Farewell! my fragile, flower-filled book!
I fling thee on the stream of Time,
With faltering hand and fearful soul,--
As in the Orient's sunny clime,
The maiden trims her fragrant lamp,
A tiny, faint, but Love-fed spark,
And trembling gives to doubtful waves,
Illumed and wreathed...
Oh, Time! deal gently with my friend,
Who gently deals with all;
And on his loved and honored head
Let blessings only fall
In love to God, and love to man,
His days pass here below;
And so, to reach the home above...
He who has walked among his fellow-men
This life's rough path for threescore years and ten,
Bearing for others, on the weary way,
The heat and burden of the toilsome day;
Sounding the silvery notes of faith and hope
Whene'er the weak or the despairing droop...
To my quick ear the Leaves — conferred —
The Bushes — they were Bells —
I could not find a Privacy
From Nature's sentinels —
In Cave if I presumed to hide
The Walls — begun to tell —
Creation seemed a mighty Crack —
To make me visible —
To my small Hearth His fire came —
And all my House aglow
Did fan and rock, with sudden light —
'Twas Sunrise — 'twas the Sky —
Impanelled from no Summer brief —
With limit of Decay —
'Twas Noon — without the News of Night —
Nay, Nature, it was Day —
To Nancy F——
How can I help thy Husbands copying Me
Should that make difference twixt me & Thee
Now has the spring her treasures all unbound,
The earth has put her wedding-garment on,
And, robed in light, with flowers and verdure crowned,
Comes forth in joy to meet the bridegroom sun.
Thou, too, in thy young life's first bloom and pride,
...
To offer brave assistance
To Lives that stand alone —
When One has failed to stop them —
Is Human — but Divine
To lend an Ample Sinew
Unto a Nameless Man —
Whose Homely Benediction
No other — stopped to earn —
To One denied the drink
To tell what Water is
Would be acuter, would it not
Than letting Him surmise?
To lead Him to the Well
And let Him hear it drip
Remind Him, would it not, somewhat
Of His condemned lip?