Songs by the Way, by George Washington Doane (1860)

Project Canterbury

"Songs by the Way"
The Poetical Writings of the Right Rev. George Washington Doane, D.D., LL.D.

Arranged and Edited by His Son, William Croswell Doane

New York: D. Appleton, 1860.

LINES ON A SEAL.

The device.--A Sunflower.
The motto--"Je vous suis, partout."

I FOLLOW thee, always,
     By night, and by day;
Tho' rude, be the weather,
     And rugged, the way;
Thro' field, and thro' forest,
     My heart is with thee;
Nor mountain, nor fountain
     Can keep thee, from me.

The sunflower thus,
     To her bright idol, turns,
But turns, to him only,
     While brightly he burns;
And the shadow, that follows,
     All day in the sun,
Will linger, no longer,
     When daylight is gone.

The clouds may come o'er thee,
      In sorrow's dark hour,
But my spirit unshrinking,
     Above them shall tower;
On wings, as of eagles,
     Exultingly rise,
And play, in the ray,
     Of thy love-speaking eyes.

And tho' grief should encompass thee
     Round, like the night,
Still, my love shall be with thee,
     Thy joy, and thy light;
Nor leave thee, thou dear one,
     Till, lost in the gloom,
Of that blackness of darkness,
     Which broods o'er the tomb.

1828.

Project Canterbury