THE TULIP AND THE EGLANTINE.

135

“I am cheerful, young man," Father William replied, "Let the cause thy attention engage;

In the days of my youth I remember'd my GoD,
And He hath not forgotten my age."

SOUTHEY.

THE TULIP AND THE EGLANTINE.

THE Tulip called to the Eglantine,

"Good neighbor, I hope you see

How the throngs that visit the gardens come,
And pay their respects to me.

The florist bows to my elegant form,

And praises my rainbow ray,

Till I'm half afraid, through his raptured eyes
He'll be gazing his soul away."

"It may be so," said the Eglantine,

"In a shadier nook I dwell,

And what is passing among the great

I cannot know so well;

But they speak of me as the FLOWER OF LOVE;
And that low whispered name,

Is dearer to me and my infant buds,
Than the loudest breath of fame."

MRS. SIGOURNEY.

THE BLIND BOY'S LAMENT.

O SAY what is that thing called light,
Which I must ne'er enjoy?
What are the blessings of the sight?
O tell your poor Blind Boy!

You talk of wondrous things you see;
You say the sun shines bright;
I feel him warm, but how can he
Or make it day or night?

My day or night myself I make,
When'er I sleep or play,

And could I always keep awake,
With me 't were always day.

With heavy sighs I often hear
You mourn my hapless woe;
But sure with patience I can bear
A loss I ne'er can know.

Then let not what I cannot have
My cheer of mind destroy;
While thus I sing, I am a king,
Although a poor Blind Boy.

CIBBER.

THE POOR WIDOW.

137

THE POOR WIDOW.

I knew a widow very poor,
Who four small children had;
The oldest was but six years old,
A gentle, modest lad.

And very hard this widow toiled
To feed her children four;
A noble heart the mother had,
Though she was very poor.

To labor she would leave her home,
For children must be fed;

And glad was she when she could buy
A shilling's worth of bread.

And this was all the children had

On any day to eat:

They drank their water, ate their bread,

But never tasted meat.

One day, when snow was falling fast,
And piercing was the air,

I thought that I would go and see

How these poor children were.

Ere long I reached their cheerless home-
'T was searched by every breeze—
When, going in, the eldest child
I saw upon his knees.

I paused to listen to the boy:
He never raised his head,
But still went on, and said, "Give us,
This day our daily bread.”

I waited till the child was done,
Still listening as he prayed;
And when he rose, I asked him why
That prayer he then had said.

"Why, sir," said he, "this morning when

My mother went away,

She wept, because she said she had
No bread for us to-day.

"She said we children now must starve,
Our father being dead;

And then I told her not to cry,
For I would get some bread.

"Our Father,' sir, the prayer begins,
Which made me think that He,

As we have no kind father here,
Would our kind Father be.

66 MOTHER, WHAT IS DEATH?"

"And then you know, sir, that the prayer Asks God for bread each day;

So, in the corner, sir, I went,

And that's what made me pray."

I quickly left that wretched room,
And went with fleeting feet,
And very soon was back again
With food enough to eat.

"I thought GoD heard me," said the boy,
I answered with a nod;

I could not speak, but much I thought
Of that boy's faith in GOD.

139

DR. HAWKS.

"MOTHER, WHAT IS DEATH?”

"Mother, how still the baby lies!
I cannot hear his breath;
I cannot see his laughing eyes-
They tell me this is death.

66

'My little work I thought to bring,
And sat down by his bed,
And pleasantly I tried to sing-

They hushed me, he is dead!