Dear sisters, mid the toil and strife
That vex young manhood's troubled life,
My heart to you will fondly stray,
Though absent now and far away.
I miss your words of hope and cheer,
That nerved my soul when all was drear,
The sunny smiles and soothing ways
So prized from earliest boyhood's days.
In vain for me the applause of men,
The laurel won by sword or pen,
But for the hope, so dear and sweet,
To lay my trophies at your feet.
And though the world should prove unkind,
A solace in your smiles I'll find.
The links that link us three together
Defy this life's most stormy weather,
And in bright worlds we know not of
Will still enclasp our sacred love.
Bloom, flowers! where'er my sisters move;
Shine on them, stars! with beams of love;
Your vigils, holy angels, keep
That no dark dream affright their sleep;
And sunny garlands, fortune, twine
To deck their brows, sweet sisters mine.