Hope may sing a sweeter lay,
Pleasure shed a softer ray ;
But not wealth nor love may twine,
Wreath so pure, as this of mine ;

Hope nor pleasure spread a hue
Half so lasting, half so true-
Keep, oh keep the gift I bring,
It is friendship's offering !

I'VE LOVED BEFORE NOW.

BY JAMES LAWSON.

I've loved before now-like the wandering bee,
I have sipped from each flow'ret all thoughtless and free
I've loved, did I say? No! In idle romance,
Like the fool I have basked in the loveliest glance.

I've loved before now, for an hour or a day,
But my love, like the zephyr, soon flitted away.
I've loved, did I say?

No! 'Twas fancy alone;
If I paused but to think, the illusion had flown.
I've loved before now—'twas a bright and brief dream,
That as swiftly evanished as stars on the stream.
I've loved, did I say? No! My heart I beguile,
For I ne'er loved, dear maiden, till sunned in thy smilo

Then come to this heart, and believe me, no more
My affections shall wander-I dearly adore;
Thinkest thou I can change? No! But steadfast in

truth,
I will love thee in age, with the ardour of youth.

CUPID'S DEFIANCE.

BY ANN S. STEPHENS.

THINK ye to fetter Love with gold?

Ah no, no!
With brow of care and features old ?
With pulseless veins and bosom cold?

Ah no, no!
Enchain the star

That gleams afar,
Withhold the breezes from the tree;

Forbid the heart

To act its part,
Then hope with gold to fetter me.

Could Love an humble captive be?

Ah no, no!
The heart is Cupid's monarchy;
No gold is in his treasury.

Ah no, no!

Ambition bold,

Pride stern and cold,
Are subjects, Mammon, for thy chain;

But love is free

As thought can be,
And flings thy shackles back again.

THE FALLING TIDE UPON THE BEACH.

BY HENRY PANTON.

The falling tide upon the beach

In murmurs chides my long delay; The whispering wind in fancy speaks,

And bids me on my course away. And yet I linger near thine eyes,

As one on whom there hangs a spell ; I strive in vain--my tongue denies

The tones that form that word, “Farewell."

re.

We'll meet no

In after years, Perhaps some long-neglected token Of ties now washed away in tears,

That once no power could have broken,

May call emotions to the heart

That long in it have ceased to dwell, And may again the scene impart

Where last I whispered, Fare-thee well.

For me, the heart that once was thine

May beat beneath another's power, But never from another's shrine

Can bring the sadness of this hour. With thee I've passed the morn of love

Day half his lustre will dispel;
And after-joys the heart would prove,

Will sadden at our last Farewell.

I linger still ; but 'tis in vain

Nought can those careless hours restore ; Procrastination adds but pain,

And only heats the tear-drop more. Come, while my eyes are filled with thee,

Ere tears thy image shall dispel ; Bright may thy future prospects be;

One kiss—forever Fare-thee-well.

"A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOREVER.”

BY L. L. DAPONTE.

FAREWELL! how oft that word is said

By those who hope to meet again,
While tears that solace as they flow

Bespeak the transitory pain!
I do not weep to say farewell ;

All speechless will I see thee part,
While sorrow shall thy image take-

Companion of my broken heart.

Nor think if cheerless I pursue

The path that thou hast marked with wo,
There is not in my heart a joy,

That joy itself can never know-
To see thee when thou art not nigh;

To hear thee when no other hears ;
To love thee e'en in time's decay,

As in thy pride of youthful years !

When life and care have dimmed thine eye,

So terrible in beauty now,
Unaltered still thy face to see

l'nchanged the glory of thy brow!
Still on unfaded charms to gaze,

Till, guided by thy light divine,
My soul shall be refined at last

To fit companionship with thine!