Near it kneels a maid in prayer,*
Fair as the white rose is fair—
With a sad and chastened look,
As the spirit early took
Bitter lessons, how on earth
Flowers perish in their birth,
Blossoms fall before they bloom,
And the bud is its own tomb.
Once she dreamed a gentle dream—
Such, alas! love's ever seem—
Whence she only waked to know
Every thing is false below.
Soon the warm heart has to learn
Lessons of despair, and turn
From a world whose charm is o'er
When its hope deceives no more.
Maiden, thy young brow is cold—
'Tis because thy heart is old;
And thine eyes are raised above,
For earth hath betrayed thy love.
Dark the shades of evening fall—
Night is gathering o'er that hall;
All seems indistinct and pale—
Thick falls the shadowy veil;
All the shapes I gazed upon,
Like the dream that raised them, gone.
L. E. L.
* Mr. Hollins' Aurora waking Zephyrus.
† Mr. Lough's Child playing a Lyre.
* Mr. Macdonald's Supplicating Virgin.
