Withered Leaves from Memory's Garland
There comes a voice that awakes my soul; It is the voice of years that are gone,-- They roll before me with all their deeds.
These pages were not written for public inspection; but to beguile the weary hours of indisposition, and present a record of thoughts and sentiments to the eyes of my children, after my lips are sealed in death.
By the recommendation of friends, I have decided to submit them to the public.
From a criticising public I should shrink; but to a sympathizing public I would appeal, trusting the holy mantle of charity will be flung over my errors, and my motives appreciated.
I would take this opportunity to tender my hearty and sincere thanks to my patrons, who have aided me in this enterprise, not only by their subscriptions, but by their words of sympathy and encouragement, which have fallen like sunshine upon my gloomy pathway, warming my desolate heart, and leaving a sweet fragrance upon the memory, which shall live on and on, through the long ages of eternity; for beautifully and emphatically has Mrs. Childs said,
Goodness and beauty live forever,
Perhaps I should apologise for the pensive strain in which I have written, but it has been in shady places, when the body was suffering from disease, and I felt almost too weak to breathe. Dear reader, did you ever feel that you were dying? that there was but a step between you and death? How natural, at such a time, and in such a place, to contemplate the circumstances connected with the deaths of dear, departed friends.
Hoping this may lead some thoughtless one to reflection, I submit it to the investigation of a generous public.
But if I fail in this, shall I have written in vain? O, no; it is but a fulfilment in part of the great mission, do with all thy might what thy hand findeth to do. If we have but one small talent we are commanded to put it upon usury, that the Lord may receive his own when he cometh.
Some pieces were contributions from the pen of a loved sister, whose sentiments and principles are in unison with my own, and so they flow on together, in one common channel. Those designated by a star ( ) in the Index, are from her pen.
Abigail Stanley Hanna
Withered Leaves from Memory's Garland
1857.
Preface
Index
Withered Leaves.
Shadows of the Past
Reminiscences.
Midnight Scenes
The History of a Household.
Lines, Written during Convalescence from Brain Fever
The Angel Cousin.
Lines, Written at the Close of 1842.
Lines, on the New Year, 1853.
The Unhappy Marriage.
Lines, Written on the Year 1852.
Consumption.
To Mrs. A---- B----, on the Death of Her Child.
An Evening in Our Village.
Contemplations in a Grave Yard.
A Scene on the Kennebec River.
To Miss H---- B----, These Lines Are Affectionately Dedicated By ----.
Lines, Written in an Album.
A Long Night in the Eighteenth Century.
On Hearing a Bird Sing, December, 1826.
Variety.
Henriette Clinton;
The Child.
Lines, Written on the Death of Ellen A---- B----.
The Order of Nature.
The Seasons.
Dedication in an Album.
Lines, Written to Mrs. S----, On the Death of Her Infant.
Lines, To Mrs. S----, On the Death of Her Son, Who Died March, 1854.
The First and Last Voyage of The Atlantic.
The Fatal Feast.
To the Maiden
To Mrs. B----, On the Death of a Son.
O Come Back, My Brother.
The Twins
On the Frailty of Earthly Things.
To a Friend
The Mother and Her Child.
A Mother's Prayer.
Lines, Written in an Album.
On The Death of a Mother.
The Music of Earth.
Lines, Written on the Death of Mrs. Caroline P. Baldwin, Who Died July 6, 1827.
Lines, Written in a Sick-Room, April 15, 1855.
Lines, Written in a Sick Room, July 20th, 1855.
To a Friend
The Mother's Watch.
Why Should I Smile?
The Youth's Return.
To A----.
Beauties of Nature.
On the Death of Willie White, Who Was Drowned Sept. 21, 1856.
The Human Heart
Lines, Written on the Death of a Friend.
To a Friend.
Happiness.
A Picture of Human Life.
Flowers.
The Old Castle.
The Myrtle.
Death.
The Home of Childhood.
The Happy Land.
Devotion.
To a Friend
Lines, Written upon the Death of Two Sisters.
To I----.
Lines, Written for a Friend upon the 20th Anniversary of Her Birthday.
Human Thought
Lines, Written on the Departure of a Brother.
Lines, on the Death of a Friend.
The Power of Custom.
Annie Howard.
We All Do Perish Like the Leaf.
Life Compared to the Seasons.
Writing Composition.
Lines, Written in Answer to the Question "Where Is Our Poet?"
My Husband's Grave.
Lines, Written upon the Young Who Have Recently Died in Our Village.
Conscience.
Lines, Written in an Album.
Letter, from the Pen of My Husband, Now Deceased.
Hope.
Visit to Mount Auburn.
Lines, From Mary to Her Father in California, with Her Daguerreotype.
A Reminiscence.
Letter of Resignation, from Mrs. Hanna to The Maternal Association
Improvement of Time
Lines, Written on the Death of Frank.
The Pleasures of Memory.
The Song of the Weary One.
Lines, Inscribed to a Brother.
Changes
To Mr. and Mrs. S----, On the Death of an Infant.
The Spirits of the Dead.
The Widow's Home
To Mrs. J. C. Bucklin, by Her Father.
To The Reader.