A Companion meet for Man.

Woman was made out of the rib, taken from the side of a man; not out of his head, to rule him, but out of his side to be his equal, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.

Matthew Henry.

To be man's tender mate was woman born,

And in obeying nature she best serves

The purposes of Heaven.

Schiller.

For woman is not undevelopt man,

But diverse could we make her as the man,
Sweet love were slain, whose dearest bond is this

Not like to like, but like in difference :

Yet in the long years liker must they grow;
The man be more of woman, she of man ;

He gain in sweetness and in moral height,

Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world;
She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care:

More, as the double-natured poet, each :

Till at the last she set herself to man,

Like perfect music unto noble words;

And so these twain upon the skirts of Time,
Sit side by side, full-summ'd in all their powers,

Dispensing harvest, sowing the to-be,
Self-reverent each, and reverencing each,

Distinct in individualities,

But like each other e'en as those we love.

Then comes the statelier Eden back to men,

Then reign the world's great bridals, chaste and calm ; Then springs the crowning race of humankind!

For me I'm woman's slave confest-
Without her, hopeless and unblest ;
And so are all, gainsay who can,
For what would be the life of man,
If left in desert or in isle,
Unlighted up by beauty's smile.

Tennyson.

Even tho' he boasted monarch's name
And o'er his own sex reign'd supreme,
With thousands bending to his sway,
If lovely woman were away,

What were his life? what could it be?
A vapour on a shoreless sea;

A troubled cloud in darkness toss'd,
Amongst the waste of waters lost;
A ship deserted in the gale,
Without a steersman or a sail,
A star, or beacon-light before,
Or hope of haven evermore ;
A thing without a human tie,
Unloved to live,-unwept to die.
Then let us own thro' nature's reign,
Woman the light of her domain;
And if to maiden love not given
The dearest bliss below the heaven,
At least due homage let us pay
In reverence of a parent's sway,

To that dear sex whose favour still
Our guerdon is in good or ill,
A motive that can never cloy,
Our glory, honour, and our joy;
And humbly on our bended knee,
Acknowledge her supremacy.

Hogg.

Well I understand, in the prime end
Of nature, her the inferior in the mind
And inward faculties, which most excel;
In outward, also, her resembling less

His image who made both, and less expressing
The character of that dominion given
O'er other creatures: yet when I approach
Her loveliness, so absolute she seems,
And in herself complete, so well to know
Her own, that what she wills to do or say
Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best.
All higher knowledge in her presence falls
Degraded wisdom in discourse with her
Loses, discountenanced, and like folly shows :
Authority and reason on her wait,

As one intended first, not after made
Occasionally; and, to consummate all,

Greatness of mind, and nobleness, their seat,
Build in her loveliest, and create an awe
About her, as a guard angelic placed.

Milton.

F

Lovely in Death.

And thou art dead, as young and fair
As aught of mortal birth;

And form so soft, and charms so rare,

Too soon return'd to earth!

Though earth received them in her bed,
And o'er the spot the crowd may tread
In carelessness or mirth,

There is an eye which could not brook
A moment on that grave to look.

Byron.

Loving Companion of Man.

I love her with a love as still

As a broad river's peaceful might,

Which, by high tower and lowly mill,

Goes wandering at its own will,

And yet doth ever flow aright.

And, on its full, deep breast serene,

Like quiet isles my duties lie;

It flows around them and between,

And makes them fresh and fair and green

Sweet homes wherein to live and die.

Lowell.

Companionship of.

Women were manifestly intended to be the mothers and formers of a rational and immortal offspring; to be a kind

of softer companions, who, by nameless delightful sympathies and endearments, might improve our pleasures and soothe our pains; to lighten the load of domestic cares, and by that means leave us more at leisure for rougher labours or severer studies; and, finally, to spread a certain grace and embellishment over human life. To wish to degrade them from so honourable a station indicates a mixture of ignorance, grossness, and barbarity.

Witness, dear companion of my walks,

Fordyce.

Whose arm this twentieth winter I perceive
Fast lock'd in mine, with pleasure such as love,
Confirm'd by long experience of thy worth
And well-tried virtues could alone inspire-
Witness a joy that thou hast doubled long.
Thou know'st my praise of nature most sincere,
And that my raptures are not conjured up
To serve occasions of poetic pomp,

But genuine, and art partner of them all.

Cowper.

Her Companionship Indispensable.

Who that would ask a heart to dulness wed,
The waveless calm, the slumber of the dead?.
No the wild bliss of nature needs. alloy,
And fear and sorrow from the fire of joy!
And say, without our hopes, without our fears,
Without the home that plighted love endears,
Without the smile from partial beauty won,
Oh! what were man ?-a world without a sun.