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LX.

But unto thee, Princess revered, a happier lot befell,

To welcome back to thy fireside thy husband safe and well,
And-(hushed the rifle and the drum and cannon's thundering roar)—
To see the sweets of peace succeed the awful throes of war.

A DECADE.

ITH us for years affairs had run their smooth and wonted course,
And o'er the sea a bride had come who should supply thy loss-

A bud of promise early pluck'd from off a Danish root,

To blossom here and yield to us her fragrance and her fruit.

LXII.

And nearly ten had sped away since that affliction dire

Which in his manhood's prime cut off thy loved and honour'd sire,

And now it was thy brother's lot in the fast-dying year,

To lie in sickness that aroused the nation's anxious fear.

LXIII.

The nation's hopes through those ten years had clustered round the Prince,
To see if regal words and deeds should regal heart evince:

For signs which should give promise fair of an exalted reign,
But for such regal character had looked, alas! in vain.

LXIV.

And now the frame that just before had revelled in good health,
And lacked no boon or luxury procurable by wealth,
Vainly besought physicians' aid to give returning ease,
And lay, in abject helplessness, the victim of disease.

A DECALOGUE.

DECADE and a decalogue! the two are close entwined,
Suggestively and strangely linked in the reflective mind;
And as the anniversary day drew hour by hour more near
To see how they would end men watched with eager eye and ear.

LXVI.

And then with one grand impulse the nation knelt in prayer,
That He Who ruleth over all, would Albert Edward spare;
And give him grace from that time forth to live a nobler life
For country and for country's Queen, for children and for wife.

LXVII.

And that most solemn, earnest prayer from Christian lips outpour'd
Failed not to reach the mercy-seat of Christ, our gracious Lord;
And on December's fourteenth day passed off the dreaded storm,
And the disease from that day forth assumed a milder form.

LXVIII.

And those whose hearts had been o'erwhelmed and anxiously distress'd
Found comfort in their sadness, and in their labour rest;

And life and health and strength by Him were given back again,
Who "never said to Jacob's seed, Seek ye My face in vain."

SUMMER FLOWERS.

ND during all the trying time in the sick sufferer's room
Thy welcome presence, Alice, cheered the melancholy gloom;
And thy experienced heart and hand were ready with their aid
Weaving thyself unconsciously a crown that shall not fade.

A DECADE AND A SEPTENNATE.

LXX.

A crown worth all the diadems that mighty monarchs wear,
Although these be with jewels set most costly and most rare;
The noblest honours we can have arise from Christ-like deeds-
THESE are the brilliant flowers, while THOSE are only gaudy weeds.

LXXI.

A woman has no worthier task than watching by the bed
Whereon an anguished form is laid with weary, restless head ;
Her genial tones and soothing ways or soft benignant smile
The pangs of sickness may assuage, the tedious hours beguile.

LXXII.

And if the great Physician is her Saviour and her Lord,
She shall not fail hereafter to receive her due reward;
For "inasmuch," He sweetly said, "if these My brethren be,
have done it unto them, ye did it unto Me."

As

ye

THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS.

ND so the time of pain and care was changed to one of joy,
That the dread shaft had turned aside that threatened to destroy;
And as a brighter prospect dawned and then to fulness grew,
The dying year was ushered out and welcomed in the new.

LXXIV.

And when a few more weeks had passed and birds began to sing,
And lengthening days reminded men of the returning spring,

A special day was set apart, the Lord of Hosts to praise,
And earnest heartfelt psalms and hymns of thanksgiving to raise.

LXXV.

And thousands and ten thousands flocked down every busy street,
And rent the air with loud hurrahs the Queen and Prince to greet;
And flags and decorations gay from walls and windows streamed,
And on the bright and festive scene the glorious sunshine gleamed.

LXXVI.

And in the grand Cathedral on the glad Thanksgiving Day

The people and their rulers met to sing and praise and pray; And heart to heart and voice to voice, they raised in glad accord A Hallelujah chorus loud to praise their faithful Lord.

A SEPTENNATE.

S clouds succeed to sunshine upon an April day,

And sunshine breaking through the clouds quick chases them away, So pain and gladness, sunny smiles and wretchedness and tears Combine to form our chequer'd life in the revolving years.

