place:
Well, Heaven bless you, “but and ben,”
With fortune's grace.
There's none deserving more the prize
Of good that 'long life's pathway lies,
Lit by sweet smiles and sunny eyes,
Than you, my friend;
And o'er you may benignant skies
Forever bend.
Of good that 'long life's pathway lies,
Lit by sweet smiles and sunny eyes,
Than you, my friend;
And o'er you may benignant skies
Forever bend.
The world to you a tribute brings
And on your bridal altar flings,
Grateful and glad for myriad things
Your Muse has lent,
And one grand epithalamium sings
O'er the event.
And on your bridal altar flings,
Grateful and glad for myriad things
Your Muse has lent,
And one grand epithalamium sings
O'er the event.
158
We've gloried in the race you've run,
We've gloried in the fame you've won
Ere yet your life's meridian sun
Has gained its height,
Illuming by its rays of fun
A pathway bright.
We've gloried in the fame you've won
Ere yet your life's meridian sun
Has gained its height,
Illuming by its rays of fun
A pathway bright.
And better far than all, dear Mark,
Thou'st found the matrimonial ark
In which the true who there embark
Find many a charm,
That Prudence whispers those who hark
To save from harm.
Thou'st found the matrimonial ark
In which the true who there embark
Find many a charm,
That Prudence whispers those who hark
To save from harm.
And I, your latest friend, am fain
To pour my tributary strain,
In unpretending rhyming vein,
And thus appear,
Invoking blessings on the Twain,
With heart sincere.
To pour my tributary strain,
In unpretending rhyming vein,
And thus appear,
Invoking blessings on the Twain,
With heart sincere.
Boston, February 7, 1870.
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