Poetic Musings [pp. 595-598]

Poetic JTIusings.
vain-the devoted affection of one true heart. Does
it seem improbable that she asked nothing more l
With a wide field for her charities, a cultivated
mind, and a friend who sympathized in every thought
and feeling, what more was requsite than the hope
that death should set the seal of eternity on her
bliss.
"Henry," she said; " I wonder how any can love
truly, who have not the hope of reunion in the
world above. I should tremble every time you left
me, lest I had bid you an eternal farewell."
He imprinted a kiss on the cheek of his darling
wife, while his heart glowed with thankfulness for
such a treasure.
Earth is not Eden; and too soon Virginia needed
the consolations of a Christian's hope. Her idolized husband was stretched on a bed of sickness;
his fine face flushed with pain, and his lip parched
with fever. Dr. Carson, as he bent his aged frame
over the sufferer, counted the quick beatings of his
pulse. " Prepare for the worst, my child," he said,
in a sorrowful voice. Virginia knelt beside the
couch, her long curls failling over her agonized
face, she gave way to her grief. Suddenly she
seemed to hear her mother's voice, bidding her be
strong. "I will," she exclaimed, and rose from
her knees, with a cheerful heart. That night the
fever left her husband, but he was too weak to hope
for his recovery.
"My wife, my poor wife"-were his first words.
She sprang to his side. " Dearest," he said, "if
it be God's will that I go, let the thought comfort
you, that through your influence I was led to the
straight and narrow way. From your birth till
now a kind Providence has watched over you, and
will be with you to the end. With Criana and
Arcana you will find a peaceful home till we meet
again."
"Though few the days-the happy evemnings few,
So warm my heart, so rich with mind they flew,
That my full soul forgot its wish to roam,
And rested there, as in a dream at home."-Moore.
"'Twas like a sunbeam, glancing bright
Through clouds and summer showers;
For thus, it threw a sudden light
O'er dark- and lonely hours."-Anon.
La memoria, di quelli momenti della mia felicitB, mi sara
sempre deliziosa; —bnche, simili ai vapori della mattina
si esalarono!
Why is it, that the soul looks back
On its once fair, now faded track,
When Youth and Hope, so fondly bright,
Would onward still direct its flight?
In Manhood's more advanc6d years,
We look on youth, and e'en its tears,
All fondly beaming on our gaze,
Seem bright thro' intervening days.
Such joyous freshness hath that time,
So pure the sunshine of its clime,
That turning back, those days to hail,
Bright Fiction lends to Truth her veil,
And o'er each scene of care or woe
Its brighter tints will gently throw:Thus sleeps on Midnight's darker hue
The zone that girds her robe of blue.
But Youth knows not, how brightly clear
In l ate r life t hes e h ues appear:Its glances still areforward cast,
While Manhood lingers with The past.
A traveller up a weary hill,
Youth presses on, expectant still
That when he gains its towering height,
Bright landscapes then will cheer his sight,
And full before him spread, unfurled,
The glories of a cloudless world!
But, when that summit he attains,
Beneath him stretch no fertile plains;
New hills, new mountains on him burst,
Each, steeper, loftier than the first!
And tho', beyond their towering swell,
Hope paints her gladsome picture well,
The sunniest prospect, still, he finds,
Is -where his backward pathway winds.
And Virginia did find quiet and peace in the
dwelling of Arcana, when Manteo and Dr. Carson
had passed away. Eleanor had bowed with one
struggle to sorrow, and ever after maintained a
calm submission. But Virginia, with quicker feelings and a more elastic temperament, after each
trial, regained her former cheerfulness. Why should
she give way to repining. Had she not enjoyed
the richest boon of Heaven t. The memory of such
bliss was enough to sweeten life; and in a few short
years, she would regain all that she had lost. She
might be seen, followed by playful children, wandering among the woods, indulging in thoughts of
the hours spent there with the departed, or cheering the aged with sunny smile and tender care.
With the sorrowful and suffering, by the sick and
dying, Virginia Dare passed a life begun in a scene
of woe, and nursed with tears.
If the fate of this first daughter of America
seem too mournful, let her fair countrywomen remember, that her blessings outnumbered her trials.
As on that p at h a fount might gush,As near that fount a rose might blush,So, on my pathway beam, the while,
Hours that were gladdened by Thy smile;
And'round the spot by thee made bright,
In Memory's fondest, purest light,
1840.]
595
For a time, she enjoyed all that Youth, Beauty,
Genius and Love can bestow. Even Faine was not
denied her,-for she was remembered among the
tribe-who preserved the history of her eventful
life, as the 11 White Angel of Mercy."
POETIC MUSINGS.
ADDRESSED TO A LADY.
BY ROBERT HOWE GOULD.
-A