Yet to my hand 'twas given
A golden harp to buy,
Such as the white-robed choir attune
To deathless minstrelsy.
Lost! lost! lost!
I feel all search is vain;
That gem of countless cost
Can ne'er be mine again;
I offer no reward,
For till these heart-strings sever,
I know that Heaven-entrusted gift
Is reft away for ever.
But when the sea and land
Like burning scroll have fled,
I'll see it in His hand
Who judgeth quick and dead;
And when of scath and loss
That man can ne'er repair,
The dread inquiry meets my soul,
What shall it answer there?
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Cato's Soliloquy in ADDISON'S Tragedy of Cato.
SCENE-A chamber in the Palace-Cato discovered, sitting in deep meditation, holding in his hand Plato's book on the immortality of the soul—a drawn sword lying by him on the table.
Ir must be so-Plato, thou reasonest well!
Else why this pleasing hope, this fond desire,
This longing after immortality?
Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror,
Of falling into nought? Why shrinks the soul
Back on herself, and startles at destruction?
'Tis the Divinity that stirs within us;
'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter,
And intimates Eternity to man.
Eternity!-thou pleasing, dreadful thought!
Through what variety of untried being,
Through what new scenes and changes must we pass
The wide, the unbounded prospect lies before me;
But shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon it.
Here will I hold. If there's a power above us
(And that there is all Nature cries aloud
Through all her works), He must delight in virtue;
And that which He delights in must be happy.
But when? or where? This world was made for CæsarI'm weary of conjectures-this must end them.
[Laying his hand on his sword.]
Thus am I doubly arm'd; my death and life,
My bane and antidote, are both before me.
This in a moment brings me to an end;
But this informs me I shall never die.
The soul, secured in her existence, smiles
At the drawn dagger, and defies its point.
The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years;
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amidst the war of elements,
The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds.
What means this heaviness that hangs upon me?
Nature, oppress'd and harass'd out with care,
Sinks down to rest. This once I'll favour her,
That my awaken'd soul may take her flight,
Renew'd in all her strength, and fresh with life,
An offering fit for heaven. Let guilt or fear
Disturb man's rest: Cato knows neither of 'em,
Indifferent in his choice to sleep or die.
By the Rev. GEORGE CROLY.
"EARTH to earth, and dust to dust!"
Here the evil and the just,
Here the youthful and the old,
Here the fearful and the bold,
Here the matron and the maid,
In one silent bed are laid,
Here the vassal and the king
Side by side lie withering;
Here the sword and sceptre rust,
"Earth to earth, and dust to dust!"
Age on age shall roll along
O'er this pale and mighty throng;
Those that wept them, those that weep,
All shall with these sleepers sleep.
Brothers, sisters, of the worm-
Summer's sun, or winter's storm,
Song of peace, or battle's roar,
Ne'er shall break their slumbers more;
Death shall keep his sullen trust,
"Earth to earth, and dust to dust!"
But a day is coming fast,
Earth, thy mightiest and thy last:
It shall come in fear and wonder,
Heralded by trump and thunder;
It shall come in strife and toil,
It shall come in blood and spoil,
It shall come in empires' groans,
Burning temples, trampled thrones:
Then, Ambition, rue thy lust!
"Earth to earth, and dust to dust!"
Then shall come the Judgment sign,
In the East the King shall shine;
Flashing from Heaven's golden gate,
Thousand thousands round his state,
Spirits with the crown and plume :
Tremble then, thou sullen tomb!
Heaven shall open on our sight,
Earth be turn'd to living light,
Kingdoms of the ransom'd just.
"Earth to earth, and dust to dust!"
Then thy mount, Jerusalem,
Shall be gorgeous as a gem;
Then shall in the desert rise
Fruits of more than Paradise;
Earth by angel feet be trod,
One great garden of her God!
Till are dried the martyr's tears
Through a thousand glorious years.
Now in hope of him we trust
"Earth to earth, and dust to dust!"
By WHITTIER, an American poet.
SUN-LIGHT upon Judea's bills!
And on the waves of GalileeOn Jordan's stream, and on the rills That feed the dead and sleeping sea! Most freshly from the green wood springs The light breeze on its scented wings; And gaily quiver in the sun
The cedar tops of Lebanon!
A few more hours-a change hath come!
The sky is dark without a cloud!
The shouts of wrath and joy are dumb,
And proud knees unto earth are bow'd.
A change is in the hill of Death,
The helmed watchers pant for breath,
And turn with mild and maniac eyes
From the dark scene of sacrifice!
That Sacrifice !-the death of Him-
The High and ever Holy One!
Well may the conscious Heaven grow dim,
And blacken the beholding Sun!
The wonted light hath fled away,
Night settles on the middle day,
And earthquake from his cavern'd bed
Is waking with a thrill of dread!
The dead are waking underneath!
Their prison door is rent away!
And, ghastly with the seal of death,
They wander in the eye of day!
The temple of the Cherubim,
The House of God, is cold and dim;
A curse is on its trembling walls,
Its mighty veil asunder falls!
Well may the cavern-depths of Earth
Be shaken, and her mountains nod;
Well may the sheeted dead come forth
To gaze upon a suffering God!
Well may the temple-shrine grow dim,
And shadows veil the Cherubim,
When He, the chosen one of Heaven,
A sacrifice for guilt is given!
And shall the sinful heart, alone,
Behold unmoved the atoning hour,
When Nature trembles on her throne,
And Death resigns his iron power?
Oh, shall the heart-whose sinfulness
Gave keenness to His sore distress,
And added to His tears of blood-
Refuse its trembling gratitude!
From POLLOK's Course of Time.
No sign of change appear'd: to every man
That day seem'd as the past. From noontide path
The sun look'd gloriously on earth, and all
Her scenes of giddy folly smiled secure.
When suddenly, alas fair Earth! the sun
Was wrapp'd in darkness, and his beams return'd
Up to the throne of God, and over all
The earth came night-moonless and starless night!
Nature stood still: the seas and rivers stood,
And all the winds, and every living thing.
The cataract, that like a giant wroth,
Rush'd down impetuously, as seized at once
By sudden frost with all his hoary locks,
Stood still, and beasts of every kind stood still.
A deep and dreadful silence reign'd alone;
Hope died in every breast, and on all men
Came fear and trembling. None to his neighbour spoke:
Husband thought not of wife, nor of her child
The mother, nor friend of friend, nor foe of foe.
In horrible suspense all mortals stood;
And as they stood and listen'd, chariots were heard
Rolling in heaven. Reveal'd in flaming fire
The angel of God appear'd in stature vast,
Blazing, and lifting up his hand on high,
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