s: The cortege sad, with solemn step and slow,


s: Shall bear us here, to rest forever more,--


s: 'Till that bright day when ransomed spirits rise,


s: To dwell in realms beyond the star-lit skies


s: That seemed to give her cheeks caresses,


s: And rapture felt that thrilled me through


s: That could not hide their azure flashes!


s: O others may boast of their pleasures galore--


s: The miser with rapture may count o'er his store,


s: And some may imagine great happiness there


s: In the gay shining beam of Society's glare;


s: But best of all comforts a feller can know,


s: While wintry winds whistle and fast flies the snow,


s: Is a pipe after supper, by a bright blazing fire,


s: Encircled with ringlets that curl high and higher!


s: O doctors may tell you and others declare


s: It'll shorten your days and your heart will impair--


s: That nicotine poison will flow through your veins


s: And nervous distraction will rack with its pains;


s: But what cares a feller in slippers and gown,


s: When wintry winds whistle and snow's pouring down,


s: With papers and books, and his feet near the fire,


s: Encircled with ringlets that curl high and higher?


s: O rare are the fancies, contentment and bliss,


s: That drive away care in an hour such as this!


s: When the ills of this life and the things that provoke


s: Are lost for the while in the blue curling smoke


s: Of a pipe and tobacco that's yellow as gold,


s: And raptures supernal the senses unfold.


s: O give me a chair by a bright blazing fire,


s: And sweet-smelling ringlets that curl high and higher!


s: Here on this spot, where Nature now, with chilling, icy breath,


s: Has mantled in a robe of white the field of strife and death,


s: We view in memory once again the awful scenes where met


s: In serried ranks the Blue and Gray--and tears the lashes wet;


s: For those who fell that dreadful day are mingled with the dust,


s: And often here the plow upturns a bayonet red with rust:


s: A sad memento of the time when passion held full sway--


s: Reminder to the rustic swain of fratricidal fray.


s: From yonder hill the shotted guns in dreadful chorus rang--


s: We stood and heard the Minie balls their deadly message sing,


s: And saw the life blood, gushing red, from stricken comrade near,


s: Whose gentle voice his loved ones then no more should ever hear--


s: A sacrifice to cause held dear, on the field of Perryville!


s: And the swiftly circling years can ne'er erase


s: From Memory's tablets or from Nature's face


s: One spot of all the rest we're standing near--


s: By fiercely battling hosts the prize held dear;


s: The old spring's waters still are gurgling from the rock


s: Where famished soldiers knelt--grim Death himself to mock;


s: Here on that day in ghastly heaps they lay--


s: Commingling with the Blue the men that wore the Gray!


s: And now the virgin snow has covered o'er the sod


s: Where once in fierce array contending armies trod;


s: The wintry wind makes mournful music through the trees


s: Where then the clash of arms was floating on the breeze,


s: And deep-toned guns belched forth the screaming shell


s: Like fiendish messengers of Death let loose from hell;


s: Now Nature's peaceful emblem spread o'er glade and hill


s: Enwraps beneath its folds the bloody field of Perryville.


s: An' them blamed ticks that burrowed through


s: You may boast about the landscapes fair so far across the sea


s: Of castled Rhine, and southern France, and favored Italy--


s: And others that perhaps you've seen, of beauty and renown,


s: But come and view the country spread around old Shakertown!


s: O come and boast that you have been where Nature's lavish hand


s: Bestowed the gifts of wood and field that vie with any land--


s: Where valleys wear a velvet robe--the hills an emerald crown


s: Of bluegrass shimmering in the sun, around old Shakertown!


s: O come to old Kentucky then, and to her garden spot,


s: Then wander wheresoe'er you will, it ne'er will be forgot--


s: For Nature's face is wreathed in smiles nor wears a single frown


s: To mar the beauty she has spread around old Shakertown!


s: At dawn's approach had winged their flight--


s: The blow that blighted hopes have felt)--


s: Are drifting now upon some fairer tide--


s: Their scattered ashes on Hope's pinions rise


s: And people realms beyond the azure skies!


s: Are anchored safe from life's rude storms;


s: The years have passed in ceaseless round


s: In dreamless sleep beneath the silent mound,


s: With folded hands upon her gentle breast.


s: The ivy twines about the crumbling stone,


s: Its brightest smile upon the hallowed spot,


s: And sobered Autumn and wild Winter spread


s: Their garments here--she heeds them not!


s: The feathered wildlings of the wood and field


s: But she who sleeps with eyes so softly sealed


s: Their gladsome songs can never more awake.


s: O restful sleep beneath the crumbling mold


s: O Grave! What treasures do thy confines hold


s: By us so dearly loved and fondly prized!


s: I'm just in my glory when the cat I can tease,


s: Or I'm hunting for bird nests up in the trees,


s: And I wear out my pants in the seat and the knees;


s: I'm the pride of my daddy, my mammy's own joy--


s: A frolicsome, rollicksome, freckle-faced boy!


s: I can make a top hum, and at marbles, you bet,


s: I'm the cock of the walk and the king of the "set;"


s: I'm hearty and healthy--and don't you forget


s: The dead loads of "goodies" that I can destroy--


s: I'm a frolicsome, rollicksome, freckle-faced boy!


s: They send me to school with my satchel and books,


s: And my pockets bulged out with nails and fish-hooks;


s: And sometimes while there my teacher she looks


s: And captures the things that provoke and annoy


s: From a frolicsome, rollicksome, freckle-faced boy!


s: My mammy she says that it's quite evident


s: Of the country some day I'll be President;


s: But auntie, she says from the way I am bent


s: The gold of her dream will be full of alloy


s: I'm huntin' for fun, and I don't have a care,


s: And there's dirt on my hands, and I don't comb my hair,


s: And off-colored patches quite often I wear;


s: But there's no kind of sport the young heart can cloy


s: Of a frolicsome, rollicksome, freckle-faced boy!


s: The Springtime am a-comin', and the dogwood soon will bloom,


s: Just git yer minnow bucket, and yer hook and pole and line,


s: And slip away some mornin', when the weather's bright and still,


s: And hang a four-pound jumper at the dam below the mill!


s: There are lots of other pleasures in the old world here below,


s: And a mighty heap of happiness a feller 'll never know--


s: But never mind about 'em--just yer slip away and feel


s: That something so delectable that over yer will steal;


s: For it sets the pulses beatin' with a magic kind of thrill


s: When yer hang a four-pound jumper at the dam below the mill!


s: When yer 'gin to take the fever, and yer feel it comin' on,


s: Why yer boun' ter go a-fishin', just as shore as yer born;


s: Then ye'd better git yer trapping's in the proper kind o' fix,


s: And go and hear the music when yer reel a-spinnin' clicks;


s: For he rushes through the water at a pace that's fit ter kill


s: The winds were hushed, and thin and high


s: I wouldn't mind the weather much--I'd sizzle and I'd stew,


s: And do the very best I could the heat to struggle through,


s: If I could find some way, you know, the feller to eschew,


s: Who greets you with the chestnut phrase--


s: The mercury might climb the tube and spill right out the top--


s: The sweat might ooze from every pore and off my carcass drop--


s: I wouldn't mind the heat at all, and keep my temper too,


s: The sun might shine his level best--the sky seem molten brass--


s: The heat might dry up every stream, and burn up all the grass--


s: The evening come without a breeze--the morning have no dew--


s: I can see the back-log blazing and the sparkles take their flight


s: I can see the old folks smiling and the children's cheeks aglow,


s: And a saucy maiden standing there beneath the mistletoe;


s: I can hear the laughter mingle with the strains of music sweet


s: As we tripped the light fantastic with the "many-twinkling feet;"


s: I can see the candles burning bright upon the Christmas tree;


s: I can see the presents handed round, and hear the shouts of glee,


s: A something indefinable which bids the tear-drop start;


s: I can see the colts a-playing, I can hear the cattle low--


s: When memory takes me back again to scenes I used to know.


s: I can see it all when fancy weaves its magic with a dream,


s: And I hear the tones from voices like the murmur of a stream;


s: And oh, the heart seems young again and from its anguish free


s: When I gaze upon these pictures that are ever dear to me;


s: Then I see the darkies dancing, I can hear the fiddle ring


s: As they gathered in the cabin and they cut the pigeon-wing;


s: I can smell the 'possum roasting, I can see the cider flow,


s: When the burning sun of Summer shines from out a brassy sky,


s: And has parched and browned the meadows, and the creek's run dry,


s: Since Logan and the pioneers first stood upon its bank,


s: And heard it gurgle from the rock, and of its waters drank,


s: With ceaseless music in its flow, like silvery chimes that ring,


s: Around about the fields and woods of old "Magnolia" spread--


s: Indigenous to "tansy"--"mint"--and the lithe-limbed thoroughbred;


s: To the rippling song of gladness from the


s: No music that I've ever heard seems half so soft and sweet


s: As that in silvery tones it makes while flowing at your feet;


s: And sometimes when I'm far away I'd give most anything


s: 'Tis then that fancy wanders, and I sit and fondly dream


s: That I'm gazing in its liquid depths and see the pebbles gleam,


s: As when in happy childhood, and free from sorrow's sting,


s: And I sniff again the flavor of the aromatic breeze


s: From the mint-bed and the tansy, as it floated through the trees,


s: With the laughing song of gladness from the


s: Give me the patches on my pants, the freckles on my face--


s: The happy heart where cankering care had never found a place--


s: And let my bare feet walk again that dirt road down the hill


s: That led me to the river's brink, beyond the old Mock Mill!


s: Give me the youthful friends I knew, now scattered far and wide--


s: When we were run-aways from school, a-fishing in the creek.


s: Give me the stone-bruise on my heel, the hat without a crown--


s: The unkempt suit of yellow hair the sun had burnt to brown--


s: And let me go and soak myself, just where we used to walk,


s: In that old swimmin' pool we had, up on the Hanging Fork!


s: Give me the wealth I used to have--a wealth of vast content--


s: The pockets that were always full--but in them not a cent--


s: And let me hear the music sweet the wild birds used to sing


s: In woods and fields I wandered o'er, beyond the Old Cove Spring!


s: And what's the use of trying to look beyond the misty screen


s: Time's hand has hung between the eye and each familiar scene?


s: She wrote--and signed the name of--Mother!


s: By the waters of a river, where the rocks like giants stand,


s: Where the music of the wild birds, echoed from the cliffs around,


s: Where in Summer old trees spreading overhead a leafy roof


s: He a sunnier clime forsaking for the "dark and bloody ground,"


s: All of human-kind deserting, where no din of toil and strife


s: Ever came to break the stillness--there he spent a hermit's life.


s: All his frugal wants supplying from the storehouse Nature gave,


s: Long ago she was forgotten, and at last surcease had come--


s: Long he lay beside the river, flowing sweetly there to-day,


s: Where was found a bleaching skeleton, and a rude hut in decay.


s: There where briars in tangled network sway above a little mound,


s: Let tipplers all boast of the pleasure divine


s: That is found in old whisky, in beer and in wine--


s: But what are all those to a feller who knows


s: Where the "Medical Spring" in its purity flows,


s: And has knelt at its brink and just drank his fill


s: Of the clear, sparkling fluid, from Nature's own still?


s: How often I've strayed on a hot Summer's day


s: Where it gurgles and gushes, then flows on its way


s: With a ripple as sweet as the music that died


s: When the tones of loved voices are to us denied,


s: And mirrored my face in the "Medical Spring,"


s: Where the beetling old cliffs their cool shadows fling!


