"Come to thy God in time! But why are Bottreau's echoes still? The ship rode down with courses free, Her sheet was loose, her anchor stored, The pilot heard his native bells "Thank God," with reverent brow he cried, Thank God, thou whining knave, on land, But thank, at sea, the steersman's hand," The captain's voice above the gale: "Thank the good ship and ready sail." "Come to thy God in time! Sad grew the boding chime: "Come to thy God at last! Boomed heavy on the blast. Uprose that sea! as if it heard When gray hairs o'er his forehead fell, While those around would hear and weep That fearful judgment of the deep. "Come to thy God in time!" Still when the storm of Bottreau's waves Peal their deep notes beneath the tide: "Come to thy God in time!" Robert Stephen Hawker. Bramble-Rise. BRAMBLE-RISE. HAT wonders greet my waking eyes WHAT At last! Can this be Bramble-Rise, Once smallest of its shire? How changed, and changing from my dream; This village is no longer mine; And though the inn has changed its sign, The beer may not be stronger: The river, dwindled by degrees, The thatch is slate, the plaster bricks, The geese were swans, and once the pigs Where early reapers whistled shrill, The locomotive's ravings. New custom newer want begets, - I loathe a bank for savings. That voice I have not heard for long! But Patty, Patty's daughter; And has she too outlived the spells Where childhood loved to ramble ? * Frederick Locker. IN Bray. THE VICAR OF BRAY. N good King Charles's golden days, A zealous high-churchman was I, To teach my flock I never missed: Or touch the Lord's anointed. And this is the law that I'll maintain That whatsoever king shall reign, Still I'll be the Vicar of Bray, sir. When royal James possessed the crown, The penal laws I hooted down, And read the declaration; The Church of Rome I found would fit Full well my constitution; And I had been a Jesuit But for the revolution. And this is the law that I'll maintain, etc. When William was our king declared, To ease the nation's grievance ; |