LXXVIII.

We seem but stationary though we're always on the move,
And if we're ever moving on it's always in a groove:
Just like a fly that rests itself upon a revolving wheel,
Or barnacle adhering close to a progressing keel.

LXXIX.

We spend our years and seasons as we hear a tale that's told,
And scarcely realize the fact that we are growing old;
"So teach us, Lord, our days to count, that every throbbing heart
To wisdom's ways may be inclined," and fitted to depart.

LXXX.

And thus with ever-varying scenes well nigh seven years had fled
Since when, Princess, thy brother was restored as from the dead;
And thou wast called, this time at home, to act the part of nurse,
To husband and to little ones who day by day grew worse.

[graphic]

AUTUMN SHEAVES.

ND thou wast cautioned lest thy love should tempt thee to a kiss,
And dire contagion should'st inhale from such sweet means as this;
With all thy love and tenderness from this thou must refrain,

If thou would'st clasp them to thine arms in rosy health again.

LXXXII.

And then it pleased the Lord of all one little lamb to take,
And lay it on His gentle breast for His own mercy's sake,
As when on earth He welcomed such to love and to enfold,
And to forbid them not to come the harsh disciples told.

LXXXIII.

And then when to another one the news thou didst impart,
The news that filled with sorrow deep that loving little heart,
And at the tale of sadness the child broke forth in tears,
Thou for a moment gavest way, and laid'st aside thy fears.

LXXXIV.

Too weak and womanly, alas! too tender to thy pet:

The bolt was ready when thy lips and thy beloved one's met;
And from those lips that took from thee their earliest infant breath,
In recompense thou tookest back the sacred kiss of death.

HARVEST HOME.

RINCESS, we scarce could wish for thee more fitting mode to die:
Love was conspicuous in thy life, and love thy purpose high;
And when the time was fully come, a threefold cord of love
Updrew thee from an earthly home to one in Heaven above:

LXXXVI.

To be the first from the old world that should thy father meetThe first of all his best beloved that he should haste to greet; To speak to thee, perchance, of what had taken place in Heaven While here below had strangely passed those ten years and those seven :

LXXXVII.

And join with thee and sing once more the old familiar strain,
And praise the Rock of Ages again and yet again,

With no more grief to smother and no pale cheek to dry,

Where God Himself doth wipe the tears from every weeping eye:

LXXXVIII.

And there to waive the victors' palms and sweep the golden lyres,
And chant the everlasting song the love of Christ inspires;
And past the glorious gates of pearl, upon the golden street
To cast your crowns of homage down before your Saviour's feet.

A PATRIOT'S PALL.

OR when the form of Death appeared before thy youthful eye
Knowing on Whom thou had'st believed, thou had'st no fear to die,
Though doubtless, earnest prayer thou breath'dst for each afflicted band,
Around thy couch or 'neath thy roof, or in thy native land.

A DECADE AND A SEPTENNATE.

XC.

For thy true heart ceased not to beat for thine old island home

Though long ago thy nest was built beyond the ocean's foam; And Britain's sons will love thee more for that brave wish express'd That their old flag should be the pall upon thy lifeless breast.

XCI.

It floated o'er thy girlish head in sunshine and in shower

From Windsor's grand ancestral height and gray Balmoral's tower,
And where thy heart of bridal joys first felt the hallowed spell
Beside fair Osborne's worthier charms of sea and shore and shell.

XCII.

Then let it fitly rest on thee laid low in early death,

Its folds unruffl'd and unstirr'd by e'en one single breath : Hanging despondent in the shade of yew and cypress trees Though braving for a thousand years the battle and the breeze.

A LAMENT.

OR never shalt thou stand again before thy mother-queen

To strive, as long ago, from grief her aching heart to screen;
Nor yet as tender nurse shalt watch beside a brother's bed
And by thy care ward off the shaft of the pale archer dread:

XCIV.

No more shalt tend thy little ones when smitten by disease,

Or plead for them in Heaven-ward prayer upon thy bended knees : No more shall dying warrior now thy thoughtful kindness share Or friend bereft be led to Christ to lift his weight of care.

