Written by Ebenezer Hemenway on the death
of his Mother, February 17, 1847

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"So man lieth down and riseth not till the heavens be no more."
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               The last tear I shed was the warm one that fell
               As I kissed my dear mother and bade her farewell;
               When I saw the deep anguish impressed on her face,
               And felt for the last time a mother's embrace.
                    Gone; gone; oh!  thou art gone;
               God bless thee forever--oh!  bless thee, my son.

               O I thought of my boyhood--thy kindness to me,
               When youngest and dearest I sat on thy knee;
               Of thy love to me ever so fondly expressed,
               As I grew up to manhood unconscious how blest.
                    Gone; gone; oh!  thou art gone;
               The Lord ever bless thee--oh!  bless thee, my son.

               Then I thought of thy counsels, unheeded or spurned,
               As mirth had enlivened or anger had burned;
               But oh!  when my sickness all helpless I lay,
               Thou didst nurse me and soothe me by night and by day.
                    Gone; gone; yes thou art gone;
               To the land of the bless'd, and the land of the free.

               Ah!  years of endurance have vanished, and now
               There is pain in my heart, there is care on my brow;
               The visions of hope and of fancy are gone,
               And cheerless I travel life's pathway alone.
                    Lone; lone--all alone
               For there's none here to love me, to love me like thee.

               My mother, dear mother; cold hearted they deem
               Thy off spring; but oh!  I am not what I seem;
               Though calmly and tearless all changes I bear,
               Could they look in my boson--the feeling is there.
                    Lone; lone--all alone;
               There's none here to love me; there is no love like thine.


          Worcester, Massachusetts.

          My father was born Jul 15, 1737; died Aug 15, 1819. Age 82 yrs.
          My mother was born Mar 25, 1761; died Feb 17, 1847. Age 86 yrs

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