PIECES IN POETRY The Doves. REAS'NING at ev'ry step he treads, One silent eve I wander'd late, 'Our mutual bond of faith and truth, While innocense without disguise, Shall fill the circles of those eyes, Those ills that wait on all below When lightnings flash among the trees, 'Tis then I feel myself a wife, But, oh! if fickle and unchaste, No need of lightnings from on high, Thus sang the sweet sequester'd bird, Soft as the passing wind; And I recorded what I heard, A lesson for mankind. Heavenly Wisdom. How happy is the man who hears For she has treasures greater far In her right hand she holds to view And in her left, the prize of fame = She guides the young, with innocence, According as her labours rise, So her rewards increase : Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace. A Morning in Spring. Lo! the bright, the rosy morning, Nature now in all her beauty, Now the kind refreshing showers, An Evening Hymn. AND now another day is gone, But how my childhood runs to waste! I lay my body down to sleep; And through the hours of darkness keep With cheerful heart I close my eyes, Since God will not remove; And in the morning let me rise, When poverty in vile attire, Shrinks from the biting blast, Or hovers o'er the pigmy fire, And fears it will not last; When the fond mother hugs her child Still closer to her breast; Then let your bounteous hand extend Nor spurn the wretched while they bend Acknowledgment of Divine Favours. Not more than others I deserve, How many children in the street, Half naked, I behold! While I am cloth'd from head to feet, While some poor creatures scarce can tell I have a home wherein to dwell, And rest upon my bed. While others early learn to swear, Are these thy favours, day by day, Then let me love thee more than they, Gratitude to the Supreme Being. How cheerful along the gay mead, The daisy and cowslip appear! The flocks, as they carelessly feed Rojoice in the spring of the year. The myrtles that shade the gay bowers, The herbage that springs from the sod, Trees, plants, cooling fruits, and sweet flowers, Shall man, the great master of all, Forbid it, Devotion and Love! The Lord, who such wonders could raise, Friendship, FRIENDSHIP, peculiar boon of heav'n, To all the lower world deny'd. While love, unknown among the blest, With bright, but oft destructive gleam, Thy gentle flows of guiltless joys, Directress of the brave and just, O guide us through life's darksome way! And let the tortures of mistrust On selfish bosoms only prey. Nor shall thine ardours cease to glow, What rais'd our virtue here below, Shall aid our happiness above. Compassion and Foregiveness. I HEAR the voice of wo; A brother mortal mourns: My eyes with tears, for tears o'erflow; I hear the thirsty cry, The famish'd beg for bread: |