III

Go now, rough March, and take with thee thy

train;

Long I for sunshine, and summer's soft rain;

Long I to dream and gaze into the sky
Wherein fairy cloudlets sailing on high,
Shimmer and shake in the odorous breeze,
Wafted so gently from the southern seas.

IV

Ah, far above these there's a well-loved face
Wealth of the world could never replace;

When it is absent the hearth is a-cold;

Sun's gladdening rays do not as of old

Flow round my heart with their life-giving beams;

Nature is icicled even in dreams.

V

Song hath gone from me; for there is no sound;

Only my heart-sighs that echo around ;

Sits by my Solitude whisp'ring ‘At last,
Sister, accept me, I'm all that thou hast.'
Unwilling to take her, bow I my head,
Wishing that dear one were here in her stead.

MATERNAL DEVOTION

PART III

I

SILENTLY sitting close imprisoned here,
And weary of all this solitude drear

The days of November hath brought. I sigh-
Yet how vainly-for the beauteous sky,

For gossamer cloud; for the sunshine fair

For the hum of the bee in the dreamy air;

II

I look, and I long for the balmy breeze

That comes to our shores from the southern seas;
The scent of the hay, the bright flowers so gay,
How I wish for one hour of summer day!
There's something I long for, far above these ;

E'en something more dear than the budding trees;

III

For the cloud in the air, and the cloud in my breast Now fill me with feeling of strange unrest;

I long now to hear in these lonesome hours

The voice of my firstborn, more sweet than flowers, More sweet than the songs which give me such joy Are the tones of thy voice, my dearly-loved boy;

IV

Fair harmony is the song of the birds,

A thousand-fold sweeter are thy heart-words :
Mine idol as babe; in manhood the same,
Thou'rt part of my being, as the gold frame
Encircles a diamond, so art thou laid

Encased in the casket my strong love's made.

MATERNAL DEVOTION

PART IV

I

THOUGH cold and dark November Brings yearly the happy morn, That ever I remember

As the day that thou wert born;

Yet bright it will be always,

And beaming a sun shall be,

That sun is Love, whose warm rays Are surely lit up for thee.

II

Then faint not when aweary
With many an uphill stride,
For oft the path proves dreary

While yet it is being tried;

But think of love so tender

That follows thee ev'rywhere;

A love that seeks to render

Thy young life all free from care.

III

A love that is undying,

E'en when the quick pulse grows cold;

The spirit endless sighing

Will outbreathe its yearnings old;

And send in still small voices

The unforgotten refrain:

The soul even then rejoices

In watching, loving again.