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228      EMMA C. EMBURY.

And yearns to know the meaning of the thrill
That wakes when fancy stirs affection's rill.

Thou dreamest of love's happiness,—the deep
And placid joy which poets paint so well.
Alas! our passions, even when they sleep,
Like ocean waves, are heaved with secret swell,
And they who hear the frequent, low-breathed sigh,
Know 'tis the wailing of the storm gone by.

Vain, vain are all thy visions; couldst thou know
The secrets of a woman's weary lot,
Oh! couldst thou read upon her pride-veiled brow
Her wasted tenderness, her love forgot,
In humbleness of heart thou wouldst kneel down, 
And pray for strength to wear her martyr crown.


HOW HAVE I THOUGHT OF THEE?

How have I thought of thee? as flies
The dove to seek her mate,
Trembling lest some rude hand has made
Her sweet home desolate;
Thus timidly I seek in thine,
The only heart that throbs with mine.

How have I thought of thee? as turns
The flower to meet the sun,
E'en though, when clouds and storms arise,
It be not shone upon:
Thus, dear one, in thine eye I see
The only light that beams for me.

How have I thought of thee? as dreams
The mariner of home,
When doomed o'er many a weary waste
Of waters yet to roam;


EMMA C. EMBURY.   229

Thus doth my spirit turn to thee,
My guiding star o'er life's wild sea.

How have I thought of thee? as kneels
The Persian at the shrine
Of his resplendent god, to watch
His earliest glories shine;
Thus doth my spirit bow to thee,
My soul's own radiant deity.


CONFIDENCE IN HEAVEN.

IT is in vain the weary spirit strives
With that which doth consume it;—there is born
A strength from suffering which can laugh to scorn
The stroke of sorrow, even though it rives
Our very heart-strings;—but the grief that lives
For ever in the heart, and day by day
Wastes the soul's high-wrought energies away,
And wears the lofty spirit down, and gives
Its own dark hue to life, oh! who can bear?
Yet, as the black and threatening tempests bring
New fragrance to earth's flowers, and tints more fair,
So beneath sorrow's nurture virtues spring.
Youth, health, and hope, may fade, but there is left
A soul that trusts in Heaven, though thus of all bereft.


REMEMBRANCE.

THOU hast left us, and for ever;
The light of those sweet eyes
Will beam upon us never
Till we meet beyond the skies.
Life's sunshine was around thee,
The world looked glad and bright,
And the ties of love that bound thee
Might have stayed thy spirit's flight;

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Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-29 09:07:00 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-29 11:55:53