Song

By Sophie Jewett 1861–1909 Sophie Jewett

“O Love, thou art winged and swift,

Yet stay with me evermore!”

And I guarded my house with bolt and bar

Lest Love fly forth at the door.

Without, in the world, ’t was cold,

While Love and I together

Laughed and sang by my red hearth-fire,

Nor knew it was winter weather.

Sweet Love would lull me to sleep,

In his tireless arm caressed;

His shadowing wings and burning eyes

Like night and stars wrought rest.

And ever the beat of Love’s heart

As a chime rang at my ear;

And ever Love’s bending, beautiful face

Covered me close from fear.

Was it long ere I waked alone?

A snow-drift whitened the floor;

I saw spent ashes upon my hearth

And Death in my open door.

Source: The Poems of Sophie Jewett (1910)

Biography

Born in Moravia, New York, poet Sophie Jewett was the daughter of a country doctor. Her childhood was marked by loss and displacement. When she was seven years old, her mother died, and Jewett was summoned from sleep to observe her passing; her father died two years later. After his death, Jewett and her three siblings moved to Buffalo to live with their uncle and grandmother, both of whom died during Jewett’s adolescence.

Jewett . . .

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