IMPROMPTU, OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF HENRY JANSEN, ESQ.* JANSEN, the wish was thine, to view To scan the scenes that genius true Hath sketched with more than fancy's gloom. Fate heard the prayer, 'twas worthy one Longing for immortality; And suddenly, thy labour done, Yet shall not terror o'er thee rule, *This gentleman having purchased a ticket of admission to Peale's Painting of "the Court of Death," exhibiting in the Capitol at Albany, while in the act of crossing the threshold leading to the room, fell down and instantly expired. WHY WEEPEST THOU? DOTH gloomy fate, with sullen frown Hast thou the draught of misery known O, soon that sad and cheerless gloom Then why should sorrow wring thy brow? Doth tender love bedeck the bier, To heaven and GOD returned? The beauteous flower, that charms the eye, And decks the smiling plain, 4 With winter's blast, doth fade, and die, But dies to bloom again; Then why should sorrow wring thy brow? Say mourner, say, "why weepest thou?" THE SOUTH AMERICAN'S HYMN. HARK, hark, I hear the hallow sound Symphonious accents murmuring round, At Panma's shrine with Ave-Marie, Their beads the sisters tell; They bless the sacred rosary At sound of vesper bell. The choral wakes the virgin song, In strains that wo dispel; It mingles with devotion's throng, Called by the vesper bell. How sweet the thrilling chant of praise, How rich the vocal swell; How blessed the solemn vow to raise, And while we bend with kindling love, Doth not some whisper tell, That 'mid the vaulted arch above Is heard the vesper bell? Yes, well we know, before that shrine Whose flame doth night dispel, The Cherub bows with joy divine, TO THE NORTH STAR. BRIGHT Star, while thou thy lonely way Pursu'st in yon expanse of blue, Thy gem-like form and steady ray Attract the heedless peasant's view, And his, whose thoughts to unknown regions stray. Full oft the wanderer, fortune's child, That tells of happiness and home, And guides him onward 'mid the trackless wild. Oft, too, the sea-boy marks thy beam, Lulls the wrapt soul in fancy's pleasing dream. |