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The Sun, his rise and set we know;
The Sea,-we mark its ebb and flow;
The Moon,-her wax and wane;
The Stars,--Man knows their courses well,
The Comet's vagrant paths can tell ;-
But you his search disdain.

Ye restless, homeless, shapeless things! Who mock all our imaginings,

Like Spirits in a dream;

What epithet can words supply Unto the Bard who takes such high Unmanageable theme?

But one-to me, when Fancy stirs
My thoughts, ye seem Heav'n's Messengers,
Who leave no path untrod;

And when, as now, at midnight's hour,
I hear your voice in all its power,

It seems the VOICE of GOD.

THE CLOUDS.

S. C. HALL.

CLOUDS.

WHEN the first day-beam bless'd the sky,
I marked the varied clouds on high,-
The clouds through which the sunlight broke,
As if it came from heaven, and woke
Their sleepy shadows into smiles,

And wooed them with a thousand wiles :-
Those at a distance yet, were cold

And dull and naked, after night; But on, toward the east they roll'd And clad them in a robe of light. Others, as if they loved to dwell

In darkness, moved but slowly on, And when on them its brightness fell, But little of their gloom had gone: One, gloomier still, its course delays, As though too heavy for the sky, Then breaks and passes gaily by :While some had gathered round the rays That gave them hues and forms so fair, As loth to leave that glorious place, To lose their beauty and to trace Their pathway through the murky air. I marked when day was at its height, Others of many a varied dye, More fair of form, more purely bright Than those that deck'd the morning sky, And gaz'd, till over all on high The sun held uncontrolled sway And chased from heaven all gloom away, While the few clouds that o'er it past, No beam obscur'd, no shadow cast.

But when the day was almost done,
The clouds were beautiful indeed,
When from his daily duty freed,
Still in his glorions strength, the sun
Shone forth upon the twilight skies,
And graced them with his myriad dyes.
I saw the clouds that onward drew
From out the deep and distant blue,
Become all beautiful and bright,
As if to shew the coming night
How great the radiance of the power,
E'en of the sun's departing hour:
They took all shapes, as Fancy wrought
Her web, and mingled thought with thought:
Some like familiar forms-the themes
Of earthly loves that fall to dreams-
Some were of rainbow shape and hues;
Some glisten'd like our earth with dews;
Some were like forests seen afar;
Some like the restless wandering star;
While some appear'd like coral caves
Half hidden by the ocean waves,

All cover'd with their snow-white spray;
Others were there, which seem'd to be
Fair islands in a dark blue sea,
Which human eyes at eve behold;
But only then-unseen by day

Their shores and mountains all of gold.

They vanish'd, as the night came on-
Those various hues and forms were gone :-
But in their stead, Reflection woke
To teach her lesson-thus she spoke :-

"Those very clouds, so bright, so gay,

So fair-are vapours which the earth Flung, as diseased parts away,

Foul mists, which owe their second birth To him who keeps his throne on high, To bless the earth and gild the sky. Yes! 'tis the sun whose influence brings A change to these degraded thingsThat gives them lovely forms-and then Deprives them of their baneful powers, And sends to mother Earth again

In gentle dews and cheering showers, What was her burthen and her bane.

Man feels a change as great-when man

Feels that immortal spark withinWhose might no human tongue can tell, Which shines to lighten and dispel The darkness and the weight of sin ;When He, who form'd Creation's whole, To school and guide the human soul, Bids o'er the intellectual skies The Sun of Righteousness arise, And things of heaven and earth assume Their proper shape of light or gloom."

Now let the contemplative mind Fill up the blank I leave behind; And see through all Creation's plan Some useful lesson taught to man; Compare the changes wrought within, And those without,-by nature wroughtCompare the man who lives in sin,

And him, by Jesus led and taught. See how the Christian's shining light Makes all that once was darkness, bright; And see how, like the clouds on high, His every feeling, every thought, Adorn and bless the mental sky, And then his glories never die!

TO THE CLOUDS.

CLARE.

O PAINTED CLOUDS! Sweet beauties of the sky,

How have I viewed your motion and

your rest,

When like fleet hunters ye have left mine

eye,

In your thin gauze of woolly-fleecing drest:

Or in your threaten'd thunder's grave, black vest,

Like black, deep waters slowly moving by, Awfully striking the spectator's breast With your Creator's dread sublimity,

As admiration mutely views your storms; And I do love to see you idly lie,

Painted by heav'n as various as your forms, Pausing upon the eastern mountain high, As morn awakes with spring's wood-harmony;

And sweeter still, when in your slumber's sooth

You hang the western arch o'er day's proud eye:

Still as the even-pool, uncurv'd and

smooth,

My gazing soul has look'd most placidly;

And higher still devoutly wish'd to strain, To wipe your shrouds and sky's blue blinders by,

With all the warmness of a moon-struck

brain,

To catch a glimpse of Him who bids you

reign,

And view the dwelling of ALL MAJESTY.

THE CLOUD.

WILSON.

