Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1833-01-17
EFT. g.ay@SpAg M0aNINGs GANyA8T a0s 1889
ALEXANDRIA GAZETTE.


have Died Of Cholera; pleasant eminencs in
Sheffield Park.
By JAMES MoNreeMERY, ESQ.
In death divided from their dearest kin,
This is "a field to bury strangers in;"
Fragments lie here of families beretl,
Like limbs ia battle-srnunds by warriors left;
A sad community !-whuse very bones
Might feel, niethinks, a paug TO quicken stones,
And make them from the depth OF darkness cry,
" Oh! is it nought TO Won. We passers bv!
When from its earthly house the spirit He'd,
Oar dust might not Dc free among the deads"
All! why were we to this Siberia sent,
boom'd in the grave itself to punishment!
Shuddering humanity asks-. Who are these!
And what their siu?"-They fell b, one disease!
Not by the Proteus maadies, that strike
Man into nothingness--not twice aike;)
BY the blue pest, whose grippe no art can shun,
No force unwrench-out singled one BY one;
When ikea .ime!ess birth, the wcmb ct Fate
Bore new death. of unrec0Tded date,
And doubtful name. Far east ,ts race begun.
Thence round the world pursued the western sun;
The ghosts Of millions following at its back,
Whose desacra,ed graves betrayed their track;
On Aibion's shore, unseen, the invader slept:
Secret, and swift, and terrible il crept;
At noon, at midnight, seizrd the weak the strong;
Asleep. awake, alone, amidst the hrong,
kil'd like murderer; fix d Ms icy hold,
And mrung out life with agony Of cold;
Nor sta,'d its vengeance where it crush'd the
prey,
But set mark, like CAMS, upon their clay,
And this tremendous seal lmpress'd on ali
T." Bury me out Of sight, and out Of call"
Wherefore no fia root this turf may tread,
No kneellns mother clasp her baby's bed;
No maiden unespoused, Nth widow ID signs,
Seek her SOULS treasure where her trueove lies;
All stand aloDf. and gazing from afar,
Look on this Mount as on some baleiul star,
Strange to the heavens, that with bewildering
light,
Like lost spirit, wanders through the night.
Yet many u,oulner weeps her fali'n estate,
In MANY home by them left desolate:
Once warm with love, and radia with the smiles
OF woman, watching infants at their wiles.
Whose eve Of thought, while now they throns
her knees,
Pictures far other scene than that she gees,
For one is wanr,ng--one. for whose dear sake,
Her Heart with very tenderness would ache,
As now with amgush--doutled when she spies
In this his lineaments. in that his eyes
In each HIS image with her own commix'd,
And there at least. for life, their uniun fix'd!
Humanity again asks, Who are thesel
And what, their sinss"-They fell by one dis
ease.
But when they KNOCKED for entrance at the tomb,
Their fathers bones refused to make them room;
RecoAing Nature from their presence fed
A III. t,vp hntt han Sfru HIM, LOAF
Their cries pursued her with the thrilling plea,
-. Give US little earth for charity!"
She linoer'd. listen'd: all her bosoi" yearnu;
The mothers pulse through every vein re.urn'd;
Then, az she halted on this hill. she threw
Her mantle wide, anal loose her tresses flew.
"Live!' to the slain she cried: "My children,
live,
| This for an heritage Ia you give;
Had Death consumed You by the common lot,
Ye with the multitude, had been forgot,
| Now through an age of ages we shall not.
| Thus Nature spake; as her echo,
Take up her parable, and phrophesy:
IIere.as from spring to spring the swallows pass,
Perennial daisies shall adorn the grass:
Here the thrill skyiark build her annual nest,
Aud SIM 10 heaven. while you serenely rest,
On trembling dewdrops morn's first glance shall
shine,
Ewes latest beams on this fair bank decline,
And Of, the rainbow steal through light and gIoom
| To throw its sudden arch across your tomb;
On you the moon her sweetest influence shower,
And every planet bless you in its hour.
With statelier honers sill, in Times slow round,
Shall this scpuchra commence be crownd;
Where generations long to come shall hail
The growth OF centuries waving in the gale,
A forest landmark. on the mountains head,
Standing betwixt the living and the dead;
Nor, while your language lasts shall travellers
cease
To say. at sight Of your memorial. Peace"
Your voice of silence answering from the sod.
=. Whor'er thou art. prepare to meet thy God:'
! Sheffield. Gctober. 10, 1882
For Lent.