LINES WRITTEN IN A LOVELY CHILD'S ALBUM. 77
Then O wonder not that her heart
From all else would rather part
Than those tiny blue shoes
That no little feet use,
And whose sigh makes such fond tears start.
63. LINES WRITTEN IN A LOVELY CHILD'S
LOVE Truth, dear child, love Truth!
"Twill gladden thy morn of youth;
And, in the noon of life,
Though it cost thee pain and strife
To keep the truth in its brightness-
Still cleave to thy uprightness:
Yea, the truth to own,
Dear child, be brave-
In spite of the frown
Of the bigot and knave;
Ay, in spite of the proud,
Dare to speak it aloud!
Thus live, and when cometh life's farewell day, Thou wilt be able to smile and say—
"Welcome life, or welcome death!
I have loved the Truth, and to yield my breath I feel no fear:
Truth gladdened my life,-and the gloom of death Its glorious light shall cheer!"
GOD AND HIS ANGELS EVERYWHERE.
64. GOD AND HIS ANGELS EVERYWHERE.
We know that God is everywhere.
We see Him in the changing year,
Above, below; remote, or near.
And there His angels are also;
They ride on all the winds that blow,
And at his bidding come and go.
Unseen by us, that holy band
Speed night and day o'er sea and land,
Or in his presence waiting stand.
Some wake the morning from repose,
And scent the early summer-rose,
Or tell the evening when to close.
They throw grey twilight o'er the hills,
In spring unloose the frozen rills,
And shake the golden daffodils.
Some sow the dews upon the earth,
Or anthem in the morning's birth,
Teaching the birds their woodland mirth.
They light the stars across the skies,
And tell the lark 'tis time to rise,
When they unlock the daisies' eyes.
They scatter cowslips on the dale,
Perfume the lilies of the vale,
And hang the thorn with blossoms pale.
Some twine the branches into bowers;
Others at evening shut the flowers,
And sprinkle them with silver showers.
Some guide the bird across the sea,
Or point out to the belted bee
Where honey bells wave on the lea.
Alighting with half-folded wings,
They bend the buds o'er brooks and springs,
By which the linnet builds and sings.
They scatter seed upon the breeze,
And hang with mellow fruit the trees, .
Obeying Him who all things sees.
Keep record of our idle talk,
Ae with us when we sleep or walk,
And ever ready at His call,
To keep a watch o'er great and small.-
God's messengers, who love us all.
Mark it well, within, without!
No tool had he that wrought,
No nail to fix, no bodkin to insert,
No glue to join; his little beak was all,
And yet how neatly finished! What nice hand,
With every implement and means of art,
Could compass such another?
THE lovely young Lavinia once had friends;
And Fortune smiled, deceitful, on her birth;
For, in her helpless years deprived of all,
Of every stay, save innocence and heaven,
She, with her widowed mother, feeble, old,
And poor, lived in a cottage far retired,
Among the windings of a woody vale;
By solitude and deep surrounding shades,
But more by bashful modesty concealed.
Together thus they shunned the cruel scorn
Which virtue, sunk to poverty, would meet
From giddy passion, and low-minded pride:
Almost on Nature's common bounty fed;
Like the gay birds that sung them to repose,
Content, and careless of to-morrow's fare.
Her form was fresher than the morning rose,
When the dew wets its leaves; unstained and
As is the lily, or the mountain snow.
The modest virtues mingled in her eyes,
And when the mournful tale her mother told,
Of what her faithless fortune promised once,
Thrill'd in her thought, they, like the dewy star
Of evening, shone in tears. A native grace
Sat fair proportioned on her polished limbs,
Veiled in a simple robe, their best attire,
Beyond the pomp of dress; for loveliness
Needs not the foreign aid of ornament,
But is, when unadorned, adorned the most.
Thoughtless of beauty, she was beauty's self,
Recluse amid the close embowering woods.
As in the hollow breast of Apennine,
Beneath the shelter of encircling hills,
A myrtle rises, far from human eye,
And breathes its balmy fragrance o'er the wild;
So flourished, blooming, and unseen by all,
The sweet Lavinia; till, at length compelled
By strong Necessity's supreme command,
With smiling patience in her looks, she went
To glean Palemon's fields.
GOD made the heart with every chord
Responsive to his love;
To cheer, to bless, and keep his word-
Like angel hearts above!
"Twas made to feel for others' woe,
Life's sorrows to beguile;
To soothe the tears the wretched know,
And bid the mourner smile.
'Twas made to be the charm of earth,
Where all affections meet;
Where every human bliss hath birth,
And every hope is sweet.
'Twas form'd the weak and sad to aid,
To bid misfortune flee;
If man ne'er marr'd what God had made,
How heavenly earth would be.
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