The Mother's Dream, and Other PoemsGould, Hannah Flagg
General
The Mother's Dream, and Other Poems
Gould, Hannah Flagg
American poetry -- 19th century
A hand with the pencil was called to portray
The features and form of her child as it lay;
But false were the hues and the touches of art
To paint the bright image enshrined in her heart.
Its lustre was drawn from a glory on high:
No pencil of earth could the likeness supply;
Nor yet on the canvass was mortal to trace
A smile the pure spirit had left on that face.
The skies, as they opened, their guest to receive,
Had shed, on the dust they allured it to leave,
A sign of the peace, of the joy, and the love,
Encircling for aye the young angel above.
That mother rose calm, when the beautiful clay
Must be from her sight laid forever away!
The gloom left her soul, as a cloud leaves the sun;
It whispered, "Thy will, O my Father, be done!"
EVENING AT ANDOVER SEMINARY-HILL.
I stood on that majestic height,
The lofty Hill of Andover,
Where sacred science holds the light
That beams to distant lands from her.
For there the school of sages stands,
Where, from afar, disciples meet
For lore divine, in holy bands
To sit and learn at Wisdom's feet.
Within its consecrated walls
Is kept and taught Jehovah's will:--
The LAW, whose voice in thunder falls--
The GOSPEL, whispering, "_Peace! be still!_"
The structures while I viewed around,
I seemed to breathe Mount's Zion's air;
I set my foot with awe profound,
As if the ark of God were there.
Each earthly care was calm and dumb,
For holier thoughts the soul to fill;
As if the Shechinah had come
To rest upon that reverend hill.
A mellow glory crowned its head;
And from its foot, in landscape wide,
Profusely nature's charms were spread,
Till in the distance vision died.
It was a summer day's decline:
The drowsy flowers began to close;
The breezes lulled, that stirred the vine;
And all things tended to repose.
The sun, adown the western skies,
Was sinking fast to pass from view,
Calm as the righteous when he dies
To earth, in heaven to live anew.
And thence, on edifice and site,
His golden smile was backward cast,
As if he loved that favored height
To bless the longest and the last.
In eastern splendor, then arrayed,
The full-orbed moon arose serene,
Through evening's hush and night's cool shade
To throw her lustre o'er the scene.
Her silvery vesture wrapped in sheen
The stately seminary pile,
And fell on tree, and flower, and green,
Where pearly dews distilled the while.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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