She turned her from the billows dark, And from the curling foam ;— She turned her to the saving ark, And it took the wanderer home. “Go forth again, fair dove! and see If thy gentle eye can scan A place in all the world, to be A resting place for man." Again she went,—again she sought The far spread ocean round; And she returned ;—what hath she brought? What has the white dove found? The olive branch!-the sign of peace, Oh, be my soul like thee, fair dove! In passing on through life, Still, by its faith, borne far above The world's tumultuous strife. And when by weariness 'tis driven To rest where tempests cease, Bearing, on its return to heaven, The sign of hope and peace. KINDRED SPIRITS. DROPS from the ocean of eternity; Rays from the centre of unfailing light; Things that the human eye can never see, Are spirits, yet they dwell near human sight; But as the shattered magnet's fragments still, To meet their fellow spirits vainly burn; If the eternal ray that heavenly was, To no false earthly fire be reconciled, The drop shall mingle with its native main, The ray shall meet its kindred rays again! THE THINGS OF THE WATERS. Pale, glistening pearls, and rainbow-coloured shells, MRS. HEMANS. UPON the waters!-many a ship that rolls Before the winds and waves, in stately pride,Uprooted sea-weed,-human forms and souls,These are the things that o'er the ocean ride; Yet, though they find their watery paths o'er thee, They cannot rule thee,-oh, thou tameless sea! Within the waters !-weeds, the waves in wrath Have torn from their own caverns,-living things, Whose home is in their bosoms; such it hath, And wild and mighty monsters forth it brings; And yet, thy children cannot weaken thee, As thou dost nourish them,-unmeasured sea! Beneath the waters!-sands, and rocks, and caves, And whitening bones, and pearls, and glittering gems, And craggy chambers, that the coral paves,— And sea flowers, cherished on their slender stems; Yes!-'neath the waters is thy treasury Of gold and priceless jewels,-royal sea! Around the waters!-rocks and deserts vast, And green and fertile shores, and halls and towers, And woods, where never human foot hath past, And fairy banks, bestrewn with summer flowers,— And rivers, rolling all themselves to thee; And yet, thou heed'st them not,-oh, thou proud sea! Above the waters!—the pure azure sky, And richly tinted clouds, and roving wind, And fair and many-coloured birds, that fly Across their wastes, a nearer home to find; |