OH! SNATCH'D AWAY IN BEAUTY'S BLOQM.

OR! snatch'd away in beauty's bloom,
On thee shall press no ponderous tomb ;

But on thy turf shall roses rear

Their leaves, the earliest of the year, And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom :

And oft by yon blue gushing stream

Shall sorrow lean her drooping head,
And feed deep thought with many a dream,

And lingering pause, and lightly tread,
Fond wretch ! as if her step disturb’d the dead!

Away! we know that tears are vain,

That death nor heeds nor hears distress :
Will this unteach us to complain ?

Or make one mourner weep the less?
And thou—who tell’st me to forget,
Thy looks are wan,

thine

eyes are wet.

MY SOUL IS DARK,

My soul is dark.-Oh! quickly string

The harp I yet can brook to hear ; And let thy gentle fingers fling

Its melting murmurs o'er mine ear. If in this heart a hope be dear,

That sound shall charm it forth again ; If in these eyes there lurk a tear, ’T will flow, and cease to burn my

brain:

But bid the strain be wild and deep,

Nor let thy notes of joy be first; I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep,

Or else this heavy heart will burst ; For it hath been by sorrow nurst,

And ached in sleepless silence long; And now 't is doom'd to know the worst,

And break at once-or yield to song.

I SAW THEE WEEP.

I saw thee weep, the big bright tear

Came o'er that eye of blue ;
And then methought it did appear

A violet dropping dew:
I saw thee smile—the sapphire's blaze

Beside thee ceased to shine;
It could not match the living rays

That fill?d that glance of thine.

As clouds from yonder sun receive

A deep and mellow dye,
Which scarce the shade of coming eve

Can banish from the sky,
Those smiles unto the moodiest mind

Their own pure joy impart ;
Their sunshine leaves a glow behind

That lightens o’er the heart.

THY DAYS ARE DONE.

The days are done, thy fame begun;

Thy country's strains record
The triumphs of her chosen son,

The slaughters of his sword!
The deeds he did, the fields he won,

The freedom he restored!

Though thou art fall’n, while we are free

Thou shalt not taste of death! The generous blood that flow'd from thee

Disdain'd to sinķ beneath : Within our veins its currents be,

Thy spirit on our breath!

Thy name, our charging hosts along,

Shall be the battle-word!
Thy fall, the theme of choral song

From virgin voices pour'd !
To weep would do thy glory wrong;

Thou shalt not be deplored.

SONG OF SAUL BEFORE HIS LAST BATTLE.

WARRIORS and chiefs ! should the shaft or the sword
Pierce me in leading the host of the Lord,
Heed not the corse, though a king's, in your path :

steel in the bosoms of Gath!

Bury your

Thou who art bearing my buckler and bow,
Should the soldiers of Saul look away from the foe,
Stretch me that moment in blood at thy feet !
Mine be the doom which they dared not to meet.

Farewell to others, but never we part,
Heir to my royalty, son of my

heart!
Bright is the diadem, boundless the sway,
Or kingly the death, which awaits us to-day!

SAUL.

Thou whose spell can raise the dead,

Bid the prophet's form appear.
Samuel, raise thy buried head !

King, behold the phantom seer !”
Earth yawn'd; he stood the centre of a cloud :
Light changed its hue, retiring from his shroud.
Death stood all glassy in his fixed eye ;
His hand was wither'd, and his veins were dry;
His foot, in bony whiteness, glitter'd there,
Shrunken and sinewless, and ghastly bare :
From lips that moved not and unbreathing frame,
Like cavern'd winds, the hollow accents came.
Saul

saw, and fell to earth, as falls the oak, At once, and blasted by the thunder-stroke.

“Why is my sleep disquieted ?
Who is he that calls the dead?
Is it thou, oh king? Behold,
Bloodless are these limbs, and cold :
Such are mine; and such shall be
Thine, to-morrow, when with me :
Ere the couring day is done,
Such shalt thou be, such thy son.

Fare thee well, but for a day;
Then we mix our mouldering clay.
Thou, thy race, lie pale and low,
Pierced by shafts of many a bow;
And the falchion by thy side
To thy heart thy hand shall guide :
Crownless, breathless, headless fall,
Son and sire, the house of Saul !”

“ALL IS VANITY, SAITH THE PREACHER,"

FAME, wisdom, love, and power were mine,

And health and youth possess'd me;
My goblets blush'd from every vine,

And lovely forms caress'd me;
I sunn'd my heart in beauty's eyes,

And felt my soul grow tender ;
All earth can give, or mortal prize,

Was mine of regal splendour.

WHEN COLDNESS WRAPS THIS SUFFERING CLAY.

WHEN coldness

wraps

this suffering clay, Ah, whither strays the immortal mind? It cannot die, it cannot stay,

But leaves its darken'd dust behind. Then, unembodied, doth it trace

By steps each planet's heavenly way? Or Gill at once the realms of space,

A thing of eyes, that all survey?

Eternal, boundless, undecay'd,

A thought unseen, but seeing all, All, all in earth, or skies display'd,

Shall it survey, shall it recall : Each fainter trace that

memory

holds
So darkly of departed years,
In one broad glance the soul beholds,

And all, that was, at once appears.
Before creation peopled earth,
Its

eye shall roll through chaos back ; And where the furthest heaven had birth,

The spirit trace its rising track.
And where the future mars or makes,

Its glance dilate o'er all to be,
While sun is quench'd or system breaks,

Fix'd in its own eternity.

Above or love, hope, hate, or fear,

It lives all passionless and pure : An age shall fleet like earthly year ;

Its years as moments shall endure. Away, away, without a wing,

O'er all, through all, its thoughts shall fly; A nameless and eternal thing,

Forgetting what it was to die.

VISION OF BELSHAZZAR.

The king was on his throne,

The satraps throng'd the hall ;
A thousand bright lamps shone

O'er that high festival.