One smile of parental affection had caught,
Or his lineaments dear in my heart were enshrined!
Yes, my sire! by thy dust I am kneeling in prayer,
Where in days of my childhood so oft I have wept,
Imploring thy spirit to soothe my despair,
And at evening and morning sweet vigils have kept.
Ere my young mind could grasp them, they told me thy woes;
Of the virtues that bind thee forever to me;
Of the love of thy friends, of the hate of thy foes;
That in features and mind I was like unto thee;