In all this living world there seemed no change,
No sign that, from our midst, one had been taken,
One form for ever lost, one well-known voice
For ever stilled; that one had passed away
Whose place should know him now-ah! nevermore.
And yet he was not dead,-no, that were better,—
Not dead, but lost-lost, lost to us for ever!
I gazed, and marvelled, that one thus could be

So utterly lost, leaving no single trace

Where once he lived, and moved, and formed a part
Of this bright world.-And then I, too, moved on,
And mingled with the throng: yet still an awe
Seemed resting on my spirit, and a voice

Seemed ever echoing round, "Lost, lost for ever!"
And as I, shuddering, looked around, I thought,
"Can this be real? Is it no strange dream?
Can this be still the self-same world? And who-
Which of us-will it be that next shall vanish,
And thus be lost for ever?" Then a chill
Stole o'er my shuddering frame, and lo, methought
I heard a thrilling whisper, echoing-"Who?"

NOT LOST, BUT GONE BEFORE.

A CHILD leant on her father's breast,
One still, calm summer night;

Her large blue eyes, upraised to Heaven,
Beamed with a happy light;

Her hair a golden glory seemed,
Bathed in the moon's soft ray;
Her form, so frail and beautiful,
Scarce seemed of mortal clay.

As the moon her gentle radiance shed
O'er fountain, tree, and flower,

In her inmost soul she seemed to feel]
The peace of that sweet hour.

"Father," at length she softly said,
"Methinks that it were bliss

To bid farewell to earth for Heaven

On such a night as this.

E

"Nay, father, start not at the word,

I know that I must go,

Must, ere a few short days are past,

Leave all I love below.

“But, father, think, when I am gone

Unto the heavenly shore,

Your little Eva is not lost,

'Not lost, but gone before.'

"Hush, hush!” he moaned, then bowed his head In inward, anguished prayer :—

"My God! my God! Thy will be done!

Yet oh, in mercy, spare!"

The child lay still, in silent thought,

And gazed on the starry sky,

While the calm moon floated proudly on,

In cloudless majesty.

When lo a throng of snow-white clouds,

Like an angel company,

Moved slowly 'thwart the distant sky,

Silent, and noiselessly.

A host of white-robed angel forms,
In thousands seemed to move,
As though on some high mission bent,
Though the trackless realms above.

Then the faint sound of the distant breeze

Fell on the fair child's ear;

It murmured, at first, 'mid the far-off trees,
Then nearer, and more near.

And then amid its whispers low,
She heard a solemn voice;
But so soft it spoke, so lovingly,
It made her heart rejoice.

"Eva!" it said, "my own loved child,
I come to call thee home,

I come to gather my precious flower-
Art thou ready? Eva! come!"

While that soft voice spake, the angel hosts

Seemed to pause in their onward flight;

With bended head, and folded wings,
They stood, in the silent night.

But when it ceased, they caught the word,
And, through that angel throng,

It echoed with a joyful sound,

Till it swelled to a heavenly song.

And the burden of the song was this:"We are come to bear thee home,

We are come to gather God's precious flowerArt thou ready? Eva! come !"

By every voice in that countless host

Was the angel summons given, Till, "Eva! come!" went echoing round, Through the deep blue vault of Heaven.

Those blue eyes beamed with a radiant light,
As, in thought, she beheld her home,
And the child sprang up with a joyful cry,
"Father! I come! I come!"

One moment, and only a lifeless form
Leant on the father's breast,——

A form, pale, still, and beautiful,
With a face of angel rest.

And as the glorious train passed on
Toward the eternal shore,

A voice floated back on the still night air,
"Not lost, but gone before."