IV. God gave him reverence of laws, The eye of the Hawk, and the fire therein! V. To Nature and to Holy writ Alone did God the boy commit: Where flashed and roared the torrent, oft VI. The straining oar and chamois chase On wave and wind the boy would toss, Was great, nor knew how great he was! VII. He knew not that his chosen hand, A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I. THE Shepherds went their hasty way, And now they checked their eager tread, II. They told her how a glorious light, While sweeter than a Mother's song, Blest Angels heralded the Saviour's birth, Glory to God on high! and Peace on Earth. III. She listened to the tale divine, And closer still the Babe she pressed; And while she cried, the Babe is mine! The milk rushed faster to her breast: Joy rose within her, like a summer's morn; IV. Thou Mother of the Prince of Peace, O why should this thy soul elate? V. And is not War a youthful King, A stately Hero clad in Mail? Beneath his footsteps laurels spring; Him Earth's majestic monarchs hail Their Friend, their Playmate! and his bold bright eye Compels the maiden's love-confessing sigh. VI. "Tell this in some more courtly scene, "To maids and youths in robes of state! "I am a woman poor and mean, "And therefore is my Soul elate. "War is a ruffian, all with guilt defiled, VII. "A murderous fiend, by fiends adored, "He kills the Sire and starves the Son; "The Husband kills, and from her board "Steals all his Widow's toil had won; "Plunders God's world of beauty; rends away "All safety from the Night, all comfort from the Day. VIII. "Then wisely is my soul elate, "That Strife should vanish, Battle cease: "I'm poor and of a low estate, "The Mother of the Prince of Peace. Joy rises in me, like a summer's morn: "Peace, Peace on Earth, the Prince of Peace is born." HUMAN LIFE, ON THE DENIAL OF IMMORTALITY. Ir dead, we cease to be; if total gloom Swallow up life's brief flash for aye, we fare Which, as she gazed on some nigh-finished vase, She formed with restless hands unconsciously! If rootless thus, thus substanceless thy state, Go, weigh thy dreams, and be thy Hopes, thy Fears, The counter-weights !-Thy Laughter and thy Tears Mean but themselves, each fittest to create, |