VIRGINIA

DEAR eyes, so full of kindness for us all,

Of sympathy’ s sweet cheer, of glinting fun,

Of tenderness for creatures weak and small,

And welcomes never failing any one:—

Dear busy hands, to which all work seemed play,

Defeat impossible, and taste a dower,

Making the common things of every day

Unfold to beauty like an opening flower;

Dear heart, whose every beat until the end

Was quick and ardent with affection’ s thrill;

Whose ample chambers sheltered many a friend,

And opened at a touch for others still,—

The world seems colder than it used to be

Since those sweet hands were folded on her breast,

Since the eyes closed in death’ s deep mystery

And that great loving heart was stilled to rest.

But like a star she hovers through our tears,

And the Eternal world, so dim, so fair,

Which holds the secret of our mortal years,

Nearer and friendlier seems now she is there.