Ah me! I look upon the past, As o’er some book of faded flowers, Where Joys, now crushed, too sweet to last, Remind me of those vanished hours; And every trace those leaves impart Is pressed more deeply on my heart. The touch, the tone, the melting look, The half-reclining, gentle pressure, The keeping time with hand and foot To some love ditty’s murmured measure While with her fingers, soft and fair, She smoothed the tangles of my hair; And how through long and silent ways We wandered in the sunny weather, As light of heart and full of lays As any wanton bird in feather— And every word that she would say Seems ringing through my soul to-day. There was a maiden once—so fair— That I shall ne’er forget it—never— Though time may silver o’er my hair, And I may seem as calm as ever— For dreams, whose guidance ne’er can vary, Are trystings still for me and Mary. * * * * * THE POET COWPER. By REV. J. N. DANFORTH. IN contemplating the varieties of human kind, nothing is more obvious than that some men are endowed with genius for the production of one set of results, while others are invested with the same power with a manifest adaptation to different results. So the interior texture of that impalpable thing we call genius, is diverse in various subjects. In some we find the development of extraordinary energies, in others the elaboration of the gentler traits of character. Some are eminently capable of devising, others of executing. One man is distinguished for the ardor of his imagination, another for the soundness of his judgment. A bold, daring temper of mind is indigenous to one class; a gentle, timid disposition characterizes another. The spirit of sarcasm, of irony, of invective, riots in the mental activities of some men, while that of tenderness, benevolence, and habitual charitableness constitutes the repose of others. Of the former, Byron might be mentioned as an example; of the latter, Cowper. They were both men of acknowledged genius. The world has adjudicated on their respective titles to the inheritance of fame. But how different the men! It may be true that the qualities of Byron were more fitted to excite the stronger and sterner, as they certainly were to awaken the severer and more rampant feelings of our nature, while those of Cowper tend to elicit whatever in man is tender, reverent, social and sympathetic. He is eminently the poet of the home and the heart, and even when contending with the foul and formidable spirit of melancholy, he strives to make others cheerful and happy.