University of Virginia Library

PURE IS THE DEWY GEM.

Pure is the dewy gem that sleeps
Within the roses fragrant bed,
And dear the heart-warm drop that steeps
The turf where all we loved is laid;
But far more dear, more pure than they,
The tear that washes guilt away.
Sweet is the morning's balmy breath,
Along the valley's flowery side,
And lovely on the Moon-lit heath,
The lute's soft tone complaining wide;
But still more lovely, sweeter still,
The sigh that wails a life of ill.

82

Bright is the morning's roseate gleam
Upon the Mountains of the East,
And soft the Moonlight silvery beam,
Above the billow's placid rest;
But O!—what ray ere shone from Heaven
Like God's first smile on a soul forgiven.
[_]

Note. —This trifle was composed before the author read Moore's Paradise and the Peri.