THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS.

205

The wind flower and the violet, they perished long ago, And the brier-rose and the orchis died amid the sum

mer glow; But on the hill the golden-rod, and the aster in the

wood, And the yellow sunflower by the brook, in autumn

beauty stood, Till fell the frost from the clear, cold heaven, as falls

the plague on men, And the brightness of their smile was gone, from

upland, glade, and glen.

And now, when comes the calm, mild day, as still

such days will come, To call the squirrel and the bee from out their winter

home, When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, though all

the trees are still, And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill, The south wind searches for the flowers whose fra

grance late he bore, And sighs to find them in the wood and by the stream

no more.

And then I think of one who in her youthful beauty

died, The fair, meek blossom that grew up and faded by my

side : In the cold, moist earth we laid her, when the forest

cast the leaf, And we wept that one so lovely should have a life so

brief; Yet not unmeet it was that one, like that young

friend

of ours,

So gentle, and so beautiful, should perish with the

Aowers.

206

THE CORAL GROVE.

THE CORAL GROVE. – Percival.

a

Deep in the wave is a coral grove,
Where the purple mullet and gold-fish rove;
Where the sea-flower spreads its leaves of blue,
That never are wet with falling dew,
But in bright and changeful beauty shine,
Far down in the green

brine.
The floor is of sand, like the mountain drist,
And the pearl-shells spangle the flinty snow;
From coral rocks the sea-plants lift
Their boughs, where the tides and billows flow;
The water is calm and still below,
For the winds and the waves are absent there,
And the sands are bright as the stars that glow
In the motionless fields of upper air;
There, with its waving blade of green,
The sea-flag streams through the silent water,
And the crimson leaf of the dulse is seen
To blush like a banner bathed in slaughter;
There, with a light and easy motion,
The fan-coral sweeps through the clear, deep sea ;
And the yellow and scarlet tufts of ocean
Are bending like corn on the upland lea:
And life, in rare and beautiful forms,
Is sporting amid those bowers of stone,
And is safe, when the wrathful spirit of storms
Has made the top of the waves his own.
And when the ship from his fury flies,
When the myriad voices of ocean roar,
When the wind-god frowns in the murky skies,
And demons are waiting the wreck on the shore;
Then, far below, in the peaceful sea,
The purple mullet and gold-fish rove
Where the waters murmur tranquilly
Through the bending twigs of the coral grove.

A HAPPY LIFE.

207

A HAPPY LIFE. – Sir Henry Wotton.

How happy is he born and taught,

That serveth not another's will; Whose armor is his honest thought,

And simple truth his utmost skill;

Whose passions not his masters are ;

Whose soul is still prepared for death, Untied unto the world by care

Of public fame or private breath;

Who envies none that chance doth raise,

Nor vice; hath ever understood
How deepest wounds are given by praise,

Nor rules of state, but rules of good;

Who hath his life from rumors freed;

Whose conscience is his strong retreat; Whose state can neither flatterers feed,

Nor ruin make oppressors great ;

Who God doth late and early pray

More of his grace than gifts to lend ; And entertains the harmless day

With a well-chosen book or friend.

This man is freed from servile bands

Of hope to rise or fear to fall; Lord of himself, though not of lands,

And having nothing, yet hath all.

208

GOOD TEMPER.

VIRTUE.

KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM. — Cowper. Knowledge and Wisdom, far from being one, Have oft times no connection. Knowledge dwells In heads replete with thoughts of other men; Wisdom, in minds attentive to their own. Knowledge, - a rude, unprofitable mass, The mere materials with which Wisdom builds, Till smoothed, and squared, and fitted to its place, Does but encumber whom it seems to enrich ! Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much, Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.

GOOD TEMPER. - More.

SINCE trifles make the sum of human things,
And half our misery from our foibles springs ;
Since life's best joys consist in peace and ease,
And though but few can serve, yet

all

may please; O, let the

ungentle spirit learn from hence, A small unkindness is a great offence!

The sturdy rock, for all his strength,

By raging seas is rent in twain;
The marble

stone is pierced at length
With little drops of drizzling rain;
The ox doth yield unto the yoke;
The steel obeyeth the hammer stroke.

Yea, man himself, unto whose will

All things are bounden to obey,
For all his wit, and worthy skill,

Doth fade at length, and fall away.
There is no thing but time doth waste ;
The heavens, the earth, consume at last.

But Virtue sits, triumphing still,

Upon the throne of glorious Fame;
Though spiteful Death man's body kill,

Yet hurts he not his virtuous name.
By life or death, whatso betides,
The state of Virtue never slides.

CONSTANCY.- George Herbert.

Who is the honest man?
He that doth still and strongly good pursue,
To God, his neighbor, and himself

, most true; Whom neither force nor frowning can Unpin, or wrench from giving all their due.

Whose honesty is not
So loose or easy, that a ruffling wind
Can blow away, or glittering look it blind;

Who rides his sure and even trot,
While the world now rides by, now lags behind.

Who, when great trials come,
Nor seeks nor shuns them ; but doth calmly stay
Till he the thing and the example weigh;

All being brought into a sum,
What place or person calls for, he doth pay.