Love Poem to Mary Batcheller from Abel
A handwritten love poem by Abel Harwood to his first wife Mary Batcheller in 1843.
“To my wife”
In eighteen hundred thirty six,
When in this book I chanced to fix
Some urgent lines, divinely true
Our Mutual love was out of view
-
But soon the heavenly plant was
Reaf on the soil, it never died:
It grew, it spread, was full of life,
The fruit it bore, husband and wife
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And still it lives, it never can die–
Unfeigned friendship, gentle tie
‘Tis this, unites our kindred hearts
And sweetest purest bliss impart
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Together let us do our best,
Affection thriving in our breast
To be of those whom Christ doth love
And gain the holy best above
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A. Harwood
Lexington, Ky,
Jan, 20th, 1843