s: Not riches, nor honors, nor place do I crave,


s: Ere they lay me at last to rest in the grave,


s: But oh, let me hear its music once more,


s: And drink from its depths while I kneel on its shore--


s: Then bear me away on the Death Angel's wing


s: While my lips are yet moist from the "Medical Spring!"


s: Seemed borrowed brightness from her face!


s: What rose-hued visions thou canst paint!


s: With her who seemed Love's patron saint!


s: The sweetest dreams, it seems to me, that we can ever know,


s: Are those the fancy brings to us of days of long-ago,


s: When rainbow-tinted pictures all are like a mirage flung


s: Upon the canvas memory weaves--of days when we were young.


s: The step may falter, eye be dim--the brow may wrinkles wear,


s: And while with raptured gaze we look the heart seems ever new.


s: Oh, when perhaps at last we're left a laggard on life's stage,


s: This is the mellowed draught we quaff our longings to assuage--


s: As sweet as that from Paradise the smiling Houris hand


s: The Prophet's faithful followers when at its gates they stand!


s: If one last prayer were left to me for my declining days,


s: Some passer-by could truly say "His heart was ever young!"


s: Some sing of the lily, some sing of the rose,


s: Some sing of each flower in beauty that blows;


s: But sing me a song that shall render its meed


s: To the fragrance and aroma found in a weed,


s: Which banishes care and mitigates grief--


s: I mean a big twist of old "natural leaf!"


s: When sorrow's dark mantle the spirit doth wear,


s: And the heart is oppressed with the demon of care,


s: Then get out your pipe and its magic invoke


s: And all of your troubles will vanish in smoke!


s: O, you who have tried it will know what I mean


s: When the praises I sing of a hank of long green!


s: Since the days of King James and his old counterblast


s: Its sway of all classes has ever held fast,


s: And its patron saint Raleigh forever will live


s: In remembrance as sweet as affection can give,


s: And the incense we burn is an offering seen


s: In wreaths of blue smoke from a twist of long green!


s: Now some may advise you and others may swear


s: That nicotine poison your nerves will impair,


s: And if from the weed you'd just kept aloof


s: From heartburn and palsy you'd surely been proof--


s: For a man who had died at a hundred fifteen


s: Was hastened away by smoking long green!


s: But a cigar, a pipe, or a good juicy chew


s: Will yield you more comfort than harm they will do,


s: And murder the microbes that float in the air,


s: And make magical dreams in the old arm-chair,


s: To just draw the line at a vile cigarette!


s: More shining mark that death could strike.


s: By heaven lent the sordid earth to grace--


s: A nation's tears sincerely shed for thee!


s: With tears we'll water flowers that never fade


s: And gently drop upon his new-made grave!


s: With its rude walls of stone and its moss-covered roof--


s: ('Tis a picture inwoven with memory's woof)--


s: It stands there to-day, as it stood in the years


s: When we knew naught of sorrow--nor anguish--nor tears;


s: And though far from it now, I can see it at will--


s: The old spring-house at the foot of the hill!


s: O flights of fond fancy that deeply inurn


s: Sweet scenes of our childhood, no more to return!


s: Which carry us back in visions and dreams


s: And illumine life's pathway with memory's gleams--


s: Till we see once again, though with tears the eyes fill,


s: There we children, bare-footed, would wander to play,


s: And wade in the branch that flowed on its way


s: Through the meadows and fields with current so fleet,


s: And a gurgle and ripple that sounded so sweet!


s: And the water that helped turn the wheel at the mill


s: Was from the spring-house at the foot of the hill!


s: And, oh! I remember a pair of blue eyes,


s: With glances as tender and soft as the skies,


s: And a little brown head that was covered with curls,


s: And the laughter that rippled between rows of pearls,


s: Which was changed to a cry of despair and of woe


s: When the craw-fish was clinging to a little pink toe!


s: Distilled by the heart into memory's wine,


s: 'Tis thus that we drink a draught that's divine,


s: And lighten the burdens which after years bear,


s: And banish with dreaming the demon of Care!


s: O in fond recollection I linger there still,


s: By the old spring-house at the foot of the hill!


s: Though vanished forever the faces that smiled,


s: And hushed is the laughter I heard when a child--


s: Yet often when musing they float back to me,


s: And I see them and hear it as clear as can be!


s: And I'm playing again, while the heart strings all thrill,


s: By the old spring house at the foot of the hill!


s: Where the Cumberland flows on its way to the South,


s: From its source in the hills half-way to its mouth--


s: When Autumn has come and tempered the rays


s: Of the hot blazing sun with its soft mellow haze,


s: Is an Eden of bliss and a place of delight,


s: When the minnows are good and the "jumpers" will bite,


s: And a fellow's well fixed with a reel and a pole,


s: And other "equipments"--(of which I've been told)!


s: To camp there and fish for a week at a time,


s: And have the four-pounders just tug at your line,


s: Is a feeling akin to sweet visions we see


s: When we dream of that home where we all hope to be;


s: And no king in the world who sits on a throne


s: E'er felt the rare joy that thrills to the bone


s: When you throw out your line and it whizzes away,


s: Just cutting the water to foamy white spray!


s: He darts here and there, dead game to the last,


s: When he feels the barbed hook and finds that he's fast,


s: And plunges and struggles, disdaining to yield,


s: Till exhausted at last to the bank he is reeled,


s: And carefully lifted from out the old stream,


s: While he flounders and gasps and his scaly sides gleam,


s: And you measure his length and guess at his weight--


s: (Five inches too long and a pound too great)!


s: And when shadows of evening are gathering around,


s: And the sun with pure gold each hill-top has crowned,


s: Then pick up your trappings and leisurely wend


s: Your way back to camp, above the long bend,


s: Where the cook has prepared a supper, I trow,


s: Ne'er dreamt of in thoughts of Delmonico!


s: And you'll sit there and eat for an hour or more


s: With an appetite keen--and unheard of before!


s: Now bring out your pipe and fill up the bowl,


s: And loll there and smoke till it seems that the soul


s: Is wafted away like the ringlets that rise


s: Then roll in a blanket with your feet to the blaze,


s: And the croak of the frogs and the ripple that plays


s: Will lull you to sleep with music as sweet


s: As that of the song when the angels you greet!


s: No matter what the weather was, in good old stage coach days,


s: The driver with his ruddy face and spanking team of bays


s: Would spin along the turnpike road, o'er level stretch and hill,


s: That wound away from "Idleburg" to classic Nicholasville.


s: With trunks, valises, packages, and bundles by the score,


s: And strapped within the bulging boot, that hung far out behind,


s: Was added weight enough to make a team of oxen blind;


s: And counting all the passengers that filled the coach within,


s: The load those horses had to drag--I thought it was a sin!


s: How proud of them the driver was! And often he would brag


s: That they could pull a heavier load and never balk or flag;


s: If all the road was ankle-deep in miry, sticky mud,


s: That was the time his team would show its metal and its blood.


s: The "ribbons" then he'd gather up, and give his whip a crack,


s: And any team in front of him had better clear the track;


s: He seemed to own the turnpike road, and kept the right of way


s: Unto himself as jealously as bloomers do to-day.


s: By wood and field he wound along, and by the river's bank,


s: And going up the hill beyond he'd let 'em walk and blow.


s: Then urged into a trot again around the curves they spun


s: And on beyond where Nelson lay, the bravest of the brave,


s: And when the sun was hanging low and slanting shadows fell,


s: Along the streets of "Idleburg" that old familiar yell


s: Would greet the ears of villagers from small boys as they ran


s: With open mouths and lusty lungs a-shouting "Here comes Sam!"


s: Its whole-souled driver years ago forever passed away,


s: And crumbled now to dust the hand that drove each gallant bay!


s: When youth, and hope, and life were sweet--


s: Tasting life's cup at the sparkling brim!


s: Through the years to come still linger there!


s: When the nights are gittin' chilly and the leaves begin to fade,


s: An' the mercury's down to thirty, 'stead o' ninety in the shade,


s: There's a happy kind o' feelin' takes possession o' the soul--


s: You kin feel the vast contentment that over you will roll--


s: If the barn is full o' fodder, and the coal house full o' coal!


s: You kin dream about the Summer-time, an' that old fishin' pole--


s: When your supper's been digested an' you're dozin' in your chair,


s: White-shrouded, latest-born of all the year,


s: In thy cold hands no bud or floweret bearing,


s: Of thy dead sisters--on thy bosom wearing


s: But on thy marble brow the Star of Bethlehem!


s: Beneath thy foot-prints lie the Autumn leaves,


s: And where the drifting snow its mantle weaves


s: The Summer songsters sang the happy hours away.


s: What tho' the birds have flown the blighted stem?


s: One Autumn evening, wandering, when the sun was hanging low,


s: Through a woodland where the music of a streamlet's gentle flow


s: Commingled with the rustling of the yellow golden leaves,


s: And the idling breeze's sighing as it floated through the trees,


s: I heard sweet voices whispering in accents soft and low,


s: That lulled to rest the troubled soul, like those of long ago.


s: Enchanted thus I lingered, by unseen hands fast bound,


s: My willing fancy captive to the magic of sweet sound,


s: And eagerly I listened to the whispering voices tell


s: Of happy days of childhood, and the tear unbidden fell,


s: As were pictured to the mind again the halcyon scenes of yore,


s: And loved ones that no more I'll meet till on the silent shore!


s: And as the slanting shadows fell athwart the scattered leaves


s: To struggle for the golden fruit that Mammon loves to taste,


s: But find at last, the end attained, that there are better things


s: To satisfy the longing heart--that sweeter solace brings.


s: "Thy Springtime, thy Summer, and thy Autumn's mellowed haze,


s: If rightly lived and rightly spent, will bring rare, happy days,


s: That temper with their sunshine the frigid Winter's wrath,


s: When gathering storms are darkling o'er life's declining path,


s: And lend a ray celestial that hoarded gold ne'er gave


s: To lighten all thy journey, from the cradle to the grave."


s: The sweetest music put in song since Robby Burns's time


s: Is that which breathes its harmony from Georgia's sunny clime,


s: Where the fragrant-scented odor that the climbing jasmine flings


s: Commingles with the melody that gifted Stanton sings!


s: It may not suit a bookish clan that cannot understand


s: The rhythm and the cadences they never can command--


s: But what is that to him that knows and touches all the strings


s: Of hearts responsive to his strain when gifted Stanton sings?


s: We read his songs and hear the notes repeated once again


s: His ear has caught when listening to the mocking-bird's refrain,


s: And interwoven with the sense a mystic something rings


s: That fills the soul with ecstasy when gifted Stanton sings!


s: We love you for the many gifts that generous Nature brings,


s: But best of all--we love you for the song that Stanton sings!


s: It hangs today where it has hung for fifty years or more,


s: But some who loved its silver tones the church-yard covers o'er,


s: And many are the times since then, with deep and solemn knell,


s: Within a latticed tower it swings, high up above the street,


s: And every Sabbath morn is heard the music clear and sweet


s: Which floats above the village roofs, and over hill and dell,


s: Full many a change the hand of Time has in the village wrought,


s: And passing years have often been with grief and anguish fraught,


s: Since it was placed within the tower, in days of long ago,


s: The tempests wild have round it raved, and many a driven snow


s: Has sifted through the slats up there, and mantled as it fell


s: In robes of white its dwelling place, and the


s: Though gone from earth and earthly things--forever passed away--


s: The faithful ones who loved while here its summons to obey


s: Now rest beyond the tide of Time, with rapture long to dwell,


s: For there their footsteps guided were by the


s: The winds are hushed, nor leaf nor flower


s: In Southern sunny clime there is a hallowed tomb,


s: Where rest the ashes of a minstrel priest;


s: And soft winds that are laden with a sweet perfume


s: Their requiems for him have never ceased.


