THACKERAY, William Makepeace. Original 33 line manuscript poem. (SIGNED - London: c.1840)

AUTHOR: THACKERAY, William Makepeace. 

TITLE: Original 33 line manuscript poem - SIGNED.

PUBLISHER: London: c.1840.

DESCRIPTION: Original 33 line manuscript poem in Thackeray's hand signed by him, 4-1/2" x 14-3/8", laid down, bound into an 8 page blank book, hardbound, marbled covers.

CONDITION: Overall VERY GOOD.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Apparently unpublished not located in any of his works.  The poem appears to be about his second daughter Jane who was born on July 9, 1838, and died as an infant at just eight months old on March 14, 1839. It reads in full:

Only One Year Ago...
In the pleasant Summer weather, (she was born on July 9, 1838)
When the sun was low
Side by side we walked together
Just a year ago.
In the West the invisible glory
Slowly died away,
As I told the old sweet story
At the close of day.

Joy, fill then in life denied me,
Set my heart at rest,
As the fair young lass (young girl) beside me
(?)----- love confessed.
All the hopes that hovered o’er us
Youth alone can know;
Life and Love were all before us
Just a year ago.

Just a year ___the sky is clouded,
And the shadows fall;
In a grave my hopes lie shrouded --
Death has (?)----- them all.
Loved and lost! The tie is broken;
Cold are lip and brow; (died winter March 14, 1839)

2

Words of love, though warmly spoken,
Cannot reach her now.

Joy has vanished, hope is perished
Dreams of youth are vain;
E’re the love by memory cherished
Thrills the head with pain.
Gone for ever – sorrow only
Future life can know,
Since she died and left me lonely --
Just a year ago.

W. M. Thackeray