THOUGHTS

BESIDE THE CORPSE OF A BEAUTIFUL CHILD.

IMAGE of rest! how beautiful art thou,
In the fixed quiet of thy marble brow!
All passionless and calm, like wintry skies
In their cold vesture of ethereal dyes,

When stars look downward from their quiet spheres,

Serenely silent, on a world of tears.

This, this is rest! The troubled earth hath

naught

To vex thy bosom with an anxious thought;
No more the pulses of that tranquil heart,
At passion's thrilling voice, shall wildly start;
Its rudest, breath awakes no passing fear,
Nor stirs one blossom on thine early bier.

This, this is peace! Earth holds not in its

sway

One charm the heart's deep sorrows to allay;

It binds no fetter on the wayward mind,
When swayed by passions, reckless as the wind;
In all its varied wealth of fruit or flower,
It bears no balm to soothe affliction's hour,
No branch to heal the bitter stream that flows
From life's bright morning to its gloomy close.
But what are earth's dark penalties to thee?
Thy bonds are riven, and thy soul is free.

Yet would mistaken love have kept thee still,
To drain the bitter cup of mortal ill

1;

This heart, still bleeding from the stroke of

Heaven,

Against that awful stroke hath wildly striven,
Hands have been clasped in energetic prayer,
Sighs have been mingled with the viewless air,
Tears have been poured before the throne of God,
Yet bows the soul beneath his chastening rod;
His will is done; thou art for ever blest;
O that this soul could share thy sacred rest!

Still let me gaze upon that placid face,
Where earthly care hath left no sullen trace.
Repose so perfect soothes the bursting heart,
And stills the anguish of affection's smart ;

Ay! let me gaze! - How strange that death should wear

So bright an aspect, such a holy air!

And shall we dread such blessedness as this?
Such full perfection of ecstatic bliss ?
Stay, spirit! for around thy placid brow
Methinks I view a halo gathering now;
Stay till this rebel heart submissive bends,
And frames an anthem as thy soul ascends;
'T is done! the cord is loosed that held thee down;
Go to thy blissful home and thornless crown.

THE FLOWER, RAINBOW, BIRD, AND STAR.

I SAW a lovely flower

Upon a slender spray,

But a rude blast came, with sudden

And swept its bloom away:

It bent beneath the blow,

And its leaves to earth were given, But the bitter wind that laid it low Bore its fragrance unto heaven.

I marked a rainbow's form,

power,

When the summer shower went by, Born of the sunbeam and the storm, Spanning the eastern sky :

54

FLOWER, RAINBOW, BIRD, AND STAR.

And I gazed upon the sight,

Till the glorious arch was riven, And its varied hues of gorgeous light Melted away in heaven.

I watched a merry bird,
Bulding its fairy,nest,

And the glossy leaves by its wings were stirred,
Round that little spot of rest;

And I deemed that its gushing song

Would still to mine ear be given,

But it plumed its wing for the skies ere long,

And soared, and sang, in heaven.

I gazed on a gentle star,

That was bright in the evening sky,
And thought how it smiled in its home afar,

When watched by a mortal's eye;

But the tempest gathered fast,

And wildly the clouds were driven,

And the star was lost, as their dark folds passed,

But I knew it was still in heaven.