Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1836-11-03

POETRv
For the Gazette
A VILLAGE SCENE.


Twas evening in the village all was still,
s,,e now and then the school-boy's hearty laugh
prokc the deep silence Of the pensive hour,
A.. from his usual task set free, he stands
Before the cottage door, aud on his lap
q. fondies now o f~av'rite puss now leaps
Jpon his hound and scours the streets, nor thinks
NJ aught about him save his childish sport.
Fl, bright eye g~listens with delight his cheek
n flushed with joyous health, and not a cloud
Dsrkens the clearness Of his summer sky.
The weary tradesman lays aside his tools
ITO ask the news, or in some deep debate,
With many a politician gather'd round
The village ale house, and with voice pitch'd
high,
With rising eloquencc, he brings to light
Some hidden fraud, a deep laid plan to catch
The vulgar, to usurp the peoples rights,
Which, until now, had 'scaped the deep research
Of men Of learning, but which his keen eye
lad seen clear through Now with port ma.
~jestic,"
.once a Cicero, when on his brow
Ie thunder storm of vengeance. gath'ring black,
AID the fierce lightning flashing from his eyes,
anaigned before the venerable Senate
NRome's choice ssges, a traitrous Cataline
On when Demosthencs made Athens ring
With Phillippics against Macedonia's Lord
& he, with lcathern apron thrown across
Els left shoulder, and his sjnewy arm
s,ised high TO heaven, imprecaies his wrath
6 ali who differ FROM his sacred creed.
Passing cur boist'rous orator, we see
The pious cottager, and on his lap
m, little grand child with the word Of Life
Sorcsd out before her, and as she proceeds,
81 coun relaxss tear, after tear
Ilesrses iown his aged cheeks. His streaming
eyes
Iook first upon the girl, thea on the book,
Aud looking up TO Heaven, ne breathes a prayer,
Fsrycnt and heartfelt for the only prop
| Ofhis declining days. Soon he must pass
The boundary of time, and leave his child,
lis only darling, to the beartless world,
Ye, in an arm unseen, he tr usts and feels
There is a q father to the fstherless."
y
How still the church lard silent, motionless,
Save when a western breeze plays gently DER
The sleeping branches of the willow tree.
"But here's a fresh dug grave! Another soul
Has left its tenement Of clay, and gone
To answer for its words aud actions here"
And as We speak, behold a silent train
Move slowly up the lawn, bearing the corpse,
About TO lay il in the cold, damp tomb.
We see an aged woman coming ON
Weighed down with sorrow and with poverty.
The holy man of God with truth proclaims
MAN OF woman born must shortly dice"
The broken sobs, the signs, the tears, all
Show that The dead was lov'd, respected, dear.
And as the clods fall on the coffin lid
And send an hollow, mournfui echo back,
The aged female wrings her hands and cry's
my son, my William, oh my son, my son J"
Her few companions bear her from the grave,
And try TO soothe her poignant, bitter grief.
Her tale was short and simple. The young man
Her only son had been her main support,
The only comfort Of her closing days.
Young, lovely, amiable and kind, he was
The pride of all the neighbors. But with all
His youth and beauty, piety and sense,
The fell Destroyer, like a !" staunch murderer"
Pursued his victim with unerring steps.
The lighting Of disease tosk hold on him,
And never ceased until it had destroyed
The fairest flow er nature ever reared.
But when the chill OF death had seized his frame,
He found support on which TO rest his head,
And in the hour Of trial, when his soul
Was leaving time, and things OF time, he had
That comfort Of which the world knows nothing;
And as the setting sun was with its rays,
Shedding its tints upon the village spire,
He raised himself, to look for the last time
Upon that glorious orb, whose cheering light
Had often pleased his vision and his sense.
Then to that Providence whose searching eyes
eau see our wants, aud will in time give aid,
He pointed his dear mother, saying that
God to the widow would a husband be-"
And as the sun went down below the hills,
The Sun Of Righteousness" with all its power
Broke in upon his soul, and, loosed from earth,
His happy spirit took its flight to Heaven,
Rejoined by hers who could not bear his loss.
Such are the pleasing scenes that catch the eye
When, having laid aside our work, we chance
To pass the village at the close Of day.
nj. b, ".