Poem by Joseph Rodman Drake

To Sarah

I.

One happy year has fled, Sall,
   Since you were all my own,
The leaves have felt the autumn blight,
   The wintry storm has blown.
We heeded not the cold blast,
   Nor the winter’s icy air;
For we found our climate in the heart,
   And it was summer there.

II.

The summer’s sun is bright, Sall,
   The skies are pure in hue;
But clouds will sometimes sadden them,
   And dim their lovely blue;
And clouds may come to us, Sall,
   But sure they will not stay;
For there’s a spell in fond hearts
   To chase their gloom away.

III.

In sickness and in sorrow
   Thine eyes were on me still,
And there was comfort in each glance
   To charm the sense of ill.
And were they absent now, Sall,
   I’d seek my bed of pain,
And bless each pang that gave me back
   Those looks of love again.

IV.

Oh, pleasant is the welcome kiss,
   When day’s dull round is o’er,
And sweet the music of the step
   That meets me at the door.
Though worldly cares may visit us,
   I reck not when they fall,
While I have thy kind lips, my Sall,
   To smile away them all.

1. To Eva
2. To a Lady with a Withered Violet
3. Song (Oh! go to sleep, my baby dear)
4. Lines Written on Leaving New Rochelle
5. Bronx

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