248

THE FORSAKEN.

THE FORSAKEN.

O THOU whose brow, serene and calm,
From earthly stain is free,

View not with scorn that lost one's fate,
She once was pure like thee.

Though in thy lovely form and face
Health's rosy glow we see,

Yet shrink not from that faded form
She once was fair like thee!

Thou in thy father's home may dwell
In peace and purity;

Yet pity her, though friendless now,

She once was blest like thee.

Perchance the smiles of love are thine,

Its joyful ecstasy ;

Then weep for that forsaken one,

She once was loved like thee.

And still, 'mid shame, and guilt, and woe.
One Being loves her still!

Who makes thee blest, and pours on her
The world's extremest ill.

He knows the secret lure that led

Her youthful steps astray;

THE FAIRY'S GIFT.

He knows that thou, in all thy pride,
Might fall from him away;

Then, with the love of Him who said,
"Depart, and sin no more,"
Shield from despair that wretched one,
And bid her pangs be o'er.

249

SACRED OFFERING.

THE FAIRY'S GIFT.

O DID you not hear in your nursery
The tale that gossips tell,

Of two young girls that came to drink

At a certain fairy well?

The words of the younger were as sweet
As the smile of her ruby lip;

But the tongue of the eldest seemed to move
As if venom were on its tip.

At the well a beggar accosted them, (A sprite, in mean disguise,)

The eldest spake with a scornful brow,

The younger with tear-dimmed eyes.

Cried the fairy, "Whenever you speak, sweet girl, Pure gems from your lips shall fall;

250

DON'T FRET.

But whenever you utter a word, proud maid,
From your tongue shall a serpent crawl!"

And have you not met with these sisters oft,
In the haunts of the old and young?
The first with her pure, unsullied lip,
The last with her serpent tongue ?

The first is GOOD NATURE. Diamonds bright
O'er the darkest theme she throws;

The last is SLANDER — leaving the blight

-

Of the snake, wherever she goes.

DON'T FRET.

HAS a neighbor injured you?

Don't fret:

You will yet come off the best;

He's the most to answer for,

Never mind it, let it rest.

Don't fret:

Has a wicked lie been told?

Don't fret:

It will run itself to death,

If you let it quite alone,
It will die for want of breath h;

Don't fret.

THANKFULNESS.

Are your enemies at work?

Don't fret:

They can't injure you a whit ;

If they find you heed them not,
They will soon be glad to quit ;

Don't fret.

Is adversity your lot?

Don't fret:

Fortune's wheel keeps turning round,
Every spoke will reach the top,
Which, like you, is going down;

Don't fret.

THANKFULNESS.

SOME murmur when their sky is clear
And wholly bright to view,

If one small speck of dark appear

In their great heaven of blue;

And some with thankful love are filled,
If but one streak of light,

One ray of God's great mercy gild

The darkness of their night.

In palaces are hearts that ask,
In discontent and pride,

251

Why life is such a weary task,
And all good things denied ;
And hearts in poorest huts admire
How love has in their aid
(Love that not ever seems to tire)
Such rich provision made.

O HUMBLY take what God bestows,
And, like his own fair flowers,
Look up in sunshine with a smile,
And gently bend in showers.

HOPE.

THE night is mother of the day,
The winter of the spring,

And ever upon old decay

The greenest mosses cling.

Behind the cloud the starlight lurks;
Through showers the sunbeams fall;
For God, who loveth all his works,

Has left his hope with all.

J. G. WHITTIER.