Make him whatsoe’er may be
Dearest to the saints and thee;
Tell him, from the throne above,
What to loathe and what to love;
To be true and just and mild,
Ave Mary! teach my child!
IV.
By the wondrous mercy won
For the world by thy blest son,
By the rest his labours wrought,
By the bliss his tortures bought,
By the Heaven he reconciled,
Ave Mary! bless my child!
V.
If about his after fate
Sin and sorrow darkly wait,
Take him rather to thine arms
From the world and the world’s harms;
Thus unscathed, thus undefiled,
Ave Mary! take my child!
THE NEWLY-WEDDED.
(1835.)
I.
Now the rite is duly done;
Now the word is spoken;
And the spell has made us one
Which may ne’er be broken:
Rest we, dearest, in our home,—
Roam we o’er the heather,—
We shall rest, and we shall roam,
Shall we not? together.
II.
From this hour the summer rose
Sweeter breathes to charm us;
From this hour the winter snows
Lighter fall to harm us:
Fair or foul—on land or sea—
Come the wind or weather,
Best or worst, whate’er they be,
We shall share together.