Part 3 (1/2)

Down through the portals of the sky Descend a glorious s.h.i.+ning band.

Who waft his soul to joys on high, And blissful scenes at G.o.d's right hand.

Nor does the monster yet relent,-- Four blooming victims he has slain, Yet on another now intent, He bends his fatal bow again.

And must this only daughter go, Ere half her budding graces bloom?

Yes, cruel death will take her too, To swell his numbers in the tomb.

See on her cheek the death rose bloom, And smile with a deceitful glow; 'Tis the red banner of the tomb, To warn her friends that she must go.

With bleeding hearts they feel the rod, And weeping, lay her in the grave, Yet with submission yield to G.o.d, The precious jewel which he gave.

But when the trump of G.o.d shall sound, To call each sainted sleeper home, Should they, with ev'ry child, surround The mighty conq'ror of the tomb--

They'll cry, oh Lord, thou ever just, Behold is and our children here!

Thou didst in love give them to us, And we resigned them to thy care.

Now we will chant Redemption's sung, Which Gabriel never learned to sing, Nor one of all th' angelic throng,-- To Jesus, prophet, priest and king.

THE ROSE AND LILAC TREE.[2]

No garland, fresh from Eden's bowers, Could be more sweet than these dear flowers To each surviving friend; They'll water them with falling tears, And nurse them through succeeding years, And from each ill defend.

Bloom on, each weeping parent cried,-- My daughters planted you and died,-- You are most dear to me; Each now in smiling beauty stands, Where placed by these fair youthful hands,-- Sweet rose and lilac tree.

Bloom on, bloom on, perfume the air,-- I love to see you flourish there, And in bright beauty bloom; Each tiny leaf I hold most dear, Although you oft call forth a tear For loved ones in the tomb.

Bloom on, sweet flow'rs, while yet you may; Your fading leaves will soon portray The lovely, fragile form, Which pa.s.sed from earth while skies seemed fair, Like vapors quiv'ring in the air, Before a coming storm.

I gaze upon these opening flowers-- They bring a dream of blissful hours, When brighter germs were mine; Once on my throbbing bosom lay Sweet budding blossoms, fair as they, Fraught with immortal minds.

'Neath summer skies these flow'rs will fade-- Fair emblems of the youthful dead, But spring restores their bloom.

Just so the saints that droop and die, When Gabriel's trump shall rend the sky, Will leave the mould'ring tomb.

They'll leave this dull, this earthly sod, And, in the garden of our G.o.d, Bloom with celestial grace, Where frost and mildew ne'er can blight; There, all enraptured with delight, G.o.d's wondrous works they'll trace.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 2: The Rose and Lilac trees, referred to above, were planted by two youthful sisters a short time before their death.]

LINES

Composed on the death of Mrs. Mary M. West, of Jay.

Dear Mary, while thou art in heaven, at rest, We're mourning thy absence, bereft and depressed; For thou wert so faithful, so winning and kind, That our hearts' ev'ry fibre around thee entwined.