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POETICAL MEDITATIONS.

ASPIRATION.

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NWARD and upward, Heavenly Father, bear me,
Onward and upward, raise me to my Home!
Onward and upward, be Thou ever near me,
Where my blessed parents beckon me to come.

With Thy holy spirit, O do Thou renew me,

Cleanse me from all that turneth me from Thee;
Guide me and guard me, lead me and subdue me,
Till I love not all that centres not in Thee.

Thou hast filled my soul with brightness and with beauty,
Thou hast made me feel the sweetness of Thy love,—
Purify my heart, devote me all to duty,

Sanctify me wholly for Thy realms above.

Holy, heavenly Parent of this earth-born spirit!
Onward and upward bear it to its Home,
With Thy first-born Son eternal joys t' inherit,

Where my blessed lost ones beckon me to come.

1848.

DEDICATION.

O Thee, my God, to Thee,
Teach me to live;

To Thee my God, to Thee,
All would I give.

Whate'er I hold most dear
I would resign ;-
Sure I have nothing here,-

All mine is Thine.

What most my soul doth prize The least is mine; Nought that is holy dies,

For it is Thine!

The life that came from Thee

Can never die ;Teach me to yield it Thee, Without a sigh!

For still my heart doth cling To what is fair::

Heavenward my spirit wing,

And fix it there.

1849.

Bear all that most I love
To heavenly rest;
Bear Thou my soul above,
And make it blest.

My all, O God, to Thee
I would resign;

O fix my heart on Thee,
I would be Thine.

JOY.

"In Thy presence is fulness of joy."

OY! whence art thou? Not of human birth,
Though dwelling still on Earth;

Thou flutterest here and there with restless wing,
Waiting towards Heaven to spring.

I've seen thee sporting with the laughing child,

So frolicksome and wild;

He thought that thou wast his-but thou wast gone,
And he was left alone.

I saw bright youths in the gay springtide time,

Life's hopeful glowing prime;

Thou madest for them all around so fair,

They knew not grief was there.

And much I feared when thou thy flight did'st take,
Their very hearts would break;

But thou hadst given them words of promise sweet,
"Full shortly we shall meet."

1849.

Thou hoverest soon near one with drooping head,
Weeping his sister dead;

He saw thee not, but felt thy heavenly breath,
And sweetness found in death.

And then I saw that bright one faint and dying;
Life's springtide days fast flying;

But tender love was round his suffering bed,
And soothed his aching head.

And near him lay Spring's freshest, fairest flowers,
That told of happier hours;

Their beauty cheered his wearing pains awhile,
And sweetly did he smile.

For thou wast near;-no more with flitting wing
Threatening away to spring;

But with thy Heaven-born sisters, Faith and Love,
To waft his soul above.

Blessed and beautiful! I know thee now,
By thy calm radiant brow!

Thou camest from God's own eternal throne,
To mark us as His own!

SORROW

LOVE thee, Sorrow, twin Sister of Joy, with thy downcast eye, from which gleam upwards bright glances mid thy falling tears!

They that live without God in the world love thee not,-know thee not;-they discern thee not from that earth-born sorrow which stirs within them thoughts of bitterness, which clouds their vision with impenetrable mists of dark brooding, which chains them to the seen and temporal, and then with a stern and cruel hand tears it from them,-which worketh death. But THOU! How shall I speak with mortal tongue thy heavenly beauty?

Thou didst touch with gentle hand the glad child. He had but glimpsed before the twilight haze in which thou hidest thyself from the gay, busy world,-and he feared it, for he knew not what awful form was behind it, and he loved nothing but what was bright as his young heart, and full of springing life like his fresh spirit. But thou didst clasp him lovingly in thy arms, and whisper to him of a fairer garden than that he delighted in, with sweeter flowers;-of a more beautiful world,-of a happier home. And when he wept at the first cold touch of Death, thou didst show him blessed spirits that dwell with the Saviour, and that can never change; thou didst tell him of Heaven. So he loved thee, for he felt that thou camest from the