-Nay; but fade and wither fast, Fruit must come at last! Joy, so true and tender, Dare you not abide? Will you spread your pinions, -Nay; an Angel's shining grace F MY WILL. INCE I have no lands or houses, What can I leave those who love me When they see my face no more? Do not smile; I am not jesting, Though my words sound gay and light, Listen to me, dearest Alice, I will make my Will to-night. First for Mabel,-who will never By Love's Charter, wholly mine; She will never lend to others Slenderest link of thought I claim, I will, therefore, to her keeping Leave my memory and my name. Bertha will do truer service To her kind than I have done, So I leave to her young spirit The long Work I have begun. Well! the threads are tangled, broken, And the colours do not blend, She will bend her earnest striving Both to finish and amend : And, when it is all completed, Strong with care and rich with skill, Just because my hands began it, She will love it better still. Ruth shall have my dearest token, The one duty that I live for, She, when I am gone, will take. Sacred is the trust I leave her, Needing patience, prayer, and tears; I have striven to fulfil it, As she knows-these many years. With the task, and Ruth will prize it What must I leave you, my Alice? Are my gifts indeed so worthless Well, I know not: years may bless them |