THE HUMAN ABSTRACT.

PITY would be no more

If we did not make somebody poor,
And Mercy no more could be
If all were as happy as we.

And mutual fear brings Peace,
Till the selfish loves increase;
Then Cruelty knits a snare,
And spreads his baits with care.

He sits down with holy fears,
And waters the ground with tears;
Then Humility takes its root
Underneath his foot.

Soon spreads the dismal shade
Of Mystery over his head,
And the caterpillar and fly
Feed on the Mystery.

And it bears the fruit of Deceit,

Ruddy and sweet to eat,

And the raven his nest has made

In its thickest shade.

The gods of the earth and sea

Sought through nature to find this tree, But their search was all in vain :

There grows one in the human Brain.

INFANT SORROW.

My mother groaned, my father wept, Into the dangerous world I leapt, Helpless, naked, piping loud,

Like a fiend hid in a cloud.

Struggling in my father's hands,
Striving against my swaddling bands,
Bound, and weary, I thought best
To sulk upon my mother's breast.

CHRISTIAN FORBEARANCE.

I WAS angry with my friend :
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:

I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears

Night and morning with my tears,
And I sunnèd it with smiles

And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night

Till it bore an apple bright,

And my foe beheld it shine,

And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole

When the night had veil'd the pole; In the morning, glad, I see

My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.

A LITTLE BOY LOST.

'NOUGHT loves another as itself,
'Nor venerates another so,
'Nor is it possible to thought
'A greater than itself to know.

And, Father, how can I love you 'Or any of my brothers more? 'I love you like the little bird

'That picks up crumbs around the door.'

The Priest sat by and heard the child;

In trembling zeal he seiz'd his hair,

He led him by his little coat,

And all admired the priestly care.

And standing on the altar high,

'Lo! what a fiend is here,' said he, 'One who sets reason up for judge

The weeping child could not be heard,
The weeping parents wept in vain,
They stripp'd him to his little shirt
And bound him in an iron chain,

And burned him in a holy place

Where many had been burned before;

The weeping parents wept in vain.

Are such things done on Albion's shore?

A LITTLE GIRL LOST.

CHILDREN of the future Age,
Reading this indignant page,
Know that, in a former time,

Love, sweet love, was thought a crime.

In the age of gold,

Free from winter's cold,

Youth and maiden bright,

To the holy light,

Naked in the sunny beams delight.

Once a youthful pair,
Fill'd with softest care,
Met in garden bright,

Where the holy light

Had just removed the curtains of the night.

Then, in rising day,

On the grass they play;

Parents were afar,

Strangers came not near,

And the maiden soon forgot her fear.

Tired with kisses sweet,

They agree to meet

When the silent sleep,

Waves o'er heaven's deep

And the weary tired wanderers weep.

To her father white

Came the maiden bright,

But his loving look,

Like the holy book,

All her tender limbs with terror shook.

Ona pale and weak,

To thy father speak?

Oh! the trembling fear,

Oh! the dismal care

That shakes the blossoms of my hoary hair!