The Kings and Queens of England with Other Poems | Page 5

the cold grave were laid.
The broad waves of Atlantic lie rolling between?His brothers and sisters and parents on earth;?And never by parents may those children be seen,?Or the latter revisit the land of their birth.
But sooner or later they all must be borne?To that region of darkness from whence none return;?Oh! then may they meet on Canaan's bright shore,?An unbroken household to part nevermore.
Weston, Jan. 1852.
MY S.S. CLASS.
I now will endeavor, while fresh in my mind,?My Sabbath School Class to portray;?The theme's furnished for me, I've only to find?Colors to blend, their forms to display.
And first on the canvass we'll Adeline place,?With her full and expressive dark eye;?Decision of purpose is stamped on that face,?And good scholarship too we descry.
Next in order comes Alice, with bright sunny smile,?That does one's heart good to behold;?May the sorrows of life ne'er that young spirit blight,?Nor that heart be less cheerful when old.
But who's this that we see, with that mild pensive air,?And a look so expressively kind??It is Ann, gentle Ann, before whom we pass by,?We will add--'t would be useless in any to try?Disposition more lovely to find.
The next is a bright noble face we espy,?'Tis a boy of ten years we shall find;?There's a spice of the rogue in that merry young eye,?With good sense and good nature combined.
It's young master Alpheus--we never have found?One more punctual at school hour than he;?He's now but a lad, yet who knows when a man,?But a Judge in our land he may be.
Next comes little Moggy, our dear little Moggy,?But before she is brought out to view,?We'll new colors select, add fresh tints to the whole,?And spread all on our pallet anew.
And now she appears in her own proper size,?Her cheeks colored by nature's warm glow;?With her full lustrous and speaking black eyes,?And rich ringlets that grace her young brow.
Walter's the last on the painting we see,?Little Walter, the youngest of all;?Look! he's repeating his lesson just now,?Mark the expression on that infant brow,?He's a wonder, for scholar so small.
But there's one in this grouping we look for in vain,?Whose image we often recall;?How mournfully sweet is the sound of thy name,?Dear Elbridge, the loved one of all.
Thou wert called in the freshness of morning away,?By him who all things doeth well;?The rest for brief periods are suffered to stay,?How long, we may none of us tell.
May the Holy Book studied in this Sabbath School,?Be more precious than silver or gold;?Be its doctrines received, and its precepts obeyed,?And rich treasures it still will unfold.
And when one by one we shall all pass away,?To me, oh! my Father, be given?The joy that no heart upon earth can conceive,?To meet all in the kingdom of Heaven.
Weston, Feb. 17, 1852.
FOR MY GRANDSONS, EDDY AND ALLY.
I here engage?Upon this page
A picture to portray,?Of two of an age?Yet neither a sage,
But right honest hearts have they.?Each loves to play?And have his own way,?Yet I'm happy to say
They quarrel, if ever, but seldom.?Though competent quite?To maintain their own right,?And even to fight,
Yet peace to their bosom is welcome.?Both go to school,?And learn by rule
That in neither a dunce we may find;?Both read and spell?And like it well;
Thus with pleasure is profit combined.?One's eyes are black,?The other's blue;
They both have honest hearts and true,?And love each other dearly:?One's father, is brother?To the other one's mother,
So cousins german are they most clearly;?Each has a father,?And each has a mother,
And both do dearly love him;?But neither a sister,?And neither a brother,
To play_ with, or to _plague him.?And here I propose,?Ere I come to a close,
A little advice to give;?To which if they heed,?They'll be better indeed,
And happier as long as they live.?Be sure to mind?Your parents kind,
And do nothing to vex or tease them;?But through each day?Heed what they say,
And strive to obey and please them.?Take not in vain?God's holy name,?Do not work,?Do not play?On God's holy day,
Nor from church stay away;?Always bear it in mind?To be gentle and kind,?And friends you will find,?And hearts to you bind,
I am sure I may venture to say.?And when you're men,?Who sees you then
I hope in you models will see,?Of good_ and _great,?In Church_ and _State,
Whose lips with your lives agree.
Weston, Feb. 1852.
FOR MY GRAND-DAUGHTERS, M. AND L.--AN ACROSTIC.
Mary and Lily--how sweet are those names,?Allied as they are to my heart and my home;?Recalling with freshness the days that are past,?Yielding buds of sweet promise for days yet to come.
Links are these names to the chain that hath bound?In fetters my heart, to which still they lay claim;?Loved ones and lovely, still close by me found,?Years past, and time present, whose names are the same.
Enshrined in this bosom, is living one now,?Still youthful and truthful, and talented too,?Though years have elapsed since she passed from our view;?E'en in Summer midst roses in beauty and bloom,?She