[SEE ENGRAVING.]
When Mary's brother went to sea,
He lingered near the door,
Beside the old, familiar tree,
He ne'er had left before,
And though gay boyhood loves to seek
New regions where to tread,
A pearl-drop glittered on his cheek
As tenderly he said—
"The gentle dove I reared with care,
Sister, I leave to thee,
And let it thy protection share
When I am far at sea."
Whene'er for Willy's loss she grieved,
His darling she caressed,
That from her hand its food received,
Or nestled in her breast;
And sometimes, at the twilight dim,
When blossoms bow to sleep,
She thought it murmuring asked for him
Whose home was on the deep.
And if her mother's smile of joy
Was lost in anxious thought,
As memories of her sailor-boy
Some gathering tempest wrought,
She showed his pet, the cooing dove,
Perched on her sheltering arm,
And felt how innocence and love
Can rising wo disarm.
When summer decked the leafy bowers,
And pranked the russet plain,
She bore his cage where breathing flowers
Inspired a tuneful strain;
And now and then, through open door,
Indulged a wish to roam,
Though soon, the brief excursion o'er,
The wanderer sought its home.