Valentine Poem by B. F. Tisdale to his wife Eliza

On February 14, 1856 B. F. Tisdale wrote a Valentine poem to his wife Eliza Helen Pratt:

Copy from Marion E. Tisdale III, of Moore, S.C.,
great grandson of B. F. Tisdale and Eliza Pratt.

Transcription:

To My Wife

Oft have I heard the youths and virgins say,

Birds choose their mates, and Couple too, this day -

Though thou no more art maiden to be wooed

With tender words and Love's sweet interlude-

Yet I will be, as thou art always mine-

Thy constant, true, and faithful Valentine.

    Dear Wife, Kind Friend, Companion loved-

I love thee best of all, who know thee best-

The gaities of youth may be removed,

In which thou fairly now doth stand confused;

    But ah there are perennial charms, that live

When age hath robbed us of our youthful bloom,

That still remain- E'en as dead roses give

Forth from their withered leaves a sweet perfume,

    So virtue sweetens the cold air of age,

And scents the rain with her dewy breath,

Without a blot upon kind memory's page,

The good, like children, seek the arms of death.

    Remember then my own, my cherished wife,

That youth and beauty are but transient shows-

While gentle virtue is God's dower of life,

That, as we near the grave, still fairer grows.

                                                Frank

February 14th 1856

When he wrote this poem Benjamin Franklin Tisdale was 34 years old and Eliza was 18, almost 19. They were married on July 29, 1851 and had two children, Mary Bernice, born in 1853, and Arabella Maria, born in 1855. They were living in New Orleans at No. 26 Old Levee Street. The next year they had another daughter, Florence Helen, born May 8 and died December 3. On March 15, 1860 Eliza gave birth to twin boys but only one survived, Benjamin Franklin Tisdale Jr. Five more children followed: William Pratt, Olivia Lee, Robert Rafael, Marion Eugene and Charles Harry.