Friday the 13th Poem~ By Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson did not write many poems, although he had a great appreciation for poetry. He read and quoted widely from poets. From the age of fifteen until he turned thirty, he kept a Literary Commonplace Book, in which he pasted newspaper clippings of favorite poems and prose.
When he was confined to bed by illness, Jefferson wrote "A death-bed Adieu" for his daughter, Martha Randolff. It is said that on July 2, two days before he died, Jefferson told Martha that he'd composed a farewell in her honor, following his instructions, she found the verse in a small box after his death.
"A death-bed Adieu. Th:J to MR."

Life's visions are vanished, it's dreams are no more.
Dear friends of my bosom, why bathed in tears?
I go to my fathers; I welcome the shore,
which crowns all my hopes, or which buries my cares.
Then farewell my dear, my lov'd daughter, Adieu!
The last pang in life is in parting from you.
Two Seraphs await me, long shrouded in death;
I will bear them your love on my last parting breath.

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States was born today, April 13, 1743.

Where ever your Friday the 13th leads you, enjoy!