And I have loved thee, Ocean! and my joy Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be I wantoned with thy breakers-they to me BYRON. THE ANGEL OF DEATH. 'TWAS night: over earth like a pall was thrown Thickest darkness. Blent with the thunder's tonc Were the torrent's rush, and the wind's wild moan, And the wail of the ocean wave. 'Twas then that grim Death, clad in terror and gloom, Left his cheerless home in the dreary tomb, To summon the old and the young to their doom, He lifted the latch of a cottage door, Where a widowed mother was bending o'er- And meekly she bowed in the dying hour- Then away he flew with fiendish glee! The spectre brandished his blood-stained lance, Struck down was the "belle of the ball!" In the banqueting hall of a castle old The falcon eye of the stern old knight He had scoffed at Death on the blood-red plain, With the wine-cup now in his nervous grasp, Thus the Angel of Death remorseless flings Learn wisdom, then let your life attest : That Death will not come an unwelcome guest: In the gloom of thy dying hour. When the pulses of life beat faint and slow, P. J. BAILEY. LOVE. THEY sin who tell us Love can die. In heaven Ambition cannot dwell, Its holy flame for ever burneth; From heaven it came, to heaven returneth: At times deceived, at times opprest, Then hath in heaven its perfect rest: SOUTHEY, THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. THEY Come!-they come! See, see the sabre flashing through the gloom, And the deadly scythe from out the battle-car, And the lance-head glittering like a baleful star, Portending Israel's doom! Hark to the rolling of the chariot-wheel, And the neighing of the war-horse in his ire, And the fearful straining of his hoof of steel, Spurning the mountain-flint that flashes fire! Hark to the booming drum, The braying of the trumpet and the boastful cheer, Pealing in horrid echoes on the frighted ear!They come !-they come! They come !-they come ! Now, now they've clambered up the gorge's height, And for a moment, in its rugged jaws (Like a fierce mountain-torrent gathering all its might In one huge billow, ere it burst its banks at night) They pause Pennon and scarf, and gallant plumage fair, Spread out and fluttering on the mountain air, Hark to the hum, The cheer, the charge, the bursting battle-cry! They come ! "Thou Mighty of Battles, for Israel's sake Smite the crest of the horseman, the chariot-wheel break; Check the speed of the swift, crush the arm of the strong, And lead thine own people in safety along." Lo! 'twixt that dread, exultant host, And Israel's chastened, timid throng, The awful pillar-cloud has crossed, Near, and more near, with sullen roar Deep yawn the ocean's billows wild, Its coral depths disclosed are seen; The lashing surge sinks calm and mild, The mighty waves in walls are piled, And Israel walks between! While ever through that fearful night, Onward the vengeful Pharaoh flies, Slowly and chill the morning spreads See where the glittering water laves But Israel's hymn is pealing far To God, that triumphs gloriously— And Israel's maids, with dance and glee, Dublin University Magazine. TO A WILD DEER. MAGNIFICENT creature! so stately and bright! |