Voice only fails, else how distinct they say, “Grieve not, my child; chase all thy fears

away!”

The meek intelligence of those dear eyes
(Blest be the art that can immortalize,
The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim
To quench it!) here shines on me still the

same.
Faithful remembrancer of one so dear,
O welcome guest, though unexpected here !
Who bid'st me honor with an artless song,
Affectionate, a mother lost so long. 1
I will obey, not willingly alone,
But gladly, as the precept were her own ;
And, while that face renews my filial grief,
Fancy shall weave a charm for my relief,
Shall steep me in Elysian revery,
A momentary dream that thou art she.
My mother! when I learned that thou

wast dead, Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed ? Hovered thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son, Wretch even then, Life's journey just be

gun? Perhaps thou gav’st me, though unfelt, a

kiss; Perhaps a tear, if souls can weep in bliss — Ah, that maternal smile! it answers - Yes. I heard the bell tolled on thy burial day, I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away,

And, turning from my nursery window, drew A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu. But was it such? It was. Where thou art

gone, Adieus and farewells are a sound unknown. May I but meet thee on that peaceful shore, The parting words shall pass my lips no more! Thy maidens, grieved themselves at my con

cern, Oft gave me promise of thy quick return; What ardently I wished I long believed, And, disappointed still, was still deceived; By expectation every day beguiled, Dupe of to-morrow even from a child. Thus many a sad to-morrow came and went, Till, all my stock of infant sorrows spent, I learned at last submission to my lot; But, though I less deplored thee, ne'er for

got. Where once we dwelt our name is heard

no more, Children not thine have trod my nursery

floor; And where the gardener Robin, day by day, Drew me to school along the public way, Delighted with my bawble coach, and wrapped In scarlet mantle warm, and velvet capped,

, 'T is now become a history little known, That once we called the pastoral house our

Short-lived possession! but the record fair, That memory keeps of all thy kindness

there, Still outlives many a storm that has effaced A thousand other themes less deeply traced. Thy nightly visits to my chamber made, That thou mightst know me safe and warmly

laid,
All this, and, more endearing still than all,
Thy constant flow of love, that knew no fall,
Ne'er roughened by those cataracts and

breaks
That humor interposed too often makes,
All this, still legible in memory's page,
And still to be so to my latest age,

,
Adds joy to duty, makes me glad to pay
Such honors to thee as my numbers may;
Perhaps a frail memorial, but sincere,
Not scorned in heaven, though little noticed

here, Could Time, his flight reversed, restore

the hours When, playing with thy vesture's tissued

flowers, The violet, the pink, and jessamine, I pricked them into paper with a pin, (And thou wast happier than myself the

while, Wouldst softly speak, and stroke my head,

and smile,)

a

But no,

Could those few pleasant days again appear, Might one wish bring them, would I wish

them here? I would not trust my heart, — the dear de

light Seems so to be desired, perhaps I might.

what here we call our life is such, So little to be loved, and thou so much, That I should ill requite thee to constrain, Thy unbound spirit into bonds again. Thou, as a gallant bark from albion's

coast (The storms all weathered and the ocean

crossed) Shoots into port at some well-havened isle, Where spices breathe and brighter seasons

smile; There sits quiescent on the floods, that show Her beauteous form reflected clear below, While airs impregnated with incense play Around her, fanning light her streamers

gay, So thou, with sails how swift! hast reached

the shore, Where tempests never beat, nor billows roar; And thy loved consort, on the dangerous tide Of life, long since has anchored by thy side. But me, scarce hoping to attain that rest, Always from port withheld, always dis

tressed,

Me howling blasts drive devious, tempest

tossed, Sails ripped, seams opening wide, and com

pass lost;

And day by day some current's thwarting

force

more distant from a prosperous

Sets me

course,

Yet O, the thought that thou art safe, and

he! That thought is joy, arrive what may to me. My boast is not that I deduce my birth From loins enthroned, and rulers of the

earth; But higher far my proud pretensions rise,The son of parents passed into the skies. And now farewell ! — Time, unrevoked, has

run

His wonted course, yet what I wished is

done. By contemplation's help, not sought in vain, I seem to have lived my childhood o'er

again, — To have renewed the joys that once were mine Without the sin of violating thine; And while the wings of Fancy still are free, And I can view this mimic show of thee, Time has but half succeeded in his theft, Thyself removed, thy power to soothe me left.

William Cowper