| T H E L A D I E S ' R E P O S I T O R Y . |
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CINCINNATI, MARCH 1841. |
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| William Baxter | The Gifted (1841) |
| T H E L A D I E S ' R E P O S I T O R Y . |
|
CINCINNATI, MARCH 1841. |
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| O r i g i n a l . |
| T H E G I F T E D . |
| Lines suggested by seeing a Portrait of Mrs. L. E. Landon. |
| BY W. BAXTER. |
| O SHE was fair and beautiful, Although her cheek was pale; Like summer's rose, when wither'd by The stern autumnal gale; And marks of sorrow I could trace Upon her fair, expressive face. And she was strangely gifted, with The power to touch the heart, With song so sweet, which, while we heard, We wish'd might ne'er depart; Though grief was mingled with the strain, We paused to hear the sound again. Her heart was full of purest thoughts-- A clear and gushing spring; A world of burning words it was, And bright imagining. She seemed a thing of heavenly birth, Too fair and pure to dwell on earth. Her eye, too, of cerulean blue, Was full of tenderness; Though dimm'd oft by the starting tear, Which she might not repress. For, to the heart surcharg'd with grief, The silent tear oft brings relief. A world entranced, hung upon Her notes of melody; And listen'd, as if spirits woke Their heavenly minstrelsy-- And multitudes, enraptur'd hung Upon the accents of her tongue. The song is hush'd--her voice has ceas'd, And she hath pass'd away, Unto a holier, happier clime, To sing a sweeter lay-- Yes, that pure form is reft of breath-- The brilliant eye is clos'd in death. She died far from her native land, On Afric's wildest shore; The ocean rolls near her lone grave-- Her requiem is its roar. But her blest spirit joins the songs Which flow not but from seraphs' tongues. |
[The Ladies' Repository 1 (March 1841): 94.]
ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION
William Baxter's "The Gifted" was first published in The Ladies' Repository, and Gatherings of the West: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to Literature and Religion, Vol. 1, No. 3, March 1841, p. 94. This volume, edited by L. L. Hamline, was published in Cincinnati by J. F. Wright and L. Swormstedt for the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.
Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA
Created 30 March 2000.
Updated 28 June 2003.
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