A smile upon the wan lips told That she had found a calm release, And that, from out the want and cold, The song had borne her soul in peace. For, whom the heart of man shuts out, Sometimes the heart of God takes in, And fences them all round about With silence mid the world's loud din And one of his great charities Far was she from her childhood's home, To die in maiden innocence. MIDNIGHT. THE moon shines white and silent On the mist, which, like a tide Of some enchanted ocean, O'er the wide marsh doth glide, Spreading its ghost-like billows Silently far and wide. A vague and starry magic The fireflies o'er the meadow The dreaming cock doth crow. All things look strange and mystic, The very bushes swell And take wild shapes and motions, As if beneath a spell,They seem not the same lilacs From childhood known so well. The snow of deepest silence O'er everything doth fall, 1842. So beautiful and quiet, And rest were come to all. O, wild and wondrous midnight, And give it some faint glimpses A PRAYER. GOD! do not let my loved-one die, Enough to enter thy pure clime, O, let her stay! She is by birth What I through death must learn to be, We need her more on our poor earth, Than thou canst need in heaven with thee: She hath her wings already, I Must burst this earth-shell ere I fly. Then, God, take me! We shall be near, 1841. THE HERITAGE. THE rich man's son inherits lands, And tender flesh that fears the cold, A heritage, it seems to me, One scarce would wish to hold in fee. The rich man's son inherits cares; The bank may break, the factory burn, The rich man's son inherits wants, A heritage, it seems to me, One scarce would wish to hold in fee. What doth the poor man's son inherit? King of two hands, he does his part A heritage, it seems to me, What doth the poor man's son inherit ? |