essons from the Gorse. Mrs. Browning. "To win the secret of a weed's plain heart." LOWELL. MOUNTAIN Gorses, ever golden! Cankered not the whole year long! Howsoever pricked and holden Trodden on by rain and snow p the hill-side of this life, as bleak as where ye grow? Do Mountain blossoms, shining blossoms! ye teach us to be glad When no Summer can be had Blooming in our inward bosoms? Ye, whom God preserveth still, Set as lights upon a hill, okens to the wintry earth, that Beauty liveth still ? LESSONS FROM THE GORSE. 269 Mountain Gorses, do ye teach us From that academic chair Canopied with azure air, That the first fruit Wisdom reaches Hath the hue of childly cheek? Ye, who live on mountain peak, Yet live low along the ground, beside the grasses meek! Mountain Gorses! since Linnæus Knelt beside you on the sod, For your beauty thanking God, For your beauty, ye should see us Bowing in prostration new,— Whence arisen, if one or two Drops be on our cheeks,-oh world! they are not tears, but dew. November. YET one smile more, departing, distant sun Bryant. air, One mellow smile through the soft vapory Shall murmur by the hedge that skirts the way, Yet one rich smile, and we will try to bear The piercing Winter frost, and winds, and darkened air. The Death of the Flowers. C. Bowles. HOW happily, how happily the flowers die away! Oh, could we but return to earth as easily as they! Just live a life of sunshine, of innocence and bloom, Then droop, without decrepitude or pain, into the tomb. The gay and glorious creatures! they neither toil nor spin. The young rejoicing creatures! their pleasures never fall, The happy, careless creatures! of Time they take no heed, Farewell to the Flowers. Mrs. L. H. Sigourney. Go to your peaceful rest, Friends of a brighter hour, Jewels on youthful Beauty's breast, Well have ye done your part We'll keep your memory in our heart Your gladness in our joy, Your smile beside our way, Your gentle service round the bed, Of sickness and decay; Your rainbow on the clouds, Your sympathy in pain. We'll keep the memory of your deeds Until we meet again. |