Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/423

1840-50.] AMANDA L. R. DUFOUR. 407 To thee the world has many paths of glad- ness, To me but one — the path to dreams of thee! THOUGHT. All hail! free, holy Thought! No tyrant's might. Can fetter and imprison thee, for thou Art infinite. I wander in the crowd. Feeling alone with thee. And when thy voice Speaks to my soul, the voices of the throng Fall on my ear discordant or unheard. I love, oh, gentle and mysterious Thought, To wait thy coming and ascend thy car, — Thy swift-winged car of light, in which my soul Is heavenward wafted, in its upward flight. I love thy wooing in the midnight lone. When, save the zephyr's sigh, no tone but thine Breaks the deep silence. Then, like pale star-beam, Steals thy pure halo o'er my suffering heart. And when thy winged steeds approach the realm — The shadowy realm, where hopes and fears, long dead, ^ nder on Lethe's banks ; where forms, ^ong lost, , But 1-iclly cherished, reappear once more; "When clasp of love I feel, so long un- fCi. 5 Where roi-ds I hear, were spoken years ago Jnto myheart of hearts : then I kneel down Before thy loly shrine, celestial Thought, i-nd bless tlee, as my soul's divinity. BY-GONE HOURS. I'm thinking of the days, mother, Of childhood's happy days, Wlien all the world was bright and gay, And full of gladsome lays. I'm thinking of that joyous time. When sitting by your side. You smiled and sighed and blessed your child, W^ith all a parent's pride. Oh, I remember well, mother, In twilight's gentle hour. How soft the summer breezes were Within our garden bower. And how, when peaceful stars shone out From the deep vault of even. With glowing cheek you'd sweetly speak Of our sweet home in heaven. Those days were very bright, mother, And now they seem to me Like fairy isles, far, far away, Girt by a troubled sea. Ah ! then my heart had known no care, My eyes had wept no tears ; And scarce a cloud had crossed my brow In all those blissful years. HYMN. Father, in the skies above, Unto thee we bow ; Shade us with thy wings of love, God, protect us now. Keep us in the paths of peace, Patient trust impart ; Sin's obscuring stains erase From each aching heart.