Page:Poems Rice.djvu/38

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LOST AT SEA.
SISTER LOUISA.

SWEET sister, as the years roll by,
I miss thee from my side;
Thy counsels and thy company,
Thy voice, thy heart to guide;
Just when the heavy clouds began
To gather round my head,
Just when I needed most thy care,
They whispered thou wert dead.

The ship,—alas! that dreadful day—
We waited by the strand,
To see it bear thy form away
From this our native land;
'Twas in the early spring, when birds
Make musical the air;
They seemed to mock our parting words,
And, too, our parting prayer.

How radiant with hope thy brow!
With love thy heart how warm!
But O, beloved sister, now
Where rests thy lovely form?