Written on the First Leaf of the Album of the Same

What first should consecrate as thine,
The volume, destined to be fraught
With many a sweet and playful line,
With many a pure and pious thought?

It should be, what a loftier strain
Perchance less meetly would impart;
What never yet was pour’d in vain,--
The blessing of a grateful heart--

For kindness, which hath soothed the hour
Of anxious grief, of weary pain,
And oft, with its beguiling power,
Taught languid Hope to smile again.

Long shall that fervent blessing rest
On thee and thine; and, heavenwards borne,
Call down such peace to soothe thy breast,
As thou wouldst bear to all that mourn.