THE SECOND CHILDHOOD. As oft in many trees the autumn leaves Assume a kindred hue of gold and green, With which their boughs were clad in early spring; So that the traveller, gazing from afar, Would pause to say which season he beheld1: A nearer view reveals the crimson tints Are not the hues of verdure, but, alas! The sure forerunners of an early tomb. Not of a coming, but a fading strength,- Before it sinks in everlasting gloom : This is very much the case in the southern woodland districts of Devon, where the foliage presents an unusual variety of tint in both the vernal and autumnal changes. So in old age the hues of youth appear Once more; the simpleness and feebleness, Without the freshness, of a May-day bloomMan's second childhood—sorrowful old age. BEDD GELERT.' "TIS many a year since that brave deed was done, Yet still its music lingers o'er this dell; While in a simple field a rugged stone Points out the spot where faithful Gelert fell! Though years roll on, and bury in their fall In that sequestered dale that bears his name. Learn, selfish man, who walk'st in Reason's pride, To do thy duty let what fate betide; And in the righteous cause to nobly bleed! This lovely village in North Wales takes its name from the well-known touching tale of Llewellyn and his dog Gelert. To stand at Danger's dreaded post, altho' Thy constancy may doom thee to the grave; Rescue the drowning, though his dying throe Shall draw thee down to death the friend that came to save. THE MARINER'S TOM B. He lay by the sea he had loved in life, On the wild and dreary island he died And the sweeping winds and the murmuring tide But O in some homestead far from his grave |