Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1853-10-07
F0L. NO. 6.
"''t me american LfEiOns
Lights and Shadows.
BT EMILY p, MEsDERSmn.


way-'Torn traveller stopped by the waters of
The Happy Valley, and sat down to weep; long
. she wept and sore.
The cleaning trout dartcd and glided through
the ripping water The orioIe sang sweet TO its
mate from the cypress tree that dropped, dipping
It's pendent boughs in the pellucid fountain.
Sunshine and shadow, sorrow and gIadnesy,
werc there mingling and combining ike the NAL
icable with The harder ore.
The eyes that gazed full Of funspeakab be lovear5
tenderness wercundimmed, though they had seen
the fading ofmany bright hopes; the blightine Of
many fairbuds ofpromise, the wreck Of a noble
life.
She sat, sublime in her desolation.
A more than mortal beauty had settled upop
the broad pale brow, scaled with the seal Of man,
Sorrows-holy in its expression Of acquaintance
with grief
II was monday; but moral midnight brooded
over the soul of the watcher Faith stood in the
sunshine; but the mourner sat beneath the sha-
dow of The funeral tree.
''Oh, waste and dcsoIation Of the heartl TO what
shalt thou be hkcncd? to the desert when the
via Simoon hath swept IL; piling in heaps the
siaIn' beneath burning sands which the arid SIM
Scorches anew each day, and the fiery moats
scalhe the throat that breathes them till eyeDtb,
native traveller, the patient camel. falls torturoJ
painting reckless To the perpetual swell Of the
vast tireless depths of the ocean. which the eve
oi onn-potcnce alone can measure or to the m
compIehended and unceasine naoans- heard ,,1,-
IN Intelminable forests, whose heavy darkness the
Wild BIRDS shuns; within whose tangled iuncles
beasts Of prey make their lone lairs and slinv
reptiles breed and thrive among the unsunned
brakes and rank moist heritage?
Lie seems to me a monster. with eyes offre
fierce claws and bTistlng hair I striveto keen
an incense Of sweet-smelling savor, burning he
twlNt me and the dire dragon form. wreatbino
gaIlands Of many hues around it while the flow
eTs and floating mists from the glowing censer be-
g'Ile me with sense Of warmth and brightness.
Sometimes weep at my toll ofbcauty, or the TO-
ses fire dies out and the roses wither, and there
the stern shape stands glaring upon me in all its
unwelcome reality / would fain shroud nv face
IN the ceroments of the grave, rather than meet
'i-et tesrill> sls,l unknown lifs
The zcphyrs were wooiue the v-ator-r;l;.s -,
ding at her feet the beautiful water-lilies tbc;r
brown coats folded about their pure white leaves.
peepmg so modcstly from their gentle shelter
the amber petals softly glinting in the SUNLIGHT
Tor there was no shadow on the flowers. Tho
nourner stopped with glance Of pleasure toward
the white bosomed lilies and gentle Faith who
had stood aside watching; murmurcd in her own
sweet voice.
- Consider the lilies ofthe field, how they grow
they toll not neither do they spin. Tberef,re e
God so clothe the grass of the field which TODAY
Is, and to morTowis cast into the oven. shall he
not much more clothe you Oye ofHttIe faith" ."
Arise from the shadow Of the cypress boughs,
let faith be your guide, and hope shall illumine
your path.
The weary traveller drank deep of the waters
Of the Happy Valley, and there where thesun-
light falls on wave and lly-cup, she knelt and
received from the hands of Faith new baptism;
and the soft dews Of Gods bcncfcence outswopt
'ae STAN and soil gathered from the dusty high
ways of life. Her soul was refreshed.
The darkness fcc,h away. but iov eometb
with the morning Faith kept not her vigil in
vain.