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GONE.

And she is with thee; in thy path of trial
She walketh yet;

Still with the baptism of thy self-denial
Her locks are wet.

Up, then, my brother! Lo, the fields of harvest Lie white in view!

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She lives and loves thee, and the God thou servest To both is true.

Thrust in thy sickle!-England's toil-worn peasants Thy call abide;

And she thou mourn'st, a pure and holy presence, Shall glean beside!

GONE.

ANOTHER hand is beckoning us,
Another call is given;

And glows once more with Angel-steps
The path which reaches Heaven.

Our young and gentle friend whose smile
Made brighter summer hours,

Amid the frosts of autumn time
Has left us with the flowers.

No paling of the cheek of bloom
Forewarned us of decay;

nd

No shadow from the Silent Land

Fell round our sister's way.

The light of her young life went down,

As sinks behind the hill

The glory of a setting star

Clear, suddenly, and still.

As pure and sweet, her fair brow seemed
Eternal as the sky;

And like the brook's low song, her voice—
A sound which could not die.

And half we deemed she needed not
The changing of her sphere,

To give to Heaven a Shining One,
Who walked an Angel here.

The blessing of her quiet life
Fell on us like the dew;

And good thoughts, where her footsteps pressed
Like fairy blossoms grew.

Sweet promptings unto kindest deeds
Were in her very look;

We read her face, as one who reads
A true and holy book:

The measure of a blessed hymn,

To which our hearts could move; The breathing of an inward psalm; A canticle of love.

We miss her in the place of prayer,
And by the hearth-fire's light;
We pause beside her door to hear
Once more her sweet "Good night!

There seems a shadow on the day,
Her smile no longer cheers;
A dimness on the stars of night,
Like eyes that look through tears.

Alone unto our Father's will

One thought hath reconciled;

That He whose love exceedeth ours
Hath taken home his child.

THE LAKE-SIDE.

Fold her, oh Father! in thine arms,
And let her henceforth be
A messenger of love between

Our human hearts and Thee.

Still let her mild rebuking stand
Between us and the wrong,
And her dear memory serve to make
Our faith in Goodness strong.

And grant that she who, trembling, here
Distrusted all her powers,
May welcome to her holier home
The well beloved of ours.

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THE LAKE-SIDE.

THE shadows round the inland sea
Are deepening into night;
Slow up the slopes of Ossipee
They chase the lessening light.
Tired of the long day's blinding heat,
I rest my languid eye,

Lake of the Hills! where, cool and sweet,
Thy sunset waters lie!

Along the sky, in wavy lines,

O'er isle and reach and bay, Green-belted with eternal pines, The mountains stretch away. Below, the maple masses sleep

Where shore with water blends,
While midway on the tranquil deep
The evening light descends.

So seemed it when yon hill's red crown,
Of old, the Indian trod,

And, through the sunset air, looked down
Upon the Smile of God."

To him of light and shade the laws
No forest sceptic taught;
Their living and eternal Cause
His truer instinct sought.

He saw these mountains in the light
Which now across them shines;
This lake, in summer sunset bright,
Walled round with sombering pines.
God near him seemed; from earth and skies
His loving voice he heard,

As, face to face, in Paradise,

Man stood before the Lord.

Thanks, oh, our Father! that, like him,

Thy tender love I see,

In radiant hill and woodland dim,
And tinted sunset sea.

For not in mockery dost Thou fill
Our earth with light and grace;
Thou hid'st no dark and cruel will
Behind Thy smiling face!

THE HILL-TOP.

THE burly driver at my side,
We slowly climbed the hill,
Whose summit, in the hot noontide,
Seemed rising, rising still.

At last, our short noon-shadows hid
The top-stone, bare and brown,
From whence, like Gizeh's pyramid,
The rough mass slanted down.

THE HILL-TOP.

I felt the cool breath of the North;
Between me and the sun,

O'er deep, still lake, and ridgy earth,
I saw the cloud-shades run.

Before me, stretched for glistening miles,
Lay mountain-girdled Squam;

Like green-winged birds, the leafy isles
Upon its bosom swam.

And, glimmering through the sun-haze warm,
Far as the eye could roam,
Dark billows of an earthquake storm
Beflecked with clouds like foam,
Their vales in misty shadow deep,
Their rugged peaks in shine,
I saw the mountain ranges sweep
The horizon's northern line.

There towered Chocorua's peak; and west,
Moosehillock's woods were seen,
With many a nameless slide-scarred crest
And pine-dark gorge between.
Beyond them, like a sun-rimmed cloud,
The great Notch mountains shone,
Watched over by the solemn-browed
And awful face of stone!

"A good look-off!" the driver spake : "About this time, last year,

I drove a party to the Lake,

And stopped, at evening, here.
"Twas duskish down below; but all
These hills stood in the sun,
Till, dipped behind yon purple wall,
He left them, one by one.

"A lady, who, from Thornton hill,
Had held her place outside,

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