"It is only the deer that were feeding
In a herd on the clover-grass;

They were startled and fled to the thicket,
As they saw the reapers pass."

Now the night arose in silence,
Birds lay in their leafy nest,
And the deer couch'd in the forest,
And the children were at rest.
There was only a sound of weeping

From watchers around a bed.

But rest to the weary spirit!

Peace to the quiet dead!

THE THREE VOICES.

73

The Three Voices.

WHAT saith the past to thee? Weep!
Truth is departed :

Beauty hath died like the dream of a sleep,
Love is faint-hearted;

Trifles of sense, the profoundly unreal,
Scare from our spirits God's holy ideal;
So, as a funeral bell, slowly and deep,
So tolls the past to thee! Weep!

How speaks the present hour? Act!
Walk upward glancing;

So shall thy footsteps in glory be traced,
Slow, but advancing.

Scorn not the smallness of daily endeavor,
Let the great meaning ennoble it ever;
Droop not o'er efforts expended in vain;
Work, as believing that labor is gain.

What doth the future say? Hope!

Turn thy face sunward!

Look where the light fringes the far rising slope, Day cometh onward.

Watch! tho' so long be the twilight delaying, Let the first sunbeam arise on thee praying; Fear not, for greater is God by thy side Than armies of Satan against thee allied.

MA MIGNONNETTE.

75

Ma Mignonnette.

ROSES are called queens; Tulip, a lover means; Lilies white praised be,

In their humility—

But, lowly Mignonnette,

What is the price that's set

On thee?

Gaily the garden flowers

Laugh through the golden hours:
Lifting their beauteous heads
Proudly above their beds,

Our meek-eyed Mignonnette,
Unenvied, still will let

Them bloom!

Giving, with lovely grace,
The best and choicest place
To flowers more rare;
Calmly contented where
None but this Mignonnette

Ever could nurture get

To grow.

Loving the most to fall
Close by some mold'ring wall,
Breathing out fragrant sighs,
Greenest where ruin lies,
Like love that's unspoken;
But known by the token,
Tenderest Mignonnette,
Too faithful to forget,

Teach us!

Modest in quiet bloom,
Asking a little room,

Sure to be always found
Sweetest on poorest ground,
Cheering a lonely spot,
Pitying the desolate :
Such is our Mignonnette
Love is the price we set
On thee!