Go;-but the circle of eternal change, Which is the life of nature, shall restore, With sounds and scents from all thy mighty range, Thee to thy birth-place of the deep once more; Sweet odours in the sea-air, sweet and strange, Shall tell the home-sick mariner of the shore ; And, listening to thy murmur, he shall deem He hears the rustling leaf and running stream. W. C. BRYANT, 1798-American. "SHOW US THE FATHER.” JOHN xiv. 8. HAVE ye not seen Him, when through parted snows Have ye not seen Him, when the infant's eye, Through its bright sapphire-windows, shows the mind? When, in the trembling of the tear or sigh, Floats forth that essence, trembling and refined? Saw ye not Him, the Author of our trust, Who breathed the breath of life into a frame of dust? Have ye not heard Him, when the tuneful rill Battling the old gray rocks that sternly guard his shore? Amid the stillness of the Sabbath morn, When vexing cares in tranquil slumber rest, When in the heart the holy thought is born, And Heaven's high impulse warms the waiting breast, Have ye not felt Him, while your kindling prayer Swell'd out in tones of praise, announcing God was there? Show us the Father! If ye fail to trace His chariot where the stars majestic roll, His pencil 'mid earth's loveliness and grace, His presence in the Sabbath of the soul, How can you see Him till the day of dread, When to assembled worlds the book of doom is read? MRS L. H. SIGOURNEY. -American. HYMN TO HESPERUS. BRIGHT lonely beam, fair heavenly speck, The umbrageous wood's recesses dreary, Fair star! with soft repose and peace In the pure sphere where thou art burning; Sweet 'tis on thee to gaze and muse; Sure angel wings around thee hover, And from life's fountain scatter dews, To freshen earth, day's fever over. Star of the bee! with laden thigh Thy twinkle warns its homeward winging; Star of the bird! thou bidd'st her lie Down o'er her young, and hush her singing; Star of the pilgrim! travel-sore, How sweet, reflected in the fountains, He hails thy circlet gleaming o'er The shadow of his native mountains! N Thou art the Star of Freedom, thou Undo'st the bonds which gall the sorest; Thou bring'st the ploughman from his plough; Thou bring'st the woodman from his forest; Thou bring'st the wave-worn fisher home, With all his scaly wealth around him; And bidd'st the heart-sick school-boy roam Freed from the letter'd tasks that bound him. Star of the mariner! thy car, O'er the blue waters twinkling clearly, Reminds him of his home afar, And scenes he still loves, ah, how dearly! He sees his native fields, he sees Gray twilight gathering o'er his mountains, And hears the rustle of green trees, The bleat of flocks, and gush of fountains. Star of the mourner! 'mid the gloom, Of him who left her broken-hearted: The joys of life no more can move her, When lo! thou lightest the profound, To tell that Heaven's eye glows above her. Star of the lover! Oh, how bright Above the copeswood dark thou shinest, As longs he for those eyes of light, For him whose lustre burns divinest! Earth and the things of earth depart, Transform'd to scenes and sounds elysian ; Warm rapture gushes o'er his heart, And life seems like a faëry vision, Star of the poet! thy pale fire, The loftiest themes of meditation; Bright leader of the hosts of heaven! When day from darkness God divided, Star of declining day, farewell! Ere lived the patriarchs, thou wert yonder; Ere Isaac 'mid the piny dell, Went forth at eventide to ponder; And when to death's stern mandate bow To shine, and shed thy tears above us. |