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12

TO MY WIFE.

Till that be done, (and I'd as soon
Believe this knife will clip the moon,)
Accept my present undeterred,

And leave their proverbs to the herd.

REV. SAMUEL BISHOP.

TO THE SAME, WITH A RING.

"THEE, Mary, with this ring I wed,"
So sixteen years ago I said-
Behold another ring! "For what?"
"To wed thee o'er again-why not?"
With the first ring I married youth,
Grace, beauty, innocence, and truth:
Taste long admired, sense long revered;
And all my Mary then appeared.

If she, by merit since disclosed,
Prove twice the woman I supposed,
I plead that double merit now,
To justify a double vow.

Here then to-day, (with faith as sure,
With ardor as intense and pure,

As when amidst the rites divine

I took thy troth and plighted mine,)
To thee, sweet wife, my second ring,
A token and a pledge I bring;

TO MY WIFE.

13

With this I wed, till death us part,
Thy riper virtues to my heart;
Those virtues, which, before untried,
The wife has added to the bride;
Those virtues, whose progressive claim,
Endearing wedlock's very name,
My soul enjoys, my song approves,
For conscience' sake, as well as love's.
For why ?-They show me hour by hour
Honor's high thought, affection's power,
Discretion's deed, sound judgment's sentence;
And teach me all things-but repentance.

REV. S. BISHOP.

14

I REMEMBER.

I REMEMBER.

I REMEMBER, I remember
The house where I was born,
The little window, where the sun
Came peeping in, at morn;
He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day;
I often wish the night

But now,

Had borne my breath away!

I remember, I remember
The roses, red and white,
The violets, and the lily-cups-
Those flowers made of light;

The lilacs, where the robins built,

And where my brother set

The laburnum, on his birth-day,

The tree is living yet!

I remember, I remember

Where I was used to swing,

And thought the air would rush as fresh

To swallows on the wing;

-My spirit flew in feathers, then,

That is so heavy now,

And the summer pool could hardly cool

The fever on my brow!

TO A FRIEND.

15

I remember, I remember

The fir-trees, dark and high;

I used to think their slender spires
Were close against the sky!

It was a childish ignorance,

But now 't is little joy

To know I'm further off from heaven

Than when I was a boy!

HOOD.

TO A FRIEND.

'Tis o'er! but never from my heart
Shall time thine image blot;
The dreams of other days depart,-

Thou shalt not be forgot.

And never in the suppliant's sigh

Poured forth to him who swayed the sky, Shall mine own name be breathed on high, And thine remembered not!

ANON.

16

ARIADNE'S CROWN.

ARIADNE'S CROWN.

THERE's a brilliant star in the northern sky,

With stars around beset;

Stately and fair they shine on high,

In form a coronet.

'Tis one of the first at early even

To shed its fair, faint light,

And one of the brightest through all the heaven, At the mid-watch of the night.

Often when heart and hope have failed,

In scenes of strife and care,
I've watched it till its cresset pal'd
In the kindling morning air.

Full many a lesson true and deep
I've read by its steady light;
God grant me ever strength to keep
The path I know is right.

God grant me ever strength to move
Unswerving, in the right,
Steadfast like that bright star above,
Brightest through darkest night.

God grant me grace to shed for all
What light is mine to give,
And, though my influence be small,
For others' weal to live.

ANON.

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