Already toward a brighter sphere Hinder them not! - even Love may spare In blindness many a wayward shoot, Or weakly let the usurping tare Divert the health-stream from their root; Oh! by that negligence supine Which oft the fairest page doth blot, And shroud the ray, of light divine, Awhile from these young hearts restrain; Oh spare that unsuspicious smile Which never may return again; By folly's wile, by falsehood's kiss Too soon acquir'd, too late forgot, By sins that shut the soul from bliss, Hinder them not. IV. Mrs Sigourney. HAPPY were they, the mothers, in whose sight Of heavenly beauty, a transmitted light Hung on your brows and eyelids, meekly bright, Through all the after years, which saw ye move, Lowly, yet still majestic, in the might, The conscious glory of the Saviour's love! And honor'd be all childhood, for the sake Of that high love! Let reverential care Watch to behold the immortal spirit wake, And shield its first bloom from unholy air; Owning, in each young suppliant glance, the sign Of claims upon a heritage divine. PARABLE OF THE Mrs Hemans. LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD. "Why stand ye here idle?" - Matthew xx. 6. THE God of Glory walks his round, 'Ye whose young cheeks are rosy bright, Whose hands are strong, whose hearts are clear, Waste not of hope the morning light! Ah fools! why stand ye idle here? 'Oh, as the griefs ye would assuage That wait on life's declining year, Secure a blessing for your age, And work your Maker's business here! • And ye, whose locks of scanty gray Foretell latest travail near, your How swiftly fades your worthless day! 'One hour remains, there is but one! O Thou, by all thy works adored, And grant us grace to please thee here! Heber. LIFE AND DEATH. "Be not afraid of them that kill the body."- Luke xii. 4. O fear not thou to die! But rather fear to live; for Life Brief is the work of Death; But Life! the spirit shrinks to see How full ere Heaven recalls the breath, O fear not thou to die! No more to suffer or to sin; No snares without thy faith to try, But fear, O! rather fear The gay, the light, the changeful scene, The flattering smiles that greet thee here, From Heaven thy heart that wean. Fear lest in evil hour, Thy pure and holy hope o'ercome O fear not thou to die! To die, and be that blessed one, Who, in the bright and beauteous sky, Who feels that never more The tear of grief or shame shall come, THE RICH MAN. "Then whose shall those things be that thou hast provided?"-Luke xii. 20. THOU hast a fair domain, Most proud and princely halls, And richly thro' the crystal pane, Thro' bowering branches fresh with rain, The golden sunbeam falls, Thick vine-leaves o'er thy grotto meet In soft and fragrant bloom, But who shall fill that favorite seat When thou art in thy tomb? The wealth of every age Thou hast concentred here, The ancient tome, the classic page, All at thy nod appear; |