FAITH AND DESPONDENCY

    "The winter wind is loud and wild, Come close to me, my darling child； Forsake¹ thy books, and mateless play； And, while the night is gathering² gray, We'll talk its pensive³ hours away；-

    "Ierne, round our sheltered hall November's gusts⁴ unheeded call； Not one faint breath can enter here Enough to wave my daughter's hair, And I am glad to watch the blaze Glance from her eyes, with mimic⁵ rays； To feel her cheek, so softly pressed, In happy quiet on my breast,

    "But, yet, even this tranquillity⁶ Brings bitter, restless thoughts to me； And, in the red fire's cheerful glow, I think of deep glens, blocked with snow； I dream of moor⁷, and misty⁸ hill, Where evening closes dark and chill； For, lone⁹, among the mountains cold, Lie those that I have loved of old. And my heart aches, in hopeless pain, Exhausted¹⁰ with repinings vain, That I shall greet them ne'er again！"

    "Father, in early infancy¹¹, When you were far beyond the sea, Such thoughts were tyrants¹² over me！ I often sat, for hours together, Through the long nights of angry weather, Raised on my pillow, to descry¹³ The dim moon struggling in the sky； Or, with strained ear, to catch the shock, Of rock with wave, and wave with rock； So would I fearful vigil keep, And, all for listening, never sleep. But this world's life has much to dread¹⁴, Not so, my Father, with the dead.

    "Oh！ not for them, should we despair, The grave is drear, but they are not there； Their dust is mingled¹⁵ with the sod, Their happy souls are gone to God！ You told me this, and yet you sigh, And murmur¹⁶ that your friends must die. Ah！ my dear father, tell me why？ For, if your former words were true, How useless would such sorrow be； As wise, to mourn the seed which grew Unnoticed on its parent tree, Because it fell in fertile earth, And sprang up to a glorious birth—— Struck deep its root, and lifted high Its green boughs¹⁷ in the breezy sky. "But, I'll not fear, I will not weep For those whose bodies rest in sleep,—— I know there is a blessed shore, Opening its ports for me and mine； And, gazing Time's wide waters o'er, I weary for that land divine, Where we were born, where you and I Shall meet our dearest, when we die； From suffering and corruption¹⁸ free, Restored into the Deity¹⁹."

    "Well hast thou spoken, sweet, trustful child！ And wiser than thy sire； And worldly tempests, raging wild, Shall strengthen thy desire—— Thy fervent²⁰ hope, through storm and foam²¹, Through wind and ocean's roar, To reach, at last, the eternal home, The steadfast²², changeless shore！"