17 



THE MAIDEN'S GRAVE. 



The sun had set ; but rosy light 



Was blooming o'er the sky ; 

 And tinting nature fair and bright 



With evening's richest dye. 



A mingled music fiU'd the air ; 



The vesper-song of birds — 

 The music of the flowing stream — 



The low of distant herds. 



A village on a rising knoll 



Gleam'd white between the trees, 



O'er which an ancient church arose, 

 With spire amid the breeze. 



I sought the sacred plot around 



This temple of the dead, 

 And seated on a mossy mound 



Mused over times long fled. 



Dear, cherish 'd friends were sleeping there. 



The wealthy and the poor ; 

 Who'd dwelt within the lordly hall. 



Or humble cottage door. 



Of all the varied tombs around 



To cause the painful sigh. 

 One gleaming white amidst the shade 



Most won tlie tearful eye. 



A verdant willow o'er it hung, 



With low dependant boughs ; 

 And at the sculptured marble's base 



There bloom 'd a pale white rose. 



