If he could stoop to eat it up; Although he sot and cried for it. At stations where the rail-cars stop; Droppeth now from off my head Fill'd with gloom, We follow Time with solemn tread Mounteth now on wings of air, A little dewdrop pure and clear: Hear it say "All above the earth is fair; Night or sorrow come not here: CORNELIUS GEORGE FENNER. Born 1822-died 1847. GULF-WEED. A WEARY weed, toss'd to and fro, Lash'd along without will of mine,— Growth and grace in their place appear! I bear round berries, gray and red, White and hard in apt array; Hearts there are on the sounding shore— Growth unfolding amidst unrest, Grace informing with silent soul? THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. Born in Pennsylvania 1822-died 1872. THE WINDY NIGHT. ALOW and aloof, Over the roof, How the midnight tempests howl! They cry, and flit, "Tu-whit! tu-who!" like the solemn owl! Alow and aloof, Sweep the moaning winds amain, And wildly dash The elm and ash, Clattering on the window sash, With a clatter and patter Like hail and rain, That well-nigh shatter The dusky pane! Alow and aloof, Over the roof, How the tempests swell and roar! Though no foot is astir, Though the cat and the cur Lie dozing along the kitchen floor, There are feet of air Through every hall! Through each gusty door There's a jostle and bustle, With a silken rustle, Like the meeting of guests at a festival! Alow and aloof, Over the roof, How the stormy tempests swell! And make the vane On the spire complain; They heave at the steeple with might and main, And burst and sweep Into the belfry, on the bell! They smite it so hard, and they smite it so well, THE DESERTED FARM. THE elms were old, and gnarl'd, and bent; Wider and wider their winged seeds. Farther and farther the nettle and dock The last who ever had plough'd the soil Instead, you saw how the rabbit and mole Burrow'd and furrow'd with never a fear; How the tunnelling fox look'd out of his hole, Like one who notes if the skies are clear. No mower was there to startle the birds With the noisy whet of his reeking scythe; Now all was bequeath'd with pious care- To the birds that sing in the cloisters of air, AUTUMN'S SIGHING. AUTUMN's sighing, On like steeds; Red leaves trailing, That, unpliant, Winds are swelling Us their woe; Of the snow. From the unseen land Frozen inland, Down from Greenland Winter glides, Shedding lightness When moon-whiteness Fills the tides. |