Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1861-03-08
An ELEGY TO The DEPARTED,

Farewell. ye fond friends Of past yearsi
Sad changes have caused us to part;
Remembrance now melts me u tears,
And anguish is bursting mt heart:
My lifes promised pleasures are gone as n dream,
My friends once beloved, away ike you stream.
The breezes are filed with my sighs,
Alone by river | weep;
My tears fall irshDois from my eyes,
And passsoy>2 Ia. stream to the deep:
mourn for the les, Of my friends in the tomb,
A. rivers are lost ~ ocean, their home.
All, sweet gliding 2, no~ on.
Thy murmars inv me- to
Sad emblem OF friends who gone,
Lake waters no more to return:
Thus vanish thy bubbles, thy foain. and thy wavcs-
Like friends who have left me, rest in their graves
Oh, stream full Of fountsns and cold.
Thy beauty is -een with n slh,
For youth here their me rriIn.ut hold,
And battle TIL they sicken aud die:
Their source OF delight aud diversion u day,
Tomorrow may WAIT their young spirits away.
All who can unfeelingy see
A stream where tn" lovely are drowned!
o, stream! thou art mou.nful to me,
For here one was lost a;id was found:
But cold was the firm MS the water that flows,
All cold us the grave where my kindred repUse.
Alas! how dispersed my fri-nisi
How many repOse ia their gravesi
Come emile here OHIO descenls,
Some weep, Ere's blue
But friends long departed eau cheer me 10 more.
Dear river, the showers that warm
Aud iced thy soft murmuring sound,
May soon be exchanged for storm,
And spread d-sciaiiun around;
All. emblem II offricnd-hip, OF hop- and ofjoy,
Which fOodr Of affection :" often destroy.
The storm, s- i, passes away.
DeIigltiul aud tranquil appears:
But When shall tines current convey
Nv soul fIOm this valley % t.ar-p
mourn as the willow that kisses the wave,
And bow 10 the Hood as | tenIto the grave.
Ye ever green mountains in view,
" hose tops meet the storms Of the sky
Your wales wake my sorrow anew,
Your once flowing channels are dry;
The str ans OF my pleasure are dried up like thine
My iends, like yOur rocks can not hear NE repine
ie valleys, so fertile and green!
Ye give no delight 10 my soul:
For here my lost friends 1 have seen.
Who smrd where these biiows now roll
The place OF their rest !, now really for me,
Thus friend follows friend like the waves Of the sea-
New friends seek to comfort in vain,
Unstable a. water they prove;
Their VOWS swell the tide Of my pain,
For friendship is iathless as love:
Oh, world iuii Of change, Disappointment ard woel
My friendship resembles tbese waters that Gov.
Thus, while by river ! mourn'd,
In sadness approaching despair,
My thoughts 10 the Gospel turned,
Aud found consolation thrrv:
] saw the ble-t stream Of Emanurls tlood,
saw grace iair river, that leads me to tod
o river immortal, divinel
Which flows through the valley of death,
MAY those living waters be mine,
When 'iod -hAll extinguish NV breath
Farewell, streams and valleys whcr- joy disappears
My soul seeks world free f.om sorrow and tears.
The river of Grace as it flows
Shall wash from pollution its stain,
And lead To n world of repu--.
Wher. mortals are freed from their pain:
This stream will trace to Etrrnity's shore,
Where anguish aud death RENE IHl.r.d no more.