THE DEATH-DAY OF KOERNER He went with the lyre, whose lofty tone Had thrilled to the name of his God alone And with all his glorious feelings yet In their first glow, Like a southern stream that no frost hath met To chain its flow. A song for the death-day of the brave- For him that went to a hero's grave, He hath left a voice in his trumpet-lays And a guiding spirit for after days, And a grief in his father's soul to rest, And a memory unto his mother's breast, And a name and fame above the blight In life and death! A song for the death-day of the brave- For him that went to a hero's grave, With the sword, his bride! 139 A VOYAGER'S DREAM OF LAND "His very heart athirst To gaze at nature in her green array, He seeks them headlong, and is seen no more."-COWPER. THE hollow dash of waves !-the ceaseless roar !— Silence, ye billows!-vex my soul no more. There's a spring in the woods by my sunny home, Afar from the dark sea's tossing foam ; Oh! the fall of that fountain is sweet to hear, They haunt me! I dream of that bright spring's flow, Be still, thou sea-bird, with thy clanging cry! Know ye my home, with the lulling sound With the streamy gold of the sun that shines A VOYAGER'S DREAM OF LAND In through the cloud of its clustering vines, 141 And the fire-fly's glance through the darkening shades, Like shooting stars in the forest glades, And the scent of the citron at eve's dim fall Speak! have ye known, have ye felt them all? The heavy-rolling surge! the rocking mast!— Oh, the glad sounds of the joyous earth! The wings flitting home through the crimson glow The voice of the night-bird that sends a thrill The white foam dashes high-away, away! It is there!-down the mountains I see the sweep Of the chestnut forests, the rich and deep, With the burden and glory of flowers that they bear Floating upborne on the blue summer air, And the light pouring through them in tender gleams, And the flashing forth of a thousand streams! Hold me not, brethren! I go, I go To the hills of my youth, where the myrtles blow, To the rocks that resound with the water's play- Give way!-the booming surge, the tempest's roar, THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS IN NEW ENGLAND "Look now abroad! Another race has filled THE breaking waves dashed high On a stern and rock-bound coast, And the woods against a stormy sky Their giant branches tossed; And the heavy night hung dark The hills and waters o'er, When a band of exiles moored their bark Not as the conqueror comes, They, the true-hearted, came; Not with the roll of the stirring drums, And the trumpet that sings of fame; LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS 143 Not as the flying come, In silence and in fear; They shook the depths of the desert gloom With their hymns of lofty cheer. Amidst the storm they sang, And the stars heard and the sea; And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang To the anthem of the free! The ocean eagle soared From his nest by the white wave's foam; And the rocking pines of the forest roaredThis was their welcome home! There were men with hoary hair Why had they come to wither there, There was woman's fearless eye, There was manhood's brow serenely high, What sought they thus afar? Bright jewels of the mine? The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?— Ay, call it holy ground, The soil where first they trode ; They have left unstained what there they found- |