Linger Not Long

Linger Not Long

Linger not long! Home is not home without thee,

Its dearest token only make me mourn:

Oh! let its memory, like a chain about thee,

Gently compel and hasten thy return.

Linger not long! Though crowds should woo thy staying,

Bethink thee—can the mirth of friends, though dear,

Compensate for the grief thy long delaying

Costs the poor heart that sighs to have thee here?

Linger not long! How shall I watch thy coming,

As evening's shadows stretch o'er moor and fell,

When the wild bee hath ceased her weary humming,

And silence hangs on all things like a spell.

Linger not long! How shall I watch for thee when fears grow stronger,

As night grows dark and darker on the hill!

How shall I weep when I can watch no longer—

Oh! art thou absent, art thou absent still?

Yet I should grieve not, though the eye that seeth me

Gazeth through tears that make its splendor dull;

For, oh! I sometimes fear that thou art with me,

My cup of happiness is all too full!

Haste, haste thee home unto thy mountain dwelling,

Haste as a bird unto its peaceful nest!

Haste as a skiff, when tempests wild are swelling,

Flies to its haven of securest rest!

Unattributed

1:3, p, 1

8.6.1859