But though shut out from that all radiant goal While "this corruptible" enchains the soul, He whom a gracious God hath given to see Yon light which burst on darkened Galilee, Will find a charm in that clear steady ray Which sweetens life and sanctifies decay; All changed the face of this dark prison, earth, It seems to spring as from a second birth; Chaos is gone,--as first it fled the sight Of Him who spake, and sudden there was light! Sweet flowers now spring upon the pris'ners path, Where once but thorns beset the child of wrath; A balm for wounds that once could rack the frame, Such monitory thoughts the fondest wish to tame. Such hope to cheer and stay the sinking breast, A prize so noble,--and so calm a rest! Such alter'd views!--new heavens!--and other skies! Some veil before was bound upon his eyes, Thus sudden loosed, as if angelic hands, Invisible, unbound his fettering bands. Where now the cold and soul revolting gloom That hung its shadows o'er the yawning tomb? Where gone the grief that with o'erwhelming load Press'd down the heart and crush'd it on its road? Lost in the hope of those prospective joys Where sorrow enters not, nor death annoys. S. For the Southern Literary Messenger. THE SWEET SPRINGS OF VIRGINIA, AND THE VALLEY WHICH CONTAINS THEM. BY W. BYRD POWELL, M.D. Mr. Jefferson has said, and we admit it, that a sight of the Natural Bridge is worth a trip across the Atlantic. But as this does not preclude the possibility of greater curiosities existing, we are allowed the privilege of expressing the belief, that the Sweet Springs, inclusive of the entire valley which contains them, present to a philosophical mind, a scene of incalculably greater interest. The bridge, by one mental effort, is comprehended, and speculation put at rest. Not so with this valley; but like the bridge, the first impressions produced by it create amazement, but as soon as this state of feeling is displaced by further observation, a train of thought succeeds, of unceasing interest, upon the character and variety of the causes which could have produced such a pleasing variety of effects. In the first place, the several springs, bubbling forth immense volumes of water, highly charged with lime, carbonic acid gas, free caloric, and in some instances iron, are objects of peculiar interest to the philosopher, and so they will remain, more especially, until more facts in relation to them are discovered, and the laws of chemical affinity are better understood. In the second place, the great fertility of the valley, even to a common observer, will be remarked as a matter of very uncommon occurrence.