s: We read his songs, and hear again the tread


s: Of armed battalions, marching to the fray,


s: Or see once more the features of belovèd dead


s: Whose life blood crimsoned uniforms of gray!


s: We see the tattered banner that he loved so well


s: Again unfurled and fluttering in the breeze,


s: O, may thy minstrel spirit find eternal rest


s: In some fair clime where nothing can be lost!


s: Where anguish never more can rend thy breast,


s: And fondest hope can ne'er be tempest tost!


s: It led adown the sloping hill, and through the valley wound,


s: And where the blooming clover shed its fragrance all around,


s: And then between the maple trees, across the little brook,


s: To where the old fence bars let down, a tortuous course it took;


s: And often are the times I've heard the merry, ringing laugh,


s: From rosy-ankled children there, along the meadow path.


s: Three boys--and a little girl whose hair was chestnut gold--


s: Her laughing eyes looked into mine--for she was dear to me;


s: And thus it is I love to let the fancy photograph


s: The merry group that idled there, along the meadow path.


s: Adown it oft we used to go at twilight for the cows,


s: Or wander from the beaten track a rabbit to arouse,


s: The sweetest flowers that bloom for me--a fragrant aftermath--


s: Are those that in the memory blow, along the meadow path!


s: With fleet-limbed steeds and baying pack


s: Through wood and field, o'er hill and dale,


s: And sport they find which brings delight--


s: Nor hedge nor fence their course can stay;


s: And left your brute with scarce a stump!


s: And the rose's hue to the cheek it brings!


s: Than that which greets the list'ning ear--


s: When on me first thy brown eyes glanced,


s: Thro' silken ringlets on thy dimpling cheek,


s: Oh, for a deep-shaded spot where the shadows cool


s: Are hid from the rays of the glaring sun,


s: And the sparkling waters from a limped pool


s: O'er the gleaming pebbles in ripples run!


s: Where the sloping banks are with verdure clad,


s: And the hoary cliffs with moss o'ergrown,


s: And the tangled vine and the wildflowers pad


s: Where the song that wells from a feathered throat


s: And the drifted sedge and the bubbles float


s: O'er the glassy depths of a miniature main!


s: Where the willows dip in the edge of the stream,


s: And a feller could tranquilly rest and dream


s: Of a howling blizzard and a good hard freeze!


s: I walked within the silent city of the dead,


s: Which then with Autumn leaves was carpeted,


s: And where the faded flower and withered wreath


s: Bespoke the love for those who slept beneath,


s: And, weeping, stood beside a new-made grave


s: Which held the sacred dust that friendship gave.


s: That heart with milk of human kindness overflowed--


s: That sympathetic hand its generous aid bestowed


s: To lighten others' burdens on life's weary road!


s: And there no polished shaft need lift its head


s: In lettered eulogy above the sainted dead--


s: His deeds are monuments above the dust whereon we tread!


s: To fairer realms his spirit winged its way,


s: With poignant grief we stood around the bier


s: Which held the lifeless form of one held dear,


s: And broken hearts that knew no comfort then


s: Still mourn the loss of one of Nature's noblemen!


s: The sun is sinking where the western hills


s: The vision bounds with rugged summits old,


s: And with his latest beam he brightly gilds


s: Is floating o'er the meadow's gentle sweep--


s: And stealthily the twilight shadows creep.


s: And gently falls upon the listening ear--


s: Like tones from voices of the long-ago--


s: The cadence of the murmuring waters near--


s: Now grow apace the shadows' slanting shapes


s: And fade the rugged hills to misty gray,


s: And yields to coming night her sable sway.


s: Sweet scene! Sweet hour! If to the heart


s: And to the soul no rapture thus impart--


s: Vain were our lives--and vainer still the end!


s: O, such the time when he who will may feel


s: Release from care, vexation, toil, and strife--


s: And musing then will gently o'er him steal


s: The sweetest moments of the turmoil--life!


s: "I'll tell yer what," said Uncle Zeke, down at the country store,


s: Until one day my noddle here, it got plumb out o' fix,


s: Er-swellin' with the idy that I's made fur politicks.


s: "I'd been ter hear them fellers speak, an' rip an' rant an' rave,


s: Ther kentry frum tarnation ruin, by sendin' only men


s: That's fit ter draw ther salaries, an' honest--jest like them.


s: "So listen, boys--yer'll profit by ther story that I tell--


s: I left ther farm ter 'lectioneer an' run fur constable;


s: I wouldn't hearken ter my wife--she said I'd lost my wit,


s: An' as fur holdin' offices--_she_ knowed _I_ wusn't fit.


s: "But ennyhow, I sold er steer, an' then er heifer calf,


s: An' bought er bran' new suit o' clothes fur twenty an' er half,


s: An' 'fore ther 'lection day cum roun' I'd sold my wheat an' oats,


s: "I knowed 'twus wrong--agin ther law--ter do er thing like that--


s: Uv beatin' me if I'd use ther right amount uv 'soap.'


s: "I jocks I did--I won ther fight--I sarved er single term--


s: (But fur ther salary that I got I wouldn't give er durn);


s: An' right up here I wear ther scar that shows whar I wus hit


s: Ther day I rid fur forty miles ter sarve that cussed 'writ!'"


s: Now Farmer Jones was noted for fast horses on his place,


s: And also as the father of a son with freckled face,


s: And hair so red it looked as if it had been dyed in blood,


s: And Ephraim was the "masher" of the country neighborhood.


s: This Ephraim Jones' yellow mare, she was no nice and fleet


s: That all the girls for miles around on Eph. were very "sweet,"


s: In hopes to get a ride or two behind her on the road,


s: Or else to spin along the pike, with buggy top let down,


s: And ribbons sailing out behind, when Eph. would drive to town,


s: The envy of the country boys, and many maidens fair


s: A-casting wistful glances at the youth with reddish hair.


s: This thing went on till finally our Ephraim fell in love


s: With Tildy Ann Serepty Brown--as gentle as a dove--


s: Of all the girls around about the reigning country bell,


s: Whose father was as rich as cream--he'd struck an oil well!


s: About three nights in every week could Ephraim's yellow mare


s: Be found a-standing hitched outside, while he was courting there,


s: To humble Eph. hit on a plan they heartily espoused.


s: If anything in all the world, beside sweet Tildy Ann,


s: Was dear to Ephraim's eye and heart, it was his claybank, Fan;


s: He boasted of her speed and looks, and of her pedigree--


s: Said more intelligence in a brute no man would ever see.


s: He kept her curried till her coat it shone like burnished gold--


s: With silver-mounted harness on, a beauty to behold.


s: A brand new buggy hitched to her, a-glinting in the sun,


s: She "took the cake" for speed and style from every other one.


s: They heard that Eph. one night would call upon his Tildy Ann


s: To make arrangements all complete to carry out a plan:


s: It would be Sunday following, when all in style he'd go


s: With Tildy and the yellow mare to the country "bonnet-show."


s: Supplied with brushes, cans of paint of every shade and hue,


s: And to furnish light by which to work, a bull's-eye lantern, too,


s: Next morning when he went to feed, and opened wide the door,


s: No zebra that was ever foaled could boast the stripes she wore;


s: Her ears were white, her legs were green, her tail was fiery red,


s: As one who dreams at evening o'er the new hats that he's worn,


s: And muses on the better times that once to him were known,


s: So I turn the leaves of fancy till, in shadowy design,


s: I see the faded ribbon on that old straw hat of mine.


s: The firelight seems to mock me as the ruddy flames arise,


s: And I turn about to rest me of the dazzle in my eyes;


s: And I ponder then in silence, save a sigh that seems to yoke


s: Its fate with my condition, and to vanish like the smoke.


s: With fondest recollection the loving thoughts that start


s: Into being are but feelings from the bottom of my heart;


s: And to wear the new hats over is a luxury divine--


s: Till my truant fancy wanders with that old straw hat of mine.


s: Now I hear without my chamber, like a fluttering of wings,


s: The rustling of the autumn wind as through the trees it sings,


s: And I feel no twinge of conscience to deny me any scheme


s: That will bring to me a hat of which I now can only dream.


s: In fact, to speak in earnest, if I could work a charm,


s: I'd try it on old Isaacs--'twouldn't do him much of harm--


s: And I'd find an extra flavor in memory's mellow wine


s: When I thought of how I swapped him that old straw hat of mine.


s: A thing of real beauty, with a shape of airy grace,


s: Floats out of Isaacs' storehouse, as the genii from the vase,


s: And, oh! I gaze upon it with a pair of loving eyes,


s: As glowing as the summer and as tender as the skies!


s: But, ah! my dream is broken when I gaze upon that chair,


s: For my eyes are now wide open and--the same old hat is there;


s: And reluctantly and sadly all my visions I resign


s: To know that I must wear again that old straw hat of mine!


s: O sweet are the memories when backward we gaze


s: Through the vista of years to our schoolboy days,


s: When faces now vanished to the vision appear


s: And the music of voices long hushed we can hear,


s: As together we romped where the school-house stood,


s: Or joyfully wended our way through the wood


s: Where placidly lay, in the valley beyond,


s: The moss-covered waters of Tom Barbee's pond!


s: Though scattered by Time o'er the face of the earth,


s: And sorrow and anguish have succeeded to mirth,


s: Still many there be whose mist-bedewed eye


s: Looks longingly back, while the breast heaves a sigh,


s: To that far-away time, when together we played


s: In the school-house yard, or on Saturdays strayed


s: Where the knots in our sleeves were tied tight as a bond,


s: As we splashed and we dived in Tom Barbee's pond!


s: The "pleasures of memory" by Rogers were lined,


s: With rhythm as sweet as in verse you will find,


s: But could he e'er picture one-half of the joys


s: We had when we wandered as barefooted boys


s: Through the woods and the fields and the meadows out there,


s: With our sun-blistered backs and the burrs in our hair,


s: Or recall to the mind a remembrance more fond


s: Than bathing and swimming in Tom Barbee's pond?


s: O, where are the friends that in youth we once knew,


s: Whose smiles were like sunshine, whose hearts were so true?


s: Alas! they are lost in the darkness and gloom


s: That veils them from sight in the cold, silent tomb!


s: O, where are the years that forever have fled,


s: And over Life's morning their radiance shed?


s: With the Past written down on the unending scroll


s: Where Time--grim destroyer--his victims enroll!


s: O, where are the fancies, the visions, the dreams,


s: That filled the young breast--with which memory teems?


s: They have faded away--from life they have passed--


s: Like stars blotted out when the sky's overcast!


s: O, where are the hopes that have beckoned us on


s: With their beacons of light, through sunshine and storm?


s: Like spectres--like phantoms--like vapor and mist,


s: They have vanished forever--a will-o'-the-wisp!


s: O, where are the harbors, the havens of rest,


s: That solace can give to a heart that's opprest?


s: They are hid from the vision beyond the blue sky,


s: Yet the eye of sweet Faith their portals descry!


