And, whether being crazed or blind,
Or seeking with a biass'd mind,

Have not, it seems, discern'd it.

O Friendship! if my soul forego
Thy dear delights while here below,
To mortify and grieve me,
May I myself at last appear
Unworthy, base, and insincere,
Or may my friend deceive me!

WILLIAM COWPER, 1731-1800.

THE BROTHERS.

We are but two-the others sleep
Through Death's untroubled night;

We are but two-Oh, let us keep
The link that binds us bright.

Heart leaps to heart-the sacred deed
That warms us is the same;

That good old man-his honest blood
Alike we fondly claim.

We in one mother's arms were lock'd-
Long be her love repaid;

In the same cradle we were rock'd,

Round the same hearth we play'd.

Our boyish sports were all the same,
Each little joy and woe ;-

Let manhood keep alive the flame,
Lit up so long ago.

We are but two-be that the band
To hold us till we die ;

Shoulder to shoulder let us stand,
Till side by side we lie.

-American.

CHARLES SPRAGUE, 1791—

GENTLE AND WEDDED LOVE.

A FRAGMENT.

It was a lovely sight to witness, when,
Returning from his toil or mountain sport,

Hilarion reach'd his home. By the rude door
Grew sycamore and limes, whose boughs hung down
Like woman's tresses, and around whose trunks
The honeysuckle wound its fragrant arms;

And laurel always green, and myrtles, which
Shook their white buds beneath the summer moon,
Were there; and there, expecting his return,
The gentle Auria, who each happy day

Gather'd her fairest fruits to welcome him.

Soft was the evening's greeting;-one long kiss

Received and given told a world of love,
And many a question ask'd how absence pass'd
Was answer'd tenderly, and lovely fears

At times would fill the eyes, and ease the heart.—
-One child, like Auria fair, and with such looks
As Hebe might, in early infancy,

Have cast on Juno, when that skyey queen
First shew'd her unto Jove smiling, was born:
A gentle link of love, yet firmer far

Than bonds, (though useful these,) or forced vows
Was that fair child, who from each parent's heart
Drew joy, and by communicable signs

(More beautiful than words) and murmur'd sounds, Nature's imperfect utterance, told its own, And carried to the others' hearts delight.

Gentle and wedded Love, how fair art thou,—
How rich, how very rich, yet freed of blame,
How calm and how secure !-the perfect hours
Pass onwards to futurity with thee,

Without a sigh or backward look of sorrow:
Pleasantly on they pass, never delay'd

By doubt, or vain remorse, or desperate fear.
But, in thy train, Beauty and blooming Joy

Pass hand in hand, and young-eyed Hope, whose

glance

(Not dimm'd, yet soften'd by a touch of care) Looks forward still; and serious Happiness

Lies on thy heart, a safe and shelter'd guest. -New Monthly Magazine, 1821.

PARTING OF THE WIDOW'S SON.

YON slender boy his bark hath launch'd
On life's deceitful tide;

His balmy years of childhood o'er,

He goes without a guide,
Amid the stir and strife of men

His devious course to run,

The tempter and the snare to bide-
God bless the widow's son !

He turneth from the pleasant door,
And from the garden fair,

Where with his little spade he wrought
Beneath a mother's care;

He bears his head like manhood high,
Yet tears their course will run,
When on his stranger-bed he rests-
God bless the widow's son !

Say ye he goeth forth alone

To dare the eventful field?
No, no! a spell is round him thrown,
Like adamantine shield,-

A mournful mother's fervent prayer!
So, till his life is done,

Till time and toil and change are o'er,
God bless the widow's son !

-American.

MRS L. H. SIGOURNEY, 1791

L

"JAMIE'S ON THE STORMY SEA!"

ERE the twilight bat was flitting,
In the sunset, at her knitting,
Sang a lonely maiden, sitting

Underneath her threshold tree;

And, as daylight died before us,

And the vesper-star shone o'er us,

Fitful rose her tender chorus

"Jamie's on the stormy sea!"

Warmly shone that sunset glowing,
Sweetly breathed the young flowers blowing,
Earth, with beauty overflowing,

Seem'd the home of love to be,

As those angel-tones ascending,

With the scene and season blending,
Ever had the same low ending-

"Jamie's on the stormy sea!"

Curfew bells remotely ringing,

Mingled with that sweet voice singing;
And the last red rays seem'd clinging

Lingeringly to tower and tree.