06 November 2013

The Nest Among the Graves

By Mrs. Sigourney.
The cloudless sun went down
Upon a church-yard scene,
And there a quiet nest I marked
Hid in an evergreen,
As wandering mid the hallowed mound,
With velvet verdure drest,
I paused where two sweet sisters lay
In death's unbroken rest.
 
There was a marble seat
Beside that couch of clay,
Where oft the mournful mother sat
To pluck the weeds away,
And blest each infant bud
And every blossom fair,
That breath a sigh of fragrance round
The idols of her care.
 
The unfledged birds had flown
Far from their nest away,
Yet still within the imprisoning tomb
Those gentle sleepers lay;
But surely as those bright winged birds
Forsook the sheltering tree,
And soared with joyous shout to heaven
Such shall their rising be.
May 15, 1846. Burlington Free Press 19(50): 1.