Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1827-10-17

Following exquisite picture of dca,h-bcd scene i.
from the poems of Thomas Dale. We question
sr ITS snreior could be found in the whole range OF
oety. The characters represented are Mother
nj NORTH finer.
"Fhc spirit of her son to cheer,
with hopes, she now had ceased to teel
From that dead stroke, which menaced ncnr,
few short bitter days steal:
40 Soo,h the laugour Of decay
She Strove-aii other cares were fled;
Amt midnishts gloom, aud mornings ray,
S'ill found her watching by his bed,
10 render, with unweaiied hand,
All love could do, or pain demand.
The ycIy frmness Of despair
hhu nervcd her weaker heart 10 bear;
Of never had that mother borne
10 see him de-and thus TO die
Cntimely wasting, ere the morn
vi youth had passed uucioudad by
While art csSayed in vain To sayr,
Or smooth his passage TO the grave.
W hate CT his Inward pangs might De,
lie told mo;--muie aud meekly still.
lie bowed him to Jchovah'S will,
y or murn.ured the decree;
For gently falls the Christening rod
pu him whose hope is in his God;
or her too, who beside his bed
still watched with fond maternal care,
i or her he breathrd the pious prayce-
Inc tear vt love and pity she'd.
or wo,l,l Ire bid !lei try TO rest,
And turn his pallid face away,
Lest somc uuguarAei look hetray
The paugs, nor sigh nor sound expressed.
When torture racked his beast, twas known
liy sudden shivering starts alone:
Act would dts searching glance CSpy
The look Of stifcd agony
For what can Scape i3oth.rs eye
She deemed in health she loved hEi more
Than mother loved before;
Eut OH. when thus in cold decay,
So placid, resigned he lay,
And She bfhed him waste away,
And marked that gentle tenderness
which watched and wept for her dis.yess:-
Then did her transient nrmness melt
To tears of love, more deeply felt:
And dearer still he grGw-and deaIer-
Even the day of death drew nearef.
Noon came and fed-and evening gray
Cast o'es the ruom somhrc shade:
Alike 10 her night and day -
Her eye never turned away
From the lew couch where he was laid.
She could not weep-shc could not pray,
Her soul was dark and with despair
Devotion mingleS nct-the prayer
BIeaihei hJpeiessy was brcathed III vain:
Her ali of beng centred thcre,
Aud dragged her thoughts 20 earth again.
Hers that bitterness OF wo,
Which signs tears can never reach,
Which mocls the unbnuutied powers Of speecii;-
a recNcssness of ali below
81 all around-abova-but one
The dying youth she gaZed upon.
So looks the mariner ON the wave,
Which onward soils his opening grave;
On battle fields with slaughter rcd
Where friend by friend has fought aud bed.
so looks the dying the dead.
Her hopes, her love, her earthly bliss,
lisr very soul bound in hfs;-
And now the fata! hour was nigh,
When all hut life with him must die.
Ani what-whcn he had ceased to- be-,
Oh. what was life but misery?
y hight with chcerless gloom oeTcasi,
y maddepins memory of the past
'r.c desest of the joyiess breast,
Deaths apathy-without lis rest.
Mute, motiouless, as If he slept,
ifs mead upon hef breast rec!iued;
And yet, though horror coidiy cfept
Through every vein, she never wep!,
Calm and resolved, but not resigned.
When Hope las, lingering ray o'er,
Despair itself her heart might steel,
Through all that she had felt before
\ nd all that she 10 feel
Ha! why that wild oonv,Isive start,
The agony has reachad his heart;
The parting paug, that throbs more.
IIas wi,bered life, aud all is Ger
No. still lie lives; the unequal strife
Skill nature bears, if that be life
i closing conlic;-soon TO ceaSe---
= prelude 20 eternal peace.
a m0ment-as The iicTy ball
Flashes, but darkers, it fall;
y moment, walked from that deep trance,
His eye beamed fost!, and i'll its glance
There fiery euergy--
\ lambert ray, life's tast endeayoc
10 sparkle ere it fade for ever
And summon all lis strength To die.
Still heavenly Hopes undying fame
Snoae midst the wreck of natures frame;
Ani through the mortal could she see
Ih., germ of Immortality.
lie suove 10 speak he gaspcd FOR breath
Not all in vain--tboush instant death
Had touched his heart; faltcriug word
lia spoke, and yet anoiher;--
The rest were HS "a dying gro0u,
Nn i..dstinct and hollow moan;l
Aud all he said, and all sac heard,
Was, 'mOthrG dsGreSt mn;her.'
Lii, could no more: me sighed--he ceased
IFS heal upon her bosom lay;--
She, IOokeG-w iIhout a groan released,
The soul had passed away.
fRGLyYI.3:
lles, holden in tie clerks cfico of the superio
UT of ciancery for the Richmond district, The On,
j OF July, 1927: