Fainter grew her voice, and weaker, As with anxious eyes she cried, "Down the avenue of chestnuts, I can hear a horseman ride." "It was only the deer that were feeding They were startled, and fled to the thicket Now the night arose in silence, There was only a sound of weeping Peace to the quiet Dead! HOURS. HEN the bright stars came out last night, I had a vision of delight— A dream of by-gone hours. Those hours that came and fled so fast Of pleasure or of pain, As phantoms rose from out the past Before my eyes again. With beating heart did I behold Lit with the radiant light of old, And, smiling, crowned with flowers. And some were hours of childish sorrow, A mimicry of pain, That through their tears looked for a morrow They knew must smile again. Those hours of hope that longed for life, And ere the summons to the strife, I knew the echo of their voice, I knew the perfume of their flowers; O stay, I cried-bright visions, stay, But, smiling still, they passed away, Like shadows of the morn. One spirit still remained, and cried, "Thy soul shall ne'er forget!" He standeth ever by my side The phantom called Regret! But still the spirits rose, and there And anxious hours of fear and care Dim shadows came of lonely hours, And in the opening smile of flowers Calm hours that sought the starry skies I knew the hours of prayer. Stern hours that darkened the sun's light, Heralds of coming woes, With trailing wings, before my sight From the dim past arose. As each dark vision passed and spoke I prayed it to depart: At each some buried sorrow woke And stirred within my heart. Until these hours of pain and care Spread their dark pinions in the air THE TWO INTERPRETERS. HE clouds are fleeting by, father, Look in the shining west, The great white clouds sail onward Upon the sky's blue breast. Look at a snowy eagle, His wings are tinged with red, And a giant dolphin follows him, With a crown upon his head!" |