Familiar Songs - Their Authors & Histories

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	THE IVY GREEN.	215


	TYROLESE EVENING HYMN. Felicia Dorothea Browne was born in Liverpool, England, September 21,1794. Her early days were passed amid the beautiful scenery of north Wales, which fostered her imaginative nature. When eighteen years old, she married Captain Hemans, who had but lately returned, with shattered health, from the hard-fought fields of Spain, and the fever-stricken ranks of the Walcheren Expedition. Six years later, he left her with a family of five little boys, and went to reside in Italy. They never met again. Mrs. Hemans was beautiful, with a fine and graceful form, blue eyes, and a profusion of auburn hair. It was on her portrait, painted by our countryman, Benjamin West, that she composed the poem which closes with the lines: " Yet, look thou still serenely on, And if sweet friends there be, That when my song and soul are gone Shall seek my form in thee, Tell them of one for whom 'twas best To flee away and be at rest." The sister who set many of Mrs. Hemans's words to music was twice married. Her name was Hughes at the time she wrote the biography of the poetess.