, 1875-11-07
OUR BETRQTHAi.

We early met ; ofttlmes have run
Unmiudfui OF the nooptile sun:
In childish glee we oft have played
Where the old mansion cnst its ahada.
Together wandered by tho brook
Together traced It's every crook,
Plurked, from Its shining, shallow bed.
The polished pebbles, vhite and sed:
In triumph from its sedgy shore,
The tall dag's velvet plumes we bore.
And twined them on the neighborinz hin.
In childish sport, with chilttlah akdIls
The self-same life At school wa ourx-
Receas delights aud tedious hours.
And when, in other, Liter days,
We struggled on for 1earnIn02 BAN.
It CHANGED tho progress that ne nads
Was by each ona in turn sutveyra.
Coumiugling thus our friendship Rrex.
And anchored deeper than we kneMi
The mist that moistened all tbs tloweea
In woodland wild, and garden-bowe4s,
Exhaled whilst, from their wonted siRhf.
The God Of Day withheld his Light,
Regretful txemble OIL their leaves
These tsars of Nature, a ahe grieysa
The Hveluug night Of darkneas thrQuFA
Expressing thus her grief In dew,
The aplderh scattered, tiny lines
Connected held the weeping riuea,
And pendent drops, ike CRYSTALS shuue,
Upon her f1ny castle swung.
Forth from his couch the constant su2
Proclaims another day begun;
0is welcome face again appears
To greet the meadow, exc II team
The lonely blades Of grass had ahed
Whilst he had Numbered In hia bed,
Before hta bright, enhv'dn8 raJB,
The drooping leaves In gladneea f1tse
Their fragile forms Of gtist.ning grssn
To c1tch the radiance Of bis sheen.
Full soon. before his searching glanea
O'er all tho gem-bedecked axpansa.
Tho pretty tears are lost to sight,
And gleam no longer In tho tghtl
Wall recall such morn ~ this,-
It was my first Of real bliss,
A dear delight unfelt before!
Treadtng the path the dne had or
And DER again como lowing through.
Tho pastures man&lnx grean unto,-
Bringing lheir wholesome breath to zFSp4
The fragrant vurduro At their feet
8he stood with mo within thu groTe,
Ny chtldhood's friend, my Later loyei
Tho beech and oak'e unequal lorna.
Which long had b11yed the norcess sto1zn1
Stretched out their arms In friendly mood
The giant naighbors Of ths wood
4 sacred calm reigned III around;
Naught broke the stiffness, savs the sound
OF w2rb1ed love tho birds expressed,
As they above their bl,ss confessed.
Gay1y the merry feathered crew,
Disportng, through ths vista fsw,
Or hoped tha dropping boughs AMONG
And ftfu1ly their pasaion s11n&.
The butterflies IN lazy fight,
Tn rc1pa ~ nnr{Rh hrA hedfrhf
A love-ehase through tho op'ning trea
Meandered On the morning breeze.
Though ever present, scarcely seeo,
Unerringly, the boughs between,
In tangent CLEANS athWart our vidw.
The FURNISHED insects haahed and dd1.
Incentive sEeet, that mingitng voies
Whose happy strains the wootls re1odcai
Why faltcred On my lips tho word
So often sung. 10 often heard,
Since, from thy natal fouot above,
. Be1med on tho world thine essence, L1T8t
,Tw2s not because had not felt
That in her heart like passion dVtlt;
My eyes had seen, md had known
From te1l-tsle glance and tendsr tonat
That softly fell aud sweef1y shone,
That she had hopes still unexpressed,-
Her heart, like mine, was III unrest!
The wondrous scroll that Nature spzsAd
Before our view was still unread
Its lengthsncd page, with lessons bright
Our hearts hsd never read Alright;
Yet still it CLEANED, the puress pags
That o'er did lovers' thoughts engzgh
1nstirctvely the precious taxt
Winch each had pondezed DER, perplexads
Together now We tried anew,
And pl,iner soon tho problem g1ew.
Its hlddan meaning, long ooncoaisd,
Was to our studious souls revealed
It told that love and life x1e ons,-
That love should not expression shunS
AZ brightly breaks the coming sun
Upon the mornings russst-dun.
So teamed upon our mutual sense
The mornlng-ught Of confdenee!
There, midst the leaning lst'nfnz tsees
Whila zephy1s kissed the bRanehen HsJa
And looeed the sylvan muEtnuT sxeeS,
Our joyous hearts in union beat:
Beneath the friendly, bending bougha,
We interchanged our loving VOWS!
CHICAGO. az. LIZ