And virgins of firm heart, and matrons grave, And savage men, who through the thickets peer But yon lone bark Hath spread her parting sail.— They crowd the strand, Is severed? Can ye tell what pangs were there, Long, with straining eye, They watch the lessening speck.-Heard ye no shriek Of anguish, when that bitter loneliness Sank down into their bosoms?-No! they turn There sprang a rooted and mysterious strength,— Of slain affections, when they rise between And can ye deem it strange That froin their planting such a branch should bloom. As nations envy ?-Would a germ, embalmed With prayer's pure tear-drops, strike no deeper root Upon the winds, to reap the winds again? Of greedy Europe, their bold vine spread forth Its early clusters, crushed In England's wine-press, gave the tyrant host A draught of deadly wine.-O, ye who boast The Coral Grove. PERCIVAL. DEEP in the wave is a coral grove, Where the purple mullet and gold-fish rove, Where the sea-flower spreads its leaves of blue, That never are wet with falling dew, But in bright and changeful beauty shine, Far down in the green and glassy brine. The floor is of sand, like the mountain drift, And the pearl shells spangle the flinty snow; From coral rocks the sea plants lift Their boughs, where the tides and billows flow; For the winds and the waves are absent there, In the motionless fields of upper air: There, with its waving blade of green, The sea-flag streams through the silent water, To blush like a banner bathed in slaughter: There, with a light and easy motion, The fan-coral sweeps through the clear deep sea; Are bending like corn on the upland lea: Is sporting amid those bowers of stone, And is safe, when the wrathful Spirit of storms, Then, far below, in the peaceful sea, Hebrew Melody.-MRS. J. G. BROOKS. FROM the hall of our fathers in anguish we fled, For the breath of the Siroc has blasted our name, His robe was the whirlwind, his voice was the thunder, The mantle of midnight had shrouded the sky, O Judah! how long must thy weary ones weep, To a Child.-ANONYMOUS. "The memory of thy name, dear one, Linked with a thousand hopes and fears, THINGS of high import sound I in thine ears, Dear child, though now thou may'st not feel their power. But hoard them up, and in thy coming years Forget them not; and when earth's tempests lower, A talisman unto thee shall they be, To give thy weak arm strength, to make thy dim eye see. Seek TRUTH-that pure, celestial Truth, whose birth But her majestic port the willing mind, Through faith, may sometimes see. Give her thy soul, Nor faint, though error's surges loudly 'gainst thee roll Be FREE-not chiefly from the iron chain, But from the one which passion forges; be The rule o'er chance, sense, circumstance. Be free. Seek VIRTUE. Wear her armor to the fight; Seek Virtue; she alone is all divine; And, having found, be strong in God's own strength and thine. TRUTH-FREEDOM-VIRTUE-these, dear child, have power, If rightly cherished, to uphold, sustain, And bless thy spirit, in its darkest hour: Neglect them-thy celestial gifts are vainIn dust shall thy weak wing be dragged and soiled; Thy soul be crushed 'neath gauds for which it basely toiled. The Western World.-BRYANT. LATE, from this western shore, that morning chased Fled at the glancing plume, and the gaunt wolf yelled near. And where his willing waves yon bright blue bay And cradles, in his soft embrace, the gay Lifts the white throng of sails, that bear or bring The commerce of the world-with tawny limb, And belt and beads in sunlight glistening, The savage urged his skiff like wild bird on the wing. Then, all his youthful paradise around, And all the broad and boundless mainland, lay Cooled by the interminable wood, that frowned O'er mound and vale, where never summer ray Glanced, till the strong tornado broke his way Through the gray giants of the sylvan wild; Yet many a sheltered glade, with blossoms gay, Beneath the showery sky and sunshine mild, Within the shaggy arms of that dark forest smiled. There stood the Indian hamlet, there the lake Spread its blue sheet, that flashed with many an oar, Where the brown otter plunged him from the brake, And the deer drank-as the light gale flew o'er, The twinkling maize-field rustled on the shore; And while that spot, so wild, and lone, and fair, A look of glad and innocent beauty wore, And peace was on the earth and in the air, The warrior lit the pile, and bound his captive there: Not unavenged-the foeman, from the wood, Beheld the deed, and, when the midnight shade Was stillest, gorged his battle-axe with blood; All died-the wailing babe-the shrieking maidAnd in the flood cf fire that scathed the glade, The roofs went down ; but deep the silence grew When on the dewy woods the day-beam played; No more the cabin smokes rose wreathed and blue, And ever by their lake lay moored the light canoe. Look now abroad-another race has filled These populous borders-wide the wood recedes, And towns shoot up, and fertile realms are tilled; The land is full of harvests and green meads; Streams numberless, that many a fountain feeds, Shine, disembowered, and give to sun and breeze Their virgin waters; the full region leads New colonies forth, that toward the western seas Spread, like a rapid flame among the autumnal trees. |