Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/382

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366
PHŒBE GARY.
[1840–50.
Faith that our Lord's great sacrifice
Hath power to save us from the fall
And hope, through God's abounding grace,
To find forgiveness — this is all.

THE MIND'S POSSESSIONS.
There is no comfort in the world
But I in thought have known,
No bliss for any human heart
I cannot dream my own;
And fancied joys may often be
More real than reality.

I have a house in which to live,
Not grand, but very good,
A hearth-fire always warm and bright,
A board with daintiest food;
And I, when tried with care or doubt.
Go in and shut my sorrows out.

I have a father, one whose thought
Goes with me when I roam;
A mother, watching in some door
To see her child come home;
And sisters, in whose dear eyes shine
Such fondness, looking into mine.

I have a friend, who sees in me
What none beside can see,
Who, looking kindly on me, says,
"Dear, you are dear to me!"
A friend, whose smile is never dim.
And I can never change to him.

My boy's are very gentle boys,
And when I see them grown,
They're truer, braver, nobler men
Than any I have known;
And all my girls are fair and good.
From infancy to womanhood.

So with few blessings men can see.
Or I myself could name.
Home, love, and all that love can bring,
My mind has power to claim.
And life can never cease to be
A good and pleasant thing to me.

CHRISTMAS.

O child! with spirit light and gay.
And voice as pleasant as a bird,
Yours is a merry Christmas-day,
Mine is too happy for that word!

Changing and evanescent; such
Are all your hopes and all your fears;
My joy exceedeth yours as much
As doth the measure of my years.

Your pleasure every chance destroys.
It lies without.your own control;
While all my best and purest joys
Have their deep sources in my soul.

Together, your possessions rest;
Not some below, and some above;
I've learned more wisely to invest
The treasures of my hope and love.

You change from rapture to distress
With every change; I've come to know
The value, and the worthlessness,
Of all that we can get below.

So have I learned, what yet you will,
When up to mine your feet have trod;
Trust in myself, and better still,
Trust in His creatures, and in God.