Poems (McDonald)/Stanzas

by Mary Noel McDonald

STANZAS,

suggested by the death of a young daughter of the rev. dr. schroeder.

I saw a lovely flower
 Upon a slender spray,
But a rude blast came, with sudden power,
 And swept its bloom away:
It bent beneath the blow,
 And its leaves to earth were given,
But the bitter wind that had laid it low,
 Bore its fragrance unto heaven.

I marked a rainbow's form,
 When the summer shower went by,
Born of the sunbeam and the storm—
 Spanning the eastern sky:
And I gazed upon the sight,
 Till the glorious arch was riven,
And its varied hues of gorgeous light
 Melted away in heaven.

I watched a merry bird,
 Building its fairy nest,
And the glossy leaves by its wings were stirred,
 Round that little spot of rest;
And I deemed its gushing song
 Would still to mine ear be given,
But it plumed its wing for the skies ere long,
 And soared, and sang, in heaven.

I gazed on a gentle star,
 That was bright in the evening sky,
And thought, how it smiled in its home afar,
 When watched by a mortal's eye;
But the tempest gathered fast,
 And wildly the clouds were driven,
And the star was lost, as their dark folds passed,
 But I knew it was still in heaven.

So, like that lovely flower,
 And like that rainbow's light,
And like the bird of the summer bower,
 And the glittering star of night;
Hath thy loved one, in life's pure spring,
 From thy fond embraces riven,
Been borne away on an angel's wing,
 To dwell in the light of heaven.