L. E. L.’s Last Writings

'died a gallant knightWith sword in hand for England's right;'

'We recognizeA grandeur in the beating of her heart,'

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"How often shall I think of theeIn many a future scene!How can affection ever beTo me what thine has been!

How many words scarce noticed nowWill rise upon my heart,Touched with a deeper tendernessWhen we are far apart!

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I met thee when my childish thoughtsWere fresh from childhood's hours;—That pleasant April time of life,Half fancies and half flowers.

Since then how many a change and shade,In life's web have been wrought!—Change has in every feeling been,And change in every thought.

But there has been no change in theeSince to thy feet I came,In joy or sorrow's confidence,And still thou art the same.

Farewell! my own beloved friend,A few years soon pass by;—And the heart makes its own sweet homeBeneath a stranger sky;—

A home of old remembrances,Where old affections dwell;While Hope that looks to other days,Soothes even this farewell."

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**"Oh! would to me were givenA power upon thy light;What words upon our English heavenThy loving rays should writel!

Kind messages of love and hopeUpon thy rays should be;Thy shining orbit would have scopeScarcely enough for me!"

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"The very stars are strangers as I catch themAthwart the shadowy sails that swell above;I cannot hope that other eyes will watch themAt the same moment with a mutual love.They shine not there as here they now are shining,The very hours are changed—ah! do ye sleep?O'er each lone pillow midnight is declining;—May some kind dream at least my image keep!My friends, my absent friends!Do you think of me as I think of you?

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Bearing upon its wings the hues of morning,Up springs the flying fish, like life's false joy,Which of the sunshine asks that frail adorningWhose very light is fated to destroy!Ah! so doth genius on its rainbow pinion,Spring from the depths of an unkindly world;So spring sweet fancies from the heart's dominion,—Too soon in death the scorched-up wing is furled.My friends, my absent friends!Whate'er I see is linked with thoughts of you.

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Sunshine is ever cheerful, when the morningWakens the world with cloud-dispelling eyes;The spirits mount to glad endeavour, scorningWhat toil upon a path so sunny lies.Sunshine and hope are comrades, and their weatherCalls into life an energy like spring's;But memory and moonlight go together,Reflected by the light that either brings.My friends, my absent friends!Do you think of me then? I think of you."