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532 MARY J. REED.

Oh! teach him this should be his aim,
To cheer the aching heart,
To strive where thickest darkness reigns
Some radiance to impart;
To spread a peaceful, quiet calm,
Where dwells the noise of strife,
Thus doing good, and blessing all,
To spend the whole of life.

To love with pure affection deep 
All creatures, great and small,
And still a stronger love to bear
For Him who made them all.
Remember 't is no common task
That thus to thee is given,
To rear a spirit fit to be 
The habitant of Heaven!

"EDITH MAY."

THIS is a nom-de-plume already well known in the literary world; the bearer of it, who will not permit her real name to be disclosed, is a native of Philadelphia, where she resided until the last four years.
Her home is now at Montrose, Pa.; and in the beautiful scenery which surrounds it, she finds many themes on which to practise her remarkable talent for rural description. Her poems have not yet been collected, but she has written and published many, all distinguished by a truthful adherence to nature, clear and energetic expression, and a glowing imagination. She is young and beautiful, gifted alike liberally by the hands of fortune and nature.

OCTOBER TWILIGHT.

OH, mute among the months, October, thou,
Like a hot reaper when the sun goes down,
Reposing in the twilight of the year!
Is yon the silver glitter of thy scythe,
Drawn thread-like on the west? September comes
Humming those waifs of song June's choral days
Left in the forest, but thy tuneless lips
Breathe only a pervading haze that seems
Visible silence, and thy sabbath face
Scares swart November—— from yon northern hills
Foreboding like a raven; yellow ferns
Make thee a couch; thou sittest listless there,
Plucking red leaves for idleness; full streams 
Coil to thy feet, where fawns that come at noon 
Drink with upglancing eyes.
Upon this knoll
Studded with long-stemmed maples, ever first 
To take the breeze, I have lain summer hours
Seeing the blue sky only, and the light

45* (533)

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-28 07:33:40