Edward Henry Bickersteth Poems

Take this wish, and may it be
Ever in thy heart enshrined,
That thy God may bless e'en thee
With a pure and spotless mind;
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O! bring me flow'rs, and I will wreathe
A chaplet for thy hair,
And as I twine each bud't will breathe
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“I would wake the shell
And lull my senses to forgetfulness
With its sweet melody.”—
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Thy plaintive muse responds to mine,
And bids me speak no more of pain;
Ah! could I sweep some chords of mirth,
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While o'er thine infancy thy mother smiled,
A thousand wishes all her thoughts beguiled:
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Hail! hope, delicious hope!
Return once more with thy seductive smile,
And chase away these fears;
My weary heart thou dost beguile
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Mark the soft lustre of her eye,
As shining through its fringe;
Roses have spread their faintest dye,
Young beauty's cheek to tinge.
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And have I flung my once loved lyre
Thus heedless by,
Unstrung are all its chords and hushed
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Fill, fill me a goblet from those dark and silent waters,
Where the lovēd song of the minstrel for ever is mute;
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Come, lonely, melancholy flow'r,
Who lov'st with me the silent hour,—
Come shed abroad, when stars are high,
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