Why so soon was the bond of our sisterhood riven,
And I left alone on the cold earth to stay?
Why wast thou not spared to delight and to cheer
My desolate heart ’mid depression and gloom;
With thy love-breathing counsels to gladden my ear—
With thy songs and thy smiles to enliven my home?
Sleep on, ye beloved! it is better to rest
In the halls of the dead, than to linger in life,
Where the brain and the bosom with pains are oppressed
And the soul is beleaguered by sorrow and strife;