DOWN ABOUT OLD SHAKERTOWN.
You may boast about the landscapes fair so far across the sea
Of castled Rhine, and southern France, and favored Italy—
But have you seen, when Springtime flings the scented blossoms down,
The forests and the meadows green around old Shakertown?
You may boast of some that bask beneath perpetual Summer's smiles—
Those "Eden's of the eastern wave"—the sunny Grecian isles—
And others that perhaps you've seen, of beauty and renown,
But come and view the country spread around old Shakertown!
O come and boast that you have been where Nature's lavish hand
Bestowed the gifts of wood and field that vie with any land—
Where valleys wear a velvet robe—the hills an emerald crown
Of bluegrass shimmering in the sun, around old Shakertown!
O come to old Kentucky then, and to her garden spot,
Then wander wheresoe'er you will, it ne'er will be forgot—
For Nature's face is wreathed in smiles nor wears a single frown
To mar the beauty she has spread around old Shakertown!
MEMORIA IN ÆTERNA.
Sweet Memory! thou faculty divine—
Triumphant o'er the cruel hand of Time!
On thy tablets we may trace
The lines his fingers ne'er efface,
And take with us till latest day
The images that light our way,
And picture thus in a shadowy form
The loved and lost he's from us torn—
Their lids by Death so early sealed—
Life's crimson tide by him congealed—
The tyrant has not all concealed—
They in thy mirror still revealed!
Before the morning sunbeams kissed
The face of Nature—veiled in mist—
And heralded with golden ray
The opening of the perfect day—
Ere yet the sable shades of night
At dawn's approach had winged their flight—
We've listed to the whispering breeze
That's wafted o'er the trembling trees,
And seemed to hear the voices sweet
Of loved ones now we ne'er can meet
Till earthly night shall pass away—
Supplanted by immortal day!