"WHEN THE FIRMAMENT QUIVERS WITH DAYLIGHT'S YOUNG BEAM." WHEN the firmament quivers with daylight's young beam, And the glow of the sky blazes back from the stream, Oh! 'tis sad, in that moment of glory and song, To see, while the hill-tops are waiting the sun, The glittering band that kept watch all night long O'er Love and o'er Slumber, go out one by one : Till the circle of ether, deep, ruddy, and vast, Scarce glimmers with one of the train that were there ; And their leader the day-star, the brightest and last, Twinkles faintly and fades in that desert of air. Thus, Oblivion, from midst of whose shadow we came, Let them fade-but we'll pray that the age, in whose flight, "INNOCENT CHILD AND SNOW-WHITE FLOWER." INNOCENT child and snow-white flower! White as those leaves, just blown apart, Artless one! though thou gazest now Fair as it is, thou wilt throw it by. Throw it aside in thy weary hour, Throw to the ground the fair white flower; Yet, as thy tender years depart, Keep that white and innocent heart. TO THE RIVER ARVE. SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN AT A HAMLET NEAR THE FOOT OF MONT BLAN NoT from the sands or cloven rocks, Thou rapid Arve! thy waters flow; Thy dark unfathomed wells below. Born where the thunder and the blast, And morning's earliest light are born, And brighter, glassier streams than thine, With heaven's own beam and image shine Yet stay; for here are flowers and trees; Here linger till thy waves are clear. From steep to steep thy torrent falls, Till, mingling with the mighty Rhone, It rests beneath Geneva's walls. Rush on-but were there one with me Are touched the features of the earth. 1 |