The Charmer.

We need some Charmer, for our hearts are sore

With longings for the things that may not be— Faint for the friends that shall return no more Dark with distress or wrung with agony.

"What is this life? And what to us is Death? Whence came we? whither go? And where are those

Who in a moment stricken from our side

Passed to that land of shadow and repose.

"Are they all dust? and dust must we become?
Or are they living in some unknown clime?
Shall we regain them in that far-off home,
And live anew beyond the waves of time?

"Oh man divine !-on thee our souls have hung,
Thou wert our teacher in these questions high;
But ah! this day divides thee from our side,
And veils in dust thy kindly guiding eye.”

So spake the youth of Athens, weeping round
When Socrates lay calmly down to die-

So spake the Sage, prophetic of the hour

When Earth's fair Morning Star should rise on high.

THE CHARMER.

They found him not, those youths of soul divine

Long seeking, wandering, watching on life's shore: Reasoning, aspiring, yearning for the light,

Death came and found them-doubting as before.

But years passed on-and lo! the charmer came
Pure, silent, sweet as comes the silver dew-
And the world knew him not-he walked alone
Encircled only by his trusting few.

Like the Athenian Sage-rejected, scorned,
Betrayed, condemned, his day of doom drew nigh,
He drew his faithful few more closely round,
And told them that His hour was come to die.

"Let not your heart be troubled," then He said :) My Father's house has mansions large and fair; I go before you to prepare your place;

I will return to take you with me there.—

And since that hour the awful foe is charmed,
And life and death are glorified and fair:
Whither he went we know-the way we know,
And with firm step press on to meet Him there.

H. B. Stowe.

479

Ehrist Unchanging.

"JESUS CHRIST, the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever."-HEB. Xai. 8.

CHANGE is written everywhere,

Time and death o'er all are raging;

Seasons, creatures, all declare,

Man is mortal, earth is changing.

Life, and all its treasures, seem
Like a sea in constant motion;
Thanks for an eternal beam

Shining o'er the pathless ocean.

One by one, although each name
Providence or death will sever;
Jesus Christ is still the same,
Yesterday, to-day, forever.

"I Shall be Satisfied."

NOT here!—not here! Not where the sparkling waters
Fade into mocking sands as we draw near:
Where in the wilderness each footstep falters-
"I shall be satisfied;" but O! not here!

Not here where all the dreams of bliss deceive us,
Where the worn spirit never gains its goal;
Where, haunted ever by the thought that grieves us,
Across us floods of bitter memory roll.

There is a land where every pulse is thrilling

With rapture earth's sojourners may not know, Where heaven's repose the weary heart is stilling, And peacefully life's time-tossed currents flow.

Far out of sight, while yet the flesh infolds us,
Lies the fair country where our hearts abide,
And of its bliss is nought more wondrous told us
Than these few words "I shall be satisfied."

Satisfied! Satisfied! The spirit's yearning
For sweet companionship with kindred minds-
The silent love that here meets no returning-
The inspiration which no language finds—

482

"I SHALL BE SATISFIED."

Shall they be satisfied? The soul's vague longing —

The aching void which nothing earthly fills? O! what desires upon my soul are thronging As I look upward to the heavenly hills.

Thither my weak and weary steps are tending-
Saviour and Lord! with thy frail child abide!
Guide me toward home, where all my wandering ending,
I then shall see thee, and "shall be satisfied."