But the seed we have sown in affliction and tears,
Shall be gathered in gladness in far distant years.
"On the scroll of the Covenant blood must be spilt,
Till its red hues shall cancel the backslider's guilt.
Remember my warning. Around me are some
Who may watch, for they know not the hour He shall come.
"And thou, pretty maiden, rejoice in the truth
Of the lover I link for thy husband of youth.
Be kind while he lives; clasp him close to thy heart;
For the time is not far when the fondest must part.
"The seal of the Saviour is printed too deep
On the brow of thy bridegroom for thee long to keep.
The wolf round the sheepfold will prowl for his prey,
And the lamb be led forth for the lion to slay.
"His winding-sheet linen keep woven by thee;
It will soon be requir'd, and it bloody will be.
A morning of terror and tears is at hand,
But the Lord will give strength in thy trial to stand."
My vision was changed: happy summer had fled
O'er the heath-circled home where the lovers were wed;
Affection's springs bursting from hearts in their prime,
The stream of endearment grew deeper with time.
At the door of his home, in a glad summer's night,
With his children to play was the father's delight;
One dear little daughter he fondly caress'd,
For she look’d like the young bride who slept on his breast.
Of her sweet smiling offspring the mother was fain,
Each added a new link to love's wedded chain;
One clung to her bosom, one play'd round her knee,
And one 'mong the heather ran chasing the bee
In union of warm hearts, of wishes, of thought,
The prophet's prediction was almost forgot;
With wedded affection their hearts overflow'd,
And their lives passed in rearing their offspring to God.
The mist of May morning lay dark on the mountains ;
The lambs crept the flowers springing fresh by the fountains;
The waters, the woods, and the green holms of hay, lay
In sunshine asleep down in Wellwood's wild valley.
