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To my brother
Today is Valentine, but I have none,
My Valentine, my Stephen dear is gone,
So let my brother be my Valentine
My faithful Charlie- Karli brother mine.
For you my brother dear I wish to sing,
But feel I cannot find the words of praise
And tell of all the times I had to cling
To you when at a loss in troubled days.
So happy was the childhood we have had;
How warm and love-filled, cared for day and night;
Our parents shielded us from ill and bad,
And made the darkest season sweet and bright.
And our chapel, our family wayside shrine,
Outside the orchard by the apple tree,
The brook, our mill-wheel - later a turbine,
The hallowed ground of our ancestry.
So happy all the blessed days we had
The radiant feasts, and joy-filled Christmases
None ever could with words communicate
All of the thrills and our childhood bliss.
The stables stocked so well with calves and kine
That grazed among the luscious fields on grass
And our forest filled with fir and pine
How so exciting every hour was.
The Alterbach, that brook that raced down hill,
close by the flowery garden beds beneath,
The annexes, the barn, grandfather’s mill,
And the lush slopes that bordered on the heath. .
At risk, you picked for me the Edelweiss,
A champion you of highest peaks alpine,
And watched my steps upon the glacier’s ice,
Then from a crag threw me the saving line
But years passed swiftly, and soon severance
Brought with it striving, success, bright careers,
Thrills and excitement, courtship and romance
And war and anguish, pain and bitter tears.
Harsh were the times, another continent,
Was waiting for your sister, Karli mine,
A steamship sailed,- to Canada she went
And there she met her English Valentine
She visited,- and you impatiently
Stood waiting at the airports or the kais,
Or on departure’s or arrival’s gallery,
But all too quick passed the re-union’s days
Wherever any fare-well whistle blew
To take your sister far away again,
You always smiled, oh smiled - although I knew
You swallowed down the tears and felt the pain,
Accept this humble paper monument
I pray and trust its value will accrue,
Superior to bronze steel and cement,
I dedicate it Charlie dear to you.
© Elizabeth Dandy
And our chapel, our family wayside shrine,
Outside the orchard by the apple tree,
The brook, our mill-wheel - later a turbine,
The hallowed ground of our ancestry.
So happy all the blessed days we had
The radiant feasts, and joy-filled Christmases
None ever could with words communicate
All of the thrills and our childhood bliss.
The stables stocked so well with calves and kine
That grazed among the luscious fields on grass
And our forest filled with fir and pine
How so exciting every hour was.
The Alterbach, that brook that raced down hill,
close by the flowery garden beds beneath,
The annexes, the barn, grandfather’s mill,
And the lush slopes that bordered on the heath. .
At risk, you picked for me the Edelweiss,
A champion you of highest peaks alpine,
And watched my steps upon the glacier’s ice,
Then from a crag threw me the saving line
But years passed swiftly, and soon severance
Brought with it striving, success, bright careers,
Thrills and excitement, courtship and romance
And war and anguish, pain and bitter tears.
Harsh were the times, another continent,
Was waiting for your sister, Karli mine,
A steamship sailed,- to Canada she went
And there she met her English Valentine
She visited,- and you impatiently
Stood waiting at the airports or the kais,
Or on departure’s or arrival’s gallery,
But all too quick passed the re-union’s days
Wherever any fare-well whistle blew
To take your sister far away again,
You always smiled, oh smiled - although I knew
You swallowed down the tears and felt the pain,
Accept this humble paper monument
I pray and trust its value will accrue,
Superior to bronze steel and cement,
I dedicate it Charlie dear to you.
© Elizabeth Dandy
