Life's Changes.

A fair young girl was to the altar led     By him she loved, the chosen of her heart;     And words of solemn import there were said,     And mutual vows were pledged till death should part.     But life was young, and death a great way off,     At least it seemed so then, on that bright morn;     And they no doubt, expected years of bliss,     And in their path the rose without a thorn.     Cherished from infancy with tenderest care,     A precious only daughter was the bride;     And when that young protector's arm she took,     She for the first time left her parents' side.     With all a woman's tender, trustful heart,     She gave herself away to him she loved;     Why should she not, was he not all her own,     A choice by friends and parents too approved?     How rapidly with him the days now fly,     With him the partner of her future life;     Happy and joyous as a child she'd been,     Happy as daughter, happier still as wife.     But ere eight months in quick succession passed,     One to each human heart a dreaded foe,     Entered her house, and by a single stroke,     Blasted her hopes, and laid her idol low.     Three months of bitter anguish was endured,     But hope again revived, and she was blest,     When pressing to her heart a darling child,     Whose little head she pillowed on her breast.     Not long is she permitted to enjoy,     This sweetest bud of promise to her given;     Short as an angel's visit was its stay,     When God, who gave it, took it up to heaven.     Ah, what a contrast one short year presents!     Replete with happiness - replete with woe;     In that brief space, a maiden called, and wife,     Widow and mother written - childless too.     Surely my friend, I need not say to thee,     Look not to earth for what it can't bestow;     'Tis at the best a frail and brittle reed,     Which trusting for support, will pierce thee through.     Then let us look above this fleeting earth,     To heaven and heavenly joys direct our eyes;     No lasting happiness this world affords -     "He builds too low who builds below the skies."     Weston, Dec. 1, 1852.