Lines on Hearing the Death of a Young Friend

Lines on Hearing the Death of a Young Friend

Thou hast passed away, as the flower that bloom'd

In the light of the morning sun;

When evening came with its chilly gloom,

Like the flower thy course was run.

We gazed on thee in the pride of youth,

When thy heart was light and gay;

And could not believe the awful truth,

That thy spirit was call'd away.

Thou hast early fallen in a foreign land,

Few tears were for thee shed;

Thy grave was made by stranger hands,

Among the lonely dead.

Thou hast vanished away as a fleeting dream,

As a vision upon the night,

As a vapour before the bright sunbeam;

Which fades in the morning light.

Rosa

1:33, p. 132

1827.10.26