I SEE the small birds fluttering on the trees, And know the sweet notes they are softly singing; I see the green leaves trembling in the breeze, And know the rustling that such breeze is bringing; I see the waters rippling as they flow, And know the soothing murmur of their noise; I see the children in the fire-light’s glow, Laughing and playing with their varied toys; I see the signs of merriment and mirth; I see the music of God’s lovely earth; I see the earnest talk of friend with friend, And wish my earnest thoughts with theirs could blend; But oh! to my deaf ears there comes no sound, I live a life of silence most profound. SEE p. 31LIGHTS AND SHADOWS. p. 31 Dear heart! what a little time it is, since Francis and I used to walk From church in the still June evenings together, busy with loving talk; And now he is gone far away over seas, to some strange foreign country,—and I Shall never rise from my bed any more, till the day when I come to die. Dear I tried not to think of him during the prayers; but when his dear voice I heard I fail’d to take part in the hymns, for my heart flutter’d up to my throat like a bird; And scarcely a word of the sermon I caught. I doubt ’twas a grievous sin; But ’twas only one poor little hour in the week that I had to be happy in. When the blessing was given, and we left the dim aisles for the light of the evening star, Though I durst not lift up my eyes from the ground, yet I knew that he was not far; And I hurried on, though I fain would have stayed, till I heard his footstep draw near, And love rising up in my breast like a flame, cast out every shadow of fear. Ah me! ’twas a pleasant pathway home, a pleasant pathway and sweet, Ankle deep through the purple clover, breast high ’mid the blossoming wheat: p. 32I can hear the landrails call through the dew, and the night-jars’ tremulous thrill, And the nightingale pouring her passionate song from the hawthorn under the hill. p. 32 One day, when we came to the wicket gate, ’neath the elms, where we used to part, His voice began to falter and break as he told me I had his heart; And I whisper’d that mine was his; we knew what we felt long ago: Six weeks are as long as a lifetime almost when you love each other so. So we put up the banns, and were man and wife in the sweet fading
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