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The Reliquary

By Bernard and Lucy Barton. With A Prefatory Appeal for Poetry and Poets

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 I. 
 II. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
TO A CHILD.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

TO A CHILD.

Thy childish mirth has brighten'd
My brow when hope seem'd vain,
Thy childish converse lighten'd
My heart in grief and pain.
Then justly may I thank thee
With gratitude sincere,
And well my heart may rank thee
With objects it holds dear.

116

Affection's ties but strengthen
In hearts that feel their lore,
Love's links with years but lengthen
To make us prize them more.
Such ties and links around me
Thy artless childhood cast,
And the spell in which they bound me
Must linger to the last.