XCV.

No more midst scenes of havoc shall thy heart within thee burn,
Longing with hope that scarce dared hope thy husband's safe return:

No more to thee shall welcome peace succeed to war's alarms
And thou that husband clasp again in thine exultant arms:

XCVI.

And never more shall he again upon a sick bed laid

Look up to find in thee alone his constant tender aid :

No more amongst the outcast ones shalt thou, Princess, be seen"A woman unto women" come, though daughter of the Queen!

[graphic]

THR VOICE OF THE MOST HIGH.

TILL if thy lifeless body rests within the sculptured tomb,

We will not wish thee back again, nor cherish thoughts of gloom :

Nor mourn to see at early hour a radiant setting sun,

If we but know how bright it shone until its course was run.

XCVIII.

And thy course has been strangely run in death as well as life, For both are to the world at large with solemn lessons rife; To peoples and to kings as well speak out the words of Heaven IN TONES THAT MEN CAN NEVER HUSH, those ten years and those seven!

XCIX.

For kings and queens may pass away and mingle with the dust,

And councillors and warriors brave in whom they put their trust;

And others may in turn arise succeeding to their fame,

And their memorial perish too with many a noble name.

C.

But thine, methinks, shall still survive alike on either shore,
And two great nations muse on thee till time shall be no more;
And in the ears of heedless ones in every clime and zone

Thy mystic life shall speak, perforce, in loud and clarion tone.

[graphic]

A LIFE'S LESSONS FOR COURT AND COUNTRY.

HEN clearly sound your trumpet notes ye mystic seven-ten years:
Speak to the souls of scoffing ones and speak in hardened ears:
And grovelling, clay-bound, carnal ones raise up from earth to Heaven,
And blast their adamantine hearts, ye ten years and ye seven!

CIT.

Speak in the ears of potentates wherever they bear sway,

And tell them of a King above Whom they must all obey; Though highly placed in earthly things, they are but subjects still, And bound by every loyal tie to do His sovereign will.

CIII.

Speak in the ears of princely ones of either blood or brain,

And bid them from all wild excess of flesh or mind refrain;
Nor by licentious word or act, nor by unhallow'd thought
Cast off the sacred God-wrought bonds in Revelation taught.

CIV.

Speak of the week's engagements upon its opening page:

Of six days' work and seventh day's rest speak on from age to age;
And speak with mighty thundering notes in tones to overawe
Of Sinai's two stone tables and of its tenfold Law.

CV.

Ye are yourselves a decalogue, ye ten mysterious years,

And through you all to minds devout the Royal Law appearsA Law so writ by God's own hand that he who runs may read, While sceptics and irrationalists can scarce forbear to heed.

CVI.

And like unto the angels seven that John in Patmos saw,

And who with their seven trumpets stood the Most High God before, Ye seven years clearly trumpet forth in His most holy Name, And truths His holy Word contains unanswerably proclaim.

CVII.

Ye speak of overwhelming bliss for souls through Christ made white,
But for the wicked nameless woe in starless, dawnless night:
Of "murderers" and of "sorcerers" and "filthy" ones and "liars,"
Impenitent of all their crimes, plunged in hell's quenchless fires.

CVIII.

SPEAK THEN, AS WELL, LIKE HER WHOSE LIPS CAN NEVER SPEAK AGAIN,

OF CHRIST THE SAVIOUR'S PRECIOUS BLOOD TO WASH AWAY SIN'S STAIN; AND WHERE SAD HEARTS ARE WRENCHED AND TORN WITH OVERWHELMING GRIEF, SPEAK OF THE MAN OF SORROWS WHO ALONE CAN GIVE RELIEF:

CIX.

AND ECHO THROUGH THE COMING YEARS THE VOICES OF THE PAST,

NOT ONCE OR TWICE, BUT YEAR BY YEAR, WHILE TIME ITSELF SHALL LAST, AND SOUND, AS WITH ARCHANGEL TRUMP, THE WORDS OF GOD IN HEAVEN, TO ALL THE NATIONS OF THE GLOBE, YE TEN YEARS AND YE SEVEN !

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