Oh! wide and wild are the waves that part Our steps from its greenness now; And the light of many a brow; 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 In the far and winding way- 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; But yours is the might of some far-flowing river, Through summer's bright roses or autumn's decay. Ye treasure each voice of the swift-passing ages, And truth, which Time writeth on leaves or on sand; Ye bring us the bright thoughts of poets and sages, And keep them among us, old songs of our land! 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! Songs of our land, ye have followed the stranger, Ye have gone with our wand'rers thro' distance and danger The spring-time may come with the song of her glory, While ocean waves roll, or the mountains shall stand; THE END. |