Hearts may warm the winter,
Hearts will melt the snow;
If, while hopes are freezing,
Friendship be not so.
Worlds of ice may bound us,
Hearts will break their chains,
While our friends surround us,
While their love remains.
Household gods lie scattered
Round the ruined hearth.
Do we mourn them shattered,
Do we weep their dearth?
No; if love but cheer us
On our withered way;
Friendship, too, keep near us,
What of their decay?
E. M.
Oregon Spectator, January 11, 1849.