In Memory of Minnie L. Wilbor

We gather in the accustomed place
And look to welcome each dear face;
But miss we one; through yonder door;
Our darling Minnie comes no more!

The birds she loved return to sing
The glories of returning Spring,
The flowers she cherished bloom to bear
New sweetness on the Summer air!

But no renewal of the year
Brings the hushed voice we long to hear
To us no Summer sun revives
That single bloom of wedded lives!

A child of promise, true and good,
Sweet bud of earnest womanhood,
A wayside flower of hope and cheer
To lives, that held not life more dear;
Are these no more? forever lost
Like seedlings in untimely frost?

No! Heaven forbid the mournful thought;
Our own sad hearts the faith has taught
That still she lives whom still we love;
Our arms are stretched to hers above;
Who tells us that our lives may grow
To all she might have been below.