With a slow murmur in the trees, Were catching upon wave and tree First prayer, with which I learn'd to bow, Upon me as in by-past years, And yielding to the blessed gush Of my ungovernable tears, Have risen up-the gay, the wild As humble as a very child. TO A FRIEND, WHO COMPLAINED THAT SHE HAD NOT A HOME. SAD and slow was the wanderer's tread, As o'er the lengthen'd way she sped; On the summer bower as she loiter'd by; Or stopp'd to gather the brilliant flower But the gay flower died when she touch'd it near, The lamb is housed when his game is play'd, And the sparrow knows where her nest is made, RESIGNATION. O God! whose thunder shakes the sky, Thy mercy in thy justice praise : The mystic mazes of thy will, O teach me, in the trying hour, When anguish swells the dewy tear, To still my sorrows, own thy power, Thy goodness love, thy justice fear :If in this bosom aught but thee, Encroaching, sought a boundless sway, Omniscience could the danger see, And mercy take the cause away. Then why, my soul, dost thou complain? Why drooping seek the dark recess? Shake off the melancholy chain, For God created all to bless. But ah! my breast is human still; The sickness of my soul declare. But yet, with fortitude resign'd, I'll thank the inflictor of the blow; Forbid the sigh, compose my mind, Nor let the gush of misery flow:The gloomy mantle of the night, Which on my sinking spirit steals, Will vanish at the morning light, Which God, my orient sun, reveals. PRAYER. PRAYER is the soul's sincere desire, The motion of a hidden fire, That trembles in the breast. Prayer is the burden of a sigh, The upward glancing of an eye, Prayer is the simplest form of speech Prayer the sublimest strains that reach The Majesty on high. Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, The Christian's native air, His watchword at the gates of death- Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice, The saints, in prayer, appear as one, Nor prayer is made on earth alone: And Jesus, at the Eternal's throne, O thou, by whom we come to God, A FRAGMENT FOUND IN A SKELETON CASE. BEHOLD this ruin! 'T was a skull Once of ethereal spirit full! This narrow cell was life's retreat; This space was thought's mysterious seat! Beneath this mouldering canopy But through the dew of kindness beam'd, When stars and suns have lost their light! Here, in the silent cavern, hung |