Sit and comb their beautiful hair, Those wonderful waves of brown and gold, Till the fire is out in the chamber there, And the little bare feet are cold. Then out of the gathering winter chill, All out of the bitter St. Agnes weather, While the fire is out and the house is still, Maud and Madge together,-- Maud and Madge in robes of white, The prettiest night-gowns under the sun, Curtained away from the chilly night, After the revel is done,-- Float along in a splendid dream, To a golden gittern's tinkling tune, While a thousand lustres shimmering stream, In a palace's grand saloon. Flashing of jewels, and flutter of laces, Tropical odors sweeter than musk, Men and women with beautiful faces And eyes of tropical dusk,-- And one face shining out like a star, One face haunting the dreams of each, And one voice, sweeter than others are, Breaking into silvery speech,-- Telling, through lips of bearded bloom, An old, old story over again, As down the royal bannered room, To the golden gittern's strain, Two and two, they dreamily walk, While an unseen spirit walks beside, And, all unheard in the lovers' talk, He claimeth one for a bride. Oh, Maud and Madge, dream on together, With never a pang of jealous fear! For, ere the bitter St. Agnes weather Shall whiten another year, Robed for the bridal, and robed for the tomb, Braided brown hair, and golden tress, There'll be only one of you left for the bloom Of the bearded lips to press,-- Only one for the bridal pearls, The robe of satin and Brussels lace,-- Only one to blush through her curls At the sight of a lover's face. Oh, beautiful Madge, in your bridal white, For you the revel has just begun; But for her who sleeps in your arms to-night The revel of Life is done! But robed and crowned with your saintly bliss, Queen of heaven and bride of the sun, Oh, beautiful Maud, you'll never miss The kisses another hath won! ROCK, TREE, AND MAN. It is an interesting thought, that will occur to a contemplative mind, that the world contained, from the time when it was a nebulous mass, all the materials of the future individuals of the animate and inanimate creation,--that the elaborate creatures of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, as well as every mineral, were floating in amorphous masses through space. Human beings, like genius that was condensed from vapor at the rubbing of Aladdin's lamp, were diffused in gases, waiting the touch of the Great Magician's wand to bring them into form and infuse them with life. In all the distinct creations of God, from the time when the waters first subsided and the dry land appeared, in everything organized and inorganized, earth, air, sea, and their inhabitants, there is no element which was not in existence when the earth was without form and void.