Till she pulled at John's sleeve in the twilight, When Minnie came home from the city, With her dear wrinkled hands on her hair; And now from the corner we miss her, Comes back from that far-away shore; The Telegram. Dead! did you say? he! dead in his prime! Son of my mother! my brother! my friend! While the horologue points to the noon of his time, Dead! it is not, it cannot, it must not be true! Dead! around me I hear the singing of birds And the breath of June roses comes in at the pane, Nothing - nothing is changed by those terrible words, They cannot be true! let me see them again; ("And died yesterday.") Dead! a letter but yesterday told of his love! Oh, terrible Telegraph I srbtle and still! But one fierce deadly flash, and the heart lieth waste! ("Inform his friends.") The Swan's Nest. Little Ellie sits alone Sarah E. Henshaw, "And the steed shall be red-roan, As his sword strikes men to death. "And the steed it shall be shod All in silver, housed in azure, And the mane shall swim the wind: And the hoofs along the sod Shall flash onward and keep measure, Till the shepherds look behind. 'But my lover will not prize All the glory that he rides in, When he gazes in my face. He will say, 'O Love, thine eyes Build the shrine my soul abides in; And I kneel here for thy grace.' Then, ay! then he shall kneel low, With the red-roan steed anear him, Which shall seem to understand Till I answer, 'Rise and go! For the world must love and fear him Whom I gift with heart and hand.' "Then he will arise so pale, I shall feel my own lips tremble I will utter and dissemble - 'Light to-morrow with to-day.' "Then he 'll ride among the hills Through the crowds that praise his deeds: Unto him I will discover That swan's nest among the reeds." Little Ellie, with her smile Not yet ended, rose up gayly, Tied the bonnet, donned the shoe Just to see, as she did daily, What more eggs were with the two. Pushing through the elm-tree copse Past the boughs she stoops — and stops! Lo! the wild swan had deserted, And a rat had gnawed the reeds. Ellie went home sad and slow: With his red-roan steed of steeds, Mrs. Browning. The Main Truck, or a Leap for Life. In the harbor of Mahon; The waves to sleep had gone; A shudder shot through every vein, No hold had he above, below, Alone he stood in air; To that far height none dared to go; No aid could reach him there. |