Why heed they not the roses ? Why list they not the birds? Do naught but honied words A fuller, sweeter music Falls gently on her ears, Her heart beats quick with gladness, As love's own voice she hears, To think what deep affection Will henceforth be her own; What passionate devotion Is breathed in each low tone! No passing doubt, no shadow She meets his speaking gaze:- Again, it is an evening For promises of love; Again, the azure heavens Smile cloudlessly above; 'Mid their blue depths the sky-lark Sings blithely, as of yore, And the rose's graceful beauty Is fragrant as before. Again, the sun-light's brightness Grows dim on wood and stream, And the flush of summer-glory Fades like a parting dream; Again, the dewy moisture Each drooping flower-cup fills, And the richest breath of fragrance From jasmine-stars distils. S. S.-VOL. III. ENAMOURED DAYS. And again the lovely lady Rests on the rustic seat; The wild bees' hum is round her, But, oh! how changed, how faded, Yet all their light has fled; He whom she fondly trusted Of all her golden visions Not a gleam is left behind. From every joyous scene; Of bright hours that have been. Yet cease to mourn, sweet maiden, Thy lonely sorrow cannot The buried Past restore. Lift up thy gentle spirit Earth's fleeting joys above; And peace shall re-awaken Think of the pearly city, Where every woe shall cease; And not a shade of sadness Again pass o'er thy soul. 2 G 117 Look up, then, tearful maiden! Time's years are flitting fast, Will soon be overpast. Look cheerfully above; Waiting till thou inherit A changeless life of love. HIGH-STREET, BELFAST. FEW counties offer to the tourist in Ireland so many objects of interest as he may find in the county of Antrim. The two natural curiosities, par excellence, which distinguish this generally fertile district, are the magnificent Lough Neagh, with its petrifying waters; a sheet of water, which, with the exception of the lakes of Ladoga, Onega, and Geneva, is the largest in Europe; and the widely-celebrated Giant's Causeway, with its marvellous basaltic pillars, to be reckoned by hundreds of thousands. With "The Giant's Causeway," however, Belfast has no immediate connection; but over the beauty of Lough Neagh, which has, in fact, been rendered, by commercial skill and enterprise, subservient to the prosperity of that thriving sea-port, we may be permitted to linger for a moment :— "The Lake its holiday-attire has on; In each gradation, from the deepening red, The waters wear one universal smile! No sound of sorrow ventures to intrude On the rapt ear of listening Quietude. The weary wind has laid him down to rest, And all is peaceful as an angel's breast. "From countless kelp-kilns, shining round the shore, And still, like trees, outspreading as they grow, Till their blue columns gain the upper air And presently are lost in splendour there. O'er the tranced wave what rapid changes roll, And charm with rare variety the soul! Traversed between with wandering veins of blue |