GREENOUGH'S

STATUES OF THE

CHERUB AND CHILD.

66 QUE NUNC ABIBIS IN LOCA?"

CHILD.

WHITHER NOW, sweet spirit, say?
Whither tends our lengthening way?
Sun on sun, and star on star,
We have left behind us far,
Till my awed and raptured mind
Longs a resting-place to find.
Shall these wonders never end?
Whither do we yet ascend?

CHERUB.

Gentle brother, onward yet;
Higher wonders must be met.
All these blazing worlds are dim
To the light that mantles Him,
Him, who calls thee with his own-
To the bliss before his throne.
There are all the pure in heart;
There the loving never part.
Thither pain nor sorrow come;
Happy brother, welcome home!

TO MARY.

October 2, 1833.

THE forms they love, let others deck

In robes of rich resplendent fold; Fling chains of pearl around the neck,

And tip the graceful ear with gold;
And bid the costly bawbles tell
How strong the heart's affections swell.

But she, whose presence cheers my life,
Whose moral beauty makes my pride,
Far lovelier as the trusted wife

Than when the lovely trusting bride,-
Jewels are no interpreter

Of what the husband feels for her.

I see her, on this joyful day,

The idol of her happy home,

Whose grateful inmates kneel and pray

That Heaven would bless for years to come, Long years of bright rejoicing life, — This honored mother, friend, and wife.

Wealth has no gifts for such a day;
Words try their feeble strength in vain ;-
Yet some slight token may convey
The feelings it cannot explain.
Mother, this simple token take,*
And prize it for a father's sake.

* A little work on Domestic Education.

TO THE URSA MAJOR.

1825.

WITH what a stately and majestic step That glorious constellation of the north Treads its eternal circle! going forth Its princely way amongst the stars in slow And silent brightness. Mighty one, all hail! I joy to see thee on thy glowing path Walk, like some stout and girded giant Unwearied, resolute, whose toiling foot Disdains to loiter on its destined way. The other tribes forsake their midnight track, And rest their weary orbs beneath the wave; But thou dost never close thy burning eye, Nor stay thy steadfast step; but on, still on, While systems change, and suns retire, and worlds Slumber and wake, thy ceaseless march proceeds. The near horizon tempts to rest in vain. Thou, faithful sentinel, dost never quit Thy long-appointed watch; but, sleepless still, Dost guard the fixed light of the universe, And bid the North forever know its place.

Ages have witnessed thy devoted trust, Unchanged, unchanging. When the sons of God Sent forth that shout of joy which rang through heaven,

stern,

And echoed from the outer spheres that bound
The illimitable universe, thy voice

Joined the high chorus; from thy radiant orbs
The glad cry sounded, swelling to His praise
Who thus had cast another sparkling gem,
Little, but beautiful, amid the crowd

Of splendors that enrich his firmament.

As thou art now, so wast thou then the same.

Ages have rolled their course, and Time grown gray;
The earth has gathered to her womb again,

And yet again, the myriads that were born
Of her uncounted, unremembered tribes.

The seas have changed their beds; the eternal hills
Have stooped with age; the solid continents
Have left their banks; and man's imperial works,

-

The toil, pride, strength of kingdoms, which had flung
Their haughty honors in the face of heaven,
As if immortal, — have been swept away,
Shattered and mouldering, buried and forgot.
But time has shed no dimness on thy front,
Nor touched the firmness of thy tread; youth, strength,
And beauty still are thine-as clear, as bright,
As when the Almighty Former sent thee forth,
Beautiful offspring of his curious skill,
To watch earth's northern beacon, and proclaim
The eternal chorus of eternal Love.

I wonder as I gaze.
That stream of light,
Undimmed, unquenched, just as I see it now,-
Has issued from those dazzling points, through years
That go back far into eternity.
Exhaustless flood! forever spent, renewed
Forever! Yea, and those refulgent drops,
Which now descend upon my lifted eye,