DECEMBER 31 
Zinnia .... Jhoughis of absent friends. 
Oh Absence ! by thy stern decree, 
How many a heart, once light and free, 
Is filled with doubts and fears ! 
Thy days like tedious weeks do seem, 
Thy weeks slow-moving months we deem, 
Thy months long-lingering years. 
jJ. J . }Vatsoh. 
Tears running down the track of buried smiles; 
Time’s shades condensed into the sable pall ; 
Hope that deserts, and gladness that beguiles— 
Are these, then, all ? ' 
All thou canst give to me, 
Humanity ? 
I saw a spirit dart ’twixt Earth and Heaven, 
Holding a cup in both hands lest it fall— 
O friends ! a mournful life to us were given 
If Earth were all! 
But He who lives for aye hath looked on thee. 
Humanity. 
/tUBREY Pe yERB. 
