Poems (Holmes)/Written after leaving the Institution for the Blind
Written on leaving the Institution for the Blind.
Adieu, adieu, my long-loved home, Where genial spirits dwell,For I must bid thy hearth and halls, This day, a sad farewell.Thy vesper-bell will peal at eve, But not, alas! for me,For I shall be alone and sad, Far, far away from thee!
Adieu, adieu, my guides beloved, ¥ may no longer shareYour kind regards, your patient toil, Your ever-watchful care.Fain, fain with you I'd linger still, And more of knowledge gain;But 'tis decreed that I must go, The wish to stay is vain.
Adieu, adieu, companions dear, My sisters, brothers, friends;This day completes my stay with you, This day our union ends.But oh! how can I, can I bear To hear the death-like knell,That bids me tear my heart away From those I lg%ve so well?
Adieu, adieu! it must be so! The moment now is nearThat bids me-haste from you away, My long-loved schoolmates dear. When ye this eve at vespers meet, To chant a choral lay,Oh, breathe for me one heartfelt prayer, Who will be far away.
Adieu, adieu, ye noble sires, Whose philanthropic heartsHave formed a plan, that e'en the blind May learn the useful arts.Expressions fit your praise to speak I know not where to find;May God reward your efforts made To educate the blind.
Adieu, adieu, too happy hours That learning did employ,And gave for every moment's toil A sweet reward of joy:For they will be no longer mine, My schoolday joys are o'er;Far dearer should I prize them now, Could they return once more.
Adieu, adieu to morning walks Along the Hudson's side,Where oft amid the rocks we heard The music of the tide.And wanderings at twilight hour, Through grove, by hill and stream,That I have ever fondly prized, But dearer now they seem.
Adieu, adieu to music's charm From it, too, I must part; Much shall I miss its magic power To cheer my lonely heart.Adieu, ye birds at early dawn That near my casement sung,While all around the waking flowers Their soft, sweet odors flung.
Adieu, adieu, ye trees and flowers, And pleasant play-grounds all;A voice for me is calling now From yonder front-door hall.This stately domicil demands A parting farewell, too;But oh! 'tis sad to all we've loved At once to bid adieu!
Adieu, adieu, my cloister-home, With all thy hallowed ties;The precepts thou hast given me Most dearly I shall prize.Trials perchance await me now, I know not yet my lot;But be it weal, or be it woe, Thou shalt not be forgot.
Adieu, once more, ye loved ones all! Forgive these gushing tears,And all the wrongs I you have done Through even by-gone years.Still in your hearts oh let me live, Till ye are called to die;—Oh, now they lead me to the gate! Loved home—good bye—good bye!