s: O the hills of old Lincoln!--I can see them to-day


s: As they stretch in dim distance far, far away,


s: And on Fancy's swift pinions my spirit hath flown


s: To rest 'mid the scenes which my childhood has known--


s: Where the old Hanging Fork, with its silvery gleam,


s: Glides away 'tween the meadows like thoughts in a dream,


s: And far to the south, with their outlines so blue,


s: The rugged knobs blend into heaven's own hue!


s: O the hills of old Lincoln!--how fondly I gaze


s: On their wildwoods and thickets and deep-tangled ways


s: When memory's mirror presents them to view,


s: And I dream once again that I tread them anew,


s: While raptured I listen to the music of love


s: That the song-birds are singing in the tree-tops above,


s: And the soul drifts away in a swoon of delight,


s: Unanchored from care and from sorrow's cold blight!


s: O the hills of old Lincoln!--my footsteps have trod


s: Up and down their green valleys, with shotgun and rod,


s: And it seems to me now that the years that have fled


s: Around their old summits a halo have shed


s: That guides the fond fancy unerringly there


s: When backward it wanders with childhood to share


s: Sweet scenes such as these, inurned in the heart,


s: And which from fond memory can never depart!


s: Sweetly to sleep beneath the fresh green turf


s: A chair is vacant by the household hearth,


s: And shadow-vested Sorrow's there to-day.


s: The tender hands that guided us in youth


s: And those dear eyes whose depths were love and truth


s: Through simple faith and duty well performed,


s: And though with bitter grief and anguish mourned,


s: A consolation gleams through blinding tears!


s: Dear friends, to-night the inspiration of my theme


s: Is not the baseless fabric of a weird, fantastic dream--


s: For truth, combined with justice, doth impel,


s: And therefore it is fact--not fiction--that I tell.


s: "Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again"--


s: A maxim true as holy writ;--then it is plain,


s: If rudely woven by an untaught hand it be,


s: Sustains but transitory wrong and injury.


s: And thus it is, in homely rhyme, I venture forth,


s: And if, perchance, at times it sounds a little strange,


s: You know that truth o'er fiction hath a wider range.


s: These stanzas three I hope you'll deem explanatory--


s: As introductory and preliminary to the story--


s: A preface simply used before I introduce


s: The proper characters essential for our use.


s: And just one moment more attention I will claim,


s: And crave indulgence while I here explain,


s: That "character" is used in a Pickwickian sense--


s: So truth and justice need not take offense.


s: 'Twas when the Autumn leaves, with russet hue,


s: Scarce quivered in the gentle wind, and when the dew


s: Lay sparkling on the grass, beneath the argent moon,


s: A tragedy took place--of which I'll tell you soon.


s: And ever and anon a fleecy, drifting cloud,


s: Meek Dian's face would veil with filmy shroud,


s: And lend to wood and field that softened ray


s: Unmatched in beauty from the glaring god of day!


s: But I will tell the story as 'twas told to me,


s: And vouched for by some others--two or three--


s: Whose word to doubt would be a heinous sin--


s: So, armed with truth, in confidence I will begin.


s: And oft responsible when grave mistakes are made,


s: And therefore 'tis with caution that I hesitate


s: When truthful things I undertake to state.


s: This much is due to accuracy and circumspection,


s: As well as to a rather faulty recollection;


s: And so I'll trespass on your patience now no more,


s: But straightway tell the story--as I said before.


s: All good beginnings have that natural trend


s: And stories all should have their plots well laid--


s: Which neither prose nor verse can do, when haste is made.


s: 'Tis said "procrastination is the thief of time,"


s: And this might seem to be the object of my rhyme.


s: Had I not told you, as I should have done,


s: 'Tis my sole object, then, to give without delay,


s: The narrative in a direct and proper way,


s: For as you know some critics may be here


s: Whom scribbling rhymesters may, with justice, fear.


s: "What shameless bards we have! And yet, 'tis true,


s: There are as mad, abandoned critics, too!"


s: This couplet, penned by Pope, is ever new--


s: But then, dear friends, the second line was _not_ for you!


s: The story that I'm going to tell--sometime to-night.


s: An introduction that will keep the listener in suspense


s: I deem derogatory to good taste and sense;


s: And this is also why I'll nothing put as prefatory


s: Before I launch right out into the story.


s: I'm going to make it thrilling, crisp and short,


s: In purest diction drest, with gems of thought


s: So intermingled with the story's warp and woof,


s: That from beginning I can scarcely keep aloof.


s: I'll put quotation marks to shrive me of the sin


s: Of plagiarism when such language I begin--


s: So calmly, coolly then, I think I will proceed


s: To curtail all that truth and justice will permit--


s: Remembering that "brevity's the soul of wit."


s: But undue haste would cause me to forget


s: And mar the memory of its telling with regret


s: If I had overlooked some startling fact,


s: Which on both truth and justice would re-act!


s: And now, dear friends, don't think that you are "sold"


s: If still as yet the story's left untold--


s: But paper, ink, your patience, and my time


s: Are all exhausted in this race with rhyme!


s: With sincere admiration of his genius as a poet, his virtues as a


s: The seer's prophetic song--the voice that spake


s: Through Israel's warrior king. The strains that burst


s: In thrilling tones from Zion's heaven-strung harp,


s: Float down the tide of ages, shedding light


s: Their fame shall last when Time's long race is run,


s: And you refulgent eye of this fair world,--


s: Its light and centre,--into darkness shrinks,


s: Before thy footstool. Thou alone canst stamp


s: Tuning the shepherd's reed, or monarch's harp,


s: Exists alone in Thee. The proudest strain


s: That ever fired the poet's soul, or drew


s: Melodious breathings from his gifted lyre,


s: Unsanctioned by thy smile, shall die away


s: Like the faint sound which the soft summer breeze


s: Wins from the stately lily's silver bells;


s: A passing murmur, a half-whispered sigh,


s: Of Nature's midnight rest--then hushed for ever!


s: Bold nurse of high resolve and generous thought,


s: The preacher's eloquence, the painter's skill,


s: The poet's lay, the patriot's noble zeal,


s: The warrior's courage, and the sage's lore.


s: Oh! till the soul is quickened by thy breath,


s: Wit, wisdom, eloquence, and beauty, fail


s: Soiled with the stains of earth, and man debased


s: Sinks far below the level of the stream.


s: Alas! that thy bright flame should be confined


s: To passion's maddening vortex; and the soul


s: Waste all its glorious energies on earth!--


s: The soul above its sensual, vain pursuits,


s: And elevates the mind and thoughts to God!


s: The sons of pleasure cannot bear that light


s: Of heavenly birth which penetrates the souls


s: Of men, who, deeply conscious of their guilt,


s: Mourn o'er their lost, degraded state, and seek,


s: Through faith in Christ's atonement, to regain


s: Who, as redeemed, account it their chief joy


s: To praise and celebrate the wondrous love


s: That called them out of darkness into light,--


s: Severed the chain which bound them to the dust,


s: Unclosed the silent portals of the grave,


s: And gave Hope wings to soar again to heaven!--


s: Oh, thou bright spirit, of whose power I sing,


s: Harp of the soul, by genius swept, awake!


s: Inspire my strains, and aid me to portray


s: Come! let us mount gay Fancy's rapid car,


s: And trace through forest and o'er mountain rude


s: The bounding footsteps of the youthful bard,


s: His harp is doomed to mourn in plaintive tones.


s: On all things beautiful, delighted, dwells.


s: Floats o'er the golden promise of the morn.


s: Hope daily weaves fresh roses for his brow,


s: Shrouding the grim and ghastly phantom, Death,


s: Beneath her soft and rainbow-tinted wings.


s: Ere Care has tainted with her poisonous breath


s: Life's opening buds, all objects wear to him


s: With creatures of his own. The glorious forms


s: Which haunt his solitude, and brightly fill


s: For all the faults and follies of his kind.


s: Culled fresh from Nature's treasury, than all


s: The golden dreams that cheat the care-worn crowd.


s: Their eager calculations, hopes, and fears,


s: Still flit before him, like dim shadows thrown


s: By April's passing clouds upon the stream,


s: Till the next sunbeam turns them into light!--


s: Like an enfranchised spirit; and the storms,


s: That darken and convulse a guilty world,


s: Come like faint peals of thunder on his ear,


s: Which heard in some dark forest's leafy shade


s: But add a solemn grandeur to the scene.--


s: The genial tide of thought still swiftly flows


s: And chains the music of its dancing waves.--


s: What is the end of all his lovely dreams--


s: The bright fulfilment of his earthly hopes?


s: Neglect, a broken heart, an early grave!--


s: Oh, had he tuned his harp to truths divine,


s: With saints and martyrs sought a heavenly crown,


s: How had his theme immortalized his song!--


s: His touch embodies all that fancy brings


s: To charm the mental vision, and he dives


s: Into the rich and shadowy world of thought,


s: Soars up to heaven, or plunges down to hell,


s: In search of forms to mortal eyes unknown,


s: Confronts the king of terrors. Through the gates


s: Of that dark prison-house of woe and dread


s: Hails the infernal monarch on his throne,


s: Crowned with ambition's diadem of fire.--


s: To charm the wandering heart and roving eye,


s: He would portray Omnipotence.--Rash man!


s: And canst thou, from a human model, trace


s: Nature supplies thee with no perfect draught


s: Man bears upon his brow the curse of guilt,


s: Is it from such the painter would depict


s: Dimmed with the tears of passion, woe, and pain,


s: Seek to portray the dread all-seeing eye,


s: The inmost secrets of all hearts, and pierce


s: Oh, drop the pencil!--Angels cannot gaze


s: Robed in the splendour of immortal light;


s: But cast their crowns before him whilst they veil


s: The grasp of human genius. Didst thou e'er,


s: Watch the effect of sunlight on the boughs


s: Of some tall graceful ash, or maple tree?


s: Each leaf illumin'd by the noon-tide beam


s: Floats for a moment o'er the car of day,


s: And gloom descends upon the forest bowers;


s: A ray steals forth--and on the topmost twig


s: Falls, like a silver star. From leaf to leaf


s: The glory spreads, shoots down the rugged trunk


s: And gilds each spray, till the whole tree stands forth


s: Arrayed in light.--This is beyond thy art.


s: All thy enthusiasm, all thy boasted skill,


s: But let us leave the painter. Let us turn


s: To those, who never swept the sounding lyre


s: Or grasped the pencil,--ardent minds that hold


s: A deep communion with the winds and waves,


s: The youthful worshippers at Nature's shrine:


s: What says the soft voice of the plaintive breeze,


s: Mournfully sweeping through the forest boughs,


s: In airy play moved gently by its breath?


s: A tender echo from the youthful heart.--


s: With throbbing bosom Nature's student treads


s: The sylvan haunts, exultingly leaps forth


s: To hail the coming of the genial spring,


s: Shedding around from her green lap the buds,


s: In winter's rugged casket long enshrined,


s: To form the chaplet of the infant year.--


s: Young pensive moralist!--'tis sweet to muse


s: On beauties which escape the vulgar eye,


s: To talk with Nature 'mid her woodland paths,


s: And hear an answering voice in every breeze.--


s: You court her beauties with a lover's zeal;


s: You hear her voice, nor understand the sound


s: Which speaks to you--to all. The volume spread


s: Before your dazzled eyes, so rich with life,


s: Is a closed book--a fair illumined scroll,


s: Traced in strange characters, unknown to you.


s: Has, of himself, on Nature's tablets graved?


