Felicia Hemans in The New Monthly Magazine Volume 42 1834/Images of Patriarchal Life
The New Monthly Magazine, Volume 42, Pages 17-18
XV.
Images of Patriarchal Life.
Calm scenes of patriarch life! how long a power
Your unworn pastoral images retain
O'er the true heart, which, in its childhood's hour,
Drank their pure freshness deep! The camel's train,
Winding in patience o'er the desert-plain,
The tent, the palm-tree, the reposing flock,
The gleaming fount, the shadow of the rock.
Oh! by how subtle, yet how strong a chain,
And in the influence of its touch how blest,
Are these things linked, for many a thoughtful breast,
With household memories, through all change endeared!
The matin-bird, the ripple of a stream,
Beside our native porch, the hearth-light's gleam,
The voices earliest by the soul revered!