HOPE, FAITH, CHARITY. 119 Have HOPE!-as the tossed mariner, Upon the wild waste driven, With rapture hails the Polar star, His guiding light in heaven, So Hope shall gladden thee, and guide And as a sacred beacon stand, To point thee to thy God. Have FAITH!-the substance of things hoped, That nerves the arm with God-like might, Have Faith-her rapid foot shall bring Thee conquering to the goal, Have FAITH!—and though around thy bark The tempest surges roar; At her stern voice the storm shall rest, The billows rage no more. HOPE bids the soul to soar on high, But yet no wing supplies; She marks the way,-but FAITH shall bear Have CHARITY!-for though thou'st faith To make the hills remove, Thou nothing art if wanting this, The Charity of love. And though an angel's tongue were thine, Whose voice none might surpass, If Charity inspire thee not, Thou art as sounding brass.' Have CHARITY! that suffers long, Yet loves that brother still. FAITH, HOPE, and CHARITY!—of these The last is greatest, best. "Tis Heaven itself come down to dwell Within the human breast. THE LITTLE GRAVES. BY SEBA SMITH. 'Twas autumn, and the leaves were dry, And rustled on the ground, And chilly winds went whistling by With low and pensive sound, As through the grave yard's lone retreat, By meditation led, I walked with slow and cautious feet Above the sleeping dead. Three little graves, ranged side by side, My close attention drew; O'er two the tall grass bending sighed, As lingering there I mused awhile A mourner came to weep. Her form was bowed, but not with years, Her words were faint and few, And on those little graves her tears A prattling boy, some four years old, And from my heart the tale he told 'Mamma, now you must love me more, 'And t'other sister died before, 'And brother too, you said. Mamma, what made sweet sister die ? 'She loved me when we played: 'You told me, if I would not cry, 'You'd show me where she's laid.' THE LITTLE GRAVES. 'Tis here, my child, that sister lies, 'Deep buried in the ground; No light comes to her little eyes, 'And she can hear no sound. 'Mamma, why can't we take her up, 'And put her in my bed? 'I'll feed her from my little cup, 'And then she wont be dead. 123 "For sister 'll be afraid to lie No, sister is not cold, my child, 'For God, who saw her die, 'As He looked down from Heaven and smiled, 'Called her above the sky. And then her spirit quickly fled 'To God by whom 'twas given ; Her body in the ground is dead, 'But sister lives in Heaven.' |