AMELIA OPIE

There was an eye whose partial glance Could ne’er my numerous failings see; There was an ear that heard untired When others spoke in praise of me. There was a heart time only taught With warmer love for me to burn; A heart whene’er from home I roved Which fondly pined for my return. There was a lip which always breathed E’en short farewells in tones of sadness; There was a voice whose eager sound My welcome spoke with heartfelt gladness. There was a mind whose vigorous power On mine its own effulgence threw, And called my humble talents forth, While thence its dearest joys it drew. There was a love which for my weal With anxious fears would overflow; Which wept, which pray’d for me, and sought From future ills to guard—But now!— That eye is closed, and deaf that ear, That lip and voice are mute for ever; And cold that heart of anxious love, Which Death alone from mine could sever: And lost to me that ardent mind, Which loved my various tasks to see; And oh! of all the praise I gain’d His was the dearest far to me! Now I unloved, uncheered, alone, Life’s weary wilderness must tread, Till He who heals the broken heart In mercy bids me join the dead.