THE ANGELS' SONG

Ir came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace to the earth, good-will to men
From heaven's all-gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay

To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world:
Above its sad and lowly plains

They bend on heavenly wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife The world has suffered long; Beneath the angel-strain have rolled

Two thousand years of wrong; And man, at war with man, hears not The love-song which they bring: O, hush the noise, ye men of strife, And hear the angels sing!

And ye, beneath life's crushing load Whose forms are bending low; Who toil along the climbing way

With painful steps and slow,Look now! for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing; O, rest beside the weary road,

And hear the angels sing.

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet-bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years

Comes round the age of gold;
When Peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.

EDMUND HAMILTON SEARS

THE OTHER WORLD

Ir lies around us like a cloud, The world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there to be.

COME BACK

COME back and bring my life again
That went with thee beyond my will!
Restore me that which makes me man

Or leaves me wretched, dead and chill! Thy presence was of life a part;

Thine absence leaves the blank of death. They wait thy presence eye and heart, With straining gaze and bated breath.

The light is darkness, if thine eyes
Make not the medium of its ray;

I see no star in evening skies,

Save thou look up and point the way. Nor bursting buds in May's young bloom, Nor sunshine rippling o'er the sea, Bears up to heaven my heart's perfume Save thou my monitor can be.

There are two paths for human feet,
One bordered by a duty plain,
And one by phantoms cursed, yet sweet,
Bewildering heart and maddening brain;
The one will right and reason urge,

But thou must walk beside me there,
Or else I tread the dizzy verge,

And thou some guilt of loss must bear.

SONG

'T Is said that absence conquers love! But, oh! believe it not;

I've tried, alas ! its power to prove,
But thou art not forgot.
Lady, though fate has bid us part,
Yet still thou art as dear,
As fixed in this devoted heart,
As when I clasped thee here.

I plunge into the busy crowd,
And smile to hear thy name;
And yet, as if I thought aloud,
They know me still the same;
And when the wine-cup passes round,
I toast some other fair,

But when I ask my heart the sound,

Thy name is echoed there.

And when some other name I learn,
And try to whisper love,
Still will my heart to thee return
Like the returning dove.
In vain! I never can forget,

And would not be forgot;
For I must bear the same regret,
Whate'er may be my lot.

E'en as the wounded bird will seek
Its favorite bower to die,

So, lady! I would hear thee speak,
And yield my parting sigh.
"T is said that absence conquers love!
But, oh! believe it not;

I've tried, alas ! its power to prove,
But thou art not forgot.

FREDERICK WILLIAM THOMAS

BLIND LOUISE

SHE knew that she was growing blind,—
Foresaw the dreary night

That soon would fall, without a star,
Upon her fading sight;

Yet never did she make complaint,
But prayed each day might bring
A beauty to her waning eyes,-
The loveliness of spring!

She dreaded that eclipse which might
Perpetually enclose

Sad memories of a leafless world,
A spectral realm of snows.

She'd rather that the verdure left
An evergreen to shine
Within her heart, as summer leaves
Its memory on the pine.

She had her wish; for when the sun
O'erhung his eastern towers,
And shed his benediction on

A world of May-time flowers,

We found her seated, as of old,
In her accustomed place,
A midnight in her sightless eyes,
And morn upon her face!

GEORGE WASHINGTON DEWEY