To F---

[F--- is presumably, Mrs. Frances Sargent Osgood]

Beloved! amid the earnest woes
That crowd aroud my earthly path-
(Dear path, alas! where grows
Not even one lonely rose)-
My soul at least a solace hath
In dreams of thee, and therein knows
An Eden of bland repose.

And thusthy memory is to me
Like some enchanted far-off isle
In some tumultuous sea-
Some ocean throbbing far and free
With storms-but where meanwhile
Serenest skies continually
Just o'er that one bright island smile