Upward, then, we look alway:
Pray and shed the silent tear;
Hoping soon will come the day
We shall join our darling there.
GONE!
SUGGESTED ON HEARING OF THE DEATH, ONLY A FEW DAYS APART, OF TWO INFANT CHILDREN OF AN ESTEEMED FRIEND.
Gone! Like a ray, that came and kissed some flow'rs,
Charming their loneliness with many a hue;
But cheering only, as such marvels do,
A few short hours.
Gone! Like a dew-drop-jewel of the mist,
That lives the briefest moment in the morn;
Sparkling in purity upon a thorn;
Then heaven-ward kisst.
Gone! Like a Summer-wind, that woke a thrill
In every leaf it fondled as it fled,
Then left each leaflet drooping low its head
Mournful and still.
Gone! Like a swelling wail at Autumn time,
That went with such sad cadences away,
'Twas thought a God from Heav'n had come astray
Weeping sublime.
Gone! Like a dream of beauty in the night,
That came to tell a fair and welcome tale,
Then left the wakening dreamer to bewail
The dead delight.
LIFE DREAMS.
Behold yon truant schoolboy, cap in hand,
Bound o'er the gilded mead with frantic whoop,
And to each butterfly give ready chase;
Till one more gaudy than the flutt'ring rest
Starts up before his gaze. Then darts he forth
To clutch the prize, which ever and anon
Lingers on shiny flow'r till nearly caught,
Then flickers off with tantalizing flirt.
The youth with hopeful heart keeps up the chase,
And so intent upon the game, that he
Sees not the yawning slough beneath his feet,
Until he finds himself o'er head and ears
In dreary plight. And so it is through life:
From youth to age man dreams of happiness:
Grasps every gilded bubble that upsoars,
Fondly believing each to be the prize
His fancy pictured. Still the wished-for joy
Is far beyond his reach as e'er it was;
Yet, buoyed with hope, he sees, or thinks he sees,
The coming future bearing in its arms
The smiling Beauty that he pants to grasp.
With palpitating heart and trembling hand
He reaches forth to pluck the prize—when lo!
The treach'rous earth expanding at his feet,
He finds in place of happiness—a grave.