Though Fame be slow, yet Death is swift,

And, o'er the spirit's eyes,

Life after life doth change and shift

With larger destinies :

As on we drift, some wider rift
Shows us serener skies.

And, though naught falleth to us here
But gains the world counts loss,
Though all we hope of wisdom clear,

When climbed to, seems but dross,
Yet all, though ne'er Christ's faith they wear,
At least may share his cross.

A REQUIEM.

Ay, pale and silent maiden,

Cold as thou liest there, Thine was the sunniest nature

That ever drew the air,
The wildest and most wayward,
And yet so gently kind,
Thou seemedst but to body
A breath of summer wind.

Into the eternal shadow

That girds our life around,

Into the infinite silence

Wherewith Death's shore is bound,

Thou hast gone forth, beloved!

And I were mean to weep, That thou hast left Life's shallows And dost possess the Deep.

Thou liest low and silent,
Thy heart is cold and still,
Thine eyes are shut for ever,

And Death hath had his will ;
He loved and would have taken,

I loved and would have kept, We strove, - and he was stronger, And I have never wept.

Let him possess thy body,
Thy soul is still with me,
More sunny and more gladsome
Than it was wont to be:
Thy body was a fetter

That bound me to the flesh,
Thank God that it is broken,
And now I live afresh !

Now I can see thee clearly;

The dusky cloud of clay, That hid thy starry spirit,

Is rent and blown away: To earth I give thy body,

Thy spirit to the sky, I saw its bright wings growing, And knew that thou must fly.

Now I can love thee truly, For nothing comes between The senses and the spirit,

The seen and the unseen; Lifts the eternal shadow,

The silence bursts apart,

And the soul's boundless future Is present in

my

heart.

THE FATHERLAND.

WHERE is the true man's fatherland?
Is it where he by chance is born?
Doth not the yearning spirit scorn
In such scant borders to be spanned?
O, yes! his fatherland must be

As the blue heaven wide and free!

Is it alone where freedom is,

Where God is God and man is man?

Doth he not claim a broader span

For the soul's love of home than this? O, yes! his fatherland must be

As the blue heaven wide and free!