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132 SARAH JOSEPHA HALE. I breathe the dear and cherish'd name, And long-lost scenes arise; Life's glowing landscape spreads the same The same Hope's kindling skies;— The violet bank, the moss-fringed seat Beneath the drooping tree, The clock that chimed the hour to meet, My buried love, with thee;— O, these are all before me, when In fancy's realms I rove; Why urge me to the world again? Why say the ties of love, That death's cold, cruel grasp has riven Unite no more below? I'll sing to him,—for though in heaven, He surely heeds my wo! DESCRIPTION OF ALICE RAY. (FROM ALICE RAY.) The birds their love-notes warblee Among the blossom'd trees; The flowers are sighing forth their sweets To wooing honey-bees; The glad brook o'er a pebbly floor Goes dancing on its way;— But not a thing is so like spring As happy Alice Ray. An only child was Alice, And, like the blest above, The gentle maid had ever breathed An atmosphere of love; 133 SARAH JOSEPHA HALE. Her father's smile like sunshine came, Like dew her mother's kiss, Their love and goodness made her home, Like heaven, the place of bliss. Beneath such tender training, The joyous child had sprung, Like one bright flower, in wild-wood bower, And gladness round her flung; And all who met her bless'd her, And turned again to pray, That grief and care might ever spare The happy Alice Ray. The gift that made her charming Was not from Venus caught; Nor was it, Pallas-like, derived From majesty of thought;— Her healthful cheek was tinged with brown, Her hair without a curl; But then her eyes were love-lit stars, Her teeth as pure as pearl. And when in merry laughter Her sweet, clear voice was heard, It well'd from out her happy heart Like carol of a bird; And all who heard were moved to smiles, As at some mirthful lay, And, to the stranger's look, replied— "'Tis that dear Alice Ray." And so she came, like sunbeams That bring the April green; As type of nature's royalty, They call'd her "Woodburn's Queen!" 12