Oh, pleasant is the voice of youth, O'er evening prayer and page; But woe for the hearth that heareth nought The glow is gone from our winter blaze, And the light hath pass'd from our summer days; And our dwelling hath no household now But the sad of heart and the gray of brow. For the young lies low 'neath the church-yard tree, But a wakening music seems to flow As thy babe's first words come sweet and clear Ere thine eye grew dim with tears or pain, Alas! for the widow'd eyes that trace What after-light will his memory mark, Like the dove that in spring-time sought her ark For long in that far and better land Were her spirit's treasures laid; And she might not stay from its golden strand For the love of hearts that fade. But woe for her on whose path may shine The light of no mother's love but mine; Oh, well if that lonely path lead on To the land where her mother's steps have gone The land where the aged find their youth, And the young no whit'ning hair: Oh! safe, my child, from both time and death- THE FRIEND OF OUR DARKER DAYS. BY FRANCES BROWN. "Twas said, when the world was fresh and young, That the friends of earth were few; And shrines have blazed, and harps have rung, And say, when the furrowing tracks of time The faith so prized in her early prime- It may be found, like the aloe's bloom But if, through the mists of wintry skies, What star in the summer heavens will rise We know there are hands and smiles to greet But lone are the climber's weary feet, Where the steep lies bleak and bare. For some have gain'd far heights and streams, But the sunrise shed on their hearts' first dreams, Yet, O for the bright isles seen afar, When our sails were first unfurl'd, And the glance that once was the guiding star Of our green unwithered world! And, O for the voice that spake in love, Ere we heard the cold world's praise; Alas! we have missed pure gems that lay And dark is the night of changing years Till the thorns grow up and the tangled tares In the stronghold of its truth. The shrines of our household gods, perchance And the love which the heart can give but once, But still from the graves of better hopes- WE ARE GROWING OLD. BY FRANCES BROWN. We are growing old-how the thought will rise On some long-remembered spot that lies It may be the shrine of our early vows, But it seems like a far-off isle to us, In the stormy sea of years. Oh! wide and wild are the waves that part Our steps from its greenness now; And we miss the joy of many a heart, And the light of many a brow; For deep o'er many a stately bark Have the whelming billows rolled, That steered with us from that early markOh! friends, we are growing old! Old in the dimness and the dust Which our burdened memory bears. But oh! the changes we have seen The graves in our path that have grown green The winters still on our own may spare But we saw their snows upon brighter hair- We have gain'd the world's cold wisdom now We have learn'd to pause and fear; But where are the living founts, whose flow Was a joy of heart to hear? We have won the wealth of many a clime, But where is the hope that saw in Time Will it come again when the violet wakes, And our souls might joy in the spring-time then, For it ne'er could give us the youth again SONGS OF OUR LAND BY FRANCES BROWN. Songs of our land, ye are with us forever; The power and the splendor of thrones pass away' And truth, which Time writeth on leaves or on sand; The bards may go down to the place of their slumbers, For they keep a record of those, the true-hearted, Of love that grew cold, and the hope that was vain. The page may be lost, and the pen long forsaken, And weeds may grow wild o'er the brave heart and hand; But ye are still left, when all else hath been taken, Like streams in the desert, sweet songs of our land! |