Page:Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.djvu/101

The blooming babe, with shades of Death o'erspread,

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No more shall smile, no more shall raise its head,
But, like a branch that from the tree is torn,
Falls prostrate, wither'd, languid, and forlorn.
$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$"Where flies my James?" 'tis thus I seem to hear

The parent ask, "Some angel tell me where

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"He wings his passage thro' the yielding air?"
Methinks a cherub bending from the skies
Observes the question, and serene replies,
"In heav'ns high palaces your babe appears:

"Prepare to meet him, and dismiss your tears."

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Shall not th' intelligence your grief restrain,
And turn the mournful to the chearful strain?
Cease your complaints, suspend each rising sigh,
Cease to accuse the Ruler of the sky.

Parents, no more indulge the falling tear:

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Let Faith to heav'n's refulgent domes repair,
There see your infant, like a seraph glow:
What charms celestial in his numbers flow

Melodious,