Слике страница
PDF
ePub

The wise old man is gone;

His honoured head lies low,

And his thoughts, of power are done,

And his voice's manly flow,

And his pen, that, for truth, like a sword, was drawn, Is still, and soulless, now.

The brave old man is gone!

With his armour on, he fell;

Nor a groan, nor a sigh, was drawn,
When his spirit fled, to tell;

For mortal sufferings, keen and long,
Had no power, his heart to quell.

The good old man is gone!
He is gone, to his saintly rest;
Where no sorrow can be known,

And no trouble can molest;

For his crown of life is won,

And the dead, in Christ, are blessed!

Boston, March 15, 1830.

LINES BY THE LAKE-SIDE.

THIS placid lake, my gentle girl,

Be emblem of thy life,

As full of peace, and purity,

As free from care and strife;
No ripple, on its tranquil breast,
That dies not, with the day;
No pebble, in its darkest depths,
But quivers, in its ray.

And see, how every glorious form,
And pageant of the skies,
Reflected, from its glassy face,

A mirrored image lies;

1831.

So be thy spirit, ever pure,

To God, to virtue, given ;

And thought, and word, and action, bear
The imagery of Heaven.

TO MY DEAR GEORGE HOBART.

My beauty and my blessing,

A year ago, to-day,

Thy little eyes first opened,

To the morning's blessed ray;

And, as I saw thee lying,

On thy gentle Mother's breast,
I felt, what only Fathers feel,
And cannot be expressed.

My beauty, what strange wonders,
Since that day, have been wrought;
Thy life, how wreathed with sunny smiles,
Thine eye, how full of thought!
How many a queer and quaint device,
How many a guileless art;
Thine infant nature's eloquence,
To win a parent's heart.

My blessing, such I feel thee,
With each returning day,
A fountain heaven-opened,

To refresh life's dusty way;
To cheer, with love, and hope, the path,
Else, ah! how lonely trod,

And lift the heart's affections, up,

In prayers, for thee, to God.

My beauty and my blessing,

For thee, my prayers shall rise,
With morning's dawn, and evening's fall,
Unfailing, to the skies;

That He, who gave thee, to us,
Would guard and guide thy way,
Through life, in peace and purity,
To Heaven's eternal day.

WRITTEN ON LEAVING HOME.

I LEAVE thee, dearest, for a while,
Yet leave thee, with our God;
His sheltering wing, is o'er us still,
At home, and when abroad.

I leave with thee, our little ones,
The lovely, and the loved;
And if, for only joy I sought,
My feet had never roved.

But He who gave, and guards them, still,
Has called me, as His own,

To bear His word, to sinful men,

And lead them, to His throne.

Thus must the Master's work be mine,
Till life's brief hour, is o'er;

I dare not "love thee," dear, so well,
Loved I not Jesus, more.

THE FOUNTAIN OPENED IN THE CHURCH.

WITHIN the Church, a fountain springs;
It started, from the Saviour's side;
Peace, pardon, joy, to all, it brings,—
The life-blood of the Crucified.

Its living streams, forever flow,
Forever pure, forever free;
The spirit's solace, here below,
Its succour, for eternity.

"Ho, every one that thirsts, draw nigh-"
Belovéd, hear the voice divine!
The broken heart, the contrite sigh,

Are welcome there; and these are thine.

Come, then-the Spirit calls,-come near,
In humble faith, in trembling love:
Drink comfort, for thy sorrows here,
And taste, before, the bliss above.

SPIRIT OF SPRING.

SPIRIT, that from the breathing south,
Art wafted hither, on dewy wing,
By the softened light, of that sunny eye,
And that voice, of wild-wood melody,
And those golden tresses, wantoning,
And the perfumed breath, of that balmy mouth,
We know thee, Spirit of Spring,

Spirit of beauty, these thy charms, Spirit of Spring.

Spirit of Spring, thou comest to wake,

The slumbering energies of earth,

The zephyr's breath, to thee, we owe,
Thine is the streamlet's silver flow,
And thine, the gentle floweret's birth;
And their silence, hark! the wild birds break,
For thy welcome, Spirit of Spring.

Spirit of Spring, when the cheek is pale,

There is health, in thy balmy air,

And peace, in that brow of beaming bright,

And joy, in that eye of sunny light;

And golden hope, in that flowing hair; Oh! that such influence e'er should fail, For a moment, Spirit of Spring,

Spirit of health, peace, joy, and hope, Spirit of Spring.

1833.

Yet fail it must, for it comes of earth,
And it may not shame its place of birth,
Where the best can bloom, but a single day,
And the fairest, is first to fade away.

But oh! there's a changeless world above,
A world of peace, and joy, and love,
Where, gathered from the tomb,

The holy hopes, that earth has crost,

And the friends, so dear, we have loved and lost,
Shall enjoy immortal bloom.

Who will not watch, and strive, and pray,
That his longing soul may soar away,
On faith's untiring wing,

To join the throng, of saints in light,
In that world, forever fair and bright,
Of endless, cloudless, Spring.

THE AMULET OF GRACE.

Written in "the Amulet."

DEAREST, Could thy husband get,

With his blood, an amulet,

That could charm away thy woe,

From his heart the stream should flow.

But from mortal misery,

Such redemption may not be;

Vain before the holy God,

Oceans filled with human blood.

Yet let heaven and earth resound,
Such a ransom has been found,
God's atoning Lamb has died,
Jesus has been crucified.

« ПретходнаНастави »