Both of these poems were sent by mail from Henry Patten Wiggs to Phoebe Overby prior to their marriage in 1884)
FORGOTTON GRAVES
Sometimes
I think, when all about In
darkness I shall lie,
Where over the little grassy hills the winds of summer sigh-
The lovely, grass-grown hillocks, so scattered every where,
that some remember them to keep them green and fair.
I
think- when all alone I lie, where only God can see-
Will any hand pluck for my grave a flower, for love of me?
Some simple flower, some lowly leaf whose humble grace shall wake
A tender and regretful thought of dead
years, for my sake?
Will
any dear one miss me from my old familiar place,
When summer daisies creep between the sunshine and my face?
Oh, in the wide and weary world I know not if today,
Some heart would ache just for my sake if I had passed away!
What
matters it if we but rest, when earthly toils are done,
Whether the daisies o'er us crept In shadows or in sun?
Oh, sad forsaken graves that make
To keep ? _________________ ? green and fair.
by
Henry
Patten Wiggs
(We are unable to read the missing words on the original poem. As far as I
know I have the only copy - if anyone has a copy that's complete, I would love
to know what is missing -- Carl)
Dearest
love, believe me, though all else depart
naught shall e’er deceive thee in this faithful heart.
Beauty may be blighted – youth may pass away –
but the vows we plighted ne’er shall know decay.
Temptations
may assail us from afflictions coast.
Fortunes’ breeze may fail us when we need it most;
fairest hopes may perish – firmest friends may change –
but the love we cherish nothing shall estrange.
Dreams of
fame and grandeur end in bitter tears –
love grows only fonder with the lapse of years;
time change and trouble weaker ties unbind –
but the bands redouble from affections twined.
by
Henry
Patten Wiggs
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
February 22, 1880