1.
MY dearest Father! words can feebly paint,
What my heart feels on this most happy day,
Beneath the task poetic numbers faint,
And language fails such feelings to pourtray.
2.
My warmest gratitude to Heaven is due,
That thy invaluable days are yet preserv’d,
While Hope, enchanting, brings before my view,
The choicest blessings yet for thee reserv’d!
3.
Oh! rich in all that dignifies mankind,
In every virtue that adorns our race;
A bright example thou wilt leave behind,
Of every Christian excellence and grace.
4.
Well hast thou acted on the world’s great stage,
Through the revolving years thy life has pass’d,
And tho’ thy name may grace no Poet’s page,
‘Twill shine in Heaven and Earth–and time outlast.
5.
What tho’ in future ages, none shall weave
Triumphant lays to celebrate thy fame;
What tho’ no laurel wreath thy brows receive,
Nor distant countries echo to thy name;
6.
Bright as the Sun thy name appears above,
And Angels sing it on their heavenly lyres,
Fix’d on a column of External Love,
‘Twill stand unmov’d when Nature’s self expires!
7.
The Christian’s triumph is one, nobler far
Than those the laurel’d sons of Mars achieve,
‘Gainst all the host of Sin he wages war,
Nor, ’till the fight is o’er, the field will leave!
8.
Oh! may thy bright example sweetly teach,
Thy children’s hearts to emulate thy worth,
And tho’ thy standard they may never reach,
Oh! may they learn to rise beyond the things of earth !
9.
May we, like thee, affliction’s weight sustain,
Like thee, magnanimously stand the shock,
In deepest woe, and in acutest pain,
Securely leaning on th’ Eternal Rock!
10.
Not all the maxims of the Grecian Schools
Could ever perfect resignation teach,
Not all Philosophy’s heart-chilling rules
This high attainment of our Nature reach.
11.
Religion only has reveal’d the way,
Religion only could such strength impart ,
She gilds affliction with a living ray,
She heals the throbbings of the wounded heart.
12.
May her assuasive balm be still thy own,
And still support thee in the trying hour,
May guardian angels round th’ Eternal Throne,
Protect thee still by their celestial Power!
13.
May Heaven preserve thy valuable days,
And added blessings every year bestow,
May Hope still gild the future with her rays,
And beam resplendent thro’ the night of woe!
(Mary Abel Clinckett)
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Based on Topics: Love Poems, World Poems, Night Poems, War & Peace Poems, Heaven Poems, Christianity Poems, Name Poems, Hope Poems, Pain Poems, Money & Wealth Poems, Power PoemsBased on Keywords: attainment, dignifies, invaluable, earth-and, assuasive, acutest, magnanimously, heart-chilling