LINES
Composed on receiving a Letter from a
YOUNG FRIEND.
Dear little nephew with delight
I heard your letter read;
With pleasure heard them praise your write,
No wonder I was glad.
At six years old you write so well,
But vain I must not be;
Experience many a tale can tell,
To check and humble me.
Yet present good I ought to prize,
Will hope good things to come:
Storms do not always cloud the skies,
Nor veil them with deep gloom.
’Tis gratifying to receive
Lines from a friend so young;
Our family’s representative,
Posterity among.
Our line, for three full centuries past,
Resided in this place;
Yourself, dear boy, was born the last,
And stopt a little space.
No wealth, nor fame, nor costly toys,
To you through lineage run;
But let its virtues be your choice,
And all its failings shun.
Plains lie, hills rise, waves roll between
You and your natal spot;
When scarce ’tis known we here have been,
Our place and race forgot.
That after time, yon aged stone,
(Down in the green church-yard)
Perhaps you’ll visit, all alone,
Where are our sires interr’d:
Low sunk amid surrounding grass,
Like Ryno’s tomb of old,
And roughly fram’d, and clad with moss,
It long has mark’d the mould,
That forms our kindreds’ narrow bed;—
If any cause directs
You there, a pensive tear to shed,
O’er time and its effects.
Bless’d be the occasion of your stop,
The thoughts that move your heart,
Bless’d means, vain folly’s growth to lop,
And wisdom’s plants t’ impart.
Oh! deem not these ideas vain,
For love inspires the theme;
My only brother’s only child,
You bear my father’s name.
In many a sense I hold you mine,
By many ties endear’d;
You’ve led me, in my bosom lain,
My lonely moments cheer’d.
The lisping prattle of your tongue,
Thrills pleasant in my thought,
And all your little ways, when young,
Fresh in my memory float.
And oh! may He, whose special care
Did guard you then from harm,
Be with you still, shall be my prayer,
Whilst life this heart doth warm.
His Providence did us prevent,
From every hurtful thing,
As if an angel had been sent,
To shield us with his wing.
O! early learn His name to fear,
The holy name of God;
Him honour, trust, obey, revere,
Whilst earth is your abode.
And when from hence you must remove,
(How shortly none can tell)
You’ll see His gracious face in love,
And in his presence dwell.