Emotion was struggling for vent in her heart.

She asked, "will some angel in mercy descend,
And from all afflictions each loved one defend?
Or must pain and sickness make sweet home forlorn?
Will death send an arrow, ere I shall return?"

Dear sister, my thoughts did in unison flow,
My heart will be with you wherever you go;
By day, in my fancy, thy image I see,
And sleep brings refreshment when dreaming of thee.





A SISTER'S COUNSEL.

"Be cheerful," thou saidst; that sweet sentence I heard,
Though filled with emotion, I spake not a word;
'Twas music, more soothing than steals through the trees
With green tresses waving in twilight's cool breeze.

"Be cheerful," thou saidst, when about to depart.
In tones that said plainly, we come from the heart.
We think of thee sister, when absent or here,
And wish not thine eye to be dimmed by a tear.

"Be cheerful," thou saidst, but, O how can I be,
When thou, my dear sister, art absent from me?