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FOREFATHERS' ROCK.
Where the heart's best treasures, though rich and rare,
Must rest forever—forever there!
They are gone, but the music of far-off streams
Will be heard by thee in thy nightly dreams,
And words that have reached thee, familiar words,
Will melt through thy heart like the song of birds.
Breathing of home to thy dreaming mind,
Of hopes far distant, but unconfined.
Must rest forever—forever there!
They are gone, but the music of far-off streams
Will be heard by thee in thy nightly dreams,
And words that have reached thee, familiar words,
Will melt through thy heart like the song of birds.
Breathing of home to thy dreaming mind,
Of hopes far distant, but unconfined.
What was thy fate? Did an early grave
Wait for thy passage over the wave?
Did the mournful memories of days long past
Thy grieved heart haunt, till it broke at last?
Did the murmured voices of other times
Call back thy spirit to fairer climes,
To visit once more thy birds and flowers,
To live again life's perfumed hours?
Or did the violet spring above
A bosom whose every throb was love,
And the wild bird build her nest on high,
Unconscious of her who slumbered nigh?
Wait for thy passage over the wave?
Did the mournful memories of days long past
Thy grieved heart haunt, till it broke at last?
Did the murmured voices of other times
Call back thy spirit to fairer climes,
To visit once more thy birds and flowers,
To live again life's perfumed hours?
Or did the violet spring above
A bosom whose every throb was love,
And the wild bird build her nest on high,
Unconscious of her who slumbered nigh?
Or did the forest retreat before
Thine eyes from the ever-sounding shore?
Did blooming gardens bedeck the ground—
Did peaceful dwellings appear around—
Till thou sawest, at life's "eventful close,"
The "wilderness blossom as the rose?"
Thine eyes from the ever-sounding shore?
Did blooming gardens bedeck the ground—
Did peaceful dwellings appear around—
Till thou sawest, at life's "eventful close,"
The "wilderness blossom as the rose?"
