Good-night! Oh eyes long used to weep!
Faith spans the mist of years; High o'er life's toil, death's darksome sleep,
Heaven's fair, sweet dawn appears.
Refulgent with its glorious rays,
O'er earth, o'er ocean's foam; Where'er the weary wanderer strays,
To light the spirit home.
Home to the painless, sinless land,
The never darkening sky; Where hearts ne'er break with clasp of hand;
Where friends ne'er say Good-bye.
THE ROSE.
She passed as a ray of sunshine
O'er the dark, piazza floor; And the gloaming turned to noonday
As she neared the open door, And in her white and dainty hands
A precious gift she bore.
Thou baby rose! from parent stem
Far traveller from my heart's first shrine; Sweet breathings of the olden days
Speak from each tiny leaf of thine; Thou! velvet-clad in robes of state;
Rich-crimsoned of the Hand Divine.
Sweet art thou as the dreams of youth
Or dew-drops glist 'neath orient ray; Still, smiling in thy fair, young bloom
Thou'rt frail and perishing as they; Yet, aftermath of glory-light
Doth rise o'er darkness and decay.