There, undisturbed, could think of, and could thank
Her-whose submissive spirit was to me
Rule and restraint, my Guardian ;-shall I say
That earthly Providence, whose guiding love
Within a port of rest had lodged me safe;
Safe from temptation, and from danger far?
Strains followed of acknowledgment addressed
To an Authority enthroned above
The reach of sight; from whom, as from their source,
Proceed all visible ministers of good
That walk the earth-Father of heaven and earth,
Father and king, and judge, adored and feared!
These acts of mind, and memory, and heart,
And spirit,-interrupted and relieved
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
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 which 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
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 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,
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