If from the blessed realms of light,

Love still may own its mortal birth, May soften still Affliction's might,

Thou shalt not, sister, pine on earth.

For where the young birds' dewy fold
Flings hallowed incense on the air,
Where they once met who now are cold,
This soul of mine shall meet thee there.

Kneel thou beside my lonely grave

When summer breezes o'er it sweep, When yon proud orb, that gilds the wave, Sinks glorious to his ocean sleep.

Kneel, and the vow thou breathest there,
At that lone hour shall float on high-
Spirits of light shall bless thy prayer,
The dead, the crowned, shall greet thy sigh.

And now farewell! Strange music floats,
Like angel breathings, round my heart,
Are those the Avenger's awful notes?
The signal tones, that life must part!

Yes, yes-the One, the God, who sways

Creation's depths, hath bid me come To seek the realms that hymn His praise, The franchised soul's eternal home.

HALE.

THE MESSAGE TO THE DEAD.

THOU'RT passing hence, my brother,
Oh my earliest friend, farewell;
Thou'rt leaving me without thy voice,
In a lonely home to dwell;

And from the hills, and from the hearth,
And from the household tree,

With thee departs the lingering mirth,
The brightness goes with thee.

But thou, my friend, my brother;

Thou'rt speeding to the shore

Where the dirge-like tone of parting words
Shall smite the soul no more;
And thou wilt see one holy dead,

The last on earth and main;
Into the sheaf of kindred hearts
Thou wilt be bound again;

Tell then our friend, of boyhood,
That yet his name is heard

On the blue mountains, whence his youth
Pass'd like a swift bright bird.

The light of his exulting brow,

The vision of his glee,

Are on me still-Oh! still I trust
That smile again to see.

And tell our fair young sister,

The rose cut down in spring, That yet my gushing soul is fill'd With lays she loved to sing.

Her soft deep eyes look through my dreams,

Tender and sadly sweet.

Tell her my heart within me burns
Once more that gaze to meet.

And tell our white-haired father,
That, in the paths he trod,

The child he loved the last on earth
Yet walks and worships God.
Say, that his last fond blessing yet
Rests on my soul like dew,
And by its hallowing might I trust
Once more his face to view.

And tell our gentle mother,
That on her grave I pour
The sorrows of my spirit forth,
As on her breast of yore;

Happy thou art that soon, how soon
Our good and bright will see!-
Oh brother! brother! may I dwell,
Ere long, with them and thee!

HEMANS.

A CHILD'S INQUIRIES.

MOTHER, look forth on yon beautiful cloud
That rides o'er the bright blue sky,
And flings to the winds his misty shroud,
As he wendeth his course on high;

And tell me if that is my brother, who's gone
To those dwellings of light above,

Where the rays of the sun for ever have shone! That is not thy brother, my love!

Look! mother, look! at yon twinkling star
That glows like a light on the sea,
And seemeth as though from its palace afar,
It were steadfastly gazing on me;
Is not that my brother who fled away
From his home like a wild stock-dove,

And left me all alone to play?

That is not thy brother, my love!

Hark! mother, hark! to the soft low tone

That sails on the evening breeze,

Like the musical sound of some night-bird's

moan

That steals through the old elm trees;

Is not that the voice of my brother, who's tell

ing

The joys of his home above,

Where the throats of archangels with rapture are swelling?

That is not thy brother, my love!

The clouds that flit o'er the sky so bright,

Soon, soon have passed away;

And the star that cheereth the gloom of night Is gone ere the break of day;

But thy brother-oh! think not, my love, that he

Doth change like the things of airThe heaven of heavens no eye may see; Thy brother-thy brother is there!

M. WATERS.

THE SISTER'S VOICE.

O! My sister's voice is gone away!

Around our social hearth,

We have lost its tones that were so gay,
So full of harmless mirth.

We miss the glancing of her eye,

The waving of her hair,

The footsteps lightly gliding by,

The hand so small and fair!