Justice and Goodness of God [pp. 92]

LIFE'S TEARS.
Original.
LIFE'S TEARS.
BY MISS EMMA C. COOPER.
I SAW a fair and lovely babe,
In placid slumbers wrapt;
And o'er her brow soft ringlets played,
As smilingly she slept:
She opened soon a sweet blue eye,
And wept the "tear of infancy." -
Seated beneath a cypress shade,
A brother and a sister lone,
Spoke of their parents long since dead,
And their once lovely childhood home:
They thought of happier days gone by,
And wept the "tear of memory."
'Twas eve, and'neath the starry blue,
A beauteous, fair young maiden knelt;
And drops that mingled with the dew,
Spoke of the bitter grief she felt:
She sought the "pearl" of price immense,
And wept the "tear of penitence."
'Twas winter, and the drifting storm
Found way into the drunkard's home;
And to a young, but faded form,
The starving children made their moan:
She felt what breaking hearts must know,
And wept the "tear of bitter woe."
'Twas early morn, and her last crust
The widow gave her sickly boy;
But He whose arm she made her trust
Provided them a fresh supply:
She felt the Lord was ever good,
And wept the "tear of gratitude."
A group of weeping friends were there,
Around the Christian's dying bed:
"My Savior speaks: no cloud is near:
I've glory in my soul," elie said Smiled as she drew the parting breath,
And wept the silent "tear of death."
Original.
LINES TO A SEA-PLANT.
BY MRS. HOWE.
BEAUTIFUL plant! thou speakest to me,
Of the snowy surge, and the bounding sea;
Of the sounding shell in the coral caves,
Where the green sea-weed in beauty waves.
How oft has been raised this graceful plume,
Like a fairy-wand,'midst the water's boom;
How often been wet with the dashing spray
;N
Of the waves returned ftoritheir noisy play!
Thou speakest to me of sun-light hours,
When the stream of life ran over flowers;
When all I could do the live-long day,
Was awhile to think, and awhile to play;
When I sat on the sandy beach alone,
To list to the water's dying moan;
When I watch'd the stars and deem'd them eyes
Of the heavenly host in Paradise!
And thought, as I look'd into the deep,
How sweet must be the dead sailor's sleep!
I did not think of the eyes that wept
For the one who in dreamless silence slept;
Of the weary heart, and the trembling lip,
That eagerly ask'd for the conming ship.
How little they think who have tasted not
Of the bitter dregs of the human lot,
As they stand by the side of a stranger's bier,
Of the heavy throb, and the scalding tear,
Of the dark despair, and the bright hopes cross'd,
Of those who weep for the lov'd and lost!
The heart may be darken'd a moment, then
Returns the glad tide of life again!
Beautiful plant! perchance thou hast lain
For years in the breast of the heaving main;
Thou hast felt the press of the lofty keel
As it battled hard for its country's weal;
Perhaps, o'er thee trickled the true heart's blood,
Till the stain was wash'd by the ocean-flood.
Perchance thou hast grown near India's strand,
Where the bright flowers grow in a radiant band;
Where each star looks down from its golden sphere,
With a soft, bright beauty, we know not here!
Thou speakest to me of the friends I love,
Whose voices I hope to hear above;
Of affection's smiles, and of beaming eyes,
That I hope to see in Paradise!
How sweetly the moments have sped along
Since my heart began to pour its song!
I promis'd to sing a song to thee,
Thou waving plant of the deep green sea!
JUSTICE AND GOODNESS OF GOD.
GREAT God, my Maker, and my King,
Of thee I'll speak, of thee I'll sing;
All thou hast done, and all thou dost,
Declare thee good, proclaim thee just:
Thy ancient thoughts, and firm decrees,
Thy threatenings and thy promises,
The joys of heaven, -the pains of hell,
What angels taste, what devils feel:
Thy terrors and thy acts of grace,
Thy threatening rod and smiling face,
Thy wounding and thy healing word,
A world undone, a world restored.
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