To meet thy smiles of tenderness, Of kindness, ever breathed to bless, To mark thy strength each hour decay, SONG OF THE ZEPHYR SPIRIT. BY W. G. SIMMS. I COME from the deeps where the mermaiden twines, And the strain, as it rose, glided upward with me; Thou hast dreamed-hast thou not?-of those wavegirdled bowers, Where all that can win the heart, beams on the sight: Where life is a frolic through fancies and flowers, And the soul lives in dreams of a lasting delight. Thou wouldst win what thy dreams have long brought to thy view, Thou wouldst dwell with the moon that now beams upon thee; To the fears of the earth-to its cares, bid adieu, With my breath I will fan thee when noonday is nigh, The gentlest of mermaids will lull thee to sleep; She will watch by thy couch when the sun passes by, Nor fly when the moon leaves her home in the deep. Each joy thou hast sighed for, shall there be thine own, The sorrows of time from thy slumbers shall flee; Then come with me-win all the pleasures I've shown, Come, rest in the coral grove, deep in the sea. SEE IN DISTANCE MILDLY GLEAMING. BY JAMES H. CLAIBORNE. SEE in distance mildly gleaming, Summer's parting ray, Forest nigh where two are dreaming; He has left a couch of sorrow Wilt thou be mine own to-morrow, Oft he sued and oft was slighted, Praying day by day, Yet his hope was ever blighted By that flower of May. That flower faded-she's alone, He is far away; No one's there to hear thy moan, Fickle flower of May. 10* AROUSE YE, GAY COMRADES. BY THOMAS POWER. AROUSE ye, gay comrades, the waves sparkle bright, Then gather, gay comrades, the winds gently blow, To the boat! to the boat! pleasure calls us away, GOD BLESS AMERICA. BY ROBERT M. BIRD. GOD bless the land that gave us birth! And where's the land like ours can brave And find no son of hers a slave? God bless America! God bless the land, the land beloved, God bless the land that gave us birth, For liberty our grandsires trod The wide and stormy sea; Our fathers bought it with their blood. And free, amid earth's servile hordes, With ploughshares turned in war to swordsGod bless America. God bless the land, &c. The desert howled-the pilgrims came, The desert blossomed, and the flame Of freedom rose again. And here, where hearts of fire are born, That flame shall ne'er decay, While babes laugh kings and slaves to scornGod bless America. God bless the land, &c. And from our land, in hour of need, And strike the traitor down. |