Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Lines.
LINES .
SUGGESTED ON THE BIRTHDAY 01 ? MY ONLY CHILD , WHILST ON MV VOYAGE TO AFRICA , SEPTEMBER 1 , 1845 . Go , twine me a chaplet that ' s fresh and sweet , Of spring-buds both young ancl wild ; 'Tis a morn of joy , and fain would I greet The birth of my only child !
O linger ye not , lest the fleeting hours Bring a change which may spoil the votive flowers . They must smiling come from the meadowy vale , Where no step has sought to tread On its velvet bosom , nor unkind gale Hath rudely swept o ' er their head ; Where no grazing herd nor ungenial showers
Have disturbed the hope of these votive flowers . In the fragrant hedge-rows they free must grow . Unseen to the passer-by . In swelling beauty , all eager to blow In smiles of the vernal sky . Such only are meet for affection ' s bowers , Ancl these are the sweetest for votive flowers .
Or haste to those haunts of our earlier days—The embow ' ring greenwood lane ; Or the stealthy copse , where the sun ' s fierce rays Seek an envied place iu vain ; Those sacred spots of our happiest hours , And for innocence pluck the votive flowers . No meadows of greenmy beautiful child
, , No melodious lanes are here ; No fairy-copse—but an ocean wild , And a waste of waters drear ; There ' s the foaming billow , the cloud which lowers So oft with alarms , but no votive flowers ! Yet a father ' s anxious heart can yield , And his thoughtful love supply ,
What never yet grew in the richest field , Nor bloomed in the warmest sky—The tearful hope , and daily prayer , That thou and thy mother may know no care .
Ancl the kiss and tear I ' 11 daily bestow On thy picture next my breast . And suppliant for thee and thy mother bow , That both may by heaven be blest With graces of soul , which yield sweeter powers . To soothe ancl adorn , than all votive flowers . THOMAS EYRE POOLE , __ . M ., Colonial and Garrison Chaplain , Sierra Leone , Africa .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Lines.
LINES .
SUGGESTED ON THE BIRTHDAY 01 ? MY ONLY CHILD , WHILST ON MV VOYAGE TO AFRICA , SEPTEMBER 1 , 1845 . Go , twine me a chaplet that ' s fresh and sweet , Of spring-buds both young ancl wild ; 'Tis a morn of joy , and fain would I greet The birth of my only child !
O linger ye not , lest the fleeting hours Bring a change which may spoil the votive flowers . They must smiling come from the meadowy vale , Where no step has sought to tread On its velvet bosom , nor unkind gale Hath rudely swept o ' er their head ; Where no grazing herd nor ungenial showers
Have disturbed the hope of these votive flowers . In the fragrant hedge-rows they free must grow . Unseen to the passer-by . In swelling beauty , all eager to blow In smiles of the vernal sky . Such only are meet for affection ' s bowers , Ancl these are the sweetest for votive flowers .
Or haste to those haunts of our earlier days—The embow ' ring greenwood lane ; Or the stealthy copse , where the sun ' s fierce rays Seek an envied place iu vain ; Those sacred spots of our happiest hours , And for innocence pluck the votive flowers . No meadows of greenmy beautiful child
, , No melodious lanes are here ; No fairy-copse—but an ocean wild , And a waste of waters drear ; There ' s the foaming billow , the cloud which lowers So oft with alarms , but no votive flowers ! Yet a father ' s anxious heart can yield , And his thoughtful love supply ,
What never yet grew in the richest field , Nor bloomed in the warmest sky—The tearful hope , and daily prayer , That thou and thy mother may know no care .
Ancl the kiss and tear I ' 11 daily bestow On thy picture next my breast . And suppliant for thee and thy mother bow , That both may by heaven be blest With graces of soul , which yield sweeter powers . To soothe ancl adorn , than all votive flowers . THOMAS EYRE POOLE , __ . M ., Colonial and Garrison Chaplain , Sierra Leone , Africa .