In spring the farmer ploughs the field
That yet will wave with yellow corn,
In spring the birdie builds its nest
In foggy bank or budding thorn;
The bank and brae, the hill and dell,
A song of hope are heard to sing,
And summer, autumn, winter tell
With joy and grief the work of spring.
Now youth's the spring-time of your life,
When seed is sown with care and toil,
And hopes are high and fears are rife,
Lest weeds should rise the grain to spoil.
I've sown the seed, my bairnies dear,
By precept and example too,
And may the Hand that guides us here
Preserve us all the journey through.
But soon the time will come when you
May lose a mother's tender care,
A world with sorrows not a few,
With all its stormy strife to share :
Then as you pass through life along
Let fortune kind or frowning prove,
Ne'er let the Tempter lead you wrong,
But still be guided by His love.
HAST thou, midst life's empty noises,
Heard the solemn steps of Time,
And the low, mysterious voices
Of another clime?
Early hath life's mighty question
Thrilled within thy heart of youth,
With a deep and strong beseeching,
What, and where, is truth?
Not to ease and aimless quiet
Doth the inward answer tend;
But to works of love and duty,
As our being's end.
Earnest toil and strong endeavor
Of a spirit which within
Wrestles with familiar evil
And besetting sin;
And without, with tireless vigor,
Steady heart, and purpose strong, In the power of Truth assaileth
Every form of wrong.
THE BUILDING OF THE HOUSE.
THE BUILDING OF THE HOUSE.
I HAVE a wondrous house to build,
A dwelling, humble yet divine;
A lowly cottage to be filled
With all the jewels of the mine.
How shall I build it strong and fair,-
This noble house, this lodging rare,
So small and modest, yet so great?
How shall I fill its chambers bare
With use, with ornaments, with state?
My God hath given the stone and clay;
'Tis I must fashion them aright;
"Tis I must mould them day by day,
And make my labor my delight;
This cot, this palace, this fair home,
This pleasure-house, this holy dome,
Must be in all proportions fit,
That heavenly messengers may come
To lodge with him who tenants it.
No fairy bower this house must be,
To totter at each gale that starts,
But of substantial masonry,
Symmetrical in all its parts:
Fit in its strength to stand sublime
THE BUILDING OF THE HOUSE.
For seventy years of mortal time,
Defiant of the storm and rain,
And well attempered to the clime
In every cranny, nook, and pane.
I'll build it so, that if the blast
Around it whistle loud and long,
The tempest when its rage has passed
Shall leave its rafters doubly strong.
I'll build it so that travellers by
Shall view it with admiring eye,
For its commodiousness and grace:
Firm on the ground, - straight to the sky,-
A meek, but goodly dwelling-place.
Thus noble in its outward form,
Within I'll build it clean and white;
Not cheerless cold, but happy warm,
And ever open to the light.
No tortuous passages or stair,
No chamber foul, or dungeon lair,
No gloomy attic, shall there be,
But wide apartments, ordered fair,
And redolent of purity.
With three compartments furnished well,
The house shall be a home complete ;
Wherein, should circumstance rebel,
The humble tenant may retreat.
The first, a room wherein to deal
THE BUILDING OF THE HOUSE.
With men for human nature's weal,
A room where he may work or play,
And all his social life reveal
In its pure texture, day by day.
The second for his wisdom sought,
Where, with his chosen book or friend,
He may employ his active thought
To virtuous or exalted end.
A chamber lofty and serene,
With a door-window to the green,
Smooth-shaven sward, and arching bowers,
Where love, or talk, or song between
May gild his intellectual hours.
The third an oratory dim,
But beautiful, where he may raise,
Unheard of men, his daily hymn
Of love and gratitude and praise;
Where he may revel in the light
Of things unseen and infinite,
And learn how little he may be,
And yet how awful in thy sight,
Ineffable Eternity!
Such is the house that I must build;
This is the cottage, this the dome,
And this the palace, treasure filled,
For an immortal's earthly home.
O noble work of toil and care!
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