THE FATHER TO HIS FAVOURITE CHILD.

My fair young child is fading—
Fades as the frost-nipp'd rose;

No more I hear her bird-like voice
Trill sweetly as she goes;

That happy smile no longer now
Cheers me in hours of gloom,

And when that sweet voice speaketh,
It soundeth of the tomb.

That step, so gay and lightsome,

As if it trod the sky,

When last I heard it fall, methought

An old man totter'd by.

DEFEAT AND VICTORY.

THE straying arrow from the long-bow sent,
The erring bullet that has miss'd its mark,
Are things gone forth for aye. Why ponder, then,
Or, in thy vain regret, deplore the past?

Defeated once. from that defeat next time,

Perchance, thou shalt draw forth a victory-
With more decided finger press the string —
The shaft send forth with more determined nerve;

Or touch the trigger with a steadier pulse
The barrel glance along with keener eye;

And, by the blessing of the Power above,

Brother, next time thou shalt not miss the mark.

THE MEETING-TO ADA.

UNWEDDED still we meet—and neither heart
As yet has found its mate: the fiery sun
Of youthful love has 'neath the horizon set,
And left us in its twilight cold and grey.
Upon thy cheek I trace the glittering tear,
The pallid jewel with which sad sorrow loves
To deck the brows of those she calls her own;
While heavy ploughshares of keen suffering
Have oft repassed with deeply furrowing edge
O'er my blanched cheek, once lit with ruddy health.

O Hope! that gave such lustre to our love
In bygone years,—yes, thou art like the bow

So bright and beautiful in yonder sky,

Rich with the promise of to-morrow's sun,

But based on chilling drops of disappointment sad.

Yet, did our hearts now beat as they were wont
In the first gush of youthful ecstacy,

I would not seek to link thy fate with mine,
To join thy lot with hopeless suffering.
With courage let us take the branching roads
The finger-post of Providence prescribes.