I. DAYBREAK. A wind came up out of the sea, And said, "O mists, make room for me." It hailed the ships, and cried, "Sail on, It said unto the forest, "Shout! It touched the wood-bird's folded wing, It whispered to the fields of corn, It shouted thro' the belfry-tower, 66 Awake, O bell! proclaim the hour." It crossed the churchyard with a sigh, H. W. Longfellow. II. INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY. Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: And cometh from afar: Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come Hence in a season of calm weather Though inland far we be, Our souls have sight of that immortal sea Which brought us hither, Can in a moment travel thither, And see the children sport upon the shore, And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore. Wordsworth. III. THE DIAL OF FLOWERS. 'Twas a lovely thought to mark the hours, By the opening and the folding flowers, Thus had each moment its own rich hue, In whose coloured vase might sleep the dew, To such sweet signs might the time have flow'd In a golden current on, Ere from the garden, man's first abode, The glorious guests were gone. So might the days have been brightly told, When shepherds gathered their flocks of old Yet is not life, in its real flight, A lingerer still for the sunset hour, A charm for the shaded eve. Mrs. Hemans. |