Adam and Eve in Paradise.
ow came still evening on, and twilight grey Had in her sober livery all things clad; Silence accompanied; for beast and birdThey to their grassy couch, these to their nests Were slunk-all but the wakeful nightingale ; She all night long her amorous descant sung; Silence was pleased. Now glowed the firmament With living sapphires: Hesperus, that led The starry host, rode brightest, till the moon, Rising in clouded majesty, at length,— Apparent queen,-unveiled her peerless light And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw. When Adam thus to Eve:
Of night, and all things now retired to rest,
Mind us of like repose; since God hath set
Labour and rest, as day and night, to men
Successive; and the timely dew of sleep,
Now falling with soft slumb'rous weight, inclines
Our eyelids other creatures all day long
Rove idle, unemployed, and less need rest;
Man hath his daily work of body or mind
Appointed, which declares his dignity,
And the regard of Heaven on all his ways;
While other animals unactive range,
And of their doings God takes no account.
To-morrow, ere fresh morning streak the east
With first approach of light, we must be risen,
And at our pleasant labour, to reform
Yon flowery arbours; yonder alleys green,
Our walk at noon, with branches overgrown,
That mock our scant manuring, and require
More hands than ours to lop their wanton growth:
Those blossoms also, and those dropping gums,
That lie bestrewn, unsightly and unsmooth,
Ask riddance, if we mean to tread with ease;
Meanwhile, as Nature wills, night bids us rest."
To whom thus Eve, with perfect beauty
'dorn'd :-
"My author and disposer, what thou bidd'st,
Unargued I obey: so God ordains.-
God is thy law, thou mine: to know no more
Is woman's happiest knowledge, and her praise.
With thee conversing, I forget all time;
All seasons, and their change-all please alike.
Sweet is the breath of morn-her rising sweet,
With charm of earliest birds; pleasant the sun,
When first on this delightful land he spreads
His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,
Glistering with dew; fragrant the fertile earth
After soft showers; and sweet the coming on
Of grateful evening mild; then silent night,
With this her solemn bird, and this fair moon,
And these the gems of heaven, her starry train :-
But neither breath of morn, when she ascends
With charm of earliest birds; nor rising sun
On this delightful land; nor herb, fruit, flower,
Glistering with dew; nor fragrance after showers;
Nor grateful evening mild; nor silent night,
With this her solemn bird; nor walk by moon,
Or glittering star-light, without thee is sweet!"
OTHER WRITINGS.-The Wanderer of Switzerland; The West Indies; The World before the Flood; Greenland; The Pelican Island.
HERE is a land of every land the pride, Beloved by Heaven o'er all the world beside; Where brighter suns dispense serener light, And milder moons emparadise the night; A land of beauty, virtue, valour, truth, Time-tutor'd age, and love-exalted youth: The wandering mariner, whose eye explores The wealthiest isles, the most enchanting shores, Views not a realm so bountiful and fair, Nor breathes the spirit of a purer air;
In every clime the magnet of his soul,
Touch'd by remembrance, trembles to that pole;
For in this land of Heaven's peculiar grace,
The heritage of Nature's noblest race,
There is a spot of earth supremely blest,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest,
Where Man, creation's tyrant, casts aside
His sword and sceptre, pageantry and pride,
While in his softened looks benignly blend
The sire, the son, the husband, brother, friend:
Here Woman reigns: the mother, daughter, wife,
Strews with fresh flowers the narrow way of life e;
In the clear heaven of her delightful eye,
An angel-guard of loves and graces lie;
Around her knees domestic duties meet,
And fireside pleasures gambol at her feet.
"Where shall that land, that spot of earth be found?"
Art thou a man?- -a patriot ?—look around;
O, thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam,
That land thy country, and that spot thy home!
The Visible Creation.
THE God of nature and of grace
In all His works appears;
His goodness through the earth we trace,
His grandeur in the spheres.
Behold this fair and fertile globe,
By Him in wisdom plann'd ;
"Twas He who girded, like a robe,
The ocean round the land.
Lift to the firmament your eye-
Thither His path pursue;
His glory, boundless as the sky,
O'erwhelms the wondering view.
He bows the heavens-the mountains stand
A highway for their God;
He walks amidst the desert land,—
"Tis Eden where He trod.
The forests in His strength rejoice;
Hark! on the evening breeze,
As once of old, the Lord God's voice,
Is heard among the trees.
Here, on the hills, He feeds his herds,
His flocks in yonder plains;
His praise is warbled by the birds;
Oh! could we catch their strains,
Mount with the lark, and bear our song
Up to the gates of light!
Or, with the nightingale, prolong
Our numbers through the night!
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