ΤΟ XIX. O DEARER far than light and life are dear, more ! Misgivings, hard to vanquish or control, With "sober certainties" of love is blest. 1 That sigh of thine, not meant for human ear, Peace settles where the intellect is meek, Through Thee communion with that Love I seek: Creed. That silent greeting from above; II. Bright boon of pitying Heaven! -alas! III. And yet, the soul-awakening gleam, Of Scotland's rocky wilds, did seem Save those who to my sorrows lend IV. To-night the church-tower bells will ring Through these wide realms a festive peal; To the new year a welcoming; A tuneful offering for the weal Of happy millions lulled in sleep; While I am forced to watch and weep, By wounds that may not heal. V. Born all too high, by wedlock raised Than the sweet flowerets of the fields! VI. Yet how?- for I, if there be truth VII. Unblest distinction! showered on me To bind a lingering life in chains: All that could quit my grasp, or flee, Is gone; but not the subtle stains Fixed in the spirit; for even here VIII. A woman rules my prison's key; My thoughts are all that I O keep them innocent! possess, IX. Farewell desire of human aid, My burden to support. X. Hark! the death-note of the year From her sunk eyes a stagnant tear 1817. XXI. THE COMPLAINT OF A FORSAKEN INDIAN WOMAN. [When a Northern Indian, from sickness, is unable to continue his journey with his companions, he is left behind, covered over with deer-skins, and is supplied with water, food, and fuel, if the situation of the place will afford it. He is informed of the track which his companions intend to pursue, and i' he be unable to follow, or overtake them, he perishes alone in the desert; unless he should have the good fortune to fall in with some other tribes of Indians. The females are equally, or still more, exposed to the same fate. See that very interesting work, Hearne's Journey from Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean. In the high northern latitudes, as the same writer informs us, when the northern lights vary their position in the air, they make a rustling and a crackling noise, as alluded to in the following poem.] I. BEFORE I see another day, O let my body die away! In sleep I heard the northern gleams; |