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122 CAROLINE GILMAN.

I wish, oh, I wish I was yonder cloud,
That sails about with its misty shroud;
Books and work I no more should see,
And I'd come and float, dear mother, o'er thee.


THE MOCKING-BIRD IN THE CITY.

BIRD of the south! is this a scene to waken
Thy native notes in thrilling, gushing tone?
Thy woodland nest of love is all forsaken--
Thy mate alone!

While stranger-throngs roll by, thy song is lending
Joy to the happy, soothings to the sad;
O'er my full heart it flows with gentle blending,
And I am glad.

And I will sing, though dear ones, loved and loving,
Are left afar in my sweet nest of home;
Though from that nest, with backward yearnings moving,
Onward I roam!

And with heart-music shall my feeble aiding
Still swell the note of human joy aloud;
Nor, with untrusting soul, kind Heaven upbraiding,
Sigh 'mid the crowd.


SARAH JOSEPHA HALE.

THIS excellent lady, whose maiden name was Buell, was born at Newport, New Hampshire. Her mother was a woman of remarkably clear and cultivated mind, and to her intelligent conversation, and happy talent of communicating knowledge, Mrs. Hale traces her own delight in learning, and desire for intellectual advancement. She was married when very young to David Hale, Esq., who was a lawyer by profession, and a man whose tastes and feelings were in every way congenial with her own. It was not until his death, in 1822, that she first seriously thought of becoming an authoress; then, her straitened circumstances, and her affectionate anxiety to procure for her children the advantages of a good education, determined her to put her talents out at interest, and seek in literature the means of gratifying her wam maternal desires. Her first published work was a small volume of Poems; selected from articles written when a girl for her own amusement. The next, Northwood, a novel in two volumes, (chiefly descriptive of New England life,) which was favourably received, and at that time much admired. In 1828, she undertook the editorship of The American Ladies' Magazine, established in Boston. During her residence in that city, she published Sketches of American Character, Flora's Interpreter, Traits of American Life, The Ladies' Wreath, and several books for children.
Mrs. Hale has lived in Philadelphia a number of years past, and is respected there no less for her many virtues and social excellencies, than for her taste and skill as an author and an editor. The numerous readers of that popular magazine, The Lady's Book, are indebted to her for the discriminating judgment with which she gathers, and arranges for their mental refreshment, the fruits and flowers of genius. She also edits The Opal, a religious annual of much attraction. Three Hours, or the Vigil of Love; and other Poems, published in January, 1848, is the ***largest*** and latest collection of her poetry. Many of these poems, besides the first, are entirely new, though some we recognize as old friends; Alice Ray, for instance, a simple story of every-day life, clad in graceful rhymes; which contains several exquisite touches of nature, and has been a universal favourite since its first appearance, in 1845. The smaller poems in this volume are marked by that chasteness and
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Transcription Notes:
***= i believe this word is 'largest', with a misprint in the text. ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-28 12:09:21