A DOMESTIC SCENE.
BY MRS. HEMANS.
"The priest-like father reads the sacred page."
The Cotter's Saturday Night.
I.
'Twas early day—and sunlight stream'd
Soft thro' a quiet room,
That hush'd, but not forsaken, seem'd—
Still, but with nought of gloom:
For there, secure in happy age,
Whose hope is from above,
A father communed with the page
Of Heaven's recorded love.
II.
Pure fell the beam, and meekly bright,
On his grey holy hair,
And touch'd the book with tenderest light,
As if its shrine were there:
But oh! that Patriarch's aspect shone
With something lovelier far—
A radiance all the spirit's own,
Caught not from sun or star.
