The Ladies' Gift, Or; Souvenir of Friendship

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1850. Excerpt: ... THE WELCOME BACK. IT ELIZA COOK. Sweet is the hour that brings us home, Where all will spring to meet us; Where hands are striving, as we come, To be the first to greet us. When the world hath spent its frowns and wrath, And care been sorely pressing: 'T is sweet to turn from our roving path, And find a fireside blessing. Oh, joyfully dear is the homeward track, If we are but sure of a welcome back. What do we reck on a dreary way, Though lonely and benighted, If we know there are lips to chide our stay, And eyes that will beam love-lighted? What is the worth of your diamond ray To the glance that flashes pleasure, When the words that welcome back betray We form a heart's chief treasure? Oh, joyfully dear is our homeward track, If we are but sure of a welcome back. 12 THE DREAM. A SONNET. BY ALEXANDER BALFOUR, ESQ. It was no foolish dream of fairy land, A paradise that ne'er on earth had been, With bowers of bliss entwined by Fancy's hand' Ah, no!--it was a well-remembered scene: It was the broomy bank, the heath-clad hill, On which I climbed, when life and love were new; The meadow, watered by the crystal rill, Where, whistling blithe, I brushed the morning dew; Again I heard the whispering zephyr sigh, Soft mingling with the music of the grove; Beheld the glories of the twilight sky, While Laura listened to my tale of love! Why did I wake, to leave my native glen? O, gentle sleep, return, and let me dream again! FORGIVE AND FORGET. BY THE AUTHOR OF THE CHOCK OF GOLD. When streams of unkindness, as bitter as gall, Bubble up from the heart to the tongue, And meekness writhing in torment and thrall, By the hands of Ingratitude wrung--In the heart of injustice, unwept and unfair, While the anguish is festering yet, None, none but an angel of God can decl...