A CLOUD lay cradled near the setting sun, A gleam of crimson tinged its braided

snow,

Long had I watch'd the glory moving on,

O'er the still radiance of the lake below; Tranquil its spirit seem'd, and floated slow, E'en in its very motion there was rest; While ev'ry breath of eve that chanced to blow,

Wafted the trav'ller to the beauteous west. Emblein, methought, of the departed soul To whose white robe the gleam of bliss

is giv'n, And by the breath of mercy made to roll

Right onward to the golden gates of heav'n, Where to the eye of faith it peaceful lies, And tells to man his glorious destinies.

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THE evening was glorious, and light through the trees,
Play'd the sun-shine and rain-drops, the birds and the breeze;
The landscape, outstretching in loveliness, lay

On the lap of the year, in the beauty of May.

For the Queen of the Spring, as she pass'd down the vale,
Left her robe on the trees, and her breath on the gale;
And the smile of her promise gave joy to the hours,
And flush in her footsteps sprang herbage and flowers.

The skies, like a banner in sunset unroll'd,

O'er the west threw their splendour of azure and gold;
But one cloud at distance rose dense, and increased,
Till its margin of black touch'd the zenith and east.

We gaz'd on the scenes, while around us they glow'd,
When a vision of beauty appear'd on the cloud ;-
'Twas not like the sun, as at mid-day we view,

Nor the moon, that rolls nightly through starlight and blue.

Like a Spirit, it came in the van of a storm!

And the eye, and the heart, hail'd its beautiful form;
For it look'd not severe, like an Angel of Wrath,
But its garment of brightness illum'd its dark path.

In the hues of its grandeur, sublimely it stood,
O'er the river, the village, the field, and the wood,
And river, field, village, and woodlands grew bright,
As conscious they gave and afforded delight.

'Twas the bow of Omnipotence; bent in His hand,
Whose grasp at Creation the Universe spann'd;
'Twas the presence of God, in a symbol sublime;
His Vow from the Flood to the exit of Time!

Not dreadful, as when in the whirlwind he pleads,
When storms are his chariot, and lightnings his steeds;
The black clouds his banner of vengeance unfurl'd,
And thunder his voice to a guilt-stricken world ;—

In the breath of his presence, when thousands expire,
And seas boil with fury, and rocks burn with fire,

And the sword, and the plague-spot with death strew the plain,
And vultures, and wolves, are the graves of the slain.

Not such was that Rainbow, that beautiful one!
Whose arch was refraction, its key-stone the sun;
A pavilion it seem'd which the Deity graced,
And Justice and Mercy met there, and embraced.

Awhile, and it sweetly bent over the gloom,
Like Love o'er a death-couch, or Hope o'er the tomb;
That left the dark scene, whence it slowly retired,
As Love had just vanish'd, or Hope had expired.

I gaz'd not alone on that source of my song;-
To all who beheld it these verses belong,

Its presence to all was the path of the Lord!
Each full heart expanded,-grew warm-and adored!

Like a visit the converse of friends—or a day,
That Bow, from my sight, pass'd for ever away;
Like that visit, that converse, that day-to my heart,
That Bow from remembrance can never depart.

'Tis a picture in memory distinctly defined,
With the strong and unperishing colours of mind;
A part of my being beyond my control,

Beheld on that cloud, and transcribed on my soul.

ODE TO THE SUN.

FELLOWES.

THOU whose rejoicing eye of light Look'd forth, at God's inspiring call, When order lay in boundless night, And darkness wanton'd over all; Whence thy perpetual youth, O Sun! Since life, and light, and time begun?

Exulting on thy course sublime, How bright thy yellow cresses glare, As still, they wave unhurt by time, High o'er the azure depths of air; As still thy wings unwearied go, While earth and ocean laugh below.

SUN.

When first thy ruddy pinions lave
The skies, careering round the day;
The moon sinks down the western wave,
Retreating from thy fiery ray;

The stars are blench'd, the ghost of night
Flies sullen from thy blasting light.

Unchang'd art thou when darkness shrouds,
When angry nature weeps around,
Far, far above the ebon clouds
Thy splendours sweep the blue profound;
Where still unshaken wheel the spheres
Beyond the reach of parting years.

The mountain-oak, with age shall fall, The everlasting hills decay;

But thou shalt hear the morning call,
Till heaven and earth shall pass away;
Thy youth, thy strength shall last, O Sun!
Till life, and light, and time are done.

SUNRISE.

THOMSON.

SEE, yonder comes the powerful King of
Day,

Rejoicing in the east. The less'ning cloud,
The kindling azure, and the mountain's brow
Illum'd with fluid gold, his near approach
Betoken glad. Lo; now, apparent all,
Aslant the dew-bright earth, and colour'd air,
He looks in boundless majesty abroad;
And sheds the shining day, that burnish'd
plays

On rocks, and hills, and tow'rs, and wandering streams,

High-gleaming from afar. Prime cheerer light!

Of all material beings first, and best! Efflux divine! Nature's resplendent robe ! Without whose vesting beauty all were wrapt

In unessential gloom; and thou, O Sun! Soul of surrounding worlds! in whom best

seen

Shines out thy Maker! may I sing of thee?

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