Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by HAZARD AND MITCHELL, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Stereotyped by J. Fagan. TENOX LIBRARY NEW YORK Printed by Smith & Peters. ΤΟ THE MOTHER OF JOSEPH C. NEAL. As Ruth, of old, wrought in her kinsman's fieldFrom the uneven stubble patiently Gathering the corn full hands had lavish'd free, Nor paused from sun, or air, her brow to shield— So I have gleaned, where others boldly reap: Their sickles flashing through the ripen'd grain, Their voices swelling in a harvest strain, Go on before me up the toilsome steep. And thus I bind my sheaf at even-tide For thee, my more than mother! and I come Bearing my burden to the quiet home Where thou didst welcome me, a timid bride; Where now thy blessed presence, day by day, Cheereth me onward in a lonely way. (iii) |