Page:A Tale of the Secret Tribunal.pdf/37



"I leave thee not—whate'er betide, My footsteps shall not quit thy side; Pangs, keen as death, my soul may thrill, But yet—thou art my father still! And, oh! if stain'd by guilty deed, For some kind spirit, tenfold need, To speak of Heaven's absolving love, And waft desponding thought above. Is there not power in mercy's wave, The blood-stain from thy soul to lave? Is there not balm to heal despair, In tears, in penitence, in prayer? My father! kneel at His pure shrine, Who died to expiate guilt like thine, Weep—and my tears with thine shall blend, Pray—while my prayers with thine ascend, And, as our mingling sorrows rise, Heaven will relent, though earth despise!"

"My child, my child! these bursting tears, The first mine eyes have shed for years, Though deepest conflicts they express, Yet flow not all in bitterness! Oh! thou hast bid a wither'd heart From desolation's slumber start,