20

THE PETRIFIED FERN.

Nature revelled in grand mysteries,

But the little fern was not of these;

Did not number with the hills and trees;

Only grew and waved, its sweet wild way,-
No one came to note it, day by day.

Earth, one time, put on a frolic mood,

Heaved the rocks, and changed the mighty motion
Of the deep, strong currents of the ocean,
Moved the plain, and shook the haughty wood,
Crushed the little fern in soft, moist clay,
Covered it, and hid it safe away.

O, the long, long centuries since that day!
O, the agony! O, life's bitter cost,
Since that useless little fern was lost!

Useless?

Lost? There came a thoughtful man,
Searching Nature's secrets, far and deep:
From a fissure in a rocky steep

He withdrew a stone, o'er which there ran
Fairy pencillings, a quaint design,
Veinings, leafage, fibres clear and fine,
And the fern's life lay in every line!
So, I think, God hides some souls away,
Sweetly to surprise us, the last day.

M. B. BRANCH.

2

EXPRESSIVE SILENCE.

21

EXPRESSIVE SILENCE.

SACRED silence! all thy power

Have we ever known?

No! we lavish upon language
Praise that is thy own.

Thought is silent, in its dwelling
Deep within the breast;

Speech is but the outward clothing
In which thought is drest.

Speech is but the upper current
Of a deep, deep sea;

Far below, in sacred silence,

Must the treasure be.

Calmness, coolness, dwell with silence;

Silent falls the dew;

Silent roll the stars above us

In the unfathomed blue.

Silent worship! not the body,

But the soul that stands

With bowed head and ear attentive,

For its Lord's commands.

22

EXPRESSIVE SILENCE.

Silent suffering! loud lamenting
Never has thy power;

Silent sympathy! no other

Fits the darkest hour.

Silent gratitude! when language
Vainly strives to tell

All the sense of good accepted,
Silence speaks it well.

Mute submission! meekly bowing

'Neath the Eternal will;

"I was dumb, because thou didst it," Is its language still.

Silent joy! to give it utterance

Music has no tone;

When 'tis deepest, purest, holiest,

It is all our own.

What can still the voice of slander

Like the mute reply?

Love to slanderer and slandered

Speaking in the eye.

Is the spirit moved to anger

By another's speech?
Silent mastery of passion

Best his heart will reach.

EXPRESSIVE SILENCE.

23

Silent vigils! silent prayers!

O, how they ascend

From the sad and anxious watchers,

By the couch they tend.

And like vapor heavenward tending,
They may fall in showers,
Making parched and barren deserts
Cheerful with spring flowers.

Mingling with the crowds around us,
As we pass them by,

We can give but friendly greeting,
And the kind reply.

But the hand in hand companions,

Journeying side by side,

Toward the one eternal city,

Loving, true, and tried,

Why should these be ever feeding

Upon words alone,

When the heart's most precious feeling

Is to each unknown?

Ah, how many social gatherings,

Were we simply true,

Would enrich and bless our spirits

More than now they do.

24

THE CRUSE THAT FAILETH NOT.

Thought and speech would flow together,

And when these were not,
Silence, like the heavenly manna,
Would refresh the thought.

We should often feel at parting,
That a Heavenly Guest,

Known by breaking bread amongst us,
Had our gathering blest.

S.

THE CRUSE THAT FAILETH NOT.

IS THY cruse of comfort wasting? Rise and share it with another,

And through all the years of famine, it shall serve thee and thy brother;

Love divine will fill thy storehouse, or thy handful still renew;

Scanty fare for one, will often make a royal feast for

two.

For the heart grows rich in giving; all its wealth is living grain;

Seeds, which mildew in the garner, scattered, fill with gold the plain.