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448
EMILY E. JUDSON.
I've not been long away, mother;
Few suns have rose and set,
Since last the tear-drop on thy cheek
My lips in kisses met:
'Tis but a little time, I know,
But very long it seems,
Though every night I came to thee,
Dear mother, in my dreams.

The world has kindly dealt, mother,
By the child thou lov'st so well;
Thy prayers have circled round her path,
And 'twas their holy spell
Which made that path so dearly bright,
Which strew'd the roses there,
Which gave the light, and cast the balm,
On every breath of air.

I bear a happy heart, mother,
A happier never beat;
And even now new buds of hope
Are bursting at my feet.
Oh, mother! life may be "a dream,"
But, if such dreams are given,
While at the portal thus we stand,
What are the truths of Heaven!

I bear a happy heart, mother,
Yet, when fond eyes I see,
And hear soft tones, and winning words,
I ever think of thee.
And then, the tear my spirit weeps
Unbidden fills my eye;
And, like a homeless dove, I long
Unto thy breast to fly.


ANNE CHARLOTTE LYNCH. 449

Then, I am very sad, mother,
I'm very sad and lone;
Oh! there's no heart, whose inmost fold
Opes to me like thine own!
Though sunny smiles wreathe blooming lips,
While love-tones meet my ear;
My mother, one fond glance of thine
Were thousand times more dear.

Then, with a closer clasp, mother,
Now hold me to thy heart;
I'd feel it beating 'gainst my own
Once more before we part.
And, mother, to this love-lit spot,
When I am far away,
Come oft-too oft thou canst not come-
And for thy darling pray.

ANNE CHARLOTTE LYNCH.
MISS LYNCH was born in Burlington, Vermont. Her father was an Irish patriot, who, at an early age, accompanied the noble and high-souled Emmett to this country after the struggle of '98. Her mother was a daughter of Colonel Grey, a brave soldier and distinguished officer in the American revolutionary army. With such blood in her veins, she lawfully inherits that pure fervent patriotism, that genuine love for the just and the free, and that indignant scorn for oppression and tyranny, which so often distinguish her poems. There is, indeed, about them, a strength, a bravery, a soldier-like sincerity. Hope, faith, energy, endurance, victory, are the noble lessons they nobly teach. Yet they are
as delicately beautiful as they are vigorous, and possess as much deep
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