Works

AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED TO A DEAR FRIEND ON THE DEATH OF A BELOVED FATHER.


The dawn-light wakes, and brightens to the day,
And the slow sun climbs the far eastern skies,...

HONOR TO LABOR! - it giveth health;
Honor to labor! - it bringeth wealth;
Honor to labor! - our glorious land
Displayeth its triumphs on every hand.
It has smoothed the plains, laid the forests low,...

"I am doing no good!" said a little rill,
As it rippled along at the foot of a hill,
"I am doing no good with my babbling here,
No one is listening, - no one is near!"
...

"Work to-day in my vineyard!"


Hast thou, then, been called to labor
In the vineyard of thy Lord,
With the promise that, if faithful,
Thou shall win a sure reward? -...

(Ps. 3 5.)


Dark was the midnight hour,
And wild with storm. Nor moon nor pitying star
Gleamed through the inky darkness from afar;
And Earth seemed reeling blindly to her doom,...

I shall be satisfied when I awaken
In thy dear likeness, my King and my Lord, -
When the dark prison of death shall be shaken,
And the freed spirit comes forth at thy word! -...

I will not despair while thou rulest the storm,
Though the red lightning stream o'er the cloud's sable-breast,
For I catch through the darkness bright gleams of thy form,...

Nay, I will not let thee go,
Though the midnight glideth slow, -
Though the darkness deep and long
Dim the sight and hush the song,
On thy tender, faithful breast,
Find I still my perfect rest -...

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."


I gave myself to Jesus
In my sunny childhood's years,
When on my young, unsullied cheek...

'Twas a balmy day in Autumn,
In the drowsy, dreamy Autumn,
When from out the quiet woodland
Sounds of rustling leaves came only -
Leaves that floated softly earthward -
And the streamlets had a murmur...

He sleeps where the billow
Lifts high its white crest
O'er his lone, sea-weed pillow
On Ocean's dark breast;
No shroud is around him,
No flowers bloom above,
No mourners surround him...

[note: A precious memory is associated with these words. The voice that uttered them is silent now but the solemnity of their utterance has not passed away. The [below] is a feeble attempt to give it something like permanency.]...

A voice missed by the dear home-hearth -
A voice of music and gentle mirth -
A voice whose lingering sweetness long
Will float through many a Sabbath song,
And many a hallowed, evening hymn,...

John Littlewit, friends, was a credulous man.
In the good time long ago,
Ere men had gone wild o'er the latter-day dream
Of turning the world upside down with steam,...

Living for Christ, I die; - how strange, that I,
Thus dying, live, - and yet, thus living, die!
Living for Christ, I die;-yet wondrous thought,
In that same death a deathless life is wrought; -...

Sleep, gentle, mysterious healer,
Come down with thy balm-cup to me!
Come down, O thou mystic revealer
Of glories the day may not see!
For dark is the cloud that is o'er me,...

Do the dancing leaves of summer
To the time of buds look back? -
Does the river moan regretful
For the brooklet's mountain-track?
Does the ripened sheaf of summer,
Heavy with precious grain,...

Christian, lookup? thy feet may slide;
This is a slippery way!
Yet One is walking by thy side
Whose arm should be thy stay,
Thou canst not see that blessed form,
Nor view that loving smile...

God so loved me that He gave
Jesus for my sins to die;
Jesus loved me in the grave,
Jesus loves me still on high, -
Father-love and Saviour-love,
Mine on earth and mine above!
...

LOVED AND LOST, - OR - THE SKY-LARK AND THE VIOLET.


VIOLET'S SONG

I.

Come down from thy dazzling sphere,
Bird of the gushing song!
Come down where the young leaves whisper low,...