In Memoriam. - Mrs. Helen Tyler Beach,

Wife of Mr. C. N. BEACH, died at Philadelphia, July 30th, 1860.


How strange that One who yesterday
    Shed radiance round her sphere,
Thus, in the prime of life and health,
    Should slumber on the bier.

How sad that One who cheer'd her home
    With love's unvarying grace,
Should leave at hearth-stone and at board
    Nought save a vacant place.

The beaming hope that bright and fair
    Around her cradle shone,
Made cloudless progress year by year,
    With lustre all its own,

While still unselfish and serene
    Her daily course she drew,
To every generous impulse warm
    To every duty true:

Yet all these pure and hallowed charms
    To favor'd mortals given,
That make their loss to earth so great,
    Enhance the gain of Heaven.

Lydia Howard Sigourney

Lydia Howard Sigourney, born on September 1, 1791, and died on June 10, 1865, was one of the most popular and prolific poets in 19th-century America. Often referred to as the 'Sweet Singer of Hartford,' she authored numerous works that included poetry, essays, and books on various subjects. Her writings, characterized by their moral and didactic tone, earned her a reputation as a leading female literary figure of her time. Sigourney's influence extended beyond literature to social issues, including temperance and women's education.

Lydia Howard Sigourney

In Memoriam. - Miss Laura Kingsbury,

Lydia Howard Sigourney, Simple Poetry

In Memoriam. - Miss Caroline L. Griffin,

Lydia Howard Sigourney, Simple Poetry

In Memoriam. - Harriet Allen Ely,

Lydia Howard Sigourney, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

In Memoriam. - Mrs. Frederick Tyler,

Died at Hartford, Wednesday, June 19th, 1861.


They multiply above, with whom we walk'd
In tender friendship, and whose steadfast step,
Onward and upward, was a guide to us
In duty's path.

                    They multiply above,
Making the mansions that our Lord prepared
And promised His redeemed, more beautiful
To us, the wayside pilgrims.

                    One, this day
Hath gone, whose memory like a loving smile
Lingereth behind her. She was skilled to charm
And make her pleasant home a cloudless scene
Of happiness to children and to guests;
But most to him whose heart for many years
Did safely trust in her, finding his cares
Divided and his pleasures purified.
A sweet-voiced kindness, prompting word and deed,
Dwelt ever ...

Lydia Howard Sigourney

In Memoriam. - Miss Alice Beckwith,

Died at Hartford, September 23d, 1859.


The beautiful hath fled
    To join the spirit-train;
Earth interposed with strong array,
Love stretch'd his arms to bar her way,
    All,--all in vain.

There was a bridal hope
    Before her crown'd with flowers;
The orange blossoms took the hue
With which the cypress dank with dew
    Darkeneth our bowers.

Affections strong and warm
    Sprang round her gentle way,
Young Childhood, with a moisten'd eye,
And Friendship's tenderest sympathy
    Watch'd her decay.

Disease around her couch
    Long held a tyrant sway,
Till vanished from her cheek, the rose,
And the fair flesh like vernal snows
    Wasted away.

Yet the dark Angel's touch
    Dissolv'd that dir...

Lydia Howard Sigourney

In Memoriam. - Mrs. Harvey Seymour,

Died at Hartford, Sunday, May 5th, 1861.


She found a painless avenue to make
The great transition from a world of care
To one of rest.
                    It was the Sabbath day,
And beautiful with smile of vernal sun
And the up-springing fragrance from the earth,
With all that soothing quietude which links
The consecrated season unto Him
Who bade the creatures He had made, revere
And keep it holy.
                    From her fair abode,
Lovely with early flowers, she took her way
The second time, unto the House of God,
And side by side with her life's chosen friend
Walk'd cheerfully. Within those hallow'd courts,
Where holds the soul communion with its God,
She listening sate.
                    But then she lean'd her head
Upon h...

Lydia Howard Sigourney

In Memoriam. - Mrs. Charles N. Cadwallader,

Died at Philadelphia, July 2nd, 1859, five weeks after her marriage.


The year rolls round, and brings again
    The bright, auspicious day,
The marriage scene, the festive cheer,
    The group serenely gay,

The hopes that nurs'd by sun and shower
    O'er youth's fair trellis wound,
And in that consecrated rite
    Their full fruition found.

But One unseen amid the throng
    Drew near with purpose fell,
And lo! the orange-flowers were changed
    To mournful asphodel.

Five sabbaths walk'd the beautiful
    Her chosen lord beside,
But ere the sixth illumed the sky
    She was that dread One's bride.

Yet call her not the bride of Death
    Though in his bed she sleeps,
And broidering Myrtle richly green
  ...

Lydia Howard Sigourney

In Memoriam. - Mr. George Beach,

Died at Hartford, May 4th, 1860.


Aye, robe yourselves in black, light messengers
Whose letter'd faces to the people tell
The pulse and pressure of the passing hour.
'Tis fitting ye should sympathize with them,
And tint your tablets with a sable hue
Who bring them tidings of a loss so great.

What have they lost?
                    An upright man, who scorn'd
All subterfuge, who faithful to his trust
Guarded the interests they so highly prized,
With power and zeal unchang'd, from youth to age.

Yet there's a sadder sound of bursting tears
From woe-worn helpless ones, from widow'd forms
O'er whom he threw a shelter, for his name
Long mingled with their prayers, both night and morn.
The Missionary toward the setting sun
Will miss his l...

Lydia Howard Sigourney

In Memoriam. - Mrs. Elizabeth Harris,

Died at Hartford, Sunday evening, September 9th, 1860, aged 80.


Oh sorrowing Daughter, left alone
    In home's deserted sphere,
Where every object group'd around,
In pleasant room, or garden's bound
Is twined by links of sight or sound
    With the lost Mother dear;

Yet take sweet thoughts thy grief to soothe
    Of what she was below,
Her years to faithful duty given,
Her comfort in the Book of Heaven,
Her ready trust when life was riven,
    To Christ, her Lord, to go.

And take sweet memories of the care
    That smoothed her couch of pain,
The grateful love that o'er her way
Kept tender vigil, night and day,
And let its pure, reflected ray
    Thy drooping heart sustain.

So shall thy faith the pang assuage
...

Lydia Howard Sigourney