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“Hymn”
At morn – at noon – at twilight dim –
Maria! thou hast heard my hymn!
In joy and woe – in good and ill –
Mother of God, be with me still!
When the Hours flew brightly by,
And not a cloud obscured the sky,
My soul, lest it should truant be,
Thy grace did guide to thine and thee
Now, when storms of Fate o’ercast
Darkly my Present and my Past,
Let my future radiant shine
With sweet hopes of thee and thine.
Edgar Allen Poe, 1853
I thank my dear and learnèd father for having brought this all but forgotten hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary to my attention. “This is the sort of hymn a child should learn by heart!” .... Indeed! for such a poem may serve as a faithful and prayerful companion through the ups and downs of life even at one's last hour.
May God's mercy be upon the soul of Edgar Allen Poe.
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