Chapter XIX: Absence

_Written in Derbyshire, by the same Friend._

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When recollection brings to mind, The kindred ties I've left behind, The converse gentle and refin'd, I grieve!

Deep the regret, the pain extreme, And yet I fondly love the dream, And find the sad, delightful theme Relieve.

It bids all present forms decay, All present feelings fade away; Impeding distance, long delay Are o'er!

Fancy, so active in the gloom, Till some one enters in the room, Can all the images of home Restore.

Alas! when weeks, and months are past, Shall I that home behold at last, Which even the dark clouds overcast Endear?

Lest one of all the cares that dart Like arrows round each thoughtful heart, May pierce ere then some vital part I fear!