I Shall Remember Thee - To Mary Helen

Where beauty lives I shall remember thee,

In music's strains that touch diviner chords

In river-song, the forest's poetry

And flowers dotting green and golden swards,

In fleeting clouds beneath the blaze of sun

Or when I gaze on the eternal sea,

Recall the years we two have lived as one

Tracing the path of inner harmony.

In all that is refined I'll note thy care

And when I view the order of the stars

Knowing thee close though I am unaware

I'll feel thy fingers lightly trace the scars

That pain has seared across my wanting soul,

For all the suffering I saw thee bear,

Thy spirit growing through the body's toll

Departing softly in the morning air.