MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 



And in this hushed and breathless close. 

 O'er earth, and air, and sky, and sea. 



That still low voice in silence goes 



Which speaks alone, great God! of Ihee. 



The whispering leaves, the far-off brook, 

 The linnet's warble fainter grown. 



The hive-bound bee, the lonely rook- 

 All these their Maker own. 



Now shine the starry hosts of light. 



Gazing on earth with golden eyes ; 

 Bright guardians of the blue-browed night r 



What are ye in your native skies ? 

 1 know not ! neither can 1 know. 



Nor on what leader ye attend. 

 Nor whence ye came, nor whither go. 



Nor what your aim or end. 



1 know they must be holy things 



That from a roof so sacred shine. 

 Where sounds the beat of angel-wings. 



And footsteps echo all Divine. 

 Their mysteries I never sought. 



Nor barkened to what Science tells. 

 For oh ! in childhood I was taught. 



That God amidst them dwells. 



The darkening woods, the fading trees. 

 The grasshopper's last feeble sound. 



The flowers just wakened by the breeze. 

 All leave the stillness more profound. 



The twilight takes a deeper shade. 

 The dusky pathways blacker grow. 



And silence reigns in glen and glade,— 

 AH, all is mute below. 



And other eves as sweet as this 



Will close upon as calm a da>. 

 And. sinking down the deep abyss. 



Will, like the last, be swept away ; 

 Until eternity is gained. 



That boundless sea without a shore. 

 That without time for ever reigned.. 



And will when time's no more. 



Now Nature sinks in soft repose. 



A living semblance of the grave ; 

 •I'l.c dew steals noiseless on the rose. 



The boughs have almost ceased to wave ; 

 The silent skv, the sleeping eartli. 



Tree, mountain, stream, th^ tumble sod. 

 All tell from whom they had their birth. 



And cry, " Behold a God ! 



583 



