Departed Brothers, No. I.

Departed Brothers, No. I. [No. 83]

Oft by my cheerful hearth as I have sat,
Smoking the pipe of peace at eventide,
Divested of all prejudice and pride,
Giving my fancy reins to roam to what
So often gives me pleasure,—thoughts of those 5
Dear Friends whom I have met in social hours,
When soul to soul seem’d to assert their powers
To mingle into one,—there has arose
Kindly remembrances of friends I ne’er
Shall meet on earth again; and Masons then 10
Seem with me, who were always happy when
They met good Brother Masons. Very dear
To me is now their Memory. Will I
Be thus remember’d when I too shall die?

by George Markham Tweddell 1st published c 1887