Gentle Lily with this Album my warmest wishes take, <br />I know its pages oft thou’lt ope and prize it for my sake, <br />For, though a trifling offering, it bears the magic spell <br />Of coming from the hand of one who loves thee passing well. <br /> <br />O could thy young life’s course be traced by will or wish of mine, <br />A smiling, joyous future—a bright lot would be thine, <br />No cloud should mar the gladness of thy fair youth’s op’ning morn, <br />The roses of thy girlhood should be free from blight or thorn. <br /> <br />Howe’er, ’tis better ordered by a Blessed Power above <br />Who sends us cross and trial, as a token of His Love; <br />For we’d cling, ah! far too closely to earthly joys and ties, <br />Unwilling e’er to leave them for our home beyond the skies. <br /> <br />As the pages of this volume, unwritten, stainless, fair, <br />Life opens out before thee, let it be thine aim and care <br />To keep the record spotless, and ever free from all <br />That thou might’st wish hereafter remorseful to recall. <br /> <br />Not seeking to o’ershadow thy smiling azure eyes, <br />Nor see that girlish bosom heave with sad thoughts and sighs, <br />I would whisper low, while wishing thee, all earthly, cloudless bliss, <br />Be life a preparation for a better life than this!<br /><br />Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-a-young-girl-with-an-album/
