"O thou, that for our sins didst take A human form, and humbly make Thy home on earth;

Thou, that to thy divinity

A human nature didst ally
By mortal birth,

"And in that form didst suffer here
Torment, and agony, and fear,
So patiently;

By thy redeeming grace alone,
And not for merits of my own,
O, pardon me !"

As thus the dying warrior prayed,
Without one gathering mist or shade
Upon his mind;

Encircled by his family,

Watched by affection's gentle eye
So soft and kind;

His soul to Him, who gave it, rose;
God lead it to its long repose,
Its glorious rest!

Its light shall linger round us yet, Bright, radiant, blest.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD.

FROM THE SPANISH OF LOPE DE VEGA.

SHEPHERD! who with thine amorous, sylvan song

Hast broken the slumber that encompassed me,

Who mad'st thy crook from the accursed tree,

On which thy powerful arms were stretched so long!

Lead me to mercy's ever-flowing fountains;

For thou my shepherd, guard, and guide shalt be;

I will obey thy voice, and wait to see Thy feet all beautiful upon the mountains.

Hear, Shepherd! thou who for thy flock art dying,

O, wash away these scarlet sins, for

Its motion by no flight of wing is

equalled.

And when therefrom I had withdrawn a little

Mine eyes, that I might question my conductor,

Again I saw it brighter grown and

larger.

Thereafter, on all sides of it, appeared I knew not what of white, and underneath,

Little by little, there came forth another.

My master yet had uttered not a word, While the first whiteness into wings unfolded;

But, when he clearly recognized the pilot,

He cried aloud: "Quick, quick, and bow the knee !

Behold the Angel of God! fold up thy hands!

Henceforward shalt thou see such officers!

See, how he scorns all human arguments, So that no oar he wants, nor other sail Than his own wings, between so distant shores!

See, how he holds them, pointed straight

to heaven,

Fanning the air with the eternal pinions,

That do not moult themselves like mortal hair!"

And then, as nearer and more near us

came

The Bird of Heaven, more glorious he appeared,

So that the eye could not sustain his presence,

But down I cast it; and he came to shore

With a small vessel, gliding swift and light,

So that the water swallowed naught thereof.

Upon the stern stood the Celestial Pilot ! Beatitude seemed written in his face! And more than a hundred spirits sat within.

"In exitu Israel de Ægypto!"

Thus sang they all together in one voice,

With whatso in that Psalm is after

written.

them,

Whereat all cast themselves upon the

shore,

And he departed swiftly as he came.

FROM DANTE. PURGATORIO, XXX., XXXI.

EVEN as the Blessed, at the final summons,

Shall rise up quickened, each one from his grave,

Wearing again the garments of the flesh,

So, upon that celestial chariot,

A hundred rose ad vocem tanti senis,

Blown on and beaten by Sclavonian

winds,

And then, dissolving, filters through itself,

Whene'er the land, that loses shadow, breathes,

Like as a taper melts before a fire, Even such I was, without a sigh or tear, Before the song of those who chime forever

After the chiming of the eternal spheres ;

But, when I heard in those sweet melodies

Compassion for me, more than had they said,

"O wherefore, lady, dost thou thus consume him?

The ice, that was about my heart congealed,

To air and water changed, and, in my anguish,

Through lips and eyes came gushing from my breast.

nal.

Forced such a feeble "Yes!" out of

and the rain;

And they shrink away, and they flee in

fear,