Dreams of Heaven.

"I veil my brow from this dim earth,
And dream of brighter spheres."

[Passage marked by a dear friend, now a dweller in those brighter spheres.] "To suns that shine forever yonder,

O'er fields that fade not sweet to flee,
The very winds that there may wander,
How healing must their breathing be!"

SCHILLER.

DREAM of a land of flowers unfading
Which bloom afresh through the vernal year;
Of ever-green trees forever shading

The streams of crystal, bright and clear;
Where crimson cloud-tints deck the morning,
And rainbow colors light up the eve,

Only to give up their rich adorning,

And round our spirits their bright woof weave.

I dream of a home where pain and sighing,
Where sin and sorrow are never known,
Where the heart's dear idols, dead and dying,
Can never leave us, alone, alone!

Where harsh, cold words can never grieve us,
Sending a chill to the heart's warm tide,
Where those we trust so will ne'er deceive us,
But will roam eternally by our side.

DREAMS OF HEAVEN.

I dream of meetings of friends long parted,-
Of meetings undimmed by a single fear,
Which will heal the woes of the broken-hearted,
And dry forever the mourner's tear;
Where the brows we love so will never quiver,

Or the fond eyes dim in a dark eclipse,-
And the heart and the soul will never shiver
To feel how cold are a dear one's lips!

O, friend of my heart! in a brighter morning

Do you roam so happy, among the flowers?
Do you wreathe your brows in their rich adorning,
And never long for this home of ours?
Do you wish for the friends left behind you,

you

Or send sweet thoughts to the loved of yore?
Do the asphodel flowers of heaven remind you
Of flowers you loved on our time-washed shore?

She answers me not-my friend and sister!
Never on earth shall I hear her voice;

But a soft breath comes through the dark cloud-vista,
And her spirit whispers to mine, "Rejoice!

In a few short years, o'er the silent river,
(Short indeed they will seem to be,)
A sudden pang and a tremulous shiver,

And forever free you will dwell with me."

O fadeless flowers of the fields of heaven!
O ever-green trees of the changeless hills!
O rainbow clouds to the bright skies given!
O crystal rivers and purling rills!

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O friendships pure! O loves unfading!

I dream of you all when my dark days come; And when the black waters my eyes are shading, May your bright forms smile me a welcome home!

The Silent Village.

LITTLE way from the busy town,

Beyond the noise of men,

Whence, through waving branches looking down,

The burning crowd is seen;

And where all the surge of life's unrest

To whispered murmurs dies,

On the peaceful hill-side's quiet breast

A silent village lies.

The summer wind with the whispering leaves
And waving grasses plays,

And the wintry blast through shivering trees

And lonely pathways raves,

And the storm, with great gray wings of gloom,
Unfelt, unheeded, comes,

And it stirs no sign and wakes no sound

Within these silent homes.

The tuneful bird pours its joyous note,
And sings its glad, sweet lay,

And the butterfly and hum-bee float

Through all the Summer day;

THE SILENT VILLAGE.

And the faint, low sound of busy life
Creeps on the evening air

From the town, with restless billows rife,
But still 'tis silent there.

The blushing rose her sweet bloom unfolds,
The daisies gem the ground,

And the buttercup's bright crown of gold
Gleams o'er each grassy mound;

And the fragrant store of clover sweets
With violet perfume blends,

But the loveliness no glad voice greets,
Or the deep silence rends.

The restless feet and the merry shout
Of childhood there are still;

And the song of youth ne'er ringeth out
From these still, quiet fields,

And the busy hands on this life's stage,
Crossed on the peaceful breast,
And the tottering steps of hoary age,
All there in silence rest.

The marble slab and the turfy mound
Point where they're peaceful laid,

And the gleaming shaft and moss-grown stone
Mark the same lowly bed;

For the rich and poor, there side by side,

In narrow mansions sleep,

And no dream of care, or pomp, or pride,

Breaks on their silence deep.

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A deep, dark spell, through all time which lasts,

Of mystery unknown,

From the King of Silence' shadow cast,

Over the place is thrown;

But a mightier power shall break the spell,
And these still forms shall wake,

When the trumpet of God's resounding peal

Shall on their silence break.

Lamentation.

READ upon that book,

Which down the golden gulf doth let us look

On the sweet days of pastoral majesty;

I read upon that book

How, when the shepherd prince did flee,-
Red Esau's twin,-he desolate took

The stone for a pillow; then he fell on sleep.
And lo! there was a ladder. Lo! there hung
A ladder from the star-place, and it clung
To the earth: it tied her so to heaven; and O!
There fluttered wings;

Then were ascending and descending things
That stepped to him where he lay low;
Then up the ladder would a-drifting go-
This feathered brood of heaven - and show
Small as white flakes in winter that are blown
Together, underneath the great white throne.