Poems (Holmes)/Lines addressed to Miss Cynthia Bullock

by Alice Ann Holmes

Lines addressed to Miss Cynthia Bullock.

Oh, dear companion, please accept
 An humble strain of mine;
For fain my heart some proof would give
 Of sympathy with thine.
Through many long and changeful years.
 Thou wert my constant friend,
And though by distance severed now,
 In love our spirits blend;
And oft at eve I steal away,
 And call to mind the days
When we in school together sought
 Instruction's cheering rays;
For those indeed were happy hours,
 When we had nought to mind.
Save books and friends that did unfold
 New beauties to the blind.
But thou hadst much of knowledge gained
 Ere I its value knew;
But daily, with thy kindly aid,
 My tasks to pleasures grew.
Thou too in pure and sacred things
 Hast oft instructed me;
For many holy truths I stand
 Indebted still to thee,
Imparted in those happy hours
 When we were wont to stray
Along the fair, green Hudson's banks,
 As twilight closed the day;
And oft with loving sympathy
 Thou wouldst my spirit cheer,
And make the darkest cloud of grief
 Like one of light appear.
At other times, on well-tuned strings
 Thou wouldst play for me awhile,
Or sing some sweet, enchanting strain,
 And thus my heart beguile.
And other hours I spent with thee,
 Which now I call to mind,
For it was in them we twined the wreathes
 That now our spirits bind:
And dear I know to thy fond heart
 Those moments still remain,
When we in prayer together sought
 Our Father's love to gain;
And at his shrine, O may I trust
 Thou pleadest still for me,
And in the holy Eucharist
 I'll still remember thee.
So, though on earth we're severed far,
 Unitedly in love
Let us press on to yon bright world,
 And join the saints above.