LINES.

I’ve loved thee, as the breeze to kiss the sweetest flowers;

I’ve loved thee as the thirsty earth eve’s refreshing showers;

I’ve loved thee, as the bird to sing its softly thrilling lay;

I’ve loved thee, as the heated rock the ocean’s dashing spray;

I’ve loved thee, as the fevered cheek to feel the cooling air;

I’ve loved thee, as a mother loves her child of tender care;

I’ve loved thee, as the murky morn to hail the sunny beam;

I’ve loved thee, as the moonlit loves to dance upon the stream —

As all these, did I love thee, and with yet a wilder spell;

’Till thy coldness caused my spirit to sound love’s parting knell;

And though in fearful stillness my life glides gently on,

There is one note of harmony I feel forever gone.

Other hands might sweep the strings, and even thine may try,

But never shall an echoing sound to the sweet tune reply.

ANNIE GREY.