There is a Power whose care Teaches thy way along the pathless coast. The desert and illimitable air, Lone wandering, but not lost. All day thy wings have fann'd, At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere, And soon that toil shall end; Soon shalt thou find a summer home and rest, And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend Soon o'er thy shelter'd nest. Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven Hath swallow'd up thy form; yet, on my heart, He who, from zone to zone, Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way that I must tread alone, Will lead my steps aright. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. THE FALL OF NIAGARA, THE thoughts are strange that crowd into my brain, While I look upward to thee. It would seem From war's vain trumpet, by thy thundering side! In his short life, to thy unceasing roar ! And yet, bold babbler, what art thou to Him. JOHN G. C. BRAINARD. "THE WOODS THAT BRING THE SUNSET NEAR." THE wind from out the west is blowing, When o'er wide seas the sun declines, Far off, sublime, and full of fear— This house that looks to east, to west, RICHARD WATSON GILDer. MY OWL. OF manners and tricks, as erratic Is the brown owl I keep in my attic, He perches all day on a rafter, Staring down with his great round eyes; And excites my inordinate laughter He looks so important and wise! I have watched him for whole hours together, This dignified judge of a bird, Fluttering never a feather, Nor uttering ever a word. But he sits there winking and blinking, Of the Naugatuck woods, and the thicket, But at night, like the grimmest of sentries, It may seem to you lonely, but surely Of love I have witnessed the folly, And experienced the baseness of man : The secret of life is—be jolly, Read Dickens, and sleep when you can! So I say, let the world with its trouble HENRY S. Cornwell. THE DANDELIONS. UPON a showery night and still, |