ONLY WAITING.

217

Only Waiting.

A very aged man in an almshouse was asked what he was doing now. He replied, "Only waiting."

ONLY waiting till the shadows
Are a little longer grown;
Only waiting till the glimmer

Of the day's last beam is flown:
Till the night of earth is faded

From the heart once full of day;
Till the stars of heaven are breaking
Through the twilight soft and gray.

Only waiting till the reapers

Have the last sheaf gather'd home;
For the summer time is faded

And the autumn winds have come.
Quickly, reapers! gather quickly
The last ripe hours of my heart,
For the bloom of life is wither'd,

And I hasten to depart.

Only waiting till the angels

Open wide the mystic gate,

At whose feet I long have linger'd,
Weary, poor, and desolate.

Even now I hear their footsteps
And their voices far away;

If they call me I am waiting,
Only waiting to obey.

Only waiting till the shadows.
Are a little longer grown;
Only waiting till the glimmer

Of the day's last beam is flown.
Then, from out the gathering darkness,
Holy, deathless stars shall rise,
By whose light my soul shall gladly
Tread its pathway to the skies.

THE

FIRE-FLY.

219

The Fire-Fly.

THE day has departed, and, far in the west,
The sun has
gone down in his chambers of rest;
The earth is enwrapp'd in her mantle of night,
And the gleam of the Fire-fly breaks on the sight.

How mild, unobtrusive, and transient the ray! No noise or confusion is heard in their play; Now backward, now forward, incessant they

veer,

As gaily they move in their shining career.

Thou wonder of childhood-mysterious light!
How welcome thy glow in the darkness of night!
A spark evanescent,-a beam of the sun,-
Or a wandering star when the day-light is done.

Now low on the grass, and now high in the trees, They part, intermingle, and float on the breeze; How voiceless the music that guides them along! "T is nature's thanksgiving 't is silence of song.

If thus such a poor insignificant fly
Can honor the name of the Holy and High,
O what does He ask of the souls he has given,
To shine evermore in the kingdom of Heaven!