Poems (Edwards)/Make to Thyself a Name

by Matilda Caroline Smiley Edwards

"MAKE TO THYSELF A NAME."

[Mrs. Hemans.

Where shall I make a name to live when I
 Have passed away from earth? Where shall I
A memory to exist, when, as a sigh
 Of the swift wind, my spirit takes its flight
Into the unseen land? Wealth! wilt thou hold
 My name upon thy bosom, wilt thou keep
This treasured gift unsullied, cased in gold,
 When low in death, and dust and clay I sleep?

  "Keep, keep thy name; I have no power
   To aid thee after death,
  Aye wouldst thou yield thy name to me?
   'Twere frailer than a breath;
  'Twere fleeter than a Summer flower,
   Or than the ocean spray;
  I cannot hold it in my heart,
   'Twould melt, like dew, away."

Fame! wilt thou keep my memory, when I go
 Away from earth up to the spirit clime?
When I have passed life's faintly sounding shore,
 When I have parted from the sea of time,
Wilt thou not keep my name locked in thy breast;
 And, like the ocean shell that moans
Of the deep sea, wilt thou not, of thy guest
 Forever murmur, in sweet, solemn tones?

  "Yield not, yield not thy name to me,
   I cannot keep it long,
  'Twill vanish from me, like the low
   Soft music of a song;
  'Twill fade as fades the hues of even
   When night comes quickly on,
  'Twill fade, until the last deep cord
   Of memory is gone."

Hast thou a place, O Father! for my name,
 A name to live forever? I have tried
The pomp of wealth, the panoply of fame;
 And Father! lo thy child has been denied
A place within them; hast thou a place for me,
 A place of endless fame? Let my cry
Come up, O Father! unto thee;
 Give me a name,—a name that cannot die.

  "Make to thyself a name, my child,
   Make to thyself a name;
  But make it not in glittering gold,
   Nor yet in earthly fame;
  These to the fleeting earth belong,
   These bear the thorns of strife,
  Make to thyself a name to stand
   In the Lamb's book of life."