Sonnets to Jenny

                              I.
Thou wert an Infant on thy mother’s knee,
     Blue-eyed and golden-haired
Soft as the light of morn, yet full of glee,
     The weary heart from sorrow to beguile,
A dear babe, “beautiful exceedingly,”
     Girded with love and guarded all the while,
When first I knew thee. Thou didst then become
     Dearer than words can speak, or thou canst know—
     And through long years my heart hath kept thee so,
Shrined in its inner temple—though my home
     Hath been afar from thine, and in my dreams
Only, could I behold thee—ever pure,
And ever young—my spirit’s cynosure!
     Thus still distinct thine infant image seems.

                              II.
Yet now I meet thee in the blushing bloom
     Of happy girlhood—only half a child,
A woman half—exempted from the gloom
     That care too often brings, yet not so wild
With kindling joy, as ere thou know’st the doom
     That waits us all. Still gentle, loving, mild,
With so much of thy childhood’s loveliness
     Around thee yet—and with the sweeter grace
     Of spirit, beaming from thy radiant face—
Though thou art changed, I cannot love thee less;
     For thou hast kept the freshness of thy heart
Untainted by the world. Oh, evermore
Guard thou that treasure, till thy life is o’er,
     And be as pure and gentle as thou art.

                              III.
Sweet Friend! for thee of Heaven I ask a boon—
     ‘Tis not that wealth or beauty may be thine—
One oft corrupts, the other fades, how soon!
     ‘Tis not that Science on thy path may shine—
That light may set in darkness long ere noon—
     But oh, [that] knowledge, beauty, wealth divine
Shed on thy soul—Virtue’s immortal dower!
     So shall thy heart with sweet affections glow,
     Thy hand be prompt to minister to wo,
Thy soul be strong to spurn unholy Power!
     Then shall thy life in sunshine glide away,
Love, Joy, and Peace, thy true companions be;
And when Death comes, thy spirit to set free,
     Angels shall bear thee to Eternal Day!