GEORGE D. PRENTICE. [Born, 1804.J MR. PRENTICE is a native of Preston, in Connecticut, and was educated at Brown University, in Providence, where he was graduated in 1823. He edited for several years, at Hartford, "The New England Weekly Review," in connection, I believe, with JOHN G. WHITTIER; and in 1831 he removed to Louisville, Kentucky, where he has since conducted the "Journal," of that city, one of the most popular gazettes ever published in this country. Nearly all his poems were written while he was in the university. They have never been published collectively. THE CLOSING YEAR. "Tis midnight's holy hour-and silence now For memory and for tears. Within the deep, In the dim land of dreams. Remorseless Time- LINES TO A LADY. LADY, I love, at eventide, When stars, as now, are on the wave, Upon the one dear form that gave Eve's low, faint wind is breathing now, And oft, mid musings sad and lone, When sleep's calm wing is on my brow, That form floats dim and beautiful; And, when the gentle moonbeam smiles On the blue streams and dark-green isles, In every ray pour'd down the sky, That same light form seems stealing by. It is a blessed picture, shrined In memory's urn; the wing of years Can change it not, for there it glows, Undimm'd by weaknesses and tears;" Deep-hidden in its still recess, It beams with love and holiness, O'er hours of being, dark and dull, Till life seems almost beautiful. The vision cannot fade away; 'Tis in the stillness of my heart, And o'er its brightness I have mused In solitude; it is a part Of my existence; a dear flower Breathed on by Heaven: morn's earliest hour Lady, like thine, my visions cling To the dear shrine of buried years; We have been bless'd; though life is made Those still, those soft, those summer eyes, When by our favourite stream we stood, And still 'tis sweet. Our hopes went by To deep, undying melody; Our hopes are flown-yet parted hours Still in the depths of memory lie, Like night-gems in the silent blue Of summer's deep and brilliant sky; And Love's bright flashes seem again To fall upon the glowing chain Of our existence. Can it be That all is but a mockery? Lady, adieu! to other climes I go, from joy, and hope, and thee; Are on my lyre, and their wild flow Broken and tuneless. Be it so! Thy name-O, may it never swell My strain again-yet long 't will dwell Shrined in my heart, unbreathed, unspokenA treasured word-a cherish'd token. THE DEAD MARINER. SLEEP on, sleep on! above thy corse Sleep on; no willow o'er thee bends No violet springs, nor dewy rose Its soul of love lays bare; But there the sea-flower, bright and young, Sleep on, sleep on; the glittering depths Sleep on, sleep on; the fearful wrath Above thy place of sleep; But, when the wave has sunk to rest, Sleep on; thy corse is far away, But love bewails thee yet; And she, thy young and beauteous bride, SABBATH EVENING. How calmly sinks the parting sun! Yet twilight lingers still; And beautiful as dream of Heaven It slumbers on the hill; Earth sleeps, with all her glorious things, Round yonder rocks the forest-trees In shadowy groups recline, Like saints at evening bow'd in prayer Around their holy shrine; And through their leaves the night-winds blow And yonder western throng of clouds, Retiring from the sky, So calmnly move, so softly glow, They seem to fancy's eye The blue isles of the golden sea, The night-arch floating by, The flowers that gaze upon the heavens, The spirit of the holy eve Comes through the silent air Each soul is fill'd with glorious dreams, Each pulse is beating wild; And thought is soaring to the shrine And holy aspirations start, Like blessed angels, from the heart, And bind-for earth's dark ties are rivenOur spirits to the gates of heaven. TO A LADY. I THINK of thee when morning springs O'er flower and stream is wandering free, I think of thee, when, soft and wide, Sits blushing in the arms of night. I think of thee;-that eye of flame, Those tresses, falling bright and free, That brow, where "Beauty writes her name," I think of thee-I think of thee. WRITTEN AT MY MOTHER'S GRAVE. THE trembling dew-drops fall Upon the shutting flowers; like souls at rest The stars shine gloriously: and all Save me, are blest. Mother, I love thy grave! The violet, with its blossoms blue and mild, Waves o'er thy head; when shall it wave Above thy child? "T is a