Poems (Charlotte Allen)/To a Young Lady on the Eve of Marriage
TO A YOUNG LADY ON THE EVE OF MARRIAGE.
Permit a friend, at this momentous time,
To offer her best wishes, (though in rhyme);
May heaven be pleased to smile upon this hour,
And may no clouds around thy pathway lower.
When 'neath the all-seeing eye of God you bow,
And breathe before him that most solemn vow,
When two fond souls, uniting, form but one,
And the bright goal of happiness is won,
Thine be the bliss all earthly sweets to share,
That can be found in this cold world of care,
Whilst journeying onward through this mundane sphere,
May joy's bright sunshine gild thy pathway here,
Though thorns and flowers alternate we may meet,
Be thine to crush the thorns beneath thy feet:
May the pure stream of fond affection flow
In one deep channel, with a fervent glow.
If, as we hope, the spirits of the just,
Look from their bright abode on us, but dust,
O! may thy friends, from yonder realms of light,
Hover, unseen, around thy form to-night,
And bless, with Heaven, this deeply solemn rite.
To offer her best wishes, (though in rhyme);
May heaven be pleased to smile upon this hour,
And may no clouds around thy pathway lower.
When 'neath the all-seeing eye of God you bow,
And breathe before him that most solemn vow,
When two fond souls, uniting, form but one,
And the bright goal of happiness is won,
Thine be the bliss all earthly sweets to share,
That can be found in this cold world of care,
Whilst journeying onward through this mundane sphere,
May joy's bright sunshine gild thy pathway here,
Though thorns and flowers alternate we may meet,
Be thine to crush the thorns beneath thy feet:
May the pure stream of fond affection flow
In one deep channel, with a fervent glow.
If, as we hope, the spirits of the just,
Look from their bright abode on us, but dust,
O! may thy friends, from yonder realms of light,
Hover, unseen, around thy form to-night,
And bless, with Heaven, this deeply solemn rite.