s: Of deeper interest far--the book of life--


s: The glorious volume of unsullied truth!--


s: Tramples down empires, blots out names that once


s: Time to these writings daily adds new force,


s: His fathomless, unbounded love to man.--


s: Peruse this volume, and then walk abroad


s: Which lately charmed your unassisted sense,


s: Till your soul burns within you, and breaks forth


s: In holy hymns of gratitude and praise.--


s: Faith gives a grandeur to created things,


s: Or upward flight of Fancy's eagle wing;--


s: Earth is the vista through which heaven is seen


s: By him who, journeying through life's narrow vale,


s: Seeks in the objects which around him rise


s: To hold communion with his God! to trace


s: The wisdom, goodness, majesty, and love,


s: That clothed the lilies of the field, and twined


s: Round Nature's brow,--and o'er the rugged hills


s: Cast the light floating veil of purple haze,


s: The spirit soaring upward drinks in light


s: From other worlds, and in the choral song


s: Hears the seraphic and harmonious strains


s: That angels chant around the eternal throne!--


s: To him there is an anthem in the breeze,


s: A burst of triumph in the thunder's peal,


s: Which, slowly rolling through the troubled air,


s: Strikes man with terror, and yet praises God!--


s: O'er Fancy's glass another shadow flits,


s: Which shows a bolder aspect than the gay


s: That lightly wave and wanton in the breeze.--


s: A dreamer of wild dreams?--All eyes are turned


s: The weaponed warrior slowly passes by.--


s: Oh, this is one of War's tremendous sons,


s: Glory's intrepid champion: his stout heart


s: Leaps, as the war-horse, to the trumpet's sound,


s: And hails the storm of battle from afar.


s: He loves the press, the tumult, and the strife,


s: Where horror holds the gory steeds of death,


s: And slaughter hews a passage for the brave!--


s: Impels him onward with resistless force,


s: Severs his heart from nature's kindred ties,


s: And feeds the wild ambition which consumes


s: All that is good and lovely in his path.


s: He flashes, like a meteor, on the sight,


s: Seen 'mid the angry thunder-clouds of war,


s: Seeking a living name in fields where Death


s: Holds his imperial banquet, and the blood


s: Of thousands flows to furnish forth the feast.


s: There was a time when softer feelings held


s: Their mild dominion o'er that haughty breast;


s: He wove bright garlands for his artless brow,


s: And sought, with playful dalliance, to detain


s: The busy hand that could not pause to bind


s: His cumbrous wreath, or answer the caress


s: Of him who climbed her knees to steal the kiss.


s: But even at those tender years, his braid


s: Of April blossoms was his crown; the twig


s: Of golden willow, with white daisies bound,


s: Where he reclined in floral state, his throne;


s: The lambs that sported in the yellow meads


s: His lawful subjects; while his azure eye


s: Looked up to heaven with all a child's delight,


s: And thought that earth was only made for him.--


s: How often has he wept for that fair moon,


s: That shed her trembling glory o'er his path;


s: Wearied his slender limbs to reach the spot


s: On which the rainbow based its splendid arch,


s: And felt his heart with disappointment beat


s: When the fair pageant faded from his view.--


s: Ah, simple boy!--well had it been for thee


s: Had thy ambitious longings been confined


s: To objects wisely placed beyond thy grasp.


s: But years stole on--thy ardent spirit broke


s: Its childish trammels, and with eager joy


s: Explored the warlike annals of the past,


s: And called up spirits of the mighty dead,


s: And fight for thee their sanguine battles o'er.


s: Oh, while such visions burst upon thy sight,


s: Whilst shouts of victory and dying groans


s: Rang on thine ear--time backward rolled his tide,


s: Rome in her ancient splendour proudly rose,


s: Young fiery soldier!--let us track thy steps


s: Through danger's stormy paths, to win the goal


s: Wedded to glory, thy brave heart springs forth


s: To win thy bride from valour's armed hand,


s: And pluck the laurel from the brow of death.


s: The bugle lulls thee to repose, the trumpet


s: Thrills on thy sleeping ear, and bids thee dream


s: Of deathless fields in fancy fought and won.


s: At length the day of trial comes--the day


s: Which puts thy boasted courage to the proof--


s: Thy first in battle, and perchance thy last.


s: With strains of martial music, the loud neigh


s: Of prancing steeds, impatient for the strife,


s: With clang of arms, and oft-repeated shouts


s: With reckless hardihood to meet their doom.


s: With beating heart, firm step, and flashing eye,


s: The young recruit of glory proudly grasps


s: The standard he must only yield with life.


s: The march commences--deep excitement grows


s: Amidst the hurried interest of the scene,


s: Through seas of slaughter and the waste of life.


s: Survive their first engagement with the foe.


s: Death strikes the hero to the dust. He falls


s: But what are conquests of the bow and spear,


s: With the stern warfare which the soul maintains


s: The base corruptions of a sinful world--


s: Oh, vanquish these!--and through the gates of death


s: Triumphant pass and win a heavenly crown!--


s: Oh, that my soul could find a voice to speak;


s: That human language could express the thoughts


s: Which fill the secret chambers of the brain.


s: In vain the lips pour forth harmonious sounds;


s: In vain the eager eye is raised to heaven,


s: Swimming in tears, and bright with ecstasy,--


s: The senses still are debtors to the heart,


s: Which, trembling, throbs for utterance in vain.


s: Kindle no hope in the possessor's breast?


s: To that most pure and perfect state of bliss


s: Man by transgression lost?--the noble thought


s: Of claiming kindred with the skies, give birth


s: Joys such as angels share, and saints, who dwell


s: Of pilgrims, who to reach that heavenly shrine


s: Sojourned as strangers on this goodly earth,


s: Counting all things but loss--yea, life itself--


s: To win an entrance through those gates of pearl,


s: And dwell within the temple of their God!


s: My ardent spirit and that blissful shore:


s: Eye hath not seen, nor mortal ear hath heard,


s: How then can mortal pen portray, the joys


s: Prepared for those who live and die in Christ!


s: Before me flows the rapid stream of time,


s: Dark, fathomless, encumbered with the wrecks


s: Of twice three thousand years. They too shall sink


s: Beneath those turbid waters, swallowed up


s: Leaving few fragments on the boundless waste


s: To tell to coming years that such have been.


s: How shall the naked spirit cross the flood,


s: 'Tis not an earthly pilot that can steer


s: So frail a bark through such a stormy tide.


s: The clouds of sorrow part--the day-star rise


s: Above life's trackless ocean, shedding light


s: Upon the darkened nations? From its beams


s: The mist of error flies, the angry waves


s: Of passion, which so long have vexed the world,


s: Are hushed to rest; controlled by Him who rose


s: From tranquil sleep, and to the roaring waste


s: Of midnight waters, mustering all their wrath,


s: Said, "Peace, be still." The howling winds obeyed,


s: And silence sank upon the storm-tossed main!--


s: Oh look to Him! and to his glorious word.


s: That deep devotion of the heart which men


s: Miscall enthusiasm!--Zeal alone deserves


s: But hope inspired by faith will guide to heaven!


s: To win the laurel wreath the soldier fights;


s: To free his native land the patriot bleeds;


s: And to secure his crown the martyr dies!


s: For beauteous Rachel Isaac's son endured


s: Seven years of bitter servitude, and deemed


s: From crafty Laban's hand his promised bride.


s: To prove his friendship for the man he loved,


s: Of him whom God had called to fill his throne.


s: And wilt thou feel less zealous to regain


s: The love and favour of thy heavenly King,


s: And shrink because the path to glory lies


s: Up the steep hill of duty? He who saved,


s: Peter, when sinking in the waves, will aid


s: Thy feeble steps, and guide thee to the rock


s: Whose name I erst invoked, whose influence fills


s: The narrow confines of this human breast,--


s: If I have dared to sing of truths sublime,


s: Hallow the feeble strains that would reveal


s: The dazzling light, which streaming from thy wings,


s: Gilds all the dark and troubled tide of thought.


s: My eye explores the regions of the blessed,


s: And hopes long chained to earth are raised to heaven.


s: Never, while reason holds her steady rein,


s: The high and holy thoughts inspired by thee!


s: The fadeless laurel round your brows to twine,


s: Pause but one moment in your brief career,


s: Can figures traced upon the shifting sand


s: Washed by the mighty tide, its force withstand?


s: Time's stern resistless torrent onward flows,


s: The restless waves above your labours close,


s: And He who bids the bounding billows roll


s: Sweeps out the feeble record from the soul.


s: The glorious hues that flush the evening sky


s: Through the wide fields of heaven's immensity


s: The gold-tipped billows of that crimson sea


s: Flash on the awe-struck gazer's dazzled sight,


s: The rich out-gushings from the fount of light;


s: Yet oft, concealed beneath that splendid form,


s: Spreads the bright tissue of his beamy robe,


s: And, ere the day-king veils his glowing crest,


s: Shrouds the dark tempest in his burning vest;


s: O'er earth and heaven his gorgeous banner flings,


s: And gilds with borrowed light his sable wings--


s: And those who view with rapture-lifted eyes


s: The short-lived pageant of the summer skies,


s: So when we seek above life's sea of tears


s: If built on earth the fabric will decay,


s: Oblivion's hand will sweep the pile away;


s: The proudest trophies of the mightiest mind


s: Fade in her grasp, nor leave a wreck behind;


s: She o'er earth's ruins spreads her misty pall,


s: And time's unsparing ocean swallows all;


s: Hope for a moment gilds the spoiler's shroud,


s: As parting sunbeams tinge the lurid cloud;


s: The transient glory cheats the gazer's sight;


s: The storm rolls on--'tis universal night!


s: A higher promise than the things of earth;


s: Views more exalted than this world can give,


s: And hopes that, deathless as the soul, outlive


s: The wreck of nature, and the common doom


s: That hourly sweeps her myriads to the tomb?


s: His mental powers, unfettered by the clod,


s: Soar o'er time's gulf, and reach the throne of God.


s: That death chains not the immortal soul below!


s: Through the dark portals of the grave upborne,


s: Leaving the care-worn sons of earth to mourn,


s: On wings of light the new-born spirit flies


s: To seek a home and kindred in the skies.


s: Oh what are earthly crowns and earthly bliss,


s: And pride's delusive dreams, compared with this?


s: Ambition's laurel, purchased with a flood


s: Of human tears and stained with kindred blood,


s: Once gained, converted to a crown of thorns,


s: Not Sappho's lyre, nor Raphael's deathless art


s: Can twine the olive round the bleeding heart;


s: In heaven alone the promised blessing lies,


s: And those who seek--must seek it in the skies!


s: Seek it through Him who, humbling human pride,


s: Wept o'er man's fall, and for his ransom died;


s: Poured out his blood on the accursed tree,


s: To break the chain and set the captive free.


s: Heaven bowed its glory on the cross to teach


s: That greatness man's lost nature could not reach,


s: The true humility, which stoops to rise,


s: And, leaving earth, claims kindred with the skies.


s: With heartfelt tears, that now are read no more;


s: And, like the eyes that long have ceased to weep,


s: In dust and darkness quite forgotten sleep!


s: Dead to the world as if they ne'er had been


s: The favoured actors in one little scene.


s: The scene is changed--and, like their fleeting-fame,


s: They knew the price at which its praise was bought;


s: The glittering bauble was not worth a thought;


s: Yet, Esau like, a better birthright sold,


s: And for base counterfeit exchanged the gold!


