Oh! believe me, I would not speak lightly
Of one soul-gifted, glorious name,
Which serves to illumine so brightly
The undying volume of Fame.
Still, still, when both Claude and Teniers
Indistinct on the memory fall,
We shall fondly look back through the vista of years
To the "Shadow of Friends on the Wall!"
The Last Word.
A grey-headed couple Were sitting
One night in their chimney nook,
The old dame was engaged with her knitting,
Whilst he bowed his head o'er a book.
The kettle, a "steam tune" was singing,
The cat purred a song to herself,
And the fire its bright glimmer was flinging
O'er the old pewter plates on the shelf.
Said he, "Here's a sentence worth heeding,
'Tis what makes life sunshine or cloud,"
And then the old man began reading
The following passage aloud:
"'Tis not when dark trouble is round us.
Or Misery's entered our door,
Or the deepest misfortune hath found us,
That the temper is apt to boil o'er.
