cams_benton_b028_f004_018_003

1 "Leaves have their time to fall &c. [etc.]"
And stay to sit -

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2 "Come when the blessed seals
That close the pestilence are broke,
And crowded cities wail its stroke;
Come in consumption's ghastly form,
The earthquake shock, the ocean storm;
Come when the heart beats high & warm,
With banquet song & dance & wine –
Come to the bridal chamber, Death,!
Come to the mother's, when she feels,
For the first time, her first-born's breath –
And thou art terrible – the tear,
The groan, the knell, the pall, the bier,
And all we know, or dream, or fear,
Of agony, are thine".

3 "And her last fond lingering look is given
To the love she leaves, & then to Heaven;
As if she would bear that love away
To a purer world, & a brighter day."