Works

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...

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,...

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? -...

Before them lay the heaving deep
Behind, the foemen pressed;
And every face grew dark with fear,
And anguish filled each breast
Save one, the Leader's, he, serene,
Beheld, with dauntless mind,...

I hear the beat of the unresting tide
On either shore as swiftly on I glide
With eager haste the narrow channel o'er,
Which links the floods behind with those before.
I hear behind me as I onward glide,...

Upon the plain of Dura stood an image great and high,
With golden forehead broad and bright beneath the morning sky;
All regal in its majesty and kingly in its mien,...

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,...

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...

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,...

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,...

Our field is the world! - let us forth to the sowing,
O'er valley and mountain, o'er desert and plain,
Beside the still waters through cool meadows flowing,
O'er regions unblest by the dew and the rain; -...

A light departed from the hearth of home,
Leaving a shadow where its radiance shone, -
A flower just bursting into life and bloom,
Lopped from its stem, the bower left sad and lone, -...

Oh, take me where the wild flowers bloom!


Oh, take me where the wild flowers bloom!
I'm dying, mother dear!
And shades of ever deepening gloom
Are round, and o'er me here, -...

Strike the chords softly with tremulous fingers,
While, on the threshold of happiest years,
For a brief moment fond memory lingers,
Ere we go forth to life's conflicts and fears!
...

["Dr. Reid, a traveller through the highlands of Peru, is said to have found in the desert of Alcoama the dried remains of an assemblage of human beings, five or six hundred in number, men, women, and children, seated in a semi...

There's a beautiful Artist abroad in the world,
And her pencil is dipped in heaven, -
The gorgeous hues of Italian skies,
The radiant sunset's richest dyes,
The light of Aurora's laughing eyes,...

All over the earth like a mantle,
Golden, and green, and grey,
Crimson, and scarlet, and yellow,
The Autumn foliage lay; -
The sun of the Indian Summer
Laughed at the bare old trees...

Little bird, is that thy sphere,
Yonder threat'ning cloud so near?
Sunbeams blaze along its brow,
Yet what darkness reigns below!
There the sullen thunder mutt'ring,...