WORK. WHAT are we set on earth for? Say, to toil- Take patience, labor, to their heart and hands, I Go, I go!-and must mine image fade From the green spots wherein my childhood played, Must my life part from each familiar place, Will the friend pass my dwelling, and forget All the sweet counsel, the communion high, A boon, a talisman, O Memory! give, To shrine my name in hearts where I would live Bid the wind speak of me where I have dwelt, In the rich rose, whose bloom I loved so well, And let the sunset's melancholy glow, And Memory answered me :-"Wild wish and vain! I have no hues the loveliest to detain In the heart's core. The place they held in bosoms all their own, Hast thou such power, O Love?-And Love replied, Prayer, tear, devotedness, that boon to gain— Song, is the gift with thee?—I ask a lay, Filled with a tone-oh! not for deathless fame, And Song made answer-"It is not in me, A place of lonely brightness I can give: A changeless one, where thou with Love wouldst liveThis is not mine!" Death, Death! wilt thou the restless wish fulfill? And Death the Strong One, spoke :-"I can but still Each vain regret. What if forgotten ?-All thy soul would crave, Wilt soon forget." Then did my heart in lone faint sadness die, "Earth has no heart, fond dreamer! with a tone SONG FOR THE NEW YEAR. OLD Time has turned another page He reads with a warning voice to age, And we have a task to closely ask, What the bosom and brain have learnt? Oh! let us hope that our sands have run Oh! may we find that our hands have done Then a welcome and cheer to the merry new year, With a pardon for the foes who hate, And a prayer for those who love us. We may have seen some loved ones pass Will their spirits blame the sinless mirth Of those true hearts left behind? No, no! it were not well or wise To mourn with endless pain; Then a welcome and cheer to the merry new year, And a prayer for those who love us. Have our days rolled on serenely free Do we still possess the gifts that bless Are the creatures dear still clinging near? Do we gaze on eyes whose glances shed Oh, if we do, let thanks be poured To Him who hath spared and given, And forget not o'er the festive board Then a welcome and cheer to the merry new year, With a pardon for the foes who hate, And a prayer for those who love us. |