s: Ere man presumptuously his genius boasts,


s: Let him reflect upon the countless hosts,


s: The untold myriads, of each age and clime,


s: That sleep forgotten in the grave of time.


s: What were their names! Go ask the silent sod


s: Their deeds--their record lives but with their God!


s: At every step we tread on kindred earth,


s: Nor know the spot that gave our fathers birth.


s: Oh! could we call before our wondering eyes


s: All that have lived--and bid the dead arise,


s: The word of power, and light through darkness broke,


s: And see earth covered with the mighty tide


s: What a stupendous thought would fill the soul


s: Could we behold life's breathing ocean roll


s: The grave has swallowed, down from Adam, pass


s: In one unbroken stream--the brain would reel--


s: Whilst living, ah, how few were known to fame!


s: A single token, on life's shifting scene,


s: To tell to other years that such has been.


s: Thinks that his puny arm can cope with time;


s: That his vast genius can reverse the doom,


s: And shed a deathless light upon his tomb;


s: That distant ages shall his worth admire,


s: And young hearts kindle at the sacred fire


s: Of him whose fame no envious clouds o'ercast,


s: Oh think not genius, with its hallowed light,


s: Can break the gloom of an eternal night;


s: The unguarded heart, and hide the narrow way,


s: While the unlearned and those of low estate,


s: With faith's clear eye behold the living gate,


s: Where time's strong ocean meets eternity.


s: Across the gulf that stretches far beneath


s: Lies the dark valley of the shade of death--


s: Which all must traverse, but return no more


s: To this sad earth, to dissipate our dread,


s: And tell the mighty secrets of the dead.


s: Enough for us that those drear realms were trod


s: By heavenly footsteps, that the Son of God


s: Passed the dark bourne and vanquished Death, to save


s: The weary wanderers of life's stormy wave.


s: Why then should man thus cleave to things of earth?


s: Daily experience proves their little worth--


s: Or in the search of causes that are known


s: A height his finite reason cannot reach,


s: And all his boasted learning fails to teach?


s: While the bewildering thought overwhelms his brain,


s: Death comes to prove his speculations vain!


s: Who will not raise a hope beyond the tomb?


s: Who, quite enamoured with his fallen state,


s: Clings to the world and leaves the rest to fate;


s: Prefers corruption to his Maker's smile,


s: "And shuns the light because his deeds are vile?"


s: The man who feels the value of his soul,


s: Presses unwearied towards a higher goal;


s: Leaving this earth, he seeks a brighter prize,


s: And claims a crown immortal in the skies.


s: The child of pleasure may despise his aim,


s: And heap reproach upon the Christian's name,


s: May laugh his faith, as foolishness, to scorn:--


s: These by the man of God are meekly borne.


s: He suffers calmly for his Saviour's sake.--


s: The world's poor votary seeks in vain for peace:


s: He cannot bid the voice of conscience cease


s: Its dire upbraidings; in his heartless course


s: He meets at every turn the fiend Remorse,


s: Who glares upon him with her tearless eye,


s: That sears his heart--but mocks its agony.


s: He hears that voice, amid the festive throng,


s: Speak in the dance and murmur in the song,


s: A death-bell, pealing in the midnight chime,


s: Whose awful tones proclaim the lapse of time,


s: Seem to proclaim--"Rash mortal, thou must die!


s: Soon must thou tread the path thy fathers trod,


s: And stand before the judgment-seat of God!"--


s: He hears--but seeks in pleasure's cup to drown


s: The dread that weighs his ardent spirit down;


s: Derides the warning voice in mercy sent;


s: Rejects the thought of after-punishment;


s: In folly's vortex wastes the spring of youth,


s: Nor, till death summons, owns the awful truth;


s: Remorse has kindled--and despairing, dies!


s: But in the breast where true religion reigns


s: There is a balm for all these mental pains;


s: A sweet contentment, felt, but undefined,


s: Which lifts to heaven the dweller of the dust.


s: The pilgrim, glowing with a hope divine,


s: Counts not the distance to the heavenly shrine;


s: He meets with guardian spirits on the road,


s: Who cheer his steps and ease his heavy load.


s: He does not shudder at the lapse of time;


s: But calmly drinks the cup of mortal woe,


s: And finds that peace the world cannot bestow;


s: That promised joy which brightens all beneath,


s: And smooths his pillow on the bed of death;


s: That perfect love which casteth out all fear,


s: And wafts his spirit to a happier sphere!--


s: Fame is a dream--the praise of man as brief


s: And leaves no trace of its existence there.


s: But fix your hopes beyond this vale of woe,


s: That when oblivion gathers round thy sod,


s: A lasting record may be found with God!--


s: White-stoled priest, and dark-browed slave,--


s: Where the grape's rich blood is gushing?


s: Earth's yawning caves their depths reveal;


s: Each trembling cries, "The flood! the flood!"


s: There were two sons of Ashur at work in the field,


s: And one to the other his passion revealed--


s: As the white barley bowed to the stroke of his scythe,


s: He burst out in accents exultingly blithe--


s: "I have wooed a young maid!--I have wooed and I've won,


s: On a lovelier face never glanced yon bright sun;


s: To the tall stately cedar my love I'll compare,


s: With her eyes' shaded glory, her long raven hair,


s: And her bosom as white as the snow when it gleams


s: On Lebanon's heights, ere washed down by the streams.


s: She has ravished and filled my rapt soul with delight;


s: She's more dear to my heart than yon heavens to my sight."--


s: "And who is the chosen?" his comrade replied,


s: Whilst the deepest of crimson his swarthy cheek dyed,


s: His severed lips trembled, his eagle eye fell


s: With a glance on his kinsman that urged him to tell.--


s: "'Tis Iddo's bright daughter!"--The words were scarce said--


s: At the feet of his brother young Simeon lay dead.--


s: It was but one blow on those temples so fair,


s: One fierce cry of anger and jealous despair;


s: And shuddering with horror his stern rival stood,


s: And gazed on those features disfigured with blood.--


s: Weep, fratricide, weep!--'tis in vain that you cast


s: Your arms round that pale form, the struggle is past;


s: 'Tis in vain that chilled heart to your bosom you press,


s: Its stillness increases your frantic distress.


s: You have scattered the gems in youth's beautiful crown,


s: And his sun at mid-day has in darkness gone down;


s: He never shall bind for your false love a wreath,


s: The hand of the bridegroom is stiffened in death.


s: Then dash from those wild eyes the fast-flowing tear,


s: And fly!--for the City of Refuge is near.--


s: There's a murmur of voices, a shout on the wind,


s: Fly! fly! the Avenger of Blood is behind!--


s: He fled like an arrow just launched from the bow,


s: O'erwhelm'd with remorse and distracted with woe;


s: The victim of passion--he'd gladly give all


s: Life's dearest enjoyments that hour to recall.


s: The stain on his hands added wings to his flight,


s: As onward he sped through the shadows of night,


s: And his startled ear caught in the wind's fitful moan,


s: As it swept through the forest, a faint dying groan;


s: The leaves rustling near sent a chill to his heart,


s: And oft backward he glanced with an agonized start,


s: And felt on his throat, parched and swollen with dread,


s: The soul-thrilling grasp of the phantom-like dead.


s: That pang was too great for the sinner to bear,


s: And his fears found a voice in wild shrieks of despair!


s: But the night and its long noon of horrors is past,


s: A broad line of light on the blue hills is cast,


s: And the city of refuge before him appears,


s: Like a beacon of hope, giving rest to his fears--


s: "But hark!--the avenger of blood is at hand;


s: Dost thou hear the loud shouts of his death-dooming band?


s: The trampling of horses rings sharp on the breeze,


s: And armour is glancing at times through the trees;


s: On! on! for thy life!--if they compass the plain,


s: Thy sentence is sealed and all rescue is vain?"--


s: He strains every nerve--he redoubles his speed,


s: And strength is supplied in the moment of need,


s: The race is for life--and the city is won,


s: Ere its broad towers reflect the first beams of the sun.--


s: One proud glance of triumph the fugitive threw


s: On the band of pursuers that burst on his view,


s: He shook his clenched hand--and a tremulous cry


s: Rose and died on his pale lips their wrath to defy;


s: But the effort, too mighty, has severed in twain


s: His heart-strings--he staggers and sinks to the plain,


s: And the cold dews that moisten that toil-crimsoned face


s: Tell that death claims his victim, the prize of the race,


s: That the city no refuge to guilt can afford--


s: He has found an Avenger of Blood in the Lord!


s: From Karkor's field, with slaughter red,


s: Like clods, far stretched o'er plain and hill,


s: Their limbs are stiff, their lips are still!


s: The still, deep stream; the drooping pride


s: Thy wrath swept through that guilty land;


s: The heathen host--their warriors brave--


s: Rejoice O my people! Jehovah hath spoken!


s: The dark chain of sin and oppression is broken;


s: Thy warfare is over, thy bondage is past,


s: The Lord hath looked down on his chosen at last.


s: A voice from the wilderness breaks on mine ear--


s: O Israel, rejoice! thy redemption is near:


s: A path for our God the wild desert shall yield;


s: He comes in the light of salvation revealed;


s: His word hath declared, who speaks not in vain;


s: He bends the high mountain, exalts the low plain;


s: All flesh shall behold him, far nations shall bring


s: Their glad songs of triumph to welcome their King!


s: As the grass of the field in the morning is green,


s: So man, in his beauty and vigour, is seen


s: A flower that will fade with the evening away:


s: The breath of the Lord o'er its verdure shall pass;


s: The freshness shall wither and fade like the grass;


s: The flower from its stem the rude whirlwind may sever,


s: But the word of our God is established for ever!


s: O Zion, that bringeth good tidings of peace,


s: Raise thy voice in the song, thy afflictions shall cease;


s: Arise in thy strength, banish every base fear,


s: Tell the cities of Judah redemption is near:


s: He comes! and his works shall his glory reveal;


s: He comes! his lost children to succour and heal;


s: In mercy and truth to establish his throne,


s: That his name to the ends of the earth may be known!


s: The Spirit of God with resistless control,


s: Like a sunbeam, illumined the depths of my soul,


s: And visions prophetical burst on my sight,


s: As he carried me forth in the power of his might.


s: The relics of those who had slept their death-sleep,


s: In the midst of the valley, all reckless and bare,


s: Like the hope of my country, lie withering there,--


s: "Son of man! can these dry bones, long bleached in decay,


s: Ever feel in their flesh the warm beams of the day;


s: The perishing heaps that now whiten the plain?"


s: "Lord, thou knowest alone, who their being first gave:


s: Thy power may be felt in the depths of the grave;


s: The rich tide of feeling and life to the heart.


s: "Lo, these dry bones are withered and shrunk in the blast,


s: O'er their ashes the tempests of ages have past;


s: And the flesh that once covered each mouldering frame


s: With the dust of the earth is re-mingled again:--


s: At the voice of their God, son of man, they shall rise;


s: The light shall revisit their death-darkened eyes;


s: Their sinews and flesh shall again be restored,


s: They shall live and acknowledge the power of the Lord!"


s: And lo! as I prophesied o'er them, a sound,


s: Like the rushing of water, was heard all around:


s: The earth trembled and shook like a leaf in the wind,


s: As those long-severed limbs to each other were joined,


s: And flesh came upon them, and beauty and grace


s: Returned, as in life, to each warrior's face.


s: A numberless host they lay stretched on the sod,


s: All glowing and fresh from the hand of their God.


