On Viewing the Lifeless Remains of a Very Dear Friend

On Viewing the Lifeless Remains of a Very Dear Friend

Oh! thine was love so pure and sweet,

So tender, firm, and so sincere,

How often have we met to greet

Each new, each happy year.

Then hours flew unheeded by,

By giddy mirth and song:

But death, alas! has clos'd the eye,

Which shone in pleasure's throng.

But now how changed those happy days;

How alter'd now is every scene!

There all I lov'd in silence lays,

Calmly as if she ne'er had been.

Yes, thou art gone! and with thee fled

All sense of pain, or fears;

Silent, reposing with the dead,

Unconscious of our tears.

Louisa

1:39, p. 156

1827.12.07