Died Young [pp. 320]

THE LADIES' REPOSITORY.
"Be careful above all things not to
give it too much to drink!" replied
Maurice.
We exchanged glances, and he passed
by me, whistling.
Twenty-three years have rolled away
since that day, and I have never forgotten the promise I then made to myself.
Exposed to all the temptations of intemperance, I have resisted the influence, by
"taking care." In the good as in the
bad it is only the first steps which decide
the route we are to take. A habit is
sometimes impossible to vanquish, but
almost always easy to avoid.
FROM THE FRENCH.
DIED YOUNG!
IED young! about these little common words
A mournful cadence ever seems to cling,
Like echoes of a broken song, that still
A sense of yearning to our spirits bring!
Died young! the living who remain grow gray;
And yet these dead stand in our mem'ries light,
Unwither'd, fresh, untouched by time and care,
Or glorified, perchance, by faith's fond sight!
Died young! we think of them too oft as fruit
Blighted by frost before the ripening hour;
Or with a selfish pain, that on our path
Should fade the beauty of an opening flower!
Died young! they have escaped so much of sin,
So much of sorrow, and such stings of shame,
That gratitude should mingle with our grief,
Knowing these dear ones kept their youth's pure name!
Died young! they had not lost their eager hope,
That glad, first trust in all that seemeth fair,
The power to dream, to revel in romance,
Or bring a guileless soul to God in prayer!
Died young! experience had never torn
The roseate veil from nature's face away,
Forc'd tears for perished loves and friendships slain,
Or shown them that their idols were of clay!
Died young! they left the bitterness of life,
Uncrown'd with thorns, unwearied with the cross;
And if we miss them on our own bleak road,
To us, to us alone, comes thought of loss!
Died young! leap'd warm into the vale of death,
Which we, with solemn step, shall one day tread;
And then, dear friends, grown old with this world's ill,
We meet our youth again with earth's young dead!
320
[April,