Ten ears Ago.

BY ALARIC A. WATTS.

“That time is past,

And all its aching joys are now no more,
And all its dizzy raptures! Not for this
Faint I, nor mourn, nor murmur. Other gifts
Have follow'd for such loss, I would believe,
Abundant recompense."

-WORDSWORTH.

'EN years ago, ten years ago,

TEN

Life was to us a fairy scene ;

And the keen blasts of worldly woe

Had sear'd not then its pathway green. Youth and its thousand dreams were ours, Feelings we ne'er can know again; Unwither'd hopes, unwasted powers, And frames unworn by mortal pain: Such was the bright and genial flow Of life with us—ten years ago.

Time has not blanch'd a single hair
That clusters round thy forehead now;

Nor hath the cankering touch of care
Left even one furrow on thy brow.
Thine eyes are blue as when we met,

In love's deep truth, in earlier years;
Thy cheek of rose is blooming yet,

Though sometimes stain'd by secret tears; But where, oh where's the spirit's glow That shone through all-ten years ago?

Ten Years Ago.

I, too, am changed-I scarce know why-
Can feel each flagging pulse decay;
And youth and health, and visions high,
Melt like a wreath of snow away.

Time cannot sure have wrought the ill,

Though worn in this world's sickening strife, In soul and form I linger still

In the first summer month of life;

Yet journey on my path below,
Oh! how unlike-ten years ago.

But look not thus ;-I would not give

The wreck of hopes that thou must share, To bid those joyous hours revive,

When all around me seem'd so fair. We've wander'd on in sunny weather,

When winds were low and flowers in bloom,
And hand in hand have kept together,

And still will keep, 'mid storm and gloom;
Endear'd by ties we could not know
When life was young-ten years ago.

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Has fortune frown'd? Her frowns were vain,
For hearts like ours she could not chill.
Have friends proved false? Their love might wane,
But ours grew fonder, firmer still.

Twin barks on this world's changing wave,

Steadfast in calms, in tempests tried ;

In concert still our fate we'll brave,
Together cleave life's fitful tide;

Nor mourn, whatever winds may blow,
Youth's first wild dreams-ten years ago.

Have we not knelt beside his bed,

And watch'd our first-born blossom die ? Hoped, till the shade of hope had fled,

Then wept till feeling's fount was dry?

Was it not sweet, in that dark hour,

To think, 'mid mutual tears and sighs,
Our bud had left its earthly bower,

And burst to bloom in Paradise?

What to the thought that soothed that woe
Were heartless joys-ten years ago.

Yes, it is sweet, when heaven is bright,
To share its sunny beams with thee;
But sweeter far, 'mid clouds and blight,
To have thee near to weep with me.
Then dry those tears;-though something changed
From what we were in earlier youth,

Time, that hath hopes and friends estranged,
Hath left us love in all its truth;

Sweet feelings we would not forego
For life's best joys-ten years ago.

A Woman's Farewell.

HE waves are all at rest on yon river's shining breast,

THE

And in evening's sweet light sleep the towers of Thou-
louse;

The bright-hair'd god of day ere long will pass away,
And twilight be shedding her shadows and dews.

'Tis now that silent hour when love hath deepest power
To stir the soft heart with its dreams of delight;
When even the sickening thrill of hope delay'd still,
And the sunbeams of feeling grow golden and bright.

A Woman's Farewell.

How can I then but choose at such an hour to muse

With fondest regret on the days that have flown;

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For all seems wildly changed since hand in hand we ranged By the green-winding banks of the gleaming Garonne !

What darkly-chequer'd years, what passionate hopes and

fears,

Have solaced and sear'd our young bosoms since then! What clouds of care and blight, what visions of delight, Have chill'd them and thrill'd them again and again!

Yet believe me, love, in this,—though in moments of bliss Every pulse of thy heart found a response in mine, When the storm upon us came, I may merit thy blame; But so sweet was our sadness I could not repine.

Forgive me if I deem'd Fate kinder than she seem'd,
If I smiled at the world and its wildest alarms;
If I inly bless'd the grief that bade thee seek relief
In the cherishing shelter and pale of my arms.

Was loss of wealth severe, when a fond one was near
To soothe thee and make thee a Croesus in love?
Or vexations all must bear, worth a thought or a care,
Which a kiss-and thou'st own'd it-a kiss could remove?

What are life's petty ills, its hectics or its chills?

Do they trench on affection, or wither its flowers?

No: in hearts with feeling warm, love's the bow of the

storm,

Which grows deeper and brighter the faster it showers.

Though keen and bitter woes have troubled our repose,
There's a wilder one, dearest, in store for us yet.
Oh, what a thrill intense drinks up each vital sense,
When I turn to the bodings I fain would forget!

Why did we ever part? Sorrow had not a dart
In her quiver I could not have smiled at beside :
Even the fiat of my doom, though it spake of the tomb,
I could calmly have bow'd to with thee by my side.

Some have said that passion's storm will oft thy soul deform, But to me thou hast ever been gentle and calm :

Some have said hate oft hath wrung bitter accents from thy tongue,

But to me have thy words been as music and balm.

Let them rail, let them rail; those who credit their tale
Cannot know thee so deeply and dearly as I.
Then our foes we'll forgive, since their efforts to rive
Affection's firm chain hath drawn closer the tie.

Thus will it ever be, on the world's troubled sea,

When two fond ones are cleaving in concert their way; Though clouds sometimes may hide them, and tempests

divide,

They'll be nearer than e'er when the rack drives away.

In life's unclouded spring, as on Pleasure's light wing,
'Mid its bowers of enchantment we carelessly roved;
With feelings, hopes, and fears, far too deep for our years,
In that sun-burst of gladness we met and we loved.

Thou wert then at that age when the stormy passions rage,
More fiercely the wilder earth's wise ones reprove;
Pride and gentleness combined in thy young heart were
shrined,

The softness and fire of the eagle and dove.