"TIS MERRY IN THE MEAD.

"Tis merry in the mead,

When tree, and flower, and weed

Unfold their tender leaflets to wanton in the spring;

When the linnet in the croft,

And the lark a mile aloft,

And the blackbird in the thicket, attune their throats to sing.
Oh! 'tis merry out of doors,

On the daisy-spangled floors

Of the balmy fields and pastures in the sweet, sweet month of May: When the heart of youth is light,

And the face of care grows bright,

And the children leap for gladness in the morning of the day.

Oh! 'tis beautiful to see

II.

How the blushing apple-tree,

And the odour-laden hawthorn, and the cherry and the sloe,

Have put on their bridal gear,

For the nuptials of the year

The bridesmaids of the Earth, with their garments white as snow. And how the happy Earth,

Growing young again in mirth,

Has prank'd herself in jewels to do honour to the day—

Of gold and purple bright,

Of azure and of white;

Her diadem and bracelets, the meadow-flowers of May.

III.

Come forth, come forth, ye sad!
Look at nature and be glad.

Come forth, ye toiling millions, the universe is fair,—
Come forth from crowded street,

And cool your feverish feet

With a trample on the turf in the pleasant open air!
The children in the meads

String the buttercups like beads;

Be not too wise to join them, but sport as well as they;
Come and hear the cuckoo sing,

Come and breathe the breath of spring,

And gild your life's October with the memories of May.

SHALL LOVE BE FOR EVER THE THEME OF THE SONG?

[Music by CHARLES MACKAY.]

I.

SHALL LOVE be for ever the theme of the song,
O minstrel, whose voice the night-echoes prolong?
Shall Friendship and Valour for ever inspire
The thoughts of the heart and the tones of the lyre?
Ah, no! let them rest in oblivion awhile,

And we'll sing a new song with a tear and a smile,—
The song that shall kindle, wherever we roam,
A light brought from Heav'n to the altar of Home!

II.

'In vain,' said the minstrel, 'you'd ask me to sing!
Old names and old thoughts would return to the string;
Your home would be cheerless, if Love were not there,
To hallow the spot with all memories fair.

Were Valour and Duty no guests at the hearth,
And Friendship an alien in Grief or in Mirth,
The fire on the altar would die where it grew,
And Home be no longer the home of the true.'

III.

Let Love then for ever be heard in thy song,
O minstrel, whose voice the night-echoes prolong!
Let Friendship and Valour ennoble thy strain,
And throb in the chords of thy wild harp again,-
With the patriot zeal that ennobles our land,
And hallows the heart when it needs not the hand ;-
May these be our blessings wherever we roam,
And live, as of old, in our songs and our Home!

Mine eyes are dim with hopeless weeping,
But Misery gives prophetic power.
Down, down shall fall thy turrets hoary;
Red ruin lights the sultry air;
And down shall fall thy name and glory,
Low as thy shame and my despair.

COME BACK! COME BACK!

I.

COME back-come back-thou youthful Time,
When joy and innocence were ours,
When life was in its vernal prime,

And redolent of sweets and flowers!
Come back-and let us roam once more
Free-hearted through Life's pleasant ways,
And gather garlands as of yore,--

Come back-come back-ye happy days!

II.

Come back-come back!-'Twas pleasant then
To cherish faith in Love and Truth,
For nothing in dispraise of men

Had sour'd the temper of our youth.
Come back-and let us still believe

The gorgeous dream Romance displays,
Nor trust the tale that men deceive,--
Come back-come back-ye happy days !

III.

Come back-oh, freshness of the past,
When every face seem'd fair and kind,
When sunward every eye was cast,

And all the shadows fell behind ;

Come back!-"Twill come; true hearts can turn Their own Decembers into Mays;

The secret be it ours to learn,

Come back-come back-ye happy days!

MANY CHANGES I HAVE SEEN.

I.

MANY changes I have seen,

Over many lands I've been,

And I've learn'd a thing or two in my time.
I never knew a knave

Who went happy to the grave,

Or reach'd the mountain-top he meant to climb,

Though I've travell'd far and wide,
And have waited time and tide,
I never knew Dishonesty to win,
Or a heart however hard'
From all sympathy debarr'd,

Or that kindness could not touch and enter in.

II.

Never yet in all my round,

Though I've sought him, have I found

A wealthy man contented with his gold;
Or the children of the just
Lying homeless in the dust,

Without a friend to shield them from the cold.
Never yet could I discern,

Though I've struggled hard to learn,

That the rich could bolt out Sorrow from the door;
Or that Wisdom, very wise

In its own and others' eyes-
Did not nurse some little folly at the core.

III.

Never yet I knew a man

Who made others' good his plan,

Who was not over-paid in peace of mind ;
Nor a worshipper of self

And a scraper-up of pelf,

Whose treasures were not scatter'd to the wind.
And now the song is done,

Here's success to every one

Who plays through all his life a manly part!
And be blessings round them flung,
Be they old or be they young,

Who unite the willing hand and loving heart.

THE SYMPATHY OF THE BELLS.

I.

FORLORN! Forlorn! I sit and sigh,
And hear the church bells pealing high,

'One'-'two'-three-four-
No more, no more

Shall I be happy as before!

6

'One' two-three '-' four five '-' six '-' seven

'eight'

There hangs a cloud upon my fate ;—

The bells my very accents borrow,

And ring in sympathy of sorrow!!