Yet, while they linger, still they say, 'Prepare.'"




"LINES ON VISITING EARLY SCENES."


Oh! well-known scenes of childhood's days,
Again ye meet my longing eyes;
And still, as memory backward strays,
A thousand tender visions rise;
Of days when youth's all potent powers
Could trace in light the coming hours,
Of dreams that withered with the flowers
That round my pathway sprung!

When fond Belief, unchill'd by Time,
Built airy castles, high and grand;
When fickle Fancy's dreams sublime
Made Earth appear a fairyland!
Yon school-house seems the same to day--
Each well-remembered turn and way
Are there--yet, ah! how far away
Are childhood's hours from me!

Still, still the same--the cherished scene,
That ever thro' the varying years,
Deep-graven on my heart has been,
In morns of joy--in nights of tears.