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By observations transient as the glance
Of flying sunbeams, or to the outward form
Cleaving with power inherent and intense,
As the mute insect fixed upon the plant

On whose soft leaves it hangs, and from whose cup
Draws imperceptibly its nourishment, —

Endeared my wanderings; and the Mother's kiss,

And Infant's smile, awaited my return.

In privacy we dwelt — a wedded pair
Companions daily, often all day long;
Not placed by fortune within easy reach
Of various intercourse, nor wishing aught
Beyond the allowance of our own fire-side,
The Twain within our happy cottage born,
Inmates, and heirs of our united love;
Graced mutually by difference of sex,

By the endearing names of nature bound,
And with no wider interval of time

Between their several births than served for One

To establish something of a leader's sway;

Yet left them joined by sympathy in age;

Equals in pleasure, fellows in pursuit.
On these two pillars rested as in air
Our solitude.

It soothes me to perceive,

Your courtesy withholds not from my words
Attentive audience. But, oh! gentle Friends,
As times of quiet and unbroken peace
Though, for a Nation, times of blessedness,
Give back faint echoes from the Historian's page ;
So, in the imperfect sounds of this discourse,
Depressed I hear, how faithless is the voice
Which those most blissful days reverberate.
What special record can, or need, be given
To rules and habits, whereby much was done,
But all within the sphere of little things,
Of humble, though, to us, important cares,
And precious interests? Smoothly did our life
Advance, not swerving from the path prescribed;
Her annual, her diurnal round alike

Maintained with faithful care.

And you divine

The worst effects that our condition saw

If you imagine changes slowly wrought,
And in their progress imperceptible;

Not wished for, sometimes noticed with a sigh,
(Whate'er of good or lovely they might bring)
Sighs of regret, for the familiar good,

And loveliness endeared- which they removed.

Seven years of occupation undisturbed Established seemingly a right to hold That happiness; and use and habit gave To what an alien spirit had acquired

A patrimonial sanctity. And thus,

With thoughts and wishes bounded to this world, I lived and breathed; most grateful, if to enjoy Without repining or desire for more,

For different lot, or change to higher sphere,
(Only except some impulses of pride

With no determined object, though upheld
By theories with suitable support)

Most grateful, if in such wise to enjoy

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Be proof of gratitude for what we have;
Else, I allow, most thankless. - But, at once,
From some dark seat of fatal Power was urged
A claim that shattered all. Our blooming Girl,
Caught in the gripe of Death, with such brief time
To struggle in as scarcely would allow

Her cheek to change its colour, was conveyed
From us, to regions inaccessible;

Where height, or depth, admits not the approach

Of living Man, though longing to pursue.

With even as brief a warning — and how soon,

With what short interval of time between,

I tremble yet to think of— our last prop,
Our happy life's only remaining stay-

The Brother followed; and was seen no more!

Calm as a frozen Lake when ruthless Winds Blow fiercely, agitating earth and sky, The Mother now remained; as if in her, Who, to the lowest region of the soul, Had been erewhile unsettled and disturbed, This second visitation had no power To shake; but only to bind up and seal; And to establish thankfulness of heart In Heaven's determinations, ever just. The eminence on which her spirit stood, Mine was unable to attain.

The space that severed us!

Immense

But, as the sight

Communicates with Heaven's etherial orbs
Incalculably distant; so, I felt

That consolation may descend from far;
(And, that. is intercourse, and union, too,)
While, overcome with speechless gratitude,
And, with a holier love inspired, I looked
On her at once superior to my woes
And Partner of my loss.-O heavy change!
Dimness o'er this clear Luminary crept

Insensibly;

the immortal and divine

Yielded to mortal reflux; her pure Glory,
As from the pinnacle of worldly state
Wretched Ambition drops astounded, fell
Into a gulf obscure of silent grief,

And keen heart-anguish-of itself ashamed,
Yet obstinately cherishing itself:

And, so consumed, She melted from my arms;
And left me, on this earth, disconsolate.

What followed cannot be reviewed in thought;
Much less, retraced in words. If She, of life
Blameless; so intimate with love and joy,
And all the tender motions of the Soul,
Had been supplanted, could I hope to stand-
Infirm, dependent, and now destitute?

I call'd on dreams and visions, to disclose

That which is veiled from waking thought; conjured Eternity, as men constrain a Ghost

To appear and answer; to the grave I spake Imploringly ;- looked up, and asked the Heavens

If Angels traversed their cerulean floors,

If fixed or wandering Star could tidings yield
Of the departed Spirit- what Abode

It occupies what consciousness retains

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