ARBOR DA Y MANUAL. I 59 



And vanished smiles, and sounds of parted feet- 

 Spring, midst the murmurs of thy flowering trees, 

 Why. why revivest thou these ? 



Vain longings for the dead ! why come they back 



With thy young birds, and leaves, and living blooms? 



O, is it not that from thine earthly track 



Hope to thy world may look beyond the tombs ? 



Yes, gentle Spring ; no sorrow dims thine air, 



Breathed by our loved ones there. 



MRS. HEMANS. 



THE WONDERFUL TREE. 



** r pHERE'S a wonderful tree, a wonderful tree, 

 1 The happy children rejoice to see ; 

 Spreading its branches year by year, 

 It comes from the forest to flourish here. 

 And this wonderful tree, with its branches wide, 

 Is always blooming at Christmas-tide. 



" Tis not alone in the summer's sheen, 

 Its boughs are broad and its leaves are green ; 

 It blooms for us when the wild winds blow, 

 And earth is white with feathery snow. 

 And this wonderful tree, with its branches wide, 

 Bears many a gift at the Christmas-tide. 



" For a voice is telling its boughs among 

 Of the shepherds' watch and angels' song ; 

 Of a holy Babe in a manger low. 

 The beautiful story of long ago, 

 When a radiant star threw its beams so wide 

 To herald the earliest Christmas-tide. 



" Then spread thy branches, wonderful tree, 

 And bring the pleasant thought to me 

 Of Him who came from His home above, 

 The richest gift of the Father's love, 

 To show us how to spread far and wide 

 The joys of the holy Christmas-tide." 



Flowers are the sweetest things that God ever made and forgot to put a 

 soul into. 



BEECHER. 



