[Page f.29r]
Lines intended for Edith Southey's album
Composed in June 1832 in recollection of a request made by her some
years ago, & of my own promise till now unfulfilled.
Fair Edith of the Classic Hill
Pleads for a tributary Lay
In memory of her long-known Friend;
And I with willing heart obey.
The “Laureate’s Child” though Edith be,
Queen regent of the Mount that honoured Mountthat honoured Mount
Yet she will not ^ disdain ^ the ^ verse
That issues from a lowlier a lowly Fount: ⟨a lowly Fount⟩
^a ^ lowly F^ount
For truth is all that she requires;
Truth steadfast, unadorned;
The studied phrase of flattery
She from her infant days has scorned.
And though the truth might rouze the Bard
To sound her praise in transport high,
Tell of her goodness and her grace
I would not wound her modesty.
It were, in truth, a needless task
And truly, ‘twere a needless task,
⟨Indeed ⟩In truth it were a needless task.
Her goings are by all approved.
Is not the Maid by all approved
— Enough to say why she’s obeyed —
Because she ever is beloved.
But let this page a record stand
Of my deep tender love which may not die,
Friendship betwixt the Old and Young,
The growth of faithful sympathy.
Turn over
[Page f.29v]
Continuation
⟨Not intended for the Album⟩
⟨strong⟩ A strong cord draws me to the Maid,
⟨feeling⟩ And face to face I speak to her,
Uttering the pensive word, farewell,
While no unruly pangs my bosom stir.
[Page]
Edith, farewell! and trust me, friend,
All anxious hopes are now at rest;
The evening sun shines on my bed;
As bright the Calm within my breast.
Sickness and sorrow, grief and pain
Are precious to the humbled soul
For Mercy wounds with pitying love,
That can all wayward thoughts control.
“‘Tis God that maketh soft the heart,
The Almighty that doth trouble me”,
Despairing my bondage to this earth
By pain, by joy — an awful mystery!
And when with agony worn down,
So gen^tly doth it pass away,
My shattered frame sinks into rest
As soothing as the light of day.
Thus God afflicts; thus heals the wound:
– And workings of benignant Power,
Gentle or terrible, we trace
Through every passing hour.
Order prevails: and can there be
A soul so impious, so forlorn
As slight these witnesses of grace –
And more – the Word of Promise scorn?
[Page 31r]
If such there be, how blest the day
Of sickness, pain, or pining grief
If it inform the torpid sense,
And to far worse than sorrow bring relief!
The Warnings long vouchsafed to me
Prompted that tender thought; farewell;
And if blithe Health should e’er return
Oh, may I not in thanklessness rebel!
– Forgetful of the feverish strife
That wraps me up in stillest peace,
Or of thatthe fearful ^sting rush ^ of pain ⟨rush⟩
That, if it last, the pulse of life must cease,
Forgetful of wise Nature’s skill
To soothe, or rouze and elevate,
While she her daily task pursues,
And we in sickness submissive wait!
The Great, the Rich, in dazzling pomp;
And their next Followers in degree;
And such as, far removed from these,
With cold and hunger pine in misery;
Each there uplifts the veil Each lifts the veil that overspreads
Our ^ ^ ^wishes, objects, restless cares;
– How different the voice of each!
The same the meaning it declares,
That all our labours, our desires
Are senseless as a maniac’s strife
Save such as lead the patient enduring soul
To one blest end, eternal life.
And he whose heart is truly wise
Must inwardly perceive
That when we part from kindred – Friends –
‘Tis butIt is in weakness that we grieve,
^^^
[Page 31v]
Weakness, God pities and will heal;
Yet still the ^poor Mortal here would stay,
“The wonders of this beauteous world,
How leave them?” –They, too, pass away.
Oh, that my aim might still be fix’d
On objects that shall still endure!
But we are weak, – and health brings joy
That dazzles us – bedims the pure.
Feelings our holiest, and our best
Insure for what we see a fond regard;
And the unseen, the permanent,
Offers in vain the unknown reward ^ ^ ^
^ ^ ^⟨We stifle Memory’s warning voice,
Heaven grant me power to hear it, & beware!
Would Oh, that I never might forget
What now still prompts my daily prayer!
Oh Then, pray with me &c-⟩
Then^ Then pray with me that in the hour
When here on below earth I must no longer dwell,
Must part from Friends, & this fair world,
I may in calmness speak the last farewell!
