Domestic Afflictions.
From the story “A Skeleton in every house.”
Domestic afflictions! Oh! how they divide;
How sad when we can’t in each other confide,
This anguish, though deep, must in silence be borne,
Abroad, home afflictions should not be made known.
Beware when ’tis said, Oh! how happy you are,
Not even to hint there’s a skeleton there,
The sight of which fills with deep anguish the heart,
Oh! ’tis nought to see loved ones and kindred depart.
When the grave has enclosed them, the grief wears away;
But oh! living griefs on the stoutest hearts prey;
Though you smile and seem joyful, ’tis but to conceal
The depth of the misery you inwardly feel.
How oft, where true peace undisturbed is enjoyed,
By a member additional, all is destroyed;
No congenial spirit, domestic joys o’er,
And home, O sweet home, there is realized no more.
When obliged to have inmates aside from our own,
How oft seeds of discord and anguish are sown;
The world thus is filled with confusion and strife,
Embittering the peace and the quiet of life.
Well, be this our portion; be broken each tie;
On the arm of the Lord we alone must rely.
With a meek, quiet spirit, resigning our all,
Content in our Father’s allotments to fall.