I saw him standing in the crowd— A comely youth and fair! There was a brightness in his eye, A glory in his hair! I saw his comrades gaze on him— His comrades standing by. I heard them whisper each to each, “He never told a lie!”
I looked in wonder on that boy, As he stood there so young: To think that never an untruth Was uttered by his tongue. I thought of all the boys I’d known,— Myself among the fry,— And knew of none that one could say, “He never told a lie!”
I gazed upon that youth with awe That did enchain me long: I had not seen a boy before So perfect and so strong. And with something of regret I wished that he was I, So they might look at me and say, “He never told a lie!”
I thought of questions very hard For boys to answer right: “How did you tear those pantaloons?” “My son! what caused the fight?” “Who left the gate ajar last night?” “Who bit the pumpkin-pie?” What boy could answer all of these, And never tell a lie?
I proudly took him by the hand— My words with praise were rife; I blessed that boy who never told A falsehood in his life; I told him I was proud of him— A fellow standing by, Informed me that that boy was dumb Who never told a lie!
A LESSON TO LOVERS.
She, with a milk-pail on her arm, Turns aside with her young cheeks glowing, And sees down the lane, the slow, dull tread Of the drove of cows that are homeward going. “Bessie,” he said: at the sound she turned, Her blue eyes full of childish wonder: “My mother is feeble and lame and old— I need a wife at my farmhouse yonder.
“My heart is lonely, my home is drear: I need your presence ever near me. Will you be my guardian angel, dear, Queen of my household, to guide and cheer me?”
“It has a pleasant sound,” she said,— “A household queen, a guiding spirit, To warm your heart, and cheer your home, And keep the sunshine ever near it: But I am only a simple child, So my mother says in her daily chiding; And what must a guardian angel do When she first begins her work of guiding?”