Herald Of The Times

THE MOSS UPON THE STONE.

'Twas Summer in the heavens above! 'twas Summer on the earth
I ranged the forest and beheld its beauty, budding forth,
Yet still I wandered on, because my mind was ill at ease,
I left the singing of the birds—the shadows of the trees.

I came unto a barren spot—'twas desolate and wild,
A very fitting place, methought, to harbor misery's child;
There was a darkness in the air—a spirit in the wind,
That seemed to harmonize, and soothe the temper of my mind.

I laid me down to slumber upon a flinty stone,
And oh! I cried, how justly this pillow is my own!
But, as I slept, a voice replied, in accents sweet and low,
"In all distress, some charm is left to mitigate our wo.

"There is no state so hopeless, but yet it is allowed,
To catch a gleam of sunshine from the darkening of a cloud,
Nor is that rock, though flinty, where ingratitude doth rest,
Denied a robe of verdure to adorn its flinty breast."

There came an aged Beggar then, and dreadful 'twas to see,
So strong a portraiture of want and abject misery;
His face was pale and care-worn, and his beard was overgrown,
But with him was his dog! and 'twas the moss upon the stone.

And then there came a Widow, arrayed in robes of night,
Her youthful spirit had sustained its deepest earthly blight;
But with her was a cherub that answered groan for groan,
The presence of that Child! it was the moss upon the stone.

Over the death-bed of her sire the pious Daughter stands,
And holds the precious word of God between her trembling hands;
By faith resigned she listened to his faint and dying moan—
The hope that he is now on high, sheds moss upon the stone.

And now a lovely Infant, snatched from its mother's arms,
Is lowered to the sepulchre in all its youthful charms;
Hears she Compassion's tender voice or Pity's silvery tone?
Time's healing hand must gather a moss upon the stone.

I arose from where I lay, and, walking from the spot,
I cried, Let not the vision of its moral be forgot;
Let me never grieve or murmur, though seemingly alone,
But remember Him whose mercy sheds the moss upon the stone.

L. H.