Poems (Nealds)/To my Husband

by Adeline Martha Nealds

TO MY HUSBAND.

Sad are my days, and sad each lonely night,
 For thou art far away;
Then what can give my soul delight;
 What make my spirit gay?

I know no joy when thou'rt afar,
 No bliss thou can'st not share;
Thou art to me the pilot star,
 Through this dark world of care.

Oh! were I with thee, could I be
 A wand'rer by thy side;
I'd deem myself more blest than she
 The proudest monarch's bride.

I think of thee at early dawn,
 When first I ope mine eye;
When first the rosy finger'd morn
 Draws night's dark curtain by.

And when the glorious sun rides high
 At noontide's glowing hour,
I grieve to think thou art not nigh
 To seek our shady bow'.

And when the ev'ning shadows fly
 Along the hedgerows green,
Again I heave the bitter sigh
 For joys that once have been.

And when the moon, in vestments pale,
 Sheds her soft light around,
I seek the lone and darksome vale,
 Where silence reigns profound.

But not the moon, in vestments pale,
 Or sun, in splendour bright,
Or shady bow'r, or darksome vale,
 Can yield my soul delight:

Nor the soft tints of fading eve,
 Or morning's rosy beam,
Cheer the sad heart that's doom'd to grieve,
 Or dry dark sorrow's stream.

At night, weigh'd down with woe and care,
 I bend to God the knee,
Kiss our dear babes, and breathe a prayer
 For happiness and thee.