182

"Sweet Vale of Avoca."
(The Meeting of the Waters.)

HERE is not in the wide world a valley so sweet

THERE

As the vale in whose bosom the bright waters

meet;

Oh, the last rays of feeling and life must depart, Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart, Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart, 2 Yet it was not that nature had shed o'er the scene, Her purest of crystal and brightest of green;

'Twas not the soft magic of streamlet or hill!

Oh! no-it was something more exquisite still. 3 'Twas that friends, the beloved of my bosom, were

near,

Who made ev'ry dear scene of enchantment more dear; And who felt how the best charms of nature improve, When we see them reflected from looks that we love. 4 Sweet vale of Avoca! how calm could I rest

In thy bosom of shade, with the friends I love best; Where the storms which we feel in this cold world should cease,

And our hearts, like thy waters, be mingled in peace.

183

HOS

Мн

"Those Evening Bells."

OSE evening bells; those evening bells!
How many a tale their music tells,

Of youth, and home, and that sweet time
When last I heard their soothing chime.
2 Those joyous hours are pass'd away,
And many a heart, that then was gay,
Within the tomb now darkly dwells,
And hears no more those evening bells.
3 And so 'twill be when I am gone,
That tuneful peal will still ring on,
While other bards shall walk these dells,
And sing your praise, sweet evening bells

MOORE.

MOORE.

184

185

"We have been Friends together."
E have been friends together,

In sunshine and in shade,

Since first beneath the chesnut trees
In infancy we played;

But coldness dwells within thy heart,
A cloud is on thy brow,
We have been friends together,
Shall a light word part us now?
We have been friends together,
Shall a light word part us now?
2 We have been gay together,

We've laughed at little jests,
For the fount of hope was gushing
Warm and joyous in our breasts :
But laughter now hath fled thy lip
And sullen glooms thy brow;
We have been gay together,

Shall a light word part us now?
We have been gay together,
Shall a light word part us now?

3 We have been sad together,
We've wept with bitter tears

O'er the grass-green graves where mouldering

The hopes of early years.

The voices which are silent there
Would bid thee clear thy brow;

We have been sad together,

Oh! what shall part us now?

"Poor Dog Tray."

[laid

HON. MRS. NORTON.

ON the green banks of Shannon, when Sheelah

was nigh,

No blithe Irish lad was so happy as I,

No harp like my own could so cheerfully play,
And wherever I went was my poor dog Tray.
When at last I was forc'd from my Sheelah to part
She said (while the sorrow was big at her heart),

"Oh! remember your Sheelah when far, far away, And be kind, my dear Pat, to your poor dog Tray.' 2 Poor dog, he was faithful and kind, to be sure,

And constantly loved me, although I was poor; When the sour-looking folk sent me heartless away, I had always a friend in my poor dog Tray. When the road was so dark, and the night was so cold, And Pat and his dog were grown weary and old, How snugly we slept in my old coat of grey,

And he licked me for kindness, my poor dog Tray.

3 Though my wallet was scant I remembered his case,
Nor refused my last crust to his pitiful face;
But he died at my feet, on a cold winter day,
And I played a lament for my poor dog Tray.
Where now shall I go, poor, forsaken, and blind?
Can I find one to guide me so faithful and kind
To my sweet native village, so far, far away,
I can never return with my poor dog Tray.

186

"If I were a Sunbeam."

IF I were a sunbeam,

I know what I would do;
I'd seek the whitest lilies
The rainy woodland through:
Stealing in among them,
The softest light I'd shed,
Until each grateful lily
Raised its drooping head.

2 If I were a sunbeam,

I know where I would go;
Into the lowliest hovels,

All dark with want and woe;
Till sad hearts look upward,

I there would shine and shine!
Then they would think of heaven,
Their sweet home and mine.

187

188

3 Art thou not a sunbeam,

A

"Angry Words."

LUCY LARCOM.

NGRY words are lightly spoken,
In a rash and thoughtless hour;
Brightest links of life are broken
By their deep insidious pow'r.
Hearts inspir'd by warmest feeling,
Ne'er before by anger stirr'd,
Oft are rent, past human feeling,
By a single angry word.

Chorus

Angry words are lightly spoken,
In a rash and thoughtless hour;
Brightest links of life are broken
By their deep insidious pow'r.
2 Poison-drops of care and sorrow,
Bitter poison-drops are they-
Weaving for the coming morrow
Saddest mem'ries of to-day.
Angry words; oh ! let them never
From the tongue unbridled slip,
May the heart's best impulse ever
Check them ere they soil the lip.
Angry words, &c.

A

HOPE AND JOY.

"All's for the Best."

LL'S for the best! Be sanguine and cheerful,
Trouble and sorrow are friends in disguise;

Nothing but folly goes faithless and fearful;
Courage for ever is happy and wise.
2 All's for the best! Be a man, but confiding,
Providence tenderly governs the rest,
And the frail bark of His creature is guiding
Wisely and warily. All's for the best!
3 All's for the best! Then fling away terrors,
Meet all your fears and your foes in the van,
And in the midst of your dangers and errors,

Trust like a child while you strive like a man. 4 All's for the best! For unbiassed, unbounded, Providence reigns from the east to the west, And by His wisdom and mercy surrounded, Hope and be happy that all's for the best!

PLEASAN

LEASANT smiles and glances bright
Are like pure and fragrant flow'rs,
Shedding round them loving light,
Cheering many weary hours.

2 Words of love from hearts sincere,
In this world of care and woe,
Are like springs in deserts clear,
Giving life where'er they flow.
3 Deeds of kindness done in love
Diamonds are in settings rare ;
In the realms of bliss above,

These the gems the blessed wear.
4 Looks, and words, and deeds of love,
Let us cherish them with care;
Travelling to our home above,-
Each his brother's burden bear..

MRS. MASON.

190

"There are Kind Hearts Everywhere."

CALL it not a desert bare,
This beauteous world below,