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264

THE HELPER.

Man could never work alone, and even in Eden's bowers,
He pined for woman's smile to cheer his task of tending flowers;
And soon a fair young bride is sought and found to bless the youth,
Who gives, for his protecting hand, her heart of love and truth;—
And now his work has higher aims, since she its blessings shares,
And oft her hand will roses strew, where his would scatter tares;
And, like a light within a vase, his home enshrines her form,
Which brightens o'er his world-tossed mind, like sunshine o'er the storm;
And when she pleads in sorrow's cause, he cannot choose but hear,
And when her soul with Heaven communes, she draws his spirit near;
And thus they live till age creeps on, or sickness lays him low,
Then will she gird her woman's heart to bear life's bitterest woe,
And soothe his pain, and stay his head, and close his dying eyes—
While praying Angel hands may guide his soul to Paradise.