Jane's Poetry Book





There is a word that rends the heart
Which all have said and all must say -
Which breaks the bands of love apart
And drives the dream of bliss away
And e'en when youth all buoyant springs
Fresh into life and gaily sings
Light as the wood lark on the spray
That dreaded word may then be said
Sad as the requiem o'er the dead.

A word - that makes us sadly own
That all our dearest joys are vain
Which bids us trace our steps alone
Along the flinty path of pain -
Which uttered by the parting breath
When the soul feels the chill of death
And cannot glow with life again
Commands the tears of love to flow
O'er what hath been its joy below.

A word - that breaks the fond caress
Of youthful hearts in happy hours -
Which makes the world a wilderness
Devoid of verdure, fun and flowers -
The faded leaves bestrew the ground
The deadly ivy creeping round



Pershades the broken bowers -
Where once the rose and lily grew
And sparkled in the morning dew.

A word - that severs every tie
Which youth believes will last for aye
Which dims the light of beauty's eye
And chases all her smiles away -
Which sheds affliction on her brow
And wrings with pain her breast of snow
What is this word which all must say?
Youth - Manhood - Age - ye all can tell -
It is that fatal word FAREWELL.

J Brooks. Poughkeepsie. Feb. 20. 1822

View in Jane's Manuscript Book

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