Lines To Helen,

written by


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A NEW-BORN INFANT, 1821.


She lives--that first pulsation of the heart
Is life!--receive, dear babe, thy destin'd part;
Yet frail thy being as the op'ning rose
  When chill the rude wind blows.

But ah, be like the blossom of the vale,
Lov'd infant, shelter'd from the mountain gale;
On whose meek head descend no ruffling showers,
  Who lives the span of flowers.

And far from thee may sorrow's tempest bend,
Nor ever wasting pangs the bosom rend;
Calm be thy day of life, and o'er its bloom
  May evening mildly come!

© Helen Maria Williams