SPEAK GENTLY.

Anon.

SPEAK gently! it is better far
To rule by love than fear;
Speak gently! let not harsh words mar
The good we might do here.

Speak gently! Love doth whisper low
The vows that true hearts bind,
And gently friendship's accents flow-
Affection's voice is kind.

Speak gently to the little child!
Its love be sure to gain;
Teach it in accents soft and mild
It may not long remain.

Speak gently to the young; for they
Will have enough to bear,
Pass through this life as best they may,
'Tis full of anxious care.

Speak gently to the aged one

Grieve not the care-worn heart;
The sands of life are nearly run ;
Let such in peace depart.

Speak gently, kindly to the poor,
Let no harsh tone be heard;
They have enough they must endure,
Without an unkind word.

Speak gently to the erring-know
They must have toiled in vain :
Perchance unkindness made them so:
Oh! win them back again.

Speak gently! He who gave his life
To bend man's stubborn will,
When elements were in fierce strife,
Said to them, 'Peace! be still.'

Speak gently!-'tis a little thing,
Dropp'd in the heart's deep well;
The good, the joy which it may bring
Eternity shall tell.

LIFE'S LIKENESSES.

Anon.

LIFE is-what?

Ir is the shooting of a star

That gleams along the trackless air,
And vanishes almost ere seen, to nought.
And such is man ;

He shines and glitters for a span,

And is forgot.

It is the vermeil of the rose

That blooms but till the bleak wind blows;

Then all combined with sweets doth fade and rot.

And such is man ;

He struts in bravery for a span
And is forgot.

Life is what?

It is the dew drop of the morn
That glistening hangs upon the thorn,
Till quaffed by sunbeams it flies e'en from
thought:

And such is man ;

He's steeped in sorrow for a span,

And is forgot.

A stone whose fall doth circles make

On the smooth surface of a lake,

Which spread till one and all forsake the spot : And such is man;

He's steeped in sorrow for a span,

And is forgot.

It is a bubble in the main,

Caused by a little globe of rain,

Whose fall destroys the fabric he has wrought:
And such is man ;

Swelled into being for a span,
And is forgot.

A shapow on a mountain side

A cloud that does on ether ride,

Driven by the northern gale with tempests

fraught:

And such is man;

He hangs on greatness for a span,
And is forgot.

It is the sound of cannon near
That strikes upon the startled ear,
And ceases e'er we can distinguish aught:
And such is man;

He frights and blusters for a span,
And is forgot.

Life is what?

It is the swallow's sojournment,
Which, ere green summer's robe is rent,
Flies to some distant bourne by instinct taught:
And such is man;

He rents his dwelling for a span,

And is forgot.

And is this life?

Oh yes, and had I time to tell,

A thousand shapes more transient still; But while I speak, fate whets his slaughterous knife:

And this is man ;

While reck'ning o'er life's little span,
Death ends the strife.

THE SILENT VOICE.

Anon.

Ir speaks to us, it teaches us-a mystery-a tone!

We feel there is a silent voice that speaks to us alone:

We cannot pass a blade of grass unheeded by the way,

For it whispers to our thoughts, and we the silent voice obey.

We climb the rugged mountain steep, we view the distant scene,

Around, afar, beneath, the fields where Labor's sons have been;

No hum of human voice is there; and yet can we depart,

And hear not there the silent voice that whispers to the heart?

We wander in the valleys, or we thread the mazy wood,

Amid the giant oaks that time and tempest have withstood;

The silent voice is speaking there in every leaf and bough,

The voice that spoke in ages past, that speaks prophetic now.