78 A COLLOQUY OF BETHLEHEM. A COLLOQUY OF BETHLEHEM. And lo the Star, which they saw in the East, went before them; till it came and stood over where the young Child was. Matt. ii. 9. O'ER Bethlehem the beauteous Star, It cheers the wanderer's weary way. FIRST SHEPHERD. Oh, Shepherd! whence the peerless gem Beams there Judea's diadem Returns a king or conqueror now? SECOND SHEPHERD. No diadem for Judah burns; No regal sceptre for her kings; From spoil no conqueror returns, No pageantry the herald brings ; It shines, the harbinger of peace, WHEN YON BRIGHT ORB. It bids dark superstition cease, And leads the sinner to his God. FIRST AND SECOND SHEPHERDS. Star of Redemption! from thy sphere, WHEN YON BRIGHT ORB BENEATH THE WEST. WHEN yon bright orb beneath the west Descends in shades of even,— When all is hushed in peaceful rest, The soul aspires to regions blest, And finds repose in Heaven. "Tis then all fleeting joys below, And false, compared with Heaven. "Tis then all cares and sorrows here, By which frail man is driven,— Freed from this Earth, my soul would share In bright celestial mansions, where The glorious dawn of Heaven. MAY, 1835. MONTH of May! I wonder why Poets ever sang of thee; Thou art present here, yet I Naught of May, the charmer, see. All thy skies are clouded o'er; MAY, 1835. I have looked to see the bright I went forth upon thy First, But 'twas raw as Christmas, just; Lips and cheeks were blue and pale. Yesterday I strolled to make And a spell of coughing too. If cold weather, now thy mate, Takes a hint and will retire, By July, I calculate, We may do without a fire. F 81 82 88 SONG OF THE BIBLE. SONG OF THE BIBLE. THE Bible speaks, that has spoken before, I am speaking yet, I am speaking yet, And I bring down light to those that sit In the shadows of death below. The powers of Sin, they have leagued with men, To hinder my warning cry; But in their dismay they have trembled, when My voice was lifted high. The infidel rose in his zeal, unblest; False philosophy deemed me a sham; And its leader wore upon his crest, "Ecrasez l'infame." To his place has the scoffing infidel gone, I am speaking yet,—his wail goes on,— |