THE PARTED FAMILY, AND OTHER POEMS.

AN OFFERING TO THE AFFLICTED,

AND

A TRIBUTE OF LOVE TO DEPARTED FRIENDS.

BY

MARY S. B. DANA, Author of “The Southern Harp,” &c.

“Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child?” And she answered, “It is well.”

II Kings iv. 26.

NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY DAYTON & SAXTON, CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU STREETS.

BOSTON: SAXTON AND PEIRCE. 1842.

Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1841, by MARY S. B. DANA, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New-York.

[Pg vii]

CONTENTS.

[Pg xi]

PREFACE.

It is with some degree of diffidence, that the writer of these Poems presents them to the public. The unexpected and abundant favor with which her late work, “The Southern Harp,” has been every where received, has given her heartfelt gratification; and perhaps her latent susceptibility, roused by the flattering encomiums of an indulgent public, may blind her judgment, and lead her into error. When she is in danger of venturing beyond her depth, and sinking in the treacherous waves of popular favor,

It is, however, but justice to the writer to say, that many of these Poems have been submitted to the inspection of those in whose judgment she could confide, and she has been, with very cheering expressions of approbation, strongly advised to give them to the public; and many of her afflicted friends, who have perused them, have not only advised their publication, but have made it a subject of earnest request. A few of them have appeared in the “New York Observer,” “The Augusta Mirror,” and other periodicals; but by far the greater part of them are now published for the first time.

It will not require much penetration to discover that most of the Poems have been hastily written, and written rather under the guidance of feeling than of sober reflection; but, from the nature of their subjects, this last feature will be easily understood. It was some time after the severe afflictions to which allusion is made, before the writer could dwell upon them in this way, and thus render more vivid, scenes[Pg xii] which were already too prominently before her mind; yet it was a tribute of love she was anxious to pay to the dear departed, and such things should not be too long deferred. Perhaps, hereafter, when time shall have shed its healing balm upon her heart, they can be essentially improved.

While the writer would solicit the indulgence of the literary public, she invites that kind and candid criticism, which would tend to improve her style, and correct her faults.

M. S. B. D.

[Pg 13]

THE PARTED FAMILY.

“Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm xxvii. 14.

July, 1840.

FOOTNOTE

[1] “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”

TO AN ABSENT HUSBAND.

The following piece was composed while viewing a beautiful sunset from the capitol at Washington, in September, 1835.

[Pg 23]

TO A DEAR ABSENT FRIEND.

October, 1835.

THE CONFLICT.[2]

I.

II.

III.

IV.

[Pg 27]V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

[Pg 29]X.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

[Pg 32]XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

XXI.

XXII.

[Pg 34]XXIII.

XXIV.

XXV.

XXVI.

XXVII.

XXVIII.

XXIX.

XXX.

[Pg 37]XXXI.

XXXII.

XXXIII.

XXXIV.

XXXV.

Charleston, May, 1841.

FOOTNOTES

[2] Charles Palmer Dana, son of Charles E. and Mary S. B. Dana, died in Bloomington, Iowa Territory, August 20th, 1839, aged 2 years and 3 months.

[3] The Mocking-bird and the Nonpareil are birds peculiar to the south.

[Pg 39]

THE DYING AND THE DEAD.

May 27th, 1841.

[Pg 44]

THE MOTHER TO HER DEPARTED CHILD.

Charleston, March 28, 1841.

[Pg 47]

THE BURIAL.

Mrs. Hemans.

Charleston, June, 1841.

[Pg 64]