TO J—— S——.
(NOW OF ALABAMA.)
Brother and friend, I greet thee!—tho' thy dwelling
Be far from friends and from thy home of youth,
Thoughts of thy best-loved ones and thee, are swelling
Within my heart, in sadness and in truth.
I greet thee from the land, where death has broken
Some links of love's bright chain, but where the ties
Of blood still bind thee, and this worthless token
Is warm with truth's and friendship's fadeless dyes.
Thou wert to me, indeed, a friend and brother—
As such I loved thee, such I still must deem;
Distance and time, with me, can never smother
The deep, full flowing of affection's stream.
I know thee!—Nature's magical refining
Has given thy soul what art can ne'er bestow—
A warmth, a depth of tenderness, inclining
Even to romance—what few will ever know.
I felt, when with thee, that no shade of feeling,
No touch of truth, no thought of loftier aim,
Could ever be to thee a vain revealing—
That with thy mind my own could kindred claim.
Thou saidst that thou shouldst hail with greater pleasure
This page,1 when it contained some trace of me—
Say, wilt thou by this humble tribute measure
The fond regard I cherish still for thee?
May all this world can give, best worth possessing,
Fame, fortune, friends, and length of days be thine;
And may the Christian's hope, that surest blessing,
Add grace to years, and gild thy life's decline.
Farewell!—Time's restless tide is rushing o'er us—
It cannot fade the past to mem'ry dear;
But its dark waters may, perchance, restore us
Much we have loved, and lost, and sighed for here.
E. A. S.
Virginia, June 26, 1836.
1 Southern Literary Messenger.