Caroline Elizabeth Sarah (Sheridan) Norton (1808–1877)

SILENT companions of the lonely hour,—

Friends who can never alter or forsake,

Who for inconstant roving have no power,

And all neglect, perforce, must calmly take,—

Let me return to YOU; this turmoil ending

Which worldly cares have in my spirit wrought,

And, o’er your old familiar pages bending,

Refresh my mind with many a tranquil thought,

Till haply meeting there, from time to time,

Fancies, the audible echo of my own,

’T will be like hearing in a foreign clime

My native language spoke in friendly tone,

And with a sort of welcome I shall dwell

On these, my unripe musings, told so well.