And when I see that lock of gold,

Pale grows the evening-red; And when the dark lock I behold,

I wish that I were dead.

IT IS NOT ALWAYS MAY.

The sun is bright, the air is clear,

The darting swallows soar and sing, And from the stately elms I hear

The blue-bird prophesying Spring.

So blue yon winding river flows,

It seems an outlet from the sky, Where waiting till the west wind blows,

The freighted clouds at anchor lie, All things are new ;-the buds, the leaves,

That gild the elm-tree's nodding crest, And even the nest beneath the eaves ;

There are no birds in last year's nest ! All things rejoice in youth and love,

The fulness of their first delight! And learn from the soft heavens above

The melting tenderness of night. Maiden, that read'st this simple rhyme,

Enjoy thy youth-it will not stay; Enjoy the fragrance of thy prime,

For, oh! it is not always May! Enjoy the Spring of Love and Youth,

To some good angel leave the rest; For Time will teach thee soon the truth,

There are no birds in last year's nest !

THE RAINY DAY.

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary ;
It rains, and the wind is never weary ;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.
My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary ;

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast

And the days are dark and dreary.
Be still, sad heart! and cease repining.;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

GOD'S-ACRE.

a

I LIKE that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls

The burial-ground God's-Acre! It is just; It consecrates each grave within its walls,

And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust. God's-Acre! Yes, that blessèd name imparts

Comfort to those who in the grave have sown The seed that they had garnered in their hearts,

Their bread of life, alas, no more their own!
Into its furrows shall we all be cast,

In the sure faith that we shall rise again
At the great harvest, when the archangel's blast

Shall winnow, like a fan, the chaff and grain.
Then shall the good stand in immortal bloom,

In the fair gardens of that second birth; And each bright blossom mingle its perfume

With that of flowers which never bloomed on earth.

With thy rude ploughshare, Death, turn up the sod,

And spread the furrow for the seed we sow; This is the field and acre of our God,

This is the place where human harvests grow!

TO THE RIVER CHARLES.
River! that in silence windest

Through the meadows, bright and free,
Till at length thy rest thou findest

In the bosom of the sea !
Four long years of mingled feeling,

Half in rest and half in strife,
I have seen thy waters stealing

Onward, like the stream of life.

Thou hast taught me, silent River!

Many a lesson, deep and long;
Thou hast been a generous giver;

I can give thee but a song.
Oft in sadness and in illness

I have watched thy current glide,
Till the beauty of its stillness

Overflowed me, like a tide,
And in better hours and brighter,

When I saw thy waters gleam,
I have felt my heart beat lighter,

And leap onward with thy stream.
Not for this alone I love thee,

Nor because thy waves of blue
From celestial seas above thee

Take their own celestial hue.
Where yon shadowy woodlands hide thee,

And thy waters disappear,
Friends I love have dwelt beside thee,

And have made thy margin dear.
More than this ;—thy name reminds me

Of three friends, all true and tried ;
And that name, like magic, binds me

Closer, closer to thy side.
Friends my soul with joy remembers !

How like quivering flames they start,
When I fan the living embers

On the hearth-stone of my heart!
'Tis for this, thou silent River!

That my spirit leans to thee;
Thou bast been a generous giver,

Take this idle song from me.

BLIND BARTIMEUS.

BLIND Bartimeus at the gates
Of Jericho in darkness waits;
He hears the crowd ;-he hears a breath
Say, “ It is Christ of Nazareth !"
And calls, in tones of agony,
'Ιησού, ελέησόν με.
The thronging multitudes increase;
Blind Bartimeus, Lold thy peace!

But still, above the noisy crowd,
The beggar's cry is shrill and loud;
Until they say,

“ He calleth thee;"
θάρσει, έγειραι, φωνεί σε.
Then saith the Christ, as silent stands
The crowd, “What wilt thou at my hands ?”
And he replies, “Oh, give me light!
Rabbi, restore the blind man's sight!"
And Jesus answers, "Traye
Η πίστις σου σέσωκέ σε.

Ye that have eyes, yet cannot see,
In darkness and in misery,
Recall those mighty Voices Three,
'Ιησού, ελέησόν με
θάρσει, έγειραι, ύπαγε"
Η πίστις σου σέσωκέ σε.

THE GOBLET OF LIFE.

FILLED is Life's goblet to the brim;
And though my eyes with tears are dim,
I see its sparkling bubbles swim,
And chant a melancholy hymn

With solemn voice and slow.

No purple flowers, - no garlands green,
Conceal the goblet's shade or sheen,
Nor maddening draughts of hippocrene,
Like gleams of sunshine, flash between

Thick leaves of mistletoe.

This goblet, wrought with curious art,
Is filled with waters, that upstart,
When the deep fountains of the heart,
By strong convulsions rent apart,

Are running all to wastē.
And as it mantling passes round,
With fennel is it wreathed and crowned,
Whose seed and foliage sun-embrowned
Are in its waters steeped and drowned,

And give a bitter taste.
Above the lowly plants it towers,
The fennel, with its yellow flowers,
And in an earlier age than ours
Was gifted with the wondrous powers,

Lost vision to restore.

It gave new strength and fearless mood;
And gladiators fierce and rude
Mingled it in their daily food;
And he who battled and subdued,

A wreath of fennel wore.
Then in Life's goblet freely press
The leaves that give it bitterness,
Nor prize the coloured waters less,
For in thy darkness and distress

New light and strength they give!
And he who has not learned to know
How false its sparkling bubbles show,
How bitter are the drops of woe
With which its brim may overflow,

He has not learned to live.

The prayer of Ajax was for light;
Through all that dark and desperate fight,
The blackness of that noonday night,
He asked but the return of sight,

To see his foeman's face.

ones, who lie

Let our unceasing, earnest prayer
Be too for light,-

for strength to bear Our portion of the weight of care That crushes into dumb despair

One half the human race. O suffering, sad humanity! 0 ye

afflicted
Steeped to the lips in misery,
Longing, and yet afraid to die,

Patient, though sorely tried !
I pledge you in this cup of grief,
Where floats the fennel's bitter leaf !
The battle of our life is brief,
The alarm,—the struggle,—the relief,-

Then sleep we side by side.

MAIDENHOOD.

MAIDEN! with the meek, brown eyes,
In whose orbs a shadow lies
Like the dusk in evening skies !