The Golden Wedding.

Inscribed to OUR FATHER AND MOTHER, and read on that Anniversary,
FEBRUARY 15TH, 1876.


A half a century of time,
    The mingled pain and bliss
That make the history of life
    Between that day and this;
Two lives that in that morning light,
    Together were made one,
Now standing where the shadows fall
    Athwart the setting sun.

How long it seems!--the devious way.
    And full of toil and pain,--
Yet love and peace kept house with them,
    And love and peace remain.
Though youth and strength and youthful friends
    Were left upon the road
Long since, an honest man is still
    The noblest work of God.

No famous deeds, no acts achieved
    In battle or in state
Make memorable this festal day,
    The day we celebrate:
Divided from the common lot
    By neither tame nor pelf,
Our hearts revere the man who loves
    His neighbour as himself.

The fragrance of the Christian's life,
    Though humble and unknown,
Is a more precious heritage
    Than heirship to a throne.
That lowly roof--what memories
    Of blessings cluster there,
Around the hearthstone consecrate
    By fifty years of prayer!

The shaded lamp, the cheerful fire,
    Our Mother's patient look,
The firelight on her silver hair,
    And on the Holy Book;--
Where e'er our erring feet may stray,
    The welcome waits the same,--
That light, that look will follow still,
And soften and reclaim.

Type of the Fatherhood of God,
    Whose love has kept us still,
In all the changeful scenes of life
    Secure from every ill,
And brought our long-divided band,
    Not one of us astray,
Around our Father's board to keep
    This Golden Wedding Day.

Oh ye beloved and revered!
    Our hearts make thankful prayer,
That still around our household hearth
    There is no vacant chair.
God grant that we may be of those
    Who sing the heavenly psalm,
And sit together at the feast,
    The marriage of the Lamb!

Kate Seymour Maclean

Kate Seymour Maclean, born on January 6, 1829, was a Canadian poet who carved out a significant place for herself in the literary scene of her time. Her poetry often reflected the deep appreciation she had for nature, and she was renowned for her elegant and evocative style. Maclean's work was well-regarded by her contemporaries, and she maintained correspondence with others in the literary community, including famous poets like Bliss Carman and Charles G.D. Roberts. She passed away on March 23, 1914, but her contributions to Canadian literature have left a lasting legacy.

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English

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To Our Parents

WRITTEN BY REQUEST, FOR A GOLDEN WEDDING


Full fifty years together -
    Father and mother dear -
Through pleasant summer weather,
    Or wintry tempests drear, -
Thro' sunshine and thro' shadow,
    Oft travel sore and tried,
Yet strong to aid each other,
    You've journeyed side by side

A few brief years of climbing, -
    One glad, exultant glance
At the sun bright world around you,
    At the smiling heaven's expanse, -
And then, the slow descending
    Into the vale below,
Where the light with shade is blending,
    And the deamy waters flow

Full fifty years of travel -
    Then, on your worn staves rest,
And welcome home your children,
    And many an honored guest, -
We come to give you greeting, -
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After Fifty Years

A MOTHER'S ADDRESS TO HER FAMILY ON HER GOLDEN-WEDDING DAY.


Just fifty years, my daughters,
    Just fifty years, my son,
Since your sire and I together
    The march of life begun.
It does not seem so long ago
    As half a hundred years,
Since hand in hand we started out,
    To face life's toils and tears.

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    Yet sunbeams oft have come -
Many and beautiful, and bright -
    To cheer our happy home;
Sweet infant faces, thro' the years,
    Are smiling back to me;
And, God be praised, each precious one
    Still at my side I see!

Yet ye are changed, my children three,
    Your baby-bloom is gone;
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The Golden Wedding Of Longwood

With fifty years between you and your well-kept wedding vow,
The Golden Age, old friends of mine, is not a fable now.

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Again before me, with your names, fair Chester's landscape comes,
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The smooth-shorn vales, the wheaten slopes, the boscage green and soft,
Of which their poet sings so well from towered Cedarcroft.

And lo! from all the country-side come neighbors, kith and kin;
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To My Husband.

Just two-and-forty years have passed[5]
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And much those hearts to grieve.

Children confided to our care,
Hath God in kindness given,
Of whom five still on earth remain,
And two, we trust, in heaven.

How many friends of early days,
Have fallen by our side;
Shook by some blast, like autumn leaves
They withered, drooped, and died.

But still permitted, hand in hand
Our journey we pursue;
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Of "better land" in view.

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Bi-Centennial Ode

From the door of the homestead the mother looks forth,
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In communion and intercourse sweet,
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And our mother,-- God bless her benevolent face!--
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