Page:Poems Welby.djvu/59

THE FIRST DEATH OF THE HOUSEHOLD.

O! many a mournful year hath flown
 Since first amid our family-band
Death came and stole our loveliest one,
 And bore her to the spirit-land;
Yet shrined with many a sweet sad thought,
 That loved one's memory lingers still,
For O! she left a void, that nought
 But mournful thoughts could fill.

Years have passed by, I said, and yet
 It only seems the other day,
Since round her dying bed we met
 With breaking hearts to weep and pray.
Her gentle soul we strove to think
 Would linger yet 'mid earthly flowers,
Even when 't was trembling on the brink
 Of lovelier worlds than ours.

Yes! there e'en when all hope had flown,
 We wept away each lingering hour,
Until the shades of death came down
 And closed at last the shutting flower;