GOLDEN Volumes! richest treasures! Lights who beamed through many ages Dear volumes! - THE OASIS. THE avellers passed o'er a desert drear, 'Neath scorching suns, o'er scorching sands; Few fertile spots the vision cheer, Few welcome shades invite their bands: Day after day they travelled on, Till fell exhaustion claimed the breath; A broad Oasis saved from death: Not far unlike it is this age Of red and yellow novel reading; Fiction and trash are all the rage; Sense to be heard in vain is pleading; The mind, in error's mazes lost, Sickens for want of solid duty; It finds it but at what a cost! Perceptions dulled to truth and beauty: PRESENTATION TO A LADY. I BEG thee keep this simple gift Though then thou seem'st some spirit bright; Not when the tears of sorrow flow, To chase away that spirit's light; Not in the crowd, that hollow cheat, When morning wears her robes of dew, And thou hast caught the morning's hue. No! let it be the twilight hour, When musing memory loves to reign, And gather up each germ and flower That scatter o'er life's travelled plain. No matter where my steps may stray, How dark or bright my fate may be; Yet still through life's unmeasured way, Believe me a true friend to thee. WOMAN MAN'S BEST FRIEND. WHEN Woman smiles, she has the power And she can soothe the cares of age, When stretched upon the bed of death When the soul views the narrow verge, Who cheers that dreary scene of woe? Who speaks of peace, and joy, and love? Who wipes the tear-drops as they flow? 'Tis woman sent from Heaven above! |