THE CORAL GROVE.

EEP in the wave is a coral grove,

Where the purple mullet and goldfish rove, Where the sea-flower spreads its leaves of blue, That never are wet with falling dew,

But in bright and changeful beauty shine,
Far down in the green and glassy brine.
The floor is of sand like the mountain drift,
And the pearl-shells spangle the flinty snow;
From coral rocks the sea-plants lift

Their boughs, where the tides and billows flow;
The water is calm and still below,

For the winds and the waves are absent there, And the sands are bright as the stars that glow In the motionless fields of upper air;

Here, with its waving blade of green,

The sea-flag streams through the silent water, And the crimson leaf of the dulse is seen

To blush like a banner bathed in slaughter. There, with a light and easy motion,

The fan-coral sweeps through the clear deep sea; And the yellow and scarlet tufts of ocean

Are bending like corn on the upland lea;

And I fe, in rare and beautiful forms,

Is sporting amid those bowers of stone,
And is safe when the wrathful spirit of storms
Has made the top of the waves his own.
And when the ship from his fury flies,

When the myriad voices of ocean roar,
When the wind-god frowns in the murky skies,
And demons are waiting the wreck on shore,
Then, far below, in the peaceful sea,

The purple mullet and goldfish rove, Where the waters murmur tranquilly,

Through the bending twigs of the coral grove.

J. G. PERCIVAL.

ELEGIAC.

HE winter eve, how soft, how mild!

How calm the earth! how calm the sea! The earth is like a weary child,

And ocean sings its lullaby.

A little ripple in my ear!

A little motion at my feet!
They only make the quiet here,

(Which they disturb not,) more complete.

I wander on the sands apart,

I watch the sun, world-wearied, sink
Into his grave,-with tranquil heart
Upon the loved and lost I think.

R. C. TRENCH.

LIFE.

LIFE hath but shadows, save a promise given,
Which lights the future with a fadeless ray.
O! touch the sceptre! Win a hope in heaven!
Come, turn thy spirit from the world away!
W. G. CLARK.

LEST pair of Sirens, pledges of Heaven's joy,

BSphere-born, harmonious sisters, voice and verse,

Wed your divine sounds, and mixed power
employ,

Dead things with inbreathed sense able to pierce;
And to our high-raised phantasy present
That undisturbed song of pure consent

Aye sung before the sapphire-coloured throne,
To Him that sits thereon-

With saintly shout, and solemn jubilee,
Where the bright seraphim in burning row
Their loud uplifted angel-trumpets blow,
And the cherubic host in thousand quires
Touch their immortal harps of golden wires,
With those just spirits that wear victorious palms,
Hymns devout, and holy psalms

Singing everlastingly;

That we on earth with undiscording voice
May rightly answer that melodious noise;
As once we did, till disproportioned sin

Jarred against nature's chime, and with harsh din

Solemn Music

Broke the fair music that all creatures made

To their great Lord, whose love their motion swayed
In perfect diapason, whilst they stood,

In first obedience, and their state of good.

O may we soon again renew that song,

And keep in tune with Heaven, till God ere long

To His celestial concert us unite,

To live with Him, and sing in endless morn of light.

93

MILTON.

BEREAVEMENT.

WHEN Some beloveds, 'neath whose eyelids lay
The sweet lights of my childhood, one by one
Did leave me dark before the natural sun,
And I astonied fell, and could not pray;
A thought within me to myself did say,—
"Is God less God, that thou art mortal sad?
Rise, worship, bless Him, in this sackcloth clad,
As in that purple!"-But I answer, nay!
What child his filial heart in words conveys,

If him for very good his father choose

To smite? What can he, but with sobbing breath
Embrace the unwilling hand which chasteneth?
And my dear Father, thinking fit to bruise,
Discerns in silent tears, both prayer and praise.
ELIZABETH B. BARRETT.