Poems (Curwen)/To my Mother, on her Golden Wedding Day
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To my Mother,on her Golden Wedding Day.
Beloved! how shall my sad heart bridge o'er
The gulf which yawns 'twixt you and I to-day?
How reach you on the great Pacific shore,
To greet you on your golden wedding day?
The gulf which yawns 'twixt you and I to-day?
How reach you on the great Pacific shore,
To greet you on your golden wedding day?
How shall I cross the rolling wastes of sea,
And the great continents which now divide,
On this, the fiftieth anniversary
Of that fair day which made you father's bride?
And the great continents which now divide,
On this, the fiftieth anniversary
Of that fair day which made you father's bride?
Only on Fancy's pinions I may wing
My flight across the ocean vast and deep;
Only in saddened measures can I sing
A song destined to make your old eyes weep.
My flight across the ocean vast and deep;
Only in saddened measures can I sing
A song destined to make your old eyes weep.
On such a day as this whole families meet,
And the old folk look on with gladdened eye,
Pleased with the music of the pattering feet,
Which doth recall their children's infancy.
And the old folk look on with gladdened eye,
Pleased with the music of the pattering feet,
Which doth recall their children's infancy.
But there is no such music for your ears,
Your children's children are to you unknown;
Your children's faces, like the vanished years,
Only a memory as you sit alone:
Your children's children are to you unknown;
Your children's faces, like the vanished years,
Only a memory as you sit alone:
For one by one they drifted from your side,
And now by circumstances, or by fate,
Ye twain are left alone at eventide,
Two loving hearts, both sad and desolate.
And now by circumstances, or by fate,
Ye twain are left alone at eventide,
Two loving hearts, both sad and desolate.
O, that my children might have known you here!
Have felt the tenderness of your embrace;
God knows, I have shed many a bitter tear
Because you have not seen one little face.
Have felt the tenderness of your embrace;
God knows, I have shed many a bitter tear
Because you have not seen one little face.
O, to have seen them nestling to your breast!
O, to have seen them clinging to your knee!
Had you but kissed them then they had been blest,
But there's been no such joy for them, or me.
O, to have seen them clinging to your knee!
Had you but kissed them then they had been blest,
But there's been no such joy for them, or me.
O mother mine! thou hast been sorely tried—
Borne many a cross, and many a sad reverse
Since thou didst stand an earnest blushing bride,
To pledge thyself "for better or for worse."
Borne many a cross, and many a sad reverse
Since thou didst stand an earnest blushing bride,
To pledge thyself "for better or for worse."
Thy faithful love has been my father's stay
Through the vicissitudes of a long life;
Thy feet have never faltered on the way,
However rough: Brave mother! noble wife!
Through the vicissitudes of a long life;
Thy feet have never faltered on the way,
However rough: Brave mother! noble wife!
Then, surely in the long eternal years,
Knowing the griefs and sorrows thou hast known,
God will permit thee, in the heav'nly spheres,
The joy of a reunion with thine own.
Knowing the griefs and sorrows thou hast known,
God will permit thee, in the heav'nly spheres,
The joy of a reunion with thine own.
Heaven bless and keep you till we meet "Beyond;"
Heaven give you freedom from all pain and care;
And when at last death snaps the golden bond,
May angel hands cement it "over there."
Heaven give you freedom from all pain and care;
And when at last death snaps the golden bond,
May angel hands cement it "over there."