A Trifle to a Friend,
ON THE EVE OF HIS DEPARTURE FOR EUROPE.
THOU'LT leave us! o'er the wild waves of the deep,
Where winds in fierce unrest for ever sweep,
In dim, and dark, and distant lands to roam,
A weary wanderer from thy Western home.
Friend of my father, my full heart is stirred,
And, ere thou go, 'twould breathe a parting word,
And bid thee linger not on those far shores
From those who love thee in their hearts' deep cores.
I've loved—I love thee, and in earnest prayer
To Heaven, I ask, that, when oppressed with care,
Where winds in fierce unrest for ever sweep,
In dim, and dark, and distant lands to roam,
A weary wanderer from thy Western home.
Friend of my father, my full heart is stirred,
And, ere thou go, 'twould breathe a parting word,
And bid thee linger not on those far shores
From those who love thee in their hearts' deep cores.
I've loved—I love thee, and in earnest prayer
To Heaven, I ask, that, when oppressed with care,
