THE SONG OF THE NIGHT.
From crimson to a sombre gray,
Now softly shades of night draw nigh,
The birds are twit’ring on the boughs,
As flowers droop their heads and sigh;
We hear low murm’rings of the sea
In grand harmony rise and fall,
Ev’ry ripple a cadence sweet,
And ev’ry wave a distant call.
Oh music so wistful, sublime,
Entangled in joy and in tears,
Sweet mem’ries of old you recall,
Yes dim visions of by-gone years;
Oh ling’ring breath of darkness dense
Seeming lost in cavernous hill,
Little murmuring, hidden streams,
Low chanting the spirits’ sweet will.
Beautiful is thy mute appeal;
Majestic the grandeur of night,
As dawn is stealing from afar
’Mid shimmering darkness and light;
So on shadowy wings of love,
Waft us thy song across the foam,
Over the bounding billows free,
Singing softly of home sweet home.
THOUGHTS FOR ALL CONTEMPLATING MATRIMONY.
(The Building of a Home.)
The strongest joy of all instinctive human joys
Is embodied in the building of a home
Where every thought of the inner soul employs,
Animates the intellects beneath its dome;
Where the child life gardens are sheltered from the winds,
And storms of life by loving unselfish care,
Blooming forth in beauty, bright symbols of the minds,
United devoted to their treasures there.
Like the crimson sunset or burning rubies red,
Blending together into one perfect light,
When the sun of past strength, and cherished youth are dead
And the silv’ry moon of beauty shines far less bright,
Like the valiant stars our treasures will remain
Sparkling and bright with love’s most radiant hue,
Guiding us on and on o’er the watery main,
Through the twilight shadows tender and true.