"There is no union here of hearts,
That finds not here an end."
Alas! how soon this takes place! The joy of home would be perfect did not the thought of a speedy separation intrude. No sooner than the voice of childhood is changed, than separation begins to take place. Some separate for another world; some are borne by the winds and waves to distant lands; others enter the deep forests of the West, and are heard of no more;—
"Alas! the brother knows not now where fall the sister’s tears!
One haply revels at the feast, while one may droop alone;
For broken is the household chain,—the bright fire quenched and gone!"
What melancholy feelings are awakened within at the sight of a deserted home, in which loved ones once met and lived and loved; but from which they have now wandered, each in the path pointed out by the guiding hand of Providence. How beautifully does Mrs. Hemans portray this separation in the following admirable lines!—
"They grew in beauty side by side,
They filled one home with glee;
Their graves are severed, far and wide,