Forgive the faltering faith, & fears Of this weak heart that seeks thine aid, Forgive these often flowing tears, Thou! who has fainted, wept, & pray’d— Ah! who so well our wants can know, As He who felt each human woe! Yes, _Thou_ has felt the with’ring power Of mortal weakness, & distress, And _Thou_ hast known the mournful hour. Of desolating loneliness— Hast mourn’d thy friends, so faithless fled, And wept in anguish o’er the dead. Cast out to seek the lowliest shed, The rich, the great despised thy name, And thou didst seek thy daily bread, Mid poverty, reproach, & shame— Forgive a heart that can repine To share a lot _more blest than Thine_— And _Thou_ hast tried the Tempter’s power And felt his false & palsying breath, Hast known the gloomy fears that wait Along the shadowy vale of Death— And what the dreadful pangs must be Of life’s last parting agony. My only Hope! My Stay, My Shield! Thy fainting creature looks to Thee— Thy soothing peace, thy guidance yield In this, my last extremity;— With Thy dear, guardian hand to save I venture downward to the grave! THE WATER LILY. This flower that so lovelily pleads for a sigh Unnotic’d was born unnurtur’d to bloom; Its fate had decreed it to wither and die Where no heart of affection might weep o’er its tomb. But chance has bequeath’d it in beauty to thee; And in beauty it lives on the page of thy heart; And while memory lingers or life shall endure That flower from remembrance can never depart. And thus, when between us Time’s current shall roll, When mountains and waters our fortunes shall sever, On thy tablets of _Friendship_ my name I’d enrol To live in thy cherish’d remembrance forever. EDWARD S. GOULD Litchfield 25, Jany, 1826. Tho’ in distant lands we sigh Parched beneath a burning sky Tho’ the deep between us rolls Friendship shall Unite our Souls, And in fancy’^s wide domain There may we both meet again When the dreams of life are fled When its wasted lamp^s are dead When in cold oblivious shade Beauty, Wealth, and Fame are laid Where immortal spirits reign There may we all meet again E REEVE [Illustration: PL. XLVII.—LOVE CARRYING THE WORLD