Page:Poems of Nature and Life.djvu/412

 402 CONSOLATIONS OF SOLITUDE

And, though a race more fair than thou May walk the earth at last,

Wiser and purer, when thy brow In rock shall be bound fast,

Deem not for this thy tribes shall cease ;

They shall more perfect be. Destined in truth and love to increase

Through all Eternity.

Farewell ! To my great Father's side,

The fount of me, I fly. Rejoice, not that thy friend hath died.

But that he cannot die !

The Almighty Sire who reigns above Hath me this secret shown :

All life at last shall dwell in love Eternal, like his own.

��A LAST WORD TO "THE WATERFOWL."

APROPOS TO A WELL KNOWN MASTERPIECE OF AMERICAN POETRY.

Soar on, as when the bard's admiring eyes

Traced thee through twilight glow, and from thy flight

Deduced this just conclusion, that the All-Wise, Who guided thee, would lead his steps aright.

Fly to thy destined goal, where leaves are green And flowers unfading still, though ice and snow,

In thy late haunts, enshrouding all the scene. Encase each bough, and crust the earth below.

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