In Memoriam. - Madam Pond,

Widow of the late CALEB POND, Esq., died at Hartford, February 19th 1861, aged 73.


Would any think who marked the smile
    On yon untroubled face,
That threescore years and ten had fled
    Without a wrinkling trace?

Yet age doth sometimes skill to guard
    The beauty of its prime,
And hold a quenchless lamp above
    The water-floods of time.

And she, for whom we mourn, maintained
    Through every change and care,
Those hallowed virtues of the soul
    That keep the features fair.

They raised a little child to look
    Into the coffin deep,
Who dream'd the lovely lady lay
    But in a transient sleep,

And gazed upon the face of death
    With eye of tranquil ray,
Well pleased, as with the snowy flowers,
    That on her bosom lay.

Then on the sad procession moved,
    And mid funereal gloom,
The only son was there to lay
    His mother in the tomb.

Oh, memories of an only child,
    How strong and rich ye are!
A wealth of concentrated love
    That none beside can share.

And hence, the filial grief that swells,
    When breaks its latest tie,
Flows onward with a fuller tide
    Than meets the common eye.

With voice of holy prayer she pass'd
    Forth from her pleasant door,
Where tender recollections dwell
    Though she returns no more.

Even so the pure and pious rise
    From tents of pain and woe,
But leave a precious transcript here
    To guide us where they go.