222

THE YOUNG WIFE'S APPEAL.

THE YOUNG WIFE'S APPEAL.

O HUSBAND, husband, go not out

Again this stormy night,
For snowy clouds have hid the earth

Within a robe of white.
Hark to the whistling winds, that scream

Like fiends amid their glee,
And now, subdued, they seem to moan

A dirge-like melody.

O husband, husband, do not leave

Our fire, so bright and warm,
To brave the darkness of the night,

And dangers of the storm.
The fire it burneth pleasantly

Upon our tidy hearth
We may be happy here to-night,

And join in songs of mirth.

Think of the many joyous hours

We have together spent,
When to my grief your gentle voice

A charm of music lent.
Think of the holy book we read,

Ere we in prayer did bow;
And here it is the same good book —

Come, read it to me now.

I LIVE TO LOVE.

“ I LIVE to love,” said a laughing girl,
And she playfully tossed each flaxen curl,
As she climbed on her loving father's knee,
And snatched a kiss in her childish glee.

“ I live to love," said a maiden fair,
As she twined a wreath for her sister's hair ;
They were bound by the cords of love together,
And death alone could those sisters sever.

" I live to love,” said a gay young bride,
Her loved one standing by her side ;
Her life told again what her lips had spoken,
And ne'er was the link of affection broken.

" I live to love,” said a mother kind
“ I would live a guide to tủe infant mind ;"
Her precepts and example given,
Guided her children home to heaven.

" I shall live to love," said a fading form,
And her eye was bright, and her cheek grew warm,
As she thought, in the blissful world on high,
She would live to love, and never die.

And ever thus, in this lower world,
Should the banner of love be wide unfurled;
And when we meet in the world above,
May we love to live, and live to love !

224

FRIENDSHIP.

FRIENDSHIP.

FRIENDSHIP! peculiar boon of Heaven,

The noble mind's delight and pride,
To men and angels only given,

To all the lower world denied.

While love, unknown among the blest,

Parent of thousand wild desires,
The
savage

and the human breast
Torments alike with raging fires.

With bright, but oft destructive gleam,

Alike o'er all his lightnings fly ;
Thy lambent glories only beam

Around the favorites of the sky.

Thy gentle flows of guiltless joy

On fools and villains ne'er descend;
In vain for thee the tyrant sighs,

And hugs a flatterer for a friend.

Directress of the brave and just,
O, guide us through life's darksome way

! And let the tortures of mistrust

On selfish bosoms only prey.

Nor shall thine ardor cease to glow,

When souls to blissful climes remove ;
What raised our virtue here below,

Shall aid our happiness above.

BE KIND.

Be kind to thy father -- for when thou wert young,

Who loved thee so fondly as he ?
He caught the first accents that fell from thy tongue,

And joined in thy innocent glee.
Be kind to thy father, for now he is old,

His locks intermingled with gray ;
His footsteps are feeble, once fearless and bold;

Thy father is passing away.

Be kind to thy mother - for, lo ! on her brow

May traces of sorrow be seen ; O, well mayst thou cherish and comfort her now,

For loving and kind hath she been. Remember thy mother - for thee she will pray

As long as God giveth her breath ; With accents of kindness then cheer her lone way,

E’en down to the valley of death.

Be kind to thy brother his heart will have dearth

If the smile of thy joy be withdrawn; The flowers of feeling will fade at the birth,

If the dew of affection be gone. Be kind to thy brother

wherever you are, The love of a brother shall be An ornament purer and richer by far

Than pearls from the depth of the sca.

Be kir? to thy sister - not many may know

The depth of true sisterly love;
The wealth of the ocean lies fathoms below

The surface that sparkles above.
Thy kindness shall bring thee many sweet hours,

And blessings thy pathway to crown; Affection shall weave thee a garland of flowers

More precious than wealth or renown.

Let every minute, as it flies,
Record thee good as well as wise :
While such pursuits your thoughts engage,
In a few years you'll live an age.
Who measures life by rolling years ?
Fools measure by revolving spheres !
Go thou, and fetch th' unerring rule
From Virtue's and from Wisdom's school.
Who well improves life's shortest day
Will scarce regret its setting ray.