Nay, sure, 'tis more than earthly bliss, here, thus
To hold communion with my heavenly Father.
Witness this heart, with gratitude o'ercharged,
Which pleads and presses to present its thanks:
Witness these tears which thus uncalled obtrude,
And half congealed, fall to the frozen earth,
An humble offering at the throne of grace:
Witness this sweet, serene, and holy calm,
At once bespeaking and befitting for
The presence of my Maker, semblance faint
Of happiness to come, when bliss supreme
Shall be the portion of these ransomed saints,
Who through eternity shall join to raise
Loud hallelujahs to their heavenly King.
THE frost looked forth one still clear night,
And he said "I shall soon be out of sight,
So through the valley, and over the height,
In silence I'll take my way.
I will not go on like that blustering train,
The wind and the snow, the hail and the rain,
Who make so much bustle and noise in vain,
But I'll be as busy as they."
Then he went to the mountain, and powdered its crest,
He climbed up the trees, and their boughs he drest
With diamonds and pearls, and over the breast
Of the quivering lake he spread
A coat of mail, that it might not fear
The downward point of many a spear,
Which he hung on the margin far and near
Where a rock could rear its head.
He went to the windows of those who slept,
And over each pane, like a fairy, crept;
Wherever he breathed, wherever he stept,
By the light of the moon were seen
Most beautiful things; there were flowers and trees,
There were bevies of birds and swarms of bees,
There were cities, thrones, temples, and towns-and these
All pictured in silver sheen.
But he did one thing that was hardly fair-
He went to the cupboard, and, finding there
That all had forgotten for him to prepare;
"Now, just to set them thinking,
I'll bite this basket of fruit," said he,
"This bloated pitcher I'll burst in three,
And the glass of water they've left for me
Shall crack to tell I've been drinking ""
THE skies, like a banner in sunset unrolled,
O'er the west threw their splendour of azure and gold,
But one cloud at a distance rose dense, and increased,
Till its margin of black touched the zenith and east.
We gazed on the scenes, while around us they glowed,
When a vision of beauty appeared on the cloud;
"Twas not like the sun, as at mid-day we view,
Nor the moon, that rolls nightly through starlight and blue.
Like a spirit, it came in the van of a storm!
And the eye, and the heart, hailed its beautiful form,
For it looked not severe, like an Angel of Wrath,
But its garment of brightness illumed its dark path.
In the hues of its grandeur, sublimely it stood,
O'er the river, the village, the field, and the wood,
And river, field, village, and woodlands grew bright,
As conscious they gave and afforded delight.
'Twas the bow of Omnipotence; bent in His hand,
Whose grasp at Creation the universe spanned;
'Twas the presence of God, in a symbol sublime;
His Vow from the Flood to the exit of Time!
Not dreadful, as when in the whirlwind He pleads,
When storms are His chariots, and lightnings His steeds;
The black clouds His banner of vengeance unfurled,
And thunder His voice to a guilt-stricken world ;-
In the breath of His presence, when thousands expire,
And seas boil with fury, and rocks burn with fire,
And the sword, and the plague-spot with death strew the plain,
And vultures, and wolves, are the graves of the slain.
Not such was that Rainbow, that beautiful one!
Whose arch was refraction, its key-stone the sun;
A pavilion it seemed which the Deity graced,
And Justice and Mercy met there, and embraced.
Awhile, and it sweetly bent over the gloom,
Like Love o'er a death-couch, or Hope o'er the tomb;
That left the dark scene, whence it slowly retired,
As Love had just vanished, or Hope had expired.
OH! they looked upward in every place
Through this beautiful world of ours,
And dear as the smile on an old friend's face
Is the smile of the bright, bright flowers!
They tell us of wanderings by woods and streams;
They tell us of lanes and trees;
But the children of showers and sunny beams
Have lovelier tales than these-
The bright, bright flowers!
They tell of a season when men were not,
When earth was by angels trod,
And leaves and flowers in every spot
Burst forth at the call of God;
When spirits singing their hymns at even,
Wandered by wood and glade,
And the Lord looked down from the highest heaven,
And blessed what he had made-
The bright, bright flowers!
That blessing remaineth upon them still,
Though often the storm-cloud lowers,
And frequent tempests may soil and chill
The gayest of earth's fair flowers.
When Sin and Death, with their sister Grief,
Made a home in the hearts of men,
The blessing of God on each tender leaf-
Preserved in their beauty then-
The bright, bright flowers!
The lily is lovely as when it slept
On the waters of Eden's lake;
The woodbine breathes sweetly as when it crept
In Eden, from brake to brake.
They were left as a proof of the loveliness
Of Adam and Eve's first home:
They are here as a type of the joys that bless
The just in the world to come
The bright, bright flowers!
THE loveliest flowers the closest cling to earth,
And they first feel the sun: so violets blue,
So the soft star-like primrose, drenched in dew,
The happiest of Spring's happy fragrant birth.
To gentlest touches sweetest tones reply:
Still humbleness, with her low-breathed voice,
Can steal o'er man's proud heart, and win his choice
From earth to heaven with mightier witchery
Than eloquence or wisdom e'er could own.
Bloom on, then, in your shade, contented bloom,
Sweet flowers, nor deem yourselves to all unknown.
Heaven knows you, by whose gales and dews ye thrive;
They know, who one day for their altered doom
Shall thank you, taught by you to abase themselves and e
"FORESTER! leave thy woodland range,
And hie thee hence with me;
For brighter scenes and pleasures strange,
Forsake thy greenwood tree.
Come, gather thy cloak above the knee,
And take thy tall staff down,
I'll show thee what delights they be
That dwell in tower and town."
"Nay, stranger, check thy bright bay steed,
To sojourn with me here,
And turn him forth at large to feed,
Amongst these dappled deer:
And thou, while summer skies are clear,
Within my greenwood bower,
Shalt scorn the pleasures once so dear,
That dwell in town and tower."
"Well may I find a better home,
My steed a warmer stall;
I know full many a lordly dome,
Full many a palace-hall:
Where stately rows of columns tall,
The fretted roof sustain,
Then, forester, yield thee to my call,
And follow me o'er the plain."
"Doth lofty roof delight thine eye,
Or stately pillar please?
Look, stranger, at yon azure sky,
And pillars such as these-
Where, wreathing round majestic trees,
The verdant ivy clings;
The pillared roofs the peasant sees
Are fit to shelter kings.
"Stranger, the woodman's frugal fare
No sickly riots stain;
Nor ever hautboy's artful air
Could match yon throstle's strain;
And, if the stores of ample gain,
Thy useful avarice crave,
'Go, stranger, teach the ruddy grain
O'er yonder wastes to wave.
"Falsehood in beauty lies concealed,
Guilt haunts the deadly fight:
Here woods a harmless warfare yield,
And maids their true love plight-
Such simple joys of rustic wight,
To thee 'twere vain to tell;
But heavily fall the shades of night-
Now, stranger, fare thee well.
'Tis a pleasant sight, on a vernal day,
When shadow and sun divide the heaven,
To watch the south wind wake for play ;-
Not on the sea, where ships are riven,-
Not on the mountain, 'mid rain and storm,
But when earth is sunny, and green, and warm.
O woodland wind, how I love to see
Thy beautiful strength on the forest tree!
Lord of the oak, that seems lord of the wild,
Thou art shaking his crown and thousand arms
With the ease of a spirit, the glee of a child,
And the pride of a woman who knows her charms;
The poplar bends like a merchant's mast,
His leaves, though they fall not, are fluttering fast;
And the beech, and the lime, and the ash-crowned hill,
Stirs to its core at thy wandering will.
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