s: But the deep sleep of death on each eyelid still hung;


s: Each figure was motionless, mute every tongue:


s: Through those slumbering thousands there breathed not a sound,


s: And silence, unbroken, reigned awfully round:--


s: "Raise thy voice, son of man! call the winds from on high,


s: As viewless they sweep o'er the brow of the sky;


s: And life shall return on the wings of the blast,


s: And the slumber of death shall be broken at last."


s: I called to the wind--and a deep answer came


s: In the rush of the tempest, the bursting of flame;


s: And the spirit of life, as it breathed on the dead,


s: Restored to each body the soul that had fled.


s: Rejoicing to break from that dreamless repose,


s: Like a host in the dark day of battle they rose;


s: He alone who had formed them could number again


s: The myriads that filled all the valley and plain.


s: "Son of man! in this numerous army behold


s: _They say_ that the hope of existence is o'er,


s: That no power from death's grasp can the spirit restore:


s: He who called you my people is mighty to save,


s: Your God can re-open the gates of the grave;


s: From the chain of oblivion the soul can release,


s: And restore you again to your country in peace!"


s: Black as the storm and fearful as the night:


s: Pronounced by Heaven to hurl thee to the tomb,


s: Peals in prophetic thunder in mine ear--


s: Hark! what strange murmurs from the hills arise,


s: Like rushing torrents from the bursting skies!


s: Loud as the billows of the restless tide,


s: In strange confusion flowing far and wide,


s: Ring the deep tones of horror and dismay,


s: The shriek--the shout--the battle's stern array--


s: The gathering cry of nations from afar--


s: The tramp of steeds--the tumult of the war--


s: Burst on mine ear, and o'er thy fated towers


s: Hovers despair, and fierce destruction lowers;


s: Within the fire--without the vengeful sword;


s: Who leads those hosts against thee but the Lord?


s: Proud queen of nations! where is now thy trust?--


s: Thy crown is ashes and thy throne the dust.


s: The crowds who fill thy gates shall pass away,


s: As night's dim shadows flee the eye of day.


s: No patriot voice thy glory shall recall,


s: No eye shall weep, no tongue lament thy fall.


s: The day of vengeance comes--the awful hour--


s: Fraught with the terrors of almighty power;


s: The arm of God is raised against thy walls;


s: Destruction hovers o'er thy princely halls,


s: Flings his red banner to the rising wind,


s: While death's stern war-cry echoes far behind.


s: When the full horrors of that hour are felt,


s: The warrior's heart shall as the infant's melt;


s: Counsel shall flee the learned and the old,


s: And fears unfelt before shall tame the bold.


s: Woe for thee, Babylon!--thy men of might


s: Shall fall unhonoured in the sanguine fight;


s: Like the chased roe thy hosts disordered fly,


s: And those who turn to strive but turn to die.


s: Thy young men tremble and thy maids grow pale,


s: And swell with frantic grief thy funeral wail;


s: They kneel for mercy, but they sue in vain;


s: Their beauty withers on the gore-dyed plain;


s: With fathers, lovers, brothers, meet their doom,


s: And 'mid thy blackened ruins find a tomb.


s: Of fear unconscious, in soft slumbers blest,


s: The infant dies upon its mother's breast,


s: Unpitied e'en by her--the hand that gave


s: The blow has sent the parent to the grave.


s: Queen of the East! all desolate and lone,


s: No more shall nations bow before thy throne.


s: Low in the dust thy boasted beauty lies;


s: Loud through thy princely domes the bittern cries,


s: And the night wind in mournful cadence sighs.


s: The step of man and childhood's joyous voice


s: Are heard no more, and never shall rejoice


s: Thy lonely echoes; savage beasts shall come


s: The dragon there shall rear her scaly brood,


s: And satyrs dance where once thy temples stood;


s: Shall on thy sacred altars rend his prey;


s: The distant _isles_ at midnight gloom shall hear


s: Their frightful clamours, and, in secret, fear.


s: No more their snowy flocks shall shepherds lead


s: By Babel's silver stream and fertile mead;


s: Or peasant girls at summer's eve repair,


s: To wreathe with wilding flowers their flowing hair;


s: Or pour their plaintive ditties to the wave,


s: That rolls its sullen murmurs o'er thy grave.


s: The wandering Arab there no rest shall find,


s: But, starting, listen to the hollow wind


s: That howls, prophetic, through thy ruined halls,


s: And flee in haste from thy accursed walls.


s: Oh Babylon, with wrath encompassed round,


s: For thee no hope, no mercy, shall be found:


s: Thy doom is sealed--e'en to thy ruin clings


s: The awful sentence of the King of kings!


s: Daughter of Scotland! may a stranger twine


s: One cypress wreath around thy honoured urn?--


s: Yet, when I meditate on faith like thine,


s: I feel my breast with sacred ardour burn;


s: Deep admiration checks the starting tear,--


s: Such drops would stain a Ewing's holy bier!


s: He met thee in the path thy Saviour trod,


s: Bearing this blessed mandate from above,


s: Plume thy bright wing to reach the heavenly shore!"


s: Calm was thy exit from this troubled scene;


s: Pain from thy lips no hasty murmurs wrung;


s: With brow unruffled and with mind serene,


s: Thy Saviour's praise employed thy faltering tongue:


s: And though no kindling raptures marked thy flight,


s: Thy faith unshaken _showed that all was right_!


s: Those who beheld thee in the burning hour,


s: When fever raged in every throbbing vein,


s: Oft shall recount the parting struggle o'er,


s: The scene on memory's tablets long retain--


s: Each gracious word, each kindly glance, that told


s: The Christian's love, ere that warm heart was cold!


s: Embalmed and treasured in the hearts of those


s: Who saw thee, like an angel, ministering


s: The precious balm that softens human woes.


s: Thou didst not hide thy talent in the dust;


s: Anxious that all should own the same high trust.--


s: Deeply concerned that other realms should share


s: Those blessed promises so dear to thee,--


s: Glad tidings far beyond thy native sea;--


s: Thy bounteous spirit compassed land and wave


s: To send redemption to the soil-bound slave!


s: But not to foreign realms and climes alone


s: Didst thou confine a Christian's sacred zeal;


s: With all a mother's fondness for thine own,


s: The deep devotion faith alone could feel,


s: 'Twas thine the drooping penitent to cheer,


s: And wipe from sorrow's eyes the gushing tear!


s: And like the faithful saints and priests of old,


s: Thou with thy honoured partner didst go forth,


s: Exploring barren heath and mountain hold,


s: Far through the isles and highlands of the north,


s: And bless with Scripture truths unlearned men!


s: Thy zeal was felt along the rugged wild,


s: Heard round the hearth where pious maidens meet;


s: And matrons oft shall tell the rosy child,


s: Twining its wilding garlands at their feet,


s: To bless her name--who, conquering selfish pride,


s: Sought them on foot to tell how Jesus died!


s: Daughter of Scotland! when her bards shall trace


s: The noble deeds of thy illustrious line,


s: Thy sainted name a fairer page shall grace,


s: A brighter wreath for thee the minstrel twine


s: Than ever crowned thy warlike sires of yore,


s: From thy sad sire and weeping kindred torn,


s: On thy closed eye has burst a brighter morn,


s: In realms where joy and peace alone are rife;


s: Thy soul, in Christ, enlightened and new-born,


s: Has meekly triumphed over nature's strife,


s: And passed the dreary portals of the grave,


s: Strong in the faith of Him who died to save!


s: Soldier of Christ! thy warfare now is o'er,


s: Thy toils accomplished and thy trials done,


s: And thou shalt weep and sigh, young saint, no more;


s: With thee the scene is closed, the race is run.


s: Death heaved the bar of that eternal door;


s: The palm is gained,--the victory is won,


s: Thy soul's pure raptures in those realms of joy!


s: Ah! who would weep for thee?--the early blessed--


s: Who that has mourned the tyranny of sin,


s: The strong temptations which assail the breast,


s: The fiery passions warring still within,


s: But does not envy thee thy heavenly rest,


s: And sighing, wish that they at length may win


s: The narrow path thy faith and patience trod,


s: And meet thee in the presence of thy God?


s: Though friends who loved thee weep above thy bier,


s: And kindred anguish find in grief a voice,


s: We will not mourn thy exit from this sphere,


s: When angels in the heaven of heavens rejoice,


s: When God's own hand hath wiped away each tear,


s: And crowned with endless life thy happy choice.


s: Oh blessed lot--oh change with rapture fraught,


s: Surpassing human love--and human thought!


s: Offspring of heaven, fair Freedom! impart


s: The light of thy spirit to quicken each heart.


s: Though the chains of oppression our free limbs ne'er bound,


s: Bid us feel for the wretch round whose soul they are wound;


s: Whose breast is corroded with anguish so deep


s: That the eye of the slave is too blood-shot to weep;


s: No balm from the fountain of nature will flow


s: When the mind is degraded by fetter and blow.


s: The friends of humanity nobly have striven,


s: But the bonds of the heart-broken slave are unriven!


s: Whilst Religion extends o'er those champions her shield,


s: May they never to party or prejudice yield


s: The glorious cause by all freemen espoused.


s: A light shines abroad and the lion is roused;


s: The crush of the iron has struck fire from the stone;


s: Bid them back to the charge--and the field is their own!


s: Ye children of Britain! brave sons of the Isles!


s: Who revel in freedom and bask in her smiles,


s: Can ye sanction such deeds as are done in the West


s: And sink on your pillows untroubled to rest?


s: Are your slumbers unbroken by visions of dread?


s: Does no spectre of misery glare on your bed?


s: No cry of despair break the silence of night


s: And thrill the cold hearts that ne'er throbbed for the right?


s: Are ye fathers,--nor pity those children bereaved


s: Of the birth-right which man from his Maker received?


s: Are ye husbands,--and blest with affectionate wives,


s: The comfort, the solace, the joy of your lives,--


s: And feel not for him whom a tyrant can sever


s: From the wife of his bosom and children for ever?


s: Are ye Christians, enlightened with precepts divine,


s: And suffer a brother in bondage to pine?


s: Are ye men, whom fair freedom has marked for her own,


s: Ah no!--ye are slaves!--for the freeborn in mind


s: Are the children of mercy, the friends of mankind:


s: By no base, selfish motive their actions are weighed;


s: They barter no souls in an infamous trade;


s: They eat not the bread which is moistened by tears,


s: And carelessly talk of the bondage of years;--


s: They feel as men should feel;--the clank of the chain


s: Bids them call upon Justice to cleave it in twain!--


s: What thought quick rushed across his soul,


s: From those fierce eyes the big drops start,


s: That welcomes the summer evening's close.


s: And the maiden's eyes no longer glisten,


s: As she comes to the lattice to catch his strain,


s: And sighs while she bends to smile and listen.


s: She sleeps, but her rosy lips still move,


s: And in dreams she answers the voice of love.


s: Sleep on, ye thoughtless and giddy train,


s: Or your gay laugh gladden the rising day:


s: And destruction rides on the coming hours.--


s: Hark!--'tis not the thunder's lengthened peal!


s: 'Tis the sound that gives the earthquake birth!


s: 'Tis the heavy groans of the rending earth!


