TO AN ABSENT SISTER.

———

BY MRS. MARY G. HORSFORD.

———

Thy natal morn hath dawned again

With pure and cloudless ray;

May Peace and Hope attend thy steps,

Sweet sister, on this day.

It is the first that ever found

Me severed from thy side,

And tears will mingle with my prayer

At morn and eventide.

For I have yearned to lay my hand

In blessing on thy brow,

And speak the earnest words of love

That stir my spirit now;

Have longed, but longed in vain, to meet

The dark and sunny eye,

That has from childhood been to me

A star in every sky.

Have sought amid a stranger band

The smile I loved so well,

And lived in spirit o’er again

A sorrowful farewell!

And thou hast missed a warm caress,

And wept its loss, I know,

For we were joined as flowers that spring

From the same root below;

The early sunbeam as it stole

Across our quiet room,

Seemed to thy tearful eyes to wear

An all unwonted gloom.

And low winds seemed with mournful wail

The forest leaves to thrill,

As memory whispered that thou hadst

A vacant place to fill.

But we have loved as few can love,

For years, through storm and shine,

And though our paths lie separate now,

Thy heart still clings to mine.

By childhood’s smiles and youth’s gay dreams,

By memories of the dead,

By the stern discipline of grief,

My soul to thine is wed:

Links as eternal as the prayer

We used to breathe at even,

As ever-during as the vow

That binds us unto Heaven.

Then blessings on thee, dearest one,

My heart leaps o’er the sea;

I feel thy breath upon my cheek,

May God watch over thee.