Poems (Edwards)/Make to Thyself a Name
"MAKE TO THYSELF A NAME."
[Mrs. Hemans.
Where shall I make a name to live when I Have passed away from earth? Where shall IA memory to exist, when, as a sigh Of the swift wind, my spirit takes its flightInto the unseen land? Wealth! wilt thou hold My name upon thy bosom, wilt thou keepThis 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 moansOf 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 triedThe pomp of wealth, the panoply of fame; And Father! lo thy child has been deniedA place within them; hast thou a place for me, A place of endless fame? Let my cryCome 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."