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MY NATIVE VILLAGE.

HAIL to the valley, and mist-mantled mountain,
The scenes of my childhood, to memory dear;
Hail to the cot, by the favourite fountain,
Where simplicity dwells, with affection sincere.

O long have I wandered, a stranger to pleasure,
In search of its shadow, self-exiled to roam;
But ne'er in yon climes, have I found the rich treasure,
It dwells unconcealed in my own native home.

How often, soft slumber my eye-lids enclosing,
With joy to the streamlet and dell would I fly;
And fancy, on scenes of affection reposing,

Dwelt there with pure transport, but woke with a sigh.

O dear to the soul is the secret emotion,
When fond recollections its impulses move;

And sweet is the tear which the heart's true devotion
Bestows to the memory of infancy's love.

Here fain would I wander, a stranger to sorrow,
Where the woodbine entwines, and the wild-roses bloom;
Confiding with heaven the cares of the morrow,
'Till the blush of life's twilight shall rest on my tomb.

Hail to the valley, and mist-mantled mountain,
The scenes of my childhood, to memory dear;
Hail to the cot, by the favourite fountain,
Where simplicity dwells, with affection sincere.

JULY, 1818.

15*

VERSES

TO A YOUNG FRIEND, WITH A POCKET TESTAMENT.

THE charter of a nation's weal
Is dear to every patriot heart,
And he that scorns its sacred seal
In freedom's flame can share no part;

To young desire, how choice the deed
That crowns the wishes of the heir;
How earnest, anxious, is his heed
That naught shall the bequest impair;

But dearer than the chartered scroll
That stamps a rising nation free;
Dearer than riches, to the soul,
Is the bequest of Deity.

This guides the weary wanderer's way,

This tells of a Redeemer's name;

And he that on its truths doth stay,

Shall smile when worlds are wrapt in flame.

1820.

THE CROSS.

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SYMBOL of shame-mysterious sign
Of groans, and agonies, and blood,
Hail, pledge of love, of peace divine,
From God.

Symbol of hope to those that stray,-
The pilgrim's vow ascends to thee;
Star of the soul, thou guid'st the way

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Symbol of tears-we look, and mourn

His woes, whose soul for man was riven; Where, wanderer, is thy due return

To heaven?

Symbol of empire-thou shalt rise

And shine, where lands in darkness sit, On eastern domes that greet the skies And minaret.

Symbol of glory-when no more
The monarch grasps his diadem,

Thou still shalt burn, while worlds adore
Immanuel's gem.

SHALL HE UNBAR?

SnALL he unbar the gates of death,

And walk in renovated bloom,

Who now, deprived of quickening breath,

Sleeps in the quiet of the tomb?

Shall he revive to dawning light,

Who lowly seeks his bed in clay;
Burst the corroding bands of night;.
Whom the dull worm hath made his prey?

Shall he regard the vernal suns
That bid the lily deck his grave;
Or from his last cold resting place
Start, while the wintry tempests rave?

Cease mortal! cease the idle strife,
Of precedence and boasted power;
Cease, till these add to fleeting life,
Till these retard the final hour.

MAY, 1821.

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