Susan: A dying sister's appeal.

A dying sister's appeal.

I leave thee now my sister,.
     But grieve thou not for me;
For I am happy, sister,
     And only mourn for thee.

Thou wilt be lonely, sister,
     When I am in my grave;
Look thou to God, my sister,
    For only he can save.

And he will comfort, sister,
    He'll not forsake thee now;
To his chastisements, sister,
     In submission thou must bow.

Remember, too, dear sister,
    Our mother I shall see;
And father, too, my sister,
     Then weep not thus for me.

My heart is breaking, sister,
     Because thou wilt not say
'Thy will be done'! O, sister,
     Kneel thee down and pray.

Seek earnestly, my sister,
    That God will grant you grace
To bear the stroke, my sister,
    And in it wisdom trace.

For God is good, my sister,
     To take me thus away
To heaven, heaven, sister,
     Where there is endless day.

And pray, that I, my sister,
    May leave without a sigh,
This world so beauteous, sister,
     Where all is vanity.

I'm dying now, my sister,
    The death damp's in my brow;
Kiss me, O kiss me, sister,
     I cannot see thee now.

"A dying sister's appeal" does not seem to fit Susan's general lost-love theme. This poem cannot be taken literally; it is probably more allegorical than autobiographical. In it there is an allusion to the deaths of mother and father, which have not occurred in Susan's family. Neither was Susan nor any of her siblings dying at this time. It is possible that she related this poem to the deaths in the family of her friend Kate Boyd , whose mother and two brothers died in 1850, or to her own brother who had died about a year earlier. Another explanation, more in keeping with the lost-love theme, may be found in a little book published at about the same time and available in Clear Spring. It contains a sketch called "The Withered Rose", told in heart-rending detail by a "pastor of some thirty or forty years". It is the story a young woman of "remarkable beauty" in his congregation. She has gone to another town to attend the wedding of a friend. There she meets a young man and they fall in love. After several passionate weeks to-gether, she must leave him to return home. He promises to come to her but, of course, he never does. As time passes her health begins to fail but doctors can find nothing physically wrong. Eventually she wastes away and literally dies of a broken heart. Later the pastor learns that the young man has gone off and married a rich heiress. This romantic notion that grief over lost love could be fatal was prevalent at the time and probably known to Susan. Perhaps this is the way she sees herself in "A dying sister's appeal".