THE FAIRY'S GIFT.

He knows that thou, in all thy pride,
Might fall from him away;

Then, with the love of Him who said,
"Depart, and sin no more,"

Shield from despair that wretched one,
And bid her pangs be o'er.

249

SACRED OFFERING.

THE FAIRY'S GIFT.

O DID you not hear in your nursery
The tale that gossips tell,

Of two young girls that came to drink

At a certain fairy well?

The words of the younger were as sweet

As the smile of her ruby lip;

But the tongue of the eldest seemed to move
As if venom were on its tip.

At the well a beggar accosted them, (A sprite, in mean disguise,)

The eldest spake with a scornful brow,

The younger with tear-dimmed eyes.

Cried the fairy, "Whenever you speak, sweet girl, Pure gems from your lips shall fall;

250

DON'T FRET.

But whenever you utter a word, proud maid,
From your tongue shall a serpent crawl!"

And have you not met with these sisters oft,
In the haunts of the old and young?
The first with her pure, unsullied lip,
The last with her serpent tongue?

The first is GOOD NATURE.

Diamonds bright

O'er the darkest theme she throws;

The last is SLANDER - leaving the blight
Of the snake, wherever she goes.

DON'T FRET.

HAS a neighbor injured you?

Don't fret:

You will yet come off the best;

He's the most to answer for,

Never mind it, let it rest.

Don't fret:

Has a wicked lie been told?

Don't fret:

It will run itself to death,
If you let it quite alone,

. It will die for want of breath;

Don't fret.

THANKFULNESS.

Are your enemies at work?

Don't fret:

They can't injure you a whit;

If they find you heed them not,
They will soon be glad to quit;

Don't fret.

Is adversity your lot?

Don't fret:

Fortune's wheel keeps turning round,

Every spoke will reach the top,

Which, like you, is going down;

Don't fret.

THANKFULNESS.

SOME murmur when their sky is clear
And wholly bright to view,

If one small speck of dark appear

In their great heaven of blue;

And some with thankful love are filled,
If but one streak of light,

One ray of God's great mercy gild

The darkness of their night.

In palaces are hearts that ask,
In discontent and pride,

251

Why life is such a weary task,
And all good things denied ;
And hearts in poorest huts admire
How love has in their aid
(Love that not ever seems to tire)
Such rich provision made.

O HUMBLY take what God bestows,
And, like his own fair flowers,
Look up in sunshine with a smile,
And gently bend in showers.

HOPE.

THE night is mother of the day,
The winter of the spring,

And ever upon old decay

The greenest mosses cling.

Behind the cloud the starlight lurks;
Through showers the sunbeams fall;
For God, who loveth all his works,

Has left his hope with all.

J. G. WHITTIER.

NEVER RAIL AT THE WORLD.

252

TWO WAYS.

THERE are two ways to live on earth,
Two ways to judge, — to act,—to view;
For all things here have double birth,—
A right and wrong, a false and true!

Some beings, wheresoe'er they go,
Find naught to please or to exalt,
Their constant study but to show
Perpetual modes of finding fault.

While others, in the ceaseless round
Of daily wants, and daily care,
Can yet cull flowers from common ground,
And twice enjoy the joy they share!

O, happy they who happy make,

Who, blessing, still themselves are blest!
Who something spare for others' sake,
And strive, in all things, for the best!

CHARLES SWAIN.

NEVER RAIL AT THE WORLD.

NEVER rail at the world

it is just as we make it: We see not the flower, if we set not the seed; And as for ill-luck, why, it's just as we take it, — The heart that 's in earnest no bars can impede.