Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, STANZAS; ADDRESSED TO A FRIEND ON HER MARRIAGE, by EMMA CATHERINE (MANLY) EMBURY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

STANZAS; ADDRESSED TO A FRIEND ON HER MARRIAGE, by                    
First Line: No voice but that of gladness
Last Line: Shall absence it destroy?
Alternate Author Name(s): Ianthe
Subject(s): Farewell; Friendship; Life; Love; Memory; Parting


No voice but that of gladness
Should meet thine ear to-day,
Yet only in deep sadness
Can I love's tribute pay;
Unbidden tears are springing,
Their source thy heart can tell:
Of joy I should be singing,
I can but sigh -- Farewell!

When from life's fairy garland
Has fallen a precious gem,
Can I smile to see it glisten
In another's diadem?
Could I hear thy deep vow spoken
Without a thought of pain,
When I felt the best link broken
In friendship's golden chain?

Yet mine is selfish sorrow,
Which love should hush to rest,
And my heart should solace borrow
From the thought that thou art blest;
Where hope once claimed dominion,
Joy holds his revel bright,
And thy spirit's drooping pinion
Waxes strong in love's pure light.

I know that thou art happy!
O may affection's glass
With its diamond sparkles measure
Life's changes as they pass.
Could friendship's gentle magic
Rule thy horoscope of doom,
Not a moment e'er should meet thee
In sadness or in gloom.

Farewell, farewell, beloved one,
Though destined far to roam,
When thoughts come crowding on thee
Of thy distant native home --
The home from whence has vanished
One dear familiar face,
And the hearth whence joy was banished
When thou left a vacant place --

When memory's mournful music
Awakes thy pleasant tears,
O! let one chord still vibrate
To the friend of early years.
I've loved thee in thy sorrow,
I'll love thee still in joy:
Time could not change our friendship, --
Shall absence it destroy?





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