Ariana Malthaner
The original poem this week was written for Jennie (sometimes, as here, Jeannie) Dyke. Unlike the other autograph books which are primarily filled with momentos and sentimental messages, Jennie’s book contains a number of poems and prose pieces that are full of advice. This particular poem, albeit somewhat hard to read in places, from a Mrs S. Hare gives gentle instruction on how to behave. This is potentially advice with regards to Jennie’s marriage, as many of the inscriptions mention her upcoming/recent nuptials, and her surname changes from Dyke to Fawkes in some messages.
To Jeannie
A placid lake, my gentle girl
Be emblem of thy life
As full of peace and family
As free from care and strife
So ripple on its transquil breast
That not with the day
So pebble in its darkest depth
Bad quivers in its ray
And see how every glorious form
And fragment of the skies
Reflected from its glassy face
A mirror of image lies
So be thy spirit ever force
To God and virtue given
And thought and word and action bear
The images of Heaven
Jan 9th 1861 Mrs S Hare
UPDATE
This poem is written by Rev. George Washington Doane in 1831 and titled ‘Lines by the Lake-Side’. Research has found the earliest publication that can be found is in the Staunton Spectator in Staunton Virginia on November 11, 1831.
Big thanks to Darrell Austin for providing us with this new information!