sweet flower, yet must Its bright leaves to the coming tempest bow; Dear mother, 't is thine emblem; dust Is on thy brow. And I could love to die: To leave untasted life's dark, bitter streamsBy thee, as erst in childhood, lie, And share thy dreams. And I must linger here, To stain the plumage of my sinless years, And mourn the hopes to childhood dear With bitter tears. Ay, I must linger here, A lonely branch upon a wither'd tree, Whose last frail leaf, untimely sere, Went down with thee! Oft, from life's wither'd bower, In still communion with the past; I turn, And, when the evening pale Bows, like a mourner, on the dim, blue wave, I stray to hear the night-winds wail Around thy grave. Where is thy spirit flown? I gaze above-thy look is imaged there; O, come, while here I press My brow upon thy grave; and, in those mild And thrilling tones of tenderness, Bless, bless thy child! Yes, bless your weeping child; And o'er thine urn-religion's holiest shrineO, give his spirit, undefiled, To blend with thine. Y "But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away."-ST. PAUL. I SAW them in their synagogue, The scene will fade away, Sheds, mingled with the hues of day, On swarthy brow and piercing glance Phylacteries and fringe. The two-leaved doors slide slow apart As rise the Hebrew harmonies, With chanted prayers between, Robed in his sacerdotal vest, A silvery-headed man The glow and power that sate And fervently that hour I pray'd, Might break on every soul, That on their harden'd hearts the veil Might be no longer dark, But be forever rent in twain Like that before the ark. For yet the tenfold film shall fall, Thy testimonies right, When thou, with all MESSIAH's signs In CHRIST distinctly seen, Shall, by JEHOVAH's nameless name, Invoke the Nazarene. THE CLOUDS. "Cloud land! Gorgeous land!"-COLERIdge. I CANNOT look above and see Of evening clouds, so swimmingly And think not, Lonn, how thou wast seen Before them, in thy shadowy screen, Pavilion'd all the day! Or, of those robes of gorgeous hue Which the Redeemer wore, When, ravish'd from his followers' view, Aloft his flight he bore, When lifted, as on mighty wing, He curtained his ascent, And, wrapt in clouds, went triumphing Is it a trail of that same pall When man expecteth not! When thou shalt come again with power, Upon the clouds of heaven! THE ORDINAL. ALAS for me if I forget The memory of that day Which fills my waking thoughts, nor yet In dreams I still renew the rites And none can part again. The heart for God alone; Again I kneel as then I knelt, While he above me stands, And seem to feel, as then I felt, The pressure of his hands. Again the priests in meet array, As my weak spirit fails, As then, the sacramental host Of Gon's elect are by, When many a voice its utterance lost, As then they on my vision rose, And desk and cushion'd book repose In solemn sanctity, The mitre o'er the marble niche, The broken crook and key, With decency arranged; The linen cloth, the plate, the cup, Beneath their covering shine, Ere priestly hands are lifted up To bless the bread and wine. The solemn ceremonial past, And I am set apart To serve the LORD, from first to last, And I have sworn, with pledges dire, Which Gop and man have heard, O Thou, who in thy holy place Grant me, thy meanest servant, grace To win a good degree; That so, replenish'd from above, And in my office tried, Thou mayst be honoured, and in love Thy church be edified! CHRISTMAS EVE. THE thickly-woven boughs they wreathe A soft, reviving odour breathe And rich the ray of mild green light Comes struggling through the latticed height O, let the streams of solemn thought From deeper sources spring than aught Then, though the summer's pride departs, Rests on the cheerless woods, our hearts THE DEATH OF STEPHEN. WITH awful dread his murderers shook, As, radiant and serene, The lustre of his dying look Was like an angel's seen; Or Moses' face of paly light, When down the mount he trod, To us, with all his constancy, Revealments bright of heaven. THE CHRISTMAS OFFERING. WE come not with a costly store, From Ophir's shore of gold: But still our love would bring its best, A spirit keenly tried By fierce affliction's fiery test, And seven times purified: The fragrant graces of the mind, The virtues that delight To give their perfume out, will find Acceptance in thy sight. |