"But Nature's face is changed to me,— In funeral trappings clad; The more all other hearts are gay, 66 The more my heart is sad. Earth, in her winter-dress of gloom, But spare me all her pomp and glare "Oh, say not so, thou pilgrim pale, But muse and pray awhile; And so shall Nature's darkened face Resume its morning smile. "Look on her with the eye of faith, "We may not turn in gloom away, For One her ground has trod And left a glory round her path, Our Master and our God. "And since that hour, this wondrous world Is but the outer shell Which wraps a world more wondrous still, Wherein His chosen dwell. "And He who framed that inner world With His creative breath, Has rent in twain the barrier stern "Alike on either side the tomb "The saints we see not gathered there Blend with the saints we see: One hidden life pervading all In mystic unity. "And in the fulness of the time, This outer world of sin Shall burst and shrivel and disclose The glorious world within. "Then shall the sons of God no more Seem like to sons of clay; Their hidden sacramental life "And all the beauty that we see Is but the type, perchance the germ, "Then shrink not from the gorgeous spring, For all the flowers are born Blest harbingers to herald forth "And dream of dreariness no more, H Providence. E sendeth sun, He sendeth shower; And joys and tears alike are sent To give the soul fit nourishment. As comes to me or cloud or sun, Father, Thy will, not mine, be done! Can loving children e'er reprove With murmurs whom they trust and love? Creator, I would ever be A trusting, loving child to Thee! As comes to me or cloud or sun, Father, Thy will, not mine, be done! Oh, ne'er will I at life repine ! Enough that Thou hast made it mine : Father, Thy will, not mine, be done! SARAH F. ADAMS. Here and There. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." "Was kein Ange hat geschen." THAT no human eye hath seen, W What no mortal ear hath heard, In its noblest flights conferred,- When the shaded pilgrim land Heavenly landscapes calmly bright, Life's pure river murmuring low, Forms of loveliness and light Lost to earth long time ago; Yes, mine own, lamented long, Many a joyful sight was given, Friendship's smile, affection's tear; When upon my wearied ear Earth's last echoes faintly die, Then shall angel-harps draw near, All the chorus of the sky; Long-hush'd voices blend again, Sweetly in that welcome strain. Here were sweet and varied tones, Bird and breeze and fountain's fall, Yet creation's travail groans, Ever sadly sigh'd through all; There no discord jars the air, Harmony is perfect there. |