When I Think of Thee, Brother

I

When I think of thee, brother,
Is my heart not all thine?
Yet the face of another
Seems bending o’er mine.
I call thee by name, yet a name not thy own
Has whispered already its dear undertone.

II

When I think thine eyes greet me,
Their sweet flash of blue
Brings another’s to meet me
Of somberer hue;
And ever before me they seem to remain,
Though my heart but repines to behold thee again.

III

When I list, and would hear thee
Once more in our home,
And thy voice appears near me,
Another’s has come.
I dream of thee only, for thee only sigh,
Yet thy image forsakes me; another’s is nigh.

IV

When thy fond smiles come o’er me,
As in moments now flown,
There riseth before me
A look not thy own:
’Tis thee I recall to my mind, O my brother!
Yet ever with thine comes the gaze of another.