 | Forest buds, from the woods of Maine |  |
108
RESIGNATION.
There is no sister-band, however tended,
But one young bride is there;—
There is no fire-side, howsoe'er defended,
But has one vacant chair.
But one young bride is there;—
There is no fire-side, howsoe'er defended,
But has one vacant chair.
Our home is full of mingled smiles and sighing,
Our fairest one has fled!
And baby Ned, for his lost sister crying,
Will not be comforted!
Our fairest one has fled!
And baby Ned, for his lost sister crying,
Will not be comforted!
Let us be patient! these severe afflictions
Not from the ground arise,
But oftentimes, celestial benedictions
Assume hymeneal guise.
Not from the ground arise,
But oftentimes, celestial benedictions
Assume hymeneal guise.
We see but dimly through the mists and vapors,
But, drying sorrow's damps,
We read her marriage notice in the papers,
And trim hope's brightest lamps.
But, drying sorrow's damps,
We read her marriage notice in the papers,
And trim hope's brightest lamps.
109
Marriage is nought;—what seems so is transition;
The life she lived of late
Is but a suburb to the life elysian
Yclept the wedded state.
The life she lived of late
Is but a suburb to the life elysian
Yclept the wedded state.
She is not dead,—the child of our affection,
But gone unto that school,
Wherein she lays aside our fond protection
To own a husband's rule.
But gone unto that school,
Wherein she lays aside our fond protection
To own a husband's rule.
In that great cloister's stillness and seclusion,
By his old mother led,
Safe from “young company” and mirth's intrusion,
She lives,—the same as dead.
By his old mother led,
Safe from “young company” and mirth's intrusion,
She lives,—the same as dead.
Day after day we think what she is doing
In those old dismal rooms,
Year after year, her toilsome way pursuing
With stew-pans, mops and brooms.
In those old dismal rooms,
Year after year, her toilsome way pursuing
With stew-pans, mops and brooms.
Sometime will visit her, to keep unbroken
The bond which nature gives,
Thinking that our kind pity, though unspoken,
May cheer her where she lives.
The bond which nature gives,
Thinking that our kind pity, though unspoken,
May cheer her where she lives.
Not as a girl shall we again behold her,
For when, with rapture wild,
In our embraces we again enfold her,
She will not be a child,—
For when, with rapture wild,
In our embraces we again enfold her,
She will not be a child,—
110
But a staid matron, in her husband's mansion,
Clothed with a graver grace,
And beautiful with womanhood's expansion,
Shall we behold her face.
Clothed with a graver grace,
And beautiful with womanhood's expansion,
Shall we behold her face.
And though we see, with anger and emotion,
How poorly she is dressed,
In a cheap gingham, which with fond devotion,
She dignifies her “best,”
How poorly she is dressed,
In a cheap gingham, which with fond devotion,
She dignifies her “best,”
We will be patient, and assuage the feeling,
The little time we stay,
Our pity and our sympathy concealing
Until we come away!
The little time we stay,
Our pity and our sympathy concealing
Until we come away!
| Forest buds, from the woods of Maine | |