WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST OF A BEREAVED BROTHER. We were playmates long together,By the brook and on the hill,In the golden, summer weather,When the days were long and still;We were playmates in the firelightWhile the winter eyes went by,And we shared one couch at midnight–My brother James and I! We were schoolmates, too, together,In the […]

Rest, brother, rest! Thy eyes no more shall weepO’er unhealed anguish and unconquered sin;Thy peaceful slumber, tranquilized and deep,Is marred no more by Earth’s discordant din.Calm are the skies above thy quiet bed,And calm is Earth in Summer-glories dressed,And cool and sweet the fresh mould richly spreadAbove thy folded hands and peaceful breast. Oh, could […]

Laughing and singingWith rhythmical flow,Leaping and springing,O light-hearted Sault!–Tossing up snowy handsIn thy glad play,Shaking out dewy locksBright with the spray,–Joyously everThy bright waters go,Yet wearying never,O beautiful Sault! Kingly SuperiorLeaps to thy arms,And all his broad watersAre bright with thy charms;They sparkle, and glitter,And flash in their play,Chasing ripple and rainbowAway and away!Weary, I […]

Our field is the world!–let us forth to the sowing,O’er valley and mountain, o’er desert and plain,Beside the still waters through cool meadows flowing,O’er regions unblest by the dew and the rain;–Let us scatter the seed, though in sorrow and weeping,Though fields should be verdureless, wintry, and bare,The Lord of the harvest hath still in […]

JULY 1ST, 1867. Ring out your glad peals of rejoicing!Wake Music’s enlivening strain!Let the sound float abroad o’er your waters,And echo through valley and plain;From the shores of the far-distant Fundy,To the lakes of the limitless West,Let the sound of a People’s exultingGo forth in its joyous unrest! For a great Christian Nation, this morning,From […]

Good night, good night!–the daySlowly has borne away,Music and light;Once more the starry trainSweeps over vale and plain,Soft falls the dews again–Good night-good night! Day’s weary toils are done,Set is the glorious sun,Faded the light;–Now, to the weary breastEver a welcome guest,–Comes the sweet hour of rest–Good night–good night! Evening’s cool shadows lieCalmly o’er earth […]

When tossed on time’s tempestuous tide,By angry storms resistless driven,One hope can bid our fears subside–It is the hope of rest in Heaven. With trusting heart we lift our eyesAbove the dark clouds, tempest-driven,And view, beyond those troubled skies,The peaceful, stormless rest of Heaven. No more to shed the exile’s tears,–No more the heart by […]

“They need not go away!”the Master said,“Give ye to them.”Ah, Lord, behold our store–These loaves, these fishes,–see, we have no more!How shall this fainting throng with these be fed?“Make them sit down!”–and the disciples spedTo do His will. He blessed, and brake, and gaveAnd as they ate, each heart grew strong and brave,Filled, till they […]

VIOLET’S SONG I. Come down from thy dazzling sphere,Bird of the gushing song!Come down where the young leaves whisper low,While the breeze steals in with a murmurous flow,And the tender branches wave to and froIn the soft air all day long! I have watched thy daring wingCleaving the sun-bright air,Where the snowy cloud is asleep […]

“Here is a lantern, my little boy,”Said a father to his child,“And yonder’s a wood, a lonely wood,Tangled, and rough, and wild;And now, this night,–this very hour,Though gloomy and dark it be,By the single light of this lamp alone,You must cross the wild to me! “I’ll be on the farther side, my son,So follow the […]

To pray as Jesus prayed,When faithless brethren sleep,–To weep the ruin sin has made–The only ones that weep,–To bear the heavy cross,–To toil, yet murmur not,–To suffer pain, reproach, and loss,–Be such our earthly lot. Yet oh, how richly blestThe Master’s cup to share,–The aching grief that wrung His breast,–His broken-hearted prayer,–If thus we may […]

Two pictures, strangely beautiful, I holdIn Mem’ry’s chambers, stored with loving careAmong the precious things I prized of old,And hid away with tender tear and prayerThe first, an aged woman’s placid faceFull of the saintly calm of well spent years,Yet bearing in its pensive lines the traceOf weariness, and care, and many tears. We sat […]

“For there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Jesus! the only name that’s given,Through which salvation we may claim;This, this alone, we breathe to Heaven,For God accepts no other name. No other name when skies are bright.And sunshine glows on field and flower;No other name when, dark […]

I am slowly treading the mazy trackThat leadeth, through sunshine and shadows, back–Through freshest meads where the dews yet clingAs erst they did to each lowly thing,Where flowers bloom and where streamlets flowWith the tender music of long ago–To the far-off past that, through mists of tears,In its spring time loveliness still appears,And wooes me […]

Hail, risen Lord, upon whose browThe crown of victory resteth now,Unfading as the sun!Hail, vanquisher of every foe,Of Sin, dread source of all our woe,And Death–the last undone! Hail, risen Lord,–the empty graveProclaims aloud thy power to save,–Thy high, victorious might!Hail, Lord of life, and peace, and love,On thy exalted throne above,In uncreated light! Hail, […]

“I am doing no good!” said a little rill,As it rippled along at the foot of a hill,“I am doing no good with my babbling here,No one is listening,–no one is near!” “‘No good!–no good!’” said a violet blue,As it shook from its petals the sparkling dew,And opened its wondering, azure eyesTo the soft, clear […]

Lines written after hearing a returned missionary relate some of the traditions, and speak of the long-cherished hopes of this interesting people. A voice from the distant East–A voice from a far-off shore–A voice from the perishing tribes of EarthHas wandered the blue seas o’er!It comes with a lingering cry,With a wail of anguish and […]

Strike the chords softly with tremulous fingers,While, on the threshold of happiest years,For a brief moment fond memory lingers,Ere we go forth to life’s conflicts and fears! Strike the chords softly!–yet no, as we tarry,Swiftly the morning is gliding away;Weary ones droop ‘neath the burdens they carry,Toiling ones faint in the heat of the day. […]

The Wind god, Eolus, sat one mornIn his cavern of tempests, quite forlorn,He’d been ill of a fever a month and a day,And the sun had been having things all his own way,Pouring o’er earth such a torrent of heatThat the meadows were dry as the trampled street,And people were panting, and ready to dieOf […]

Father in Heaven, to thee,Guardian and friend,Lowly the suppliant kneeHere would we bend!–Blessing thee ere we part,Each with a grateful heart,For all thy love doth send–Plenteous and free! Thanks for thy hand outspreadEver in powerO’er each defenceless headIn danger’s hour!Thanks for the light arid love,From thy full fount above–A rich and constant shower,O’er us still […]