See, rising from out of that copse, dark and damp,
The fire-flies, each bearing a flickering lamp!
Like meteors, gleaming and streaming, they pass
O'er hillside and meadow, and dew-laden grass,
Contrasting with ripple on river and stream,
Alternately playing in shadow and beam,
Till fullness of beauty fills hearing and sight
Throughout the still hours of a calm summer's night.




THE RECOLLECT CHURCH.*

[* In process of demolition when this poem was written.
The Recollect Friars purchased the ground on which the church in
question was built in 1692, and on it they constructed a
temporary chapel. The actual edifice, however, was not erected
till about the year 1706. The order is now extinct. After the
conquest their property was confiscated by the Government, and
subsequently exchanged for St. Helen's Island, then belonging to
Baron Grant. For a time the Recollect Church served as a place of
worship for both Protestants and Catholics, and for many years
was exclusively devoted to the use of the Irish Catholics.]


Quickly are crumbling the old gray walls,
Soon the last stone will be gone,
The olden church of the Recollects,