WAIT, MY LITTLE ONE.

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WAIT, MY LITTLE ONE.

WAIT, my little one, wait !

When you get to the beautiful land,

Tarry a little, my darling,

Ere you join the heavenly band.

Stand close to the gates of shining pearl ;

Look out on the narrow way;

For I want the first glance of my heaven-born sight

On my little babe to stray.

When you reach the courts above,

Look down with the light of thy beautiful

eyes

On those that you used to love;

Whisper sweet dreams in our earthly ears

When we lie down to sleep;

Paint bright pictures before our eyes

When we waken to weep.

102

DAYBREAK.

Wait, my little one, wait,

When you reach the celestial strand! For thy mother may be toiling up

To the heights of the better land; For the years that fall like molten lead On the hearts this side the sea

Will

pass

like the light of a beautiful dream,

My darling, o'er thee.

ANONYMOUS.

WE

DAYBREAK.

E are waiting for the clouds to break,
We are watching for the dawn,—

For the first faint flush of the rosy light,

For the first soft flood of the sunbeams bright, For the sweet, long-tarrying morn.

There are shadows now on heath and hill,
And the drifting clouds look gray;
And the stars still linger; and still the gleam
Of the moonlight silvers the meadow stream
As it glides along its way.

DAYBREAK.

There will soon be slender lines of gold

In the dim, dark eastern sky;

And above the mountain a crimson streak,

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And a purple tint on each pine-crowned peak, That will bid the night-gloom fly.

Then the moon's fair rays will all grow pale,
And the star-gleams fade away;

And the cold, calm heavens be blue and bright; And the clouds be crested and fringed with light,

With the tender light of day.

And the stream will shine among the reeds;

And the lilies by the lake

Will unfold their buds; while the wood-birds

sing

Till the copse and forest and valley ring,

And the mountain echoes wake.

There is nothing half so fair on earth
As the first bright blush of dawn,
When the shadows die in a flood of light,
And the clouds and darkness are put to flight
By the sunbeam hosts of morn.

But the glory soon grows faint and diın,
And the crimson flushes fade;

And we turn away from the east, and sigh
For a perfect dawn that will never die,
For a day that hath no shade.

ANONYMOUS.

NEARER.

NEARER? yes, I'm nearer now

The silent, solemn sea

Which rolls between my weary heart,
Jerusalem, and thee!

I'm nearer to the boatman now:
He soon will shout " Away!"
Oh! to my home beyond the sea
I'm nearer every day.

Some days are dreary, some bring tears,
Some undefined regret ;

While on some golden hours, thank God!
Hope's radiance lingers yet.
But whether days be dark or bright,

The moments swift or slow,

Time stops not in his steady flight,

And onward still we go.

NEARER.

On the green hillsides of yon shore

Our loved ones calmly wait,

And angel forms to welcome us

Half open heaven's gate.

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Oh rapturous thought! that rest, sweet rest,
Will soon to us be given,
Since every hour the child of God
Is drawing nearer heaven.

O Saviour! as we thus draw near
The throne, the crystal sea,
The holy throng, the heavenly choir,
We're drawing nearer thee,—
Nearer the hour when we whose feet

The olive slope ne'er trod,

Or shores of far-off Galilee,

Where walked the Son of God,

Shall see his face, shall hear his voice,
Shall touch that pierced hand,

And on the brow, thorn-crowned for us,
Shall gaze, and silent stand.