In the tempest of life, when the waves and the gale Are around and above, if thy footing should fail, If thine eye should grow dim, and thy caution depart, "Look aloft," and be firm, and be fearless of heart. If thy friend, who embraced in prosperity's glow, With a smile for each joy, and a tear for each woe, Should betray thee when sorrows like clouds are arrayed, "Look aloft" to the friendship which never shall fade. Should the visions which hope spreads in light to the eye, Like the tints of the rainbow, but brighten to fly, Then turn, and, through tears of repentant regret, "Look aloft" to the sun that is never to set. Should they who are dearest,--the son of thy heart, The wife of thy bosom,--in sorrow depart, "Look aloft," from the darkness and dust of the tomb, To that soil where affection is ever to bloom. And, oh! when Death comes in his terror to cast His fears on the future, his pall on the past, In that moment of darkness with hope in thy heart, And a smile in thine eye, "look aloft"--and depart. J. Lawrence. CLXXIX. PRESS ON. Press on! there's no such word as fail! Press nobly on! the goal is near,-- Ascend the mountain! breast the gale! Look upward, onward,--never fear! Why should'st thou faint? Heaven smiles above, Though storm and vapor intervene; That sun shines on, whose name is Love, Serenely o'er Life's shadowed scene. Press on! surmount the rocky steeps, Climb boldly o'er the torrent's arch; He fails alone who feebly creeps; He wins who dares the hero's march. Be thou a hero! let thy might Tramp on eternal snows its way, And, through the ebon wails of night Hew down a passage unto day. Press on! if once and twice thy feet Slip back and stumble, harder try; From him who never dreads to meet Danger and death, they're sure to fly. To coward ranks the bullet speeds, While on their breasts, who never quail, Gleams, guardian of chivalric deeds, Bright courage, like a coat of mail. Press on! if Fortune play thee false To-day, to-morrow she'll be true; Whom now she sinks, she now exalts