Poems (Edwards)/To a Young Friend in Sorrow

by Matilda Caroline Smiley Edwards

TO A YOUNG FRIEND IN SORROW.

I did not deem when last we met,
 That grief would cloud thy brow so soon,
That sorrow would be thine, e'er life
 Had changed its morning into noon;
I did not deem that earth's cold blight
 Would fall so soon upon thy brow;
I could not think that one so bright,
 So fair and beautiful as thou,
Could wear so soon the badge of woe,
 And care and suffering on thy brow;
Alas! the brightness of thy lot
 Is gone, and thou art stricken now.

Sad one! my heart is sore for thee,
 I mourn above thy fortune changed,—
I mourn above thy blighted hopes,
 Thy comforts gone, thy friends estranged;
I mourn above the love that dies
 In human hearts, like flowers that fade,
I mourn that friendship such as thine
 So soon, alas! should be betrayed;
I mourn that life so soon has flung
 Upon thy brow its darkening shade,
Alas! alas! that time should break
 The brightest garland it had made.