Green pastures she views in the midst of the dale, Down which she so often has tripped with her pail ; And a single small cottage, a nest like a dove's, The one only dwelling on earth that she loves. She looks, and her heart is in heaven: but they fade, The mist and the river, the hill and the shade : The stream will not flow, and the hill will not rise, And the colours have all passed away from her eyes. 1797. WE ARE SEVEN. -A SIMPLE Child, That lightly draws its breath, I met a little cottage Girl: She was eight years old, she said; She had a rustic, woodland air, And she was wildly clad : Her eyes were fair, and very fair; "Sisters and brothers, little Maid, "How many ? Seven in all," she said, And wondering looked at me. "And where are they? I pray you tell." "Two of us in the churchyard lie, "You say that two at Conway dwell, Yet ye are seven !—I pray you tell, Then did the little Maid reply, "You run about, my little Maid, "Their graves are green, they may be seen," The little Maid replied, "Twelve steps or more from my mother's door, And they are side by side. "My stockings there I often knit, My kerchief there I hem; And there upon the ground I sit- "And often after sunset, Sir, "The first that died was little Jane; Till God released her of her pain; "So in the churchyard she was laid; And when the grass was dry, Together round her grave we played My brother John and I. "And when the ground was white with snow, And I could run and slide, My brother John was forced to go, And he lies by her side." "How many are you then," said I, "But they are dead; those two are dead! Their spirits are in heaven!" 'Twas throwing words away: for still The little Maid would have her will, And said, “Nay, we are seven!" 1798. THE COMPLAINT OF A FORSAKEN INDIAN WOMAN. When a Northern Indian, from sickness, is unable to continue his journey with his companions, he is left behind, covered over with deer-skins, and is supplied with water, food, and fuel, if the situation of the place will afford it. He is informed of the track which his companions intend to pursue, and if he is unable to follow or overtake them, he perishes alone in the desert, unless he should have the good fortune to fall in with some other tribes of Indians. The females are equally, or still more, exposed to the same fate. See that very interesting work, Hearne's Journey from Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean." In the high northern latitudes, as the same writer informs us, when the northern lights vary their position in the air, they make a rustling and a crackling noise, as alluded to in the following poem. I. "BEFORE I see another day, In sleep I heard the northern gleams; And yet they are upon my eyes, Before I see another day, Oh, let my body die away! II. My fire is dead: it knew no pain; When I was well, I wished to live, For clothes, for warmth, for food, and fire, No pleasure now, and no desire. III. Alas! ye might have dragged me on Another day, a single one! Too soon I yielded to despair ; Why did ye listen to my prayer? |