TO MR. AND MRS. H. N. DAVIS, OF ST. LOUIS.
My kind friends will excuse this public mention of their hospitality to an afflicted stranger. I love to hold up to view the bright spots in the human character; and I do it now, not entirely as a compliment to them, (for they know the deep well of gratitude that is ever springing in my heart,) but it is for the sake of the afflicted—of the stranger—of those who may be in need of the kindness and hospitality of their fellow men; it is for an example to those who may have an opportunity to “do likewise.”
I came a stranger lone and sad,
Whose earthly prop was gone,
And ye outstretch’d your shelt’ring arms
For me to lean upon;
And clasp’d me warmly to your breasts,
As though I were your own;
O, who can prize a friendly heart
Like one who’s all alone?
The husband of my love is dead—
But ye my griefs have soothed;
And the rough pathway of this world
Your tenderness has smoothed;
O, bless you—bless you—friendly hearts!
Ye sweetly tell my fears,
This world is not a desert quite,
Nor all a vale of tears.
Some verdant spots of smiling green
Lie scatter’d here and there,
On which the sun of friendship shines,
The sadden’d heart to cheer;
And ye have done a kinder deed,
O, well tried friends and true,
Than ever, in your hours of joy,
I could have done for you.
My widow’d heart is stricken sore,
With yet another woe;
O, once i had the loveliest boy—
But he too lieth low!
The father and his darling son
Are now together laid
In those dark graves which speak for me,
A childless widow made!
In two short days they both were dead;
And when I call’d my own,
No cheerful voices answer’d me,
For, O! I was alone!
They were not mine—I thought them so,
But He who kindly gave,
As kindly took them to himself,
Their souls and mine to save.
The great deliv’rance came to them
From sin, and pain, and woe;
To me, a severing of the ties
That bound my heart below.
O, then, it was a hand of love,
Which wrote their early fate
To leave a treach’rous world, while I
In silence am to wait.
O, bless you—bless you—friendly hearts!
In all this earthly woe,
Ye kindly took me to your home,
And did your love bestow;
Ye love me, tender hearts and true,
I hear it in each tone!
I see it in your swimming eyes,
And feel I’m not alone!
St. Louis, October 10, 1839.