CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 191 



THE SUPERIOR BEAUTY OF THE EYE. 



Lovely the milk- white orient pearl, 

 Deep hid beneath the waves that curl 



In Ormus' sunny bay 5 

 And bright the blush of the Ruby's red, 

 When we drag it forth from the secret bed, 



In the dark earth where it lay. 



But lovelier far the Diamond bright, 

 Darting its beams of living light 



Through the darkness of the mine : 

 More beautiful its silvery rays, 

 Than the pearl's soft white, or the ruby's blaze, 



Or the fairest gems that shine. 



So the brow may be pure as the unsunned snow, 

 And the blushing tints on the cheek that glow 



May be exquisitely bright ; 

 But these fading charms can never vie 

 With the diamond-sparkle of the Eye, 



With its pure and lustrous light. 



'Tis here the immortal spirit lives, 

 The spark of heavenly fire, that gives 



Expression to the whole ; 

 Each feeling pictured here we find, 

 'Tis the index of the mighty mind, 



The palace of the Soul. 



A. W. L. 



THE POLISH CHILDREN. 



Forth went they from their father-land, 



A fallen and fetter'd race, 

 To find upon a distant strand, 



Their dark abiding place. 

 Forth went they not as freemen go, 



With firm and fearless eye, 

 But with the bow'd down mien of woe 



As men go forth to die. 



