Album of the Heart ~ March 25, 1881

To Flora,

 

Remember me how few, how strong

These touching words, that little spell

What thoughts up rise, what visions swell
It wakened fancy's holiest cell

They tell of many a change to come

May every change bring joy to thee

In pleasures light or sorrows gloom
In bliss or woe, Remember me

 

Johnnie R. Sitchen

San Jose, CA

The words above were extracted from a longer poem entitled "Remember Me" by Prosper M. Wetmore (1798-1876). It was published in the Atlantic Souvenir, Philadelphia, October 1, 1831.

 

General Wetmore was a distinguished author and public servant, who worked in the New York legislature, the governor’s office, and the state militia. He was the first colonel of New York's crack Seventh Regiment.

 

Photo by Matthew Brady, 1857

 

I bring no chain of rarest worth,

No coral from the deep sea-cave,

Nor gem, long hid, within the earth,

To shine where now those tresses wave;

A gift more precious far is mine,

Than sparkling gem from earth or sea,

This treasury of thought ~ 'tis thine

The boon it asks ~ Remember me!

 

I may not here usurp the page,

To court the breath of fleeting fame;

Enough for me in after age,

If in thy memory dwells my name:

In after years, in distant climes,

Whate'er our future fate may be

A spell to call back by-gone times

Still dwelleth here ~ Remember me!

 

Remember me! How few ~ how strong

Those touching words, that little spell;

What thoughts uprise, what visions throng

In waken'd fancy's holiest cell!

They tell of many a change to come

May every change bring joy to thee!

In pleasure's light, or sorrow's gloom,

In bliss or woe ~ Remember me!