 | Voices from the Lakes, and Other Poems |  |
317
TO A FRIEND,
WITH A BOOK.
Ah, gentle friend! if e'er, in after days,
When I, and those sweet hours I passed with thee,
Shall all forgotten be,
These few and feeble words should meet thy gaze,
And they should one, but one remembrance bring
Of me from mem'ry's spring,
My wish is gain'd,—it may be idle, yet
I would not have thee quite those days forget.
When I, and those sweet hours I passed with thee,
Shall all forgotten be,
These few and feeble words should meet thy gaze,
And they should one, but one remembrance bring
Of me from mem'ry's spring,
My wish is gain'd,—it may be idle, yet
I would not have thee quite those days forget.
It is at best a sad, sad thing to part,
From those we hold amongst our cherished friends;
But yet, alas! it sends
A deeper sorrow thro' the mourning heart,
To think that with the word “Farewell,” our lot
Is then to be forgot,
Dropt from the memory,—this makes our grief,
To think regret for us will be so brief.
From those we hold amongst our cherished friends;
But yet, alas! it sends
A deeper sorrow thro' the mourning heart,
To think that with the word “Farewell,” our lot
Is then to be forgot,
Dropt from the memory,—this makes our grief,
To think regret for us will be so brief.
318
Farewell! and when thou think'st upon the hour,
When, at a wish of thine, I did engage
To trace upon the page
These lines, I would that they may have the power,
To bring into thy breast one passing thought
Of me, with kindness fraught;
As streamlets mingle gently with the seas,
So would I with thy cherished memories.
When, at a wish of thine, I did engage
To trace upon the page
These lines, I would that they may have the power,
To bring into thy breast one passing thought
Of me, with kindness fraught;
As streamlets mingle gently with the seas,
So would I with thy cherished memories.
And when life's morn is wearing on to even,
May each remembrance carry with it joy,
Unsullied by alloy;
And as, altho' the sun be set, yet heaven
Still wears a lustre from his parting ray,
So may life's closing day,
Tho' youth be o'er, still sparkle with a light,
Reflected from a past serene and bright!
May each remembrance carry with it joy,
Unsullied by alloy;
And as, altho' the sun be set, yet heaven
Still wears a lustre from his parting ray,
So may life's closing day,
Tho' youth be o'er, still sparkle with a light,
Reflected from a past serene and bright!
| Voices from the Lakes, and Other Poems | |