REGARD DUE TO THE FEELINGS OF OTHERS. 29 REGARD DUE TO THE FEELINGS OF OTHERS. There is a plant, that in its cell All trembling seems to stand, And bends its stalk and folds its leaves And thus there is a conscious nerve That from the rash and careless hand The pressure rude, the touch severe, A nameless thrill, a secret tear, Oh, A torture undefined. you who are by nature form'd, Each thought refined to know! Repress the word, the glance that wakes That trembling nerve to woe. 30 A MOTHER'S LOVE. And be it still your joy to raise Whene'er you see the feeling mind, And though the cell be ne'er so low, L. HUNTLEY. A MOTHER'S LOVE. [Translated from the Portugese, by F. HEMANS.] The brightness of a mother's love Can never pass away, It watcheth, like the brooding dove, It sitteth by the couch of pain 'T is free from every dark'ning stain Of man's infirmity. STANZAS. A mother's love! oh who may breathe- Its patient suffering until death, E'en from our childhood's birth? To wake, and watch our feverish sleep, STANZAS [Suggested by a drawing of Felix Neff's Alpine Church.] Thou dwellest not in temples made By human hands alone, Earth is thy footstool, thou hast said, And Heaven above thy throne; Yet grateful is it, Lord! to see Each house of prayer built up to thee. Amid the crowded city's din, Such, when they meet our gaze, Inviting all to enter in, To offer prayer or praise ;These wheresoever they may be Are silent witnesses for thee. 31 For mid the toil, and care, and strife, If such their charms met in the maze Are they less vocal to thy praise In scenes to silence dear, Where thought is hush'd and feeling free In quietness to worship thee? Hence is this humble temple rear'd In Alpine solitude, By one who loved thy name and fear'd, To touch the heart and bend the knee Thy word of gracious promise shews, Deserts shall blossom as the rose, And lonely places—dumb, Should shout and sing with joyful glee, THE FREED BIRD. Hasten, O Lord, that happy day! Earth may be full of praise to Thee. 33 B. BARTON. THE FREED BIRD. Return, return my Bird! I have dress'd thy cage with flowers, 'Tis lovely as a violet bank In the heart of forest bowers. “I am free, I am free, I return no more! "The hills lie beneath me spread far and clear, With their glowing heath flowers and bounding deer; I see the waves flash on the sunny shore Woo me not back, I return no more!" D |