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"O gracious singer, with the youthful years,
Thy lays have cheered in palace and in cot,
And now in memory's garden-plot appears
The fair and verdant flower forget-me-not!

"Thy songs are planted in the Church's heart
To grow and bring forth fruit an hundred fold:
So may we also do our humble part
To honor thee, thou rarest heart of gold!"

H. Adelbert White.

CHAPTER XXII
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL POEMS

DURING the last fifty years I have written a great many poems that might be called autobiographical. In the truest sense they record my own life history, because the most of them express some deep emotion; or recall some event in the life of my dearest friends; or revive some tender thought that I have not wished to pass unnoticed by those who do not know me so well. A number of them have been chosen for this book, not so much because of their literary merit, as because of the sentiments that they perpetuate. A few of them have been included in spite of the protests of modest souls whose worth happens therein to be duly recognized, but this is only one of the inadequate means that I have of expressing my gratitude and devotion to those who have paid me innumerable and tender attentions in times past and present.

LINES TO MY MOTHER
On My Birthday

My birthday eve is gone, mother,
And didst thou think of me?
Each moment while I counted o'er
My thoughts were all on thee,

And oft I wished thee here, mother,
Our social group to join;
For I long to clasp thine hand, mother,
And in thy arms recline.

My birthday eve is gone, mother,
The future who can know?
Oh, will my buoyant heart, as now,
With gladness still o'erflow ?

Or will its trembling strings, mother,
Speak but a mournful tone?
And I, of all I love bereft,
Weep wretched and alone?

My birthday eve is gone, mother,
Friends gather round me now,
And they are sad, whene'er they mark
A shadow on my brow.

They sing my favorite lays, mother,
And many an hour beguile;
For they are dear as life to me, --
I live but in their smile.

1852

TP MY SISTER, MRS. JULIA ATHINGTON
(On the twentieth anniversary of her marriage)

Tell me, sister, does your memory
Touch its lyre and murmur low
How your heart of joy was dreaming,
Dreaming twenty years ago?
And the lovely wing of fancy,
With your smile of beauty played,
While you stood before the altar
In your bridal robe arrayed?

And to him who stood beside you,
All your fondest hopes were given,
Vows were breathed and words were spoken,
Read by seraph eyes in Heaven?
You have trod life's vale together,
You have shared its good and ill,
Is your promise yet unbroken, --
Do you hold it sacred still?

Twenty years, and oh, how lightly,
Time has touched you as he passed,
Hardly do you feel his autumn:
It has brought no chilly blast.
Scarce a summer leaf has withered,
Scarce a silver thread appears;
Few the traces age has left you,
In the lapse of twenty years.

Sister, brother, I am with you,
On your anniversary day,
With you in my thoughts and feelings,
Wafted to your home away.
While the sunshine and the shadow
Of the past you both review,
Pledge again your hearts' affection,
And begin your lives anew.

Look to Him for strength and guidance,
Who alone your souls can bless,
Ask His Spirit to be with you,
Trust His love and faithfulness,
O, remember, life is fleeting,
Let your future days be given
To an earnest, ardent seeking,
For a home and rest in Heaven!

1878

REUBEN B. CURRIER AND MARY E. UPHAM
(On their Wedding Day)

It is done, the words are spoken,
Words that bind you heart to heart;
Whom the Lord hath joined together
Neither life nor death can part.

Hope and friendship, joy and sunshine
Hail you both on every side,
They are singing happy greeting
To the bridegroom and the bride.

One in spirit, mind and purpose,
You have loved each other long,
You have gathered souls for Jesus.
By your counsel and your song.

Unto Him we now commend you,
Unto Him whose name is Love;
May the glory of His presence
Rest upon you from above.

Father, Saviour, Holy Spirit
Bless these wedded souls we pray;
Make their future bright and cloudless
As a rosy, summer day.

And when evening shadows gather,
When their harvest work is done,
May they both go home rejoicing
At the setting of the sun.

Sept. 7, 1904

DEDICATION OF THE CHAPEL

Oh, Thou omniscient, omnipresent Lord!
Invisible, eternal God of all!
The vast creation trembles at Thy word,
And at Thy footstool nations prostrate fall.

Thy throne is fixed above the starry frame;
Yet Thou in earthly temples lov'st to dwell;
The humble spirit thou wilt not disdain,
The Wounded heart Thy balm divine dost heal.

Father, we humbly supplicate Thy grace,
May Thy benignant smile on us be given,
Thy blessing rest upon this sacred place,
Thine earthly house, we trust, the gate of heaven.

Here will we listen to Thy holy word;
Light on our path, thus, may its precepts be;
Here shall the voice of praise and prayer be heard, --
Ourselves, our all, we dedicate to Thee.

1841

ON A CHILD KNEELING