V.

Now Summer is waning; soon tempest and rain
Shall harbinger desolate Winter again,

And Thou, all unable its gripe to withstand,

Shalt die, when the snow-mantle garments the land: Then thy grave shall be dug 'neath the old cherry-tree, Which in spring-time will shed down its blossoms on thee; And, when a few fast-fleeting seasons are o'er,

Thy faith and thy form shall be thought of no more!

VI.

Then all who caress'd thee and loved, shall be laid, Life's pilgrimage o'er, in the tomb's dreary shade ; Other steps shall be heard on these floors, and the past Be like yesterday's clouds from the memory cast: Improvements will follow; old walls be thrown down, Old landmarks removed, when old masters are gone; And the gard'ner, when delving, will marvel to see White bones, where once blossom'd the old cherry-tree!

VII.

Frail things could we read but the objects around,
In the meanest some deep-lurking truth might be found,
Some type of our frailty, some warning to show
How shifting the sands are we build on below :
Our fathers have pass'd, and have mix'd with the mould;
Year presses on year, till the young become old;
Time, though a stern teacher, is partial to none;
And the friend and the foe pass away, one by one!

EVENING TRANQUILLITY.

I.

How still this hour! the mellow sun
Withdraws his western ray,
And, evening's haven almost won,
He leaves the seas of day:
Soft is the twilight reign, and calm,
As o'er autumnal fields of balm
The languid zephyrs stray;
Across the lawn the heifers roam,
The wearied reaper seeks his home.

II.

The laden earth is rich with flowers,
All bathed in crimson light;
While hums the bee, mid garden bowers
With clustering roses bright:

The woods outshoot their shadows dim;
O'er the smooth lake the swallows skim

In wild erratic flight;

Moor'd by the marge, the shallop sleeps, Above its deck the willow weeps.

III.

'Tis sweet, in such an hour as this,
To bend the pensive way,
Scan Nature, and partake the bliss
Which charms like hers convey:
No city's bustling noise is near;
And but the little birds you hear,
That chant so blithe and gay;
And ask ye whence their mirth began?
Perchance since free, and far from man.

IV.

Their little lives are void of care;
From bush to brake they fly,
Filling the rich ambrosial air
Of August's vermeil sky:
They flit about the fragrant wood;
Elisha's God provides them food,

And hears them when they cry:
For ever blithe and blest are they,
Their sinless span a summer's day.

V.

Yon bending clouds all purpling streak The mantle of the west;

And trem❜lously the sunbeams break

On Pentland's mountain crest:

Hill, valley, ocean, sky, and stream,
All wear one placid look, and seem
In silent beauty blest;

As if created Natures raised

To Heaven their choral songs, and praised.

VI.

Above yon cottage on the plain
The wreathy smoke ascends;
A silent emblem, with the main
Of sailing clouds it blends;
Like a departed spirit gone

Up from low earth to Glory's throne
To mix with sainted friends,
Where, life's probation voyage o'er,

Grief's sail is furl'd for evermore !

HYMN TO HESPERUS.

Εσπερε πάντα φέρεις.

SAPPH. Frag.

I.

BRIGHT lonely beam, fair heavenly speck,
That, calling all the stars to duty,
Through stormless ether gleam'st to deck
The fulgent west's unclouded beauty;

All silent are the fields, and still

The umbrageous wood's recesses dreary,

As if calm came at thy sweet will,

And Nature of Day's strife were weary.

II.

Blent with the season and the scene,
From out her treasured stores, Reflection
Looks to the days when life was green,
With fond and thrilling retrospection;
The earth again seems haunted ground;
Youth smiles, by Hope and Joy attended;
And bloom afresh young flowers around,

With scent as rich and hues as splendid.