William Baxter Ellen Day (1852)

FROM THE

=================================================================
S O U T H E R N   L I T E R A R Y   M E S S E N G E R.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT FIVE DOLLARS PER ANNUM--JNO. R. THOMPSON, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
=================================================================
 VOL. XVIII. RICHMOND, AUGUST, 1852.
=================================================================

 

ELLEN DAY.
 
I have a cherished memory,
    Which I would not forget;
A dear, delightful dream of love,
    That lingers round me yet:
For in that dream I wander back
    To years long passed away;
And seem to be, the boy I was,
    When I met Ellen Day.

I was sixteen, she two years less;
    And never to my sight,
Had such a maiden form appeared,
    So like an angel bright.
We met, beneath the forest shade,
    She was our Queen of May;
And from that hour, queen of my heart,
    Was lovely Ellen Day.

She was my partner in the dance
    Beneath the greenwood tree;
She sung a ballad which rehearsed
    True love's sad history:
I then was young, my locks were dark,
    But now, my hair is gray:
Yet never voice seemed sweet to me,
    As that of Ellen Day.

The livelong day, my heart was light,
    For she was by my side;
And though a boy, I inly vowed,
    To win her for my bride:
That evening, as we homeward walked,
    I gave my heart away;
And gained another;'twas the heart
    Of lovely Ellen Day.

Four years sped by--another year,
    And at the altar we
Most fondly hoped to link for aye,
    Our earthly destiny:
But oh! before the year had fled,
    Death bore my love away;
And laid within the grave so cold,
    My lovely Ellen Day.

I mourn her yet; the only charm
    Of live has passed away;
For, oh! my heart is buried in
    The grave of Ellen Day.
Long years have fled, yet by her grave,
    I daily kneel, and pray;
And soon, I hope to lay me down,
    Beside my Ellen Day.

 

[Southern Literary Messenger 18 (August 1852): 495.]

ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION

      William Baxter's "Ellen Day" was first published in the Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. 18, No. 8, August 1852, p. 495. This volume, published in Richmond, Virginia, was edited by John R. Thompson.

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 7 May 2000.
Updated 28 June 2003.

William Baxter Ellen Day (1852)
Back to William Baxter Page
Back to Restoration Movement Texts Page