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MY MOTHER.
In wild excess of love. I do not know
That e'er I heard thy voice, yet in, my brain
There is a soft mysterious melody
Far sweeter than the sweetest sound of earth
And I have dreamed it is thy gentle tone
Breathed in mine ear in early infancy
And lingering faintly still.

              My mother dear,
When the high mandate came that bade thee take
Farewell of this dark earth, and seek thy home
Of immortality beyond the stars,
Oh did no feeling of regret arise
Within thy pure and parting soul? Hadst thou
No torturing fears, sweet mother, for thy child
Whom thou wast leaving in her helpless years
Amid a world of sin? Hadst thou no dread
Lest her young feet should wander from the paths
Of truth, when she should hear no voice of thine
To warn her of her perils? Mother, now
That child is weary of life's pilgrimage,
Her spirit is oppressed on this dark shore