Classic and Contemporary Poetry
COUSIN AGGIE: A MEMORY, by JANET HAMILTON Poet's Biography First Line: The seal of sixty summers now Last Line: If gone before, we soon shall meet. Alternate Author Name(s): Hamilton, Janet Thompson Subject(s): Cousins; Marriage; Travel; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Journeys; Trips | ||||||||
THE seal of sixty summers now, Cousin Aggie, marks thy brow, If beneath Canadian skies Still thou livest. Mayhap thou lies Within the forest's shadow dark, Where never sculptured stone shall mark Thy last, thy lonely resting-place, Thou "best and loveliest of thy race!" Children oft we roamed together 'Mongst the blue-bells and the heather; Peeping in the moorfowl's nest Her wild bright eye and speckled breast, Quailed not at our presence near No living thing of us had fear; Happy time, ne'er to return, "When we twa paidled in the burn, When the simmer days were fine, In the days o' auld-langsyne." Time on stealthy pinions flew Cousin Aggie taller grew Her form in mould of classic grace Was cast: and ah! how fair her face! How soft her eye! how sweet her smile! And wooers came: not long the while Young Hamilton bore off the prize: Her hand, with blushes, tears, and sighs, She gave to him she loved so well In yon lone cot in fair Dalziel. 'Twas early morn when they were wed, Yet ere the noon of day had sped, With clinging arms and tender fears She from her mother's bosom tears Herself awayshe must not bide, The ship is waiting wind and tide, With all her snowy wings unfurl'd, To bear them to the Western World. The bridegroom pressed her to his side, "My own," he said, "my ocean bride, Thy all for me thou hast resigned, And I devote love, life and mind To thee; and I, this voyage past, Shall find a home for thee at last On free Columbia's virgin soil, Where we shall love, and live, and toil." But fortune, in an evil hour, Gave them into a villain's power. The tale I cannot tell aright, But that they took a hasty flight Across a frozen laketheir store Of worldly goods was sent before The ice gave way, the loaded wains Went down. What now for them remains But love and hope; that gave them strength; They had the will, the way at length They found to the Canadian shore, Nor dreamed of deeper loss in store. Upon a chosen spot of land, Their log-house built; the holy band Of wedded love more strong and dear Had grown in danger, loss, and fear. One day they left their forest home Along the lake some miles to roam; Returning, looked they for the spot Where stood at morn their lonely cot; A thin blue smoke rose on the air, A pile of smouldering ashes where Your all consumed lieshapless pair! But love and hope forbade despair. Dear Cousin Aggie, once, no more I heard that thou, thy troubles o'er A wife beloved, a mother dear, Adorn'd thy calm, domestic sphere; O dearest cousin! I would know, For it is long, so long ago, And I did love thee passing well, Since I of thee or thine heard tell; Thee, yet alive, I dearly greet; If gone before, we soon shall meet. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES TO H. B. (WITH A BOOK OF VERSE) by MAURICE BARING A BALLAD FOUNDED ON A REAL INCIDENT WHICH OCCURED IN HIGH LIFE by JANET HAMILTON |
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