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No martyr-blood hath ever flowed in vain! -
No patriot bled, that proved not freedom's gain!
Those tones, which despots heard with fear and dread
From living lips, ring sterner from the dead;...

A MOTHER'S ADDRESS TO HER FAMILY ON HER GOLDEN-WEDDING DAY.


Just fifty years, my daughters,
Just fifty years, my son,
Since your sire and I together
The march of life begun....

Away to the hills, away! -
There is health in the summer air; -
The rustling bough, and the bending spray,
And the breath of flowers are there -
The honey-bee's hum and the wild bird's song,...

Alone, alone! - the night is very silent,
Voiceless the stars are, and the pallid moon
Through the unknown sends down no tone, no utt'rance
To break the hush of midnight's solemn noon!...

"Here is a lantern, my little boy,"
Said a father to his child,
"And yonder's a wood, a lonely wood,
Tangled, and rough, and wild;
And now, this night, - this very hour,
Though gloomy and dark it be,...

"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety"


The tranquil hours steal by
On drowsy wings and slow,
And over all the peaceful sky...

Father in Heaven, to thee,
Guardian and friend,
Lowly the suppliant knee
Here would we bend! -
Blessing thee ere we part,
Each with a grateful heart,
For all thy love doth send -...

I thought it pleasant when a manly sire
Weary of foreign travel, at the door
Of his own cottage left his dusty staff,
And entering in, sat down with those he loved...

A transient day,
A troubled night,
The swift decay,
The certain blight,
And death and dust; -

And are these all? -
Nay: those are past;
And she who sleeps
Shall wake at last...

I.

Beautiful Autumn is dead and gone -
Weep for her!
Calm, and gracious, and very fair,
With sunny robe and with shining hair,
And a tender light in her dreamy eye,...

Balmy morning! blessed morning!
Dew-drops bright
All the emerald glade adorning
In thy light -
In thy golden glowing beam
With an ever-changeful gleam
Flashing sparkling deeply glowing...

Be in earnest, Christian toilers,
Life is not the summer, dream
Of the careless, child that gathers
Daisies in the noontide beam!
It hath conflict, it hath danger,
It hath sorrow, toil, and strife;...

O throbbing heart, be still!
Canst thou not bear
The heavy dash of Memory's troubled tide,
Long sternly pent, but broken forth again,
Sweeping all barriers ruthlessly aside,...

Thou hast entered the land without shadows,
Thou who, 'neath the shadow, so long
Hast sat with thy white hands close-folded,
And lips that could utter no song;
Through a rift in the cloud, for an instant,...

Brethren, go! the day is bright'ning
As the sultry noon steals on,
And the fields, already whit'ning,
Tell of labor to be done.

There are toilsome days before you,
Burdens that you may not shun,...

Will the shadows be lifted to-morrow? -
Will the sunshine come ever again? -
Will the clouds, that are weeping in sorrow,
Their glorious beauty regain?
Will the forest stand forth in its greenness? -...

I.

Broken!
It's only a ring - a plain, old ring,
Worn down to a thread almost -
Fling it away - the useless thing!
What value now can it boast? -
Fling it away!
Yet stay! - oh stay...

IN MEMORY OF THE REV. J. E. V.


Rest, brother, rest! Thy eyes no more shall weep
O'er unhealed anguish and unconquered sin;
Thy peaceful slumber, tranquilized and deep,...

God will not let His bright gifts die
If I may not sing my songs just now
I shall sing them by and by


A young man with a Poet's soul,
And a Poet's kindling eye -...

Fair land of peace! - to Britain's rule and throne
Adherent still, yet happier than alone,
And free as happy, and as brave as free,
Proud are thy children - justly proud, of thee!
...