Farewell To The Reader.

A maiden blush o'er every feature straying,     The Muse her gentle harp now lays down here,     And stands before thee, for thy judgment praying,     She waits with reverence, but not with fear;     Her last farewell for his kind smile delaying.     Whom splendor dazzles not who holds truth dear.     The hand of him alone whose soaring spirit     Worships the beautiful, can crown her merit.     These simple lays are only heard resounding,     While feeling hearts are gladdened by their tone,     With brighter phantasies their path surrounding,     To nobler aims their footsteps guiding on.     Yet coming ages ne'er will hear them sounding,     They live but for the present hour alone;     The passing moment called them into being,     And, as the hours dance on, they, too, are fleeing.     The spring returns, and nature then awaking,     Bursts into life across the smiling plain;     Each shrub its perfume through the air is shaking,     And heaven is filled with one sweet choral strain;     While young and old, their secret haunts forsaking,     With raptured eye and ear rejoice again.     The spring then flies, to seed return the flowers.     And naught remains to mark the vanished hours.