Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

Sonnet written by Bell on March 1, 1864 for his father's birthday.  Text from the Library of Congress

A Sonnet

Time, speeding, rules: all things compelled obey.
Oh! May this king ne'er turn your love from me!

May every year's forced March, a blessing be,
Your love recruiting, driving fears away.

Dear Guide! Nought can thy tender care repay:
Each seeming harsh reproof was, now I see,
An act of love: received—ungratefully,
Recalling conscience forces me to say.

Feel not, amid the greetings of this morn,
A Blank, because from sight my form has gone:
Though I be absent, yet my heart's at home,
Hailing thy Birthday, while my voice is dumb:
Each absence makes me prize my home the more:
Return shall find me—worthier than before.


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