Droop not, though shame, sin, and anguish are round thee! Bravely fling off the cold chain that hath bound thee! Look to yon pure heaven smiling beyond thee! Rest not content in thy darkness, -a clod! Work—for some good, be it ever so slowly; Cherish some flower, be it ever so lowly: Labor!-all labor is noble and holy: Let thy great deeds be thy prayer to thy God. KATE PUTNAM OSGOOD. BEFORE THE PRIME. You think you love me, Marguerite, Ah, were it so! But listen, dear! When April's violets, here and there, To show, you said, that spring was come. But, sweetheart, when the lavish May Rained flowers and fragrance round your way, You had no thought her bloom to bring, To prove the presence of the spring! Believe me, when Love's April-time DRIVING HOME THE COWS. OUT of the clover and blue-eyed grass He turned them into the river lane; One after another he let them pass, Then fastened the meadow - bars again. And the old man's tremulous, pal- And worn and pale, from the crisp sied arm ing hair, Looked out a face that the father knew. For southern prisons will sometimes ARTHUR O'SHAUGHNESSY. SONG OF A FELLOW-WORKER. I FOUND a fellow-worker when I deemed I toiled alone: My toil was fashioning thought and sound, and his was hewing stone; I worked in the palace of my brain, he in the common street; And it seemed his toil was great and hard, while mine was great and sweet. I said, "O fellow-worker, yea, for I am a worker too, The heart nigh fails me many a day, but how is it with you? "I carve the marble of pure thought until the thought takes form, "And yet for days it seems my heart shall blossom never more, Therefore, O hewer of the stones that pave base human ways, Then he replied: "Ere sunrise, when the pale lips of the day "The sun grew on the world, and on my soul the thought grew too, — I felt the world's whole burden for a moment, then began "I went forth hastily, and lo! I met a hundred men, "Each passed me with a dauntless look, and my undaunted eyes 66 They passed me, having faith in me, and in our several ways, I felt their mighty hands at work, and, as the days wore through, "Perhaps they felt, as with those hands they lifted mightily "And so we toil together many a day from morn till night, "And 't is not wholly mine or theirs, I think of through the day, Made fair with all their nobler toil, built of my common stones. "Then noonward, as the task grows light with all the labor done, "But when the evening comes, indeed, the words have taken wing, THE HIGHER GOOD. FATHER, I will not ask for wealth or fame, Though once they would have joyed my carnal sense; I shudder not to bear a hated name, Wanting all wealth, myself my sole defence. But give me, Lord, eyes to behold the truth; A seeing sense that knows the eternal right; A heart with pity filled, and gentlest ruth; A manly faith that makes all darkness light. [kind; Give me the power to labor for manMake me the mouth of such as THOMAS PARNELL. HYMN TO CONTENTMENT. LOVELY, lasting Peace of mind! Sweet delight of human kind! Heavenly-born, and bred on high, To crown the favorites of the sky With more of happiness below, Than victors in a triumph know! Whither, O whither art thou fled, To lay thy meek, contented head ? What happy region dost thou please To make the seat of calms and ease? Ambition searches all its sphere Of pomp and state, to meet thee there. Increasing avarice would find Thy presence in its gold enshrined. The bold adventurer ploughs his way Through rocks amidst the foaming sea To gain thy love; and then perceives Sees daisies open, rivers run, Lovely, lasting Peace, appear! The branches whisper as they waved; It seemed as all the quiet place. Confessed the presence of her grace. When thus she spoke - "Go rule thy will, Bid thy wild passions all be still, Know God-and bring thy heart to know The joys which from religion flow: Then every grace shall prove its guest, And I'll be there to crown the rest. Oh! by yonder mossy seat, In my hours of sweet retreat, Might I thus my soul employ With sense of gratitude and joy: Raised as ancient prophets were, In heavenly vision, praise, and prayer; Pleasing all men, hurting none, With all the colors of delight; The sun that walks his airy way, To light the world, and give the day: The moon that shines with borrowed |