To My Valentine.

Adieu! Adieu! may angels guard thee,
    Hovering near thee night and day,
For all thy good deeds God reward thee,
    The rest forgive and blot away.

May no gift nor grace be missing,
    May He all on thee confer,
And add a heartfelt prayer and blessing
    From the distant wanderer.

O'er the trackless, foaming ocean,
    In weal or woe, ever shall be
Mingled in my heart's devotion
    Many a prayer for thine and thee.

What tho' across thy memory never
    Shall flit my once familiar name,
Hallowed by distance, thine for ever,
    Memory shall conjure up again.

All thy follies ever hidden,
    All thy virtues raised above,
Thy name, so long, so much forbidden,
    Strangers shall learn from me to love.

Adieu! and may we meet in heaven,
    Through Him, the Lord, who guides our ways;
And he to whom much was forgiven,
    Shall swell the highest notes of praise.