Fond mother, they who taught thy joys
To sparkle up so high;
Thy first born, and her brother dear
Catch charms from every fleeting year:—
Where is thy glistening eye?
Meek Christian, it is well with thee,
That where thy heart so long
Was garnered up, thy home should be;—
Thy path with Him who made thee free;—
Thy lay—an angel's song.
Some of Mary Lundie Duncan's poems are characterized not merely by purity and elevation of sentiment, but by sweetness and melody of versification. The following written at "Callander," though not without defects, indicates the possession of true poetical genius.
How pure the light on yonder hills,
How soft the shadows lie;
How blythe each morning sound that fills
The air with melody!
Those hills, that rest in solemn calm
Above the strife of men,
Are bathed in breezy gales of balm
From knoll and heathy glen.
In converse with the silent sky,
They mock the flight of years;
While man and all his labors die
Low in this vale of tears.
Meet emblem of eternal rest,
They point their summits grey
To the fair regions of the blest,
Where tends our pilgrim way.
The everlasting mountains there
Reflect undying light;
The ray which gilds that ambient air,
Nor fades, nor sets in night.
Then summer sun more piercing bright.
That beam is milder too;
For love is in the sacred light
That softens every hue.