Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/405

SUSAN W. JEWETT. Susan W. Jewett, wife of Charles A. Jewett, who is widely known in the West as an engaver, is, we believe, a native of Massachusetts. Between the j^ears 1840 and 1857, she was a frequent contributor to the periodicals and journals of Cincinnati. In 1847 she conducted a monthly magazine for children, called the Youth's Visitor, which was a favorite wherever it became known. In 1856, Truman and Spofford, Cincinnati, published for Mrs. Jewett " The Old Corner Cupboard," a duodecimo vol- ume of three hundred and four pages, composed of prose sketches and poems, illus- trating " the every-day life of every-day people." THE PAST. "Weep not for what is past, With vain and fruitless tears. But husband well thy strength, To serve the coming years. In noble deeds, not idle grief, Let the true soul find sweet relief. Mourn not for what is past. Though every passing day Some pathway may disclose, Where thou hast gone astray. Tears will but cloud thy feeble sight- Not guide thee to the way of right. Weep not for what is past ; Not tears of blood will bring One wasted moment back. Or stay Time's rapid wing. Pour not thy soul's best hfe away — Begin anew to live — to-day. Oh ! weep not for the past, Though in its dark domain, The forms thou lov'st are bound By adamantine chain. The deathless spirit should not be So fettered to mortality. What doth the grave enfold. That there thy thoughts should turn ? Colder the clay beneath Than monumental urn. The lost to thee — to life are born — Rejoice, then, in their natal morn ! The past ! that narrow span Is nothing now to thee, Poor prisoner of time. Yet in thine infancy ! The soul should earthly thrall despise — The future hath no boundaries. MY MOTHER. My mother ! long, long years have passed, Since half in wonder, half in dread, I looked upon thy clay-cold face. And heard the whisper — " She is dead ! " The memory of thine eartlily form Is dim as a remembered dream. But year by year, more close to mine Doth thy celestial spirit seem. ( 389 )