s: Oh, there were shrieks of wild affright,


s: On the parched earth, and perished there.--


s: It comes!--it comes!--that lengthened shock--


s: She has passed from earth like a fearful dream;--


s: "Full many a race from thy native clime,


s: The organ has pealed in these roofless aisles,


s: At the altar, where now the daisy smiles


s: "I've seen the strong man a wailing child,


s: I've seen him a warrior fierce and wild;


s: And the sculptured stone adorn the grave


s: "I've seen the youth in his tameless glee,


s: Their dust is here--their name and race,


s: The prince--the peer--the peasant sleeps


s: Time o'er their dust short record keeps,


s: "All thou hast felt--these sleepers knew;


s: Thou beautiful Ash! thou art lowly laid,


s: From afar thy cool and refreshing shade,


s: The winged and the wandering tribes of air


s: But thy graceful boughs, all broken and bare,


s: The storm-demon sent up his loudest shout


s: When thy massy trunk and thy branches stout


s: It has bowed to the dust thy stately form,


s: The rush and the roar of the midnight storm,


s: When it swept through thy branches wide.


s: I have gazed on thee with a fond delight


s: And watched the moonbeams of a summer night


s: I have gathered the ivy wreaths that bound


s: And wove the wild flowers that blossomed round


s: And when youth with its glowing visions came,


s: Time o'er the turf no memorial is keeping


s: Who in this lone grave forgotten is sleeping?"--


s: From dust and oblivion this stern lesson borrow--


s: Thou art living to-day and forgotten to-morrow!"


s: There is a pause in nature, ere the storm


s: There is a softening twilight, ere the morn


s: There is a sudden stillness in the heart,


s: Ere yet the tears of wounded feeling flow;


s: A breathless pause of feeling, undefined,


s: Ere the bright image is from fancy caught.


s: When the eye whose kind beam was the beacon of gladness


s: From the glance of a lover turns coldly away,


s: O'er the bright sun of hope float the dark clouds of sadness,


s: And youth's lovely visions recede with the ray.


s: Oh turn not where pleasure's wild meteor is beaming,


s: And night's dreary shades wear the splendour of day,


s: To the rich festive board where the red wine is streaming;--


s: Can the dance and the song disappointment allay?


s: Oh heed not the Syren! for virtue is weeping


s: Where passion is struggling her victim to chain,


s: And Conscience, deep drugged, in her soft lap is sleeping,


s: Till startled by memory and quickened by pain.


s: Oh heed not the minstrel, when music is breathing


s: In the cold ear of fashion his heart-searching strain;


s: And pluck not the rose round Love's diadem wreathing;


s: The pleasures of life, like its moments, are fleeting;


s: Oh let not its trifles your firm purpose move;


s: But think as those moments are slowly retreating,


s: How feebly against its enchantments you strove:


s: Then turn from the world, and, its follies forsaking,


s: Raise your eyes to the day-star of gladness above;


s: There's a balm for each wound, though the fond heart is breaking,


s: Like a dew-drop from heaven in the ocean of life,


s: A stranger as yet to the storms and the strife,


s: Thine eyes have unclosed on this valley of tears;


s: Hark! that cry is the herald of anguish and woe;


s: Thy young spirit finds a deep voice for its fears,


s: How short will the term of thy ignorance be!


s: And passion will cover with wrecks the calm sea,


s: Unclouded and fair is the morn of thy birth,


s: The first lovely day in a season of gloom;


s: Whilst a pilgrim and stranger thou treadest this earth,


s: May the sunbeams of hope gild thy path to the tomb.


s: Ah! cold at my feet thou art sleeping, my boy,


s: And I press on thy pale lips, in vain, the fond kiss;


s: Earth opens her arms to receive thee, my joy!


s: And all I have suffered was nothing to this:


s: The day-star of hope 'neath thine eyelids is sleeping,


s: No more to arise at the voice of my weeping.


s: Oh, how art thou changed!--since the light breath of morning


s: Dispelled the soft dew-drops in showers from the tree,


s: Like a beautiful bud, my lone dwelling adorning,


s: Thy smiles called up feelings of rapture in me;


s: I thought not the sunbeams all brightly that shone


s: On thy waking, at eve would behold me alone.


s: The joy that flashed out from those death-shrouded eyes,


s: That laughed in thy dimples and brightened thy cheek,


s: Is quenched--but the smile on thy pale lip that lies,


s: Now tells of a joy that no language can speak.


s: The fountain is sealed, the young spirit at rest,


s: Ah, why should I mourn thee--my loved one--my blest?


s: Sorrow has touched thee, my beautiful boy!


s: And dimmed the bright eyes that were dancing with joy;


s: Thy ruby lips tremble, thy soft cheek is wet,


s: The tears on its roses are lingering yet.


s: On thy quick-heaving heart is thy little hand pressed;


s: There is care on thy brow--there is grief in thy breast,


s: And slowly and darkly the shadow steals o'er thee,


s: For the first time the vision of death is before thee!


s: Meet emblem of childhood--that innocent dove


s: Was the sharer alike of thy sports and thy love;


s: Thy playmate is dead--and that tenantless cage


s: Has stamped the first grief upon memory's page.


s: And oh!--thou art weeping--Life's fountain of tears,


s: Once unchained, will flow on through the desert of years;


s: No joy will e'er equal thy first dawn of bliss,


s: No sorrow blot out the remembrance of this!


s: Though reason may smile at the anguish which now


s: Convulses thy bosom and darkens thy brow;


s: The period may come, in thy journey through life,


s: When sick of its falsehood, corruption, and strife,


s: Thou vainly shall seek in thy desolate track


s: To bring those sweet feelings and sympathies back;


s: And thy spirit will murmur, when vexed and reviled,


s: Oh would I could weep--as I wept when a child!


s: But let us not darken the landscape with gloom,


s: And fling round the cradle the shade of the tomb,


s: The sorrows of youth are like April's rash showers,


s: Which though rapidly shed, strew our pathway with flowers:


s: On the soft downy cheek, while the tear glistens bright,


s: The young heart is leaping, all wild with delight;


s: The glance of a sunbeam will banish its pain,


s: And it joyously breaks into laughter again!


s: Oh, our early impressions are never forgot--


s: And the wide earth contains not so lovely a spot


s: As the fields that encircled the home of our youth,


s: With all its dear visions of beauty and truth:


s: No meads are so green, and no flowers are so fair


s: As the wildings we gathered and garlanded there;


s: And the dim eye grows bright whilst recounting the joy,


s: The sorrows, and trials, and sports of the boy!


s: "When will the grave fling her cold arms around me,


s: And earth on her dark bosom pillow my head?


s: Sorrow and trouble and anguish, have found me,


s: Oh that I slumbered in peace with the dead!


s: "The forests are budding, the fruit-trees in bloom,


s: And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;


s: But my soul is bowed down by the spirit of gloom,


s: I no longer rejoice as the blossoms expand.


s: "And April is here with her rich varied skies,


s: Where the sunbeams of hope with the tempest contend,


s: And the bright drops that flow from her deep azure eyes


s: On the bosom of nature like diamonds descend.


s: And casts in earth's lap all the wealth of the year;


s: But the promise she brings wakes no transports in me,


s: Still the landscape looks dim through the fast flowing tear."


s: Thus sung a poor exile, whom Sorrow had banished


s: From Joy's golden halls, in those moments when care


s: Struck deep in her soul and Hope's sunny smiles vanished,


s: And her spirit grew dark 'neath the scowl of despair.


s: But oh! there's a balm e'en for anguish like thine,


s: And He who permitted the evil has given,


s: In exchange for this lost earth, an Eden divine,


s: Revealing to man all the glories of heaven.


s: Then hush these vain murmurs, arise from the dust,


s: Submit to the hand who the dark chain can sever


s: Of sorrow and sin:--God is faithful and just--


s: Oh seek but his face and be happy for ever!


s: Till light from heaven, like April's ray,


s: The flowers that 'neath my footsteps smiled


s: Whilst, bending with the weight of years,


s: "He will come to night," young Mary said,


s: And gazed on the stars that o'er her head


s: "Heaven speed his voyage!--though absent long,


s: The skies are clear--the breeze is strong--


s: "Some soul to its last account has sped:


s: There's sorrow in man's darksome dwelling,


s: When strong in wrath the wind-lashed wave


s: And budding woods pour forth their mirth


s: That set to rise in skies more bright,--


s: With leaf--and bud--and perfumed flower,


s: O come to the meadows! I'll show you where


s: And the hawthorn spreads its blossoms fair,


s: Whilst youth, and hope, and health are ours,


s: But ah! spring's sweetest, loveliest flowers,


s: When these eyes, long dimmed with weeping,


s: The breeze shall wave the thistle's head--


s: Thou shalt cull spring's sweetest flowers,


s: Lies hid thy source, sweet murmuring brook?


s: The wandering breeze that stirs the grove,


s: Though blackened by the stains of earth,


s: From life's pure fount we trace its birth,


s: Beautiful flowers! with your petals bright,


s: Ye float on the waves like spirits of light,


s: Wooing the zephyr that ruffles your leaves


s: With a gentle sigh, like a lover that grieves,


s: From his pleading voice and impassioned lay.


s: Beautiful flowers! the sun's westward beam,


s: Still lingering, plays on the crystal stream,


s: And ye look like some Naiad's golden shrine,


s: Or a bark in which love might safely glide,


s: Impelled by the breeze o'er the purple tide.


s: On your glorious hues, in the noon-tide blaze,


s: In the azure waves, as they onward flow;


s: When the spirit who moves them sighing turns


s: Where his golden crown on the water burns.


s: And the pearly tears of the weeping night


s: Have spangled your petals with gems of light,


s: And turned to stars every wandering beam


s: Which the pale moon throws on the silver stream.


s: And the sun on your faded buds shall smile;


s: And the balm-laden zephyr that o'er you sighed


s: Shall scatter your leaves o'er the glassy tide,


s: And the spirit that moved the stream shall spread


s: Beautiful flowers! our youth is as brief


s: As the short-lived date of your golden leaf.


s: The summer will come, and each amber urn,


s: Like a love-lighted torch, on the waves shall burn;


s: But when the first bloom of our life is o'er


s: No after spring can its freshness restore,


s: But faith can twine round the hoary head


s: The harvest is nodding on valley and plain,


s: To the scythe and the sickle its treasures must yield;


s: Through sunshine and shower we have tended the grain;


s: 'Tis ripe to our hand!--to the field--to the field!


s: If the sun on our labours too warmly should smile,


s: Why a horn of good ale shall the long hours beguile.


s: Then, a largess! a largess!--kind stranger, we pray,


s: We have toiled through the heat of the long summer day!


s: With his garland of poppies red August is here,


s: And the forest is losing its first tender green;


s: Pale Autumn will reap the last fruits of the year,


s: And Winter's white mantle will cover the scene.


s: To the field!--to the field! whilst the Summer is ours


s: We will reap her ripe corn--we will cull her bright flowers.


s: Then, a largess! a largess! kind stranger, we pray,


s: For your sake we have toiled through the long summer day.


s: Ere the first blush of morning is red in the skies,


s: Ere the lark plumes his wing, or the dew drops are dry,


s: Ere the sun walks abroad, must the harvestman rise,


s: With stout heart, unwearied, the sickle to ply:


s: He exults in his strength, when the ale-horn is crown'd,


s: And the reapers' glad shouts swell the echoes around.


s: For your sake we have toiled through the long summer day!


s: Time, which dissolves all earthly things,


s: In those far realms of death where light


s: Shrieks from thy glance and all is night?


s: Thy voice has chained the troubled deep;


s: I lowly bend one simple wreath to twine;


s: Sweep the dark chords of thought and give to earth


s: The wild sweet song that tells thy heavenly birth--