Mrs. Emma Catharine Embury (1806–1863)

HE who has travelled through some weary day,

And reached at summer eve a green hillside,

Whence he can see, now veiled in twilight gray,

The dreary path through which he lately hied,

While o’er his onward road the setting sun

Sheds its sweet beam on every wayside flower,

Forgets his labors ere the goal be won,

And in his heart enjoys the quiet hour.

Father and mother, be it so with you!

While memory’s pleasant twilight shades the past,

May hope illume the way ye still pursue,

And each new scene seem brighter than the last;

Thus, wending on toward sunset, may ye find

Life’s lengthening shadows ever cast behind.