1873.

HE winter's breath is in the air,

THE

The ground is white with snow;
But Love is ever young and fair,
No winter doth he know.

O perfect love! still fresh and fair
As Eden's lilies grow,

And in the home and through the air
Divinest fragrance throw,
Where Eve and Adam still repeat

The primal marriage vow,
And angels of their pilgrimage

Watch o'er their children now.

So daisy buds shall yet be seen,
And violet blossoms grow,

Through hidden founts of warmth beneath
The fields of frost and snow.

And love shall make the blossoms break, Whatever seasons reign;

And as we knew love's power at first,

It shall be known again.

An Iceland storm might come between
Such visions of our faith,

But the bright sun shall still be seen
With spring's reviving breath.
Dear wife! thy love is fresh and fair
As this new-fallen snow,

And warm as that sweet autumn air,
Twenty-eight years ago.

And fervent as it was at first,
Shall be its calm increase;
A sacred spring of life and power,
Whose depths can never cease.
For He who gave its holy fount,
Its Sabbath in the soul,

His own dear measurement of love
Proclaims o'er Time's control.

Though Earth and Eden, in their sphere,

And Time itself, shall die,

Immortal is the growth of love

Through God's eternity.

MY DEAR WIFE'S MERRY CHRISTMAS.

I

WISH you a merry Christmas!

You are to me so dear,

I would not give a single kiss

For a universe of beer.

I wish you a merry Christmas!
You are to me so young,
That every year I find you here
Is as a girl's new song.

I wish you a merry Christmas,
And the fresh heart of a child,
That age as well as youth may be
By Mother Goose beguiled.

I wished you merry Christmas
Twenty-five years ago;

The ground was frozen like a vice,

And covered thick with snow.

I wish you a merry Christmas now: 'T is like an April day;

The soft south wind calls to the grass, And melts the ice away.

I wished you merry Christmas then, And all the fairy race,

That love to sport with children now Admire your youthful face.

I wish you merry Christmas long,
That when your hair is gray,
You may not have a single care
More than you have to-day.

I wish you a merry Christmas,
And many of the same,-
The years of life that have no end

And blessings without name!

1874.

EAR wife! another year's return

DE

Of life and love we hail;

The blessings of a Father's grace,

Whose mercies never fail.

The changing seasons come and go,

The leaves around us fall;

But flowers still bloom where love doth grow, And love is over all.

The buds and blooms of that sweet life

Can neither fade nor die,
But spring in fair celestial fruits
That change and death defy; -
A garden and a fountain sealed,
Where seraphs watch and wait,
To welcome all the names revealed
At mercy's shining gate.

There the dear spirits of the just,

Enrolled by God in heaven,

Adore the glories of the Lamb

Through whom they were forgiven.