Fanny Crosby did not only write religious hymns. She published several books of poetry. Her compassion and love of life is alway evident in all her writings. Over the next several months I will be adding many of her poems to this site. Come back often and you will find a grow collection of her secular works.

This poem is taken from her book "A Wreath of Columbia's Flowers" published in 1858 by H. Dayton Publisher of New York. Alas, the book is long out of print.

Lines to My Mute Friend Mrs. E. B.

I fold thee to my bosom
Yet tears are on my cheek,
Our greeting is in silence
alas! Thou canst not speak;
I feel the gentle pressure
Of thy hand fast locked in mine,
And turn with fond emotion
My yearning eyes to thine

Oh! Can the deep affection
Of hearts so closely twined,
The purest feelings of the soul,
In words, no utterance find?
Is there no language in a smile
To breathe my thoughts to thee?
Thine own dear eyes would answer,
But their glace I may not see.

Thus are we doomed together
To tread life’s onward way
For thee, no voice of gladness
For me, no starlight ray,
And yet, we both are happy,
for both I trust have known
That flows from God Alone.

May he who wooed and won thee,
In life’s gay sunny hours,
Still soothe each anxious sorrow,
And strew thy ear to earthly sounds,
Forever closed must be,
One look of soul-felt tenderness,
Is all the world to thee.

Then let us never murmur,
Since God in love denies
To us those hallowed blessings
Which others dearly prize.
There is a world above us,
A bright and happy shore,--
There may I gaze upon thee,
And thou be mute no more.