Forget him he will not forget,

But strive to live, and testify

Thy goodness, when Earth's sun has set, And Time itself rolled by.

1839.

ANGEL MEETINGS.

THERE is a faith in Eastern lands,
That, when true friends are torn apart,
Their angels who are here below,

To guard them through this world of woe, Do walk together still; and so

Heart communes still with heart.

In that belief I would believe,

Upon that holy faith would lean, And thus still bow before thy shrine, Still gaze upon thy light divine, And still my spirit learn of thine, Though mountains rise between.

1836.

A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN.

FRAGMENT OF A LETTER TO A STUDENT OF DIVINITY.

VOL. I.

I SEE you in some country town
On snug four hundred settled down,
And saving from your salary
What little surplus there may be,
To buy your wife a Christmas gown.

I see you through the rain, the snow,
Heat, cold, and mud, unwearied go
To visit every home of woe,

Sustain each drooping head;
Or when the mortal lies below,
Weep o'er the humble dead.

I see the fire; the cottage room,
Now all alight, and now all gloom,

As rise the flames or fall;

The simple meal; the honeycomb ;
The bread and butter, made at home;-
And you the lord of all.

I see the circle gather round,
I hear the silence so profound,
As bending, reverent, to the ground,
You pour the living prayer;
30

I see to rest your prattlers led,
With swimming eyes, back-turning head;
And when another hour is fled,

At nature's call, you haste to bed,
And I am with you there;

In other scenes and spheres you seem,
Of wider usefulness you dream,

And thirst for nobler care.

In unseen worlds far, far away,
Your accents pour increasing day,
And still chaotic strife;

Your fingers mould the plastic clay,—
You breathe the breath of life.

ON THE DEATH OF A YOUNG CHILD.

STAND back, uncovered stand, for lo!
The parents who have lost their child
Bow to the majesty of woe!

He came, a herald from above, —

Pure from his God he came to them,
Teaching new duties, deeper love;
And, like the boy of Bethlehem,
He grew in stature and in grace.
From the sweet spirit of his face
They learned a new, more heavenly joy,
And were the better for their boy.
But God hath taken whom he gave,
Recalled the messenger he sent;
And now beside the infant's grave
The spirit of the strong is bent.

But though the tears must flow, the heart
Ache with a vacant, strange distress,

Ye did not from your infant part

When his clear eye grew meaningless.
That eye is beaming still, and still
Upon his Father's errand he,