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"AND THERE WAS NO MORE SEA."

Rev. xxi. 1.

BY THE EDITOR OF THE PARTING GIFT.

WHAT art thou, mighty element?
Thou mine of measureless extent,-

O'er thee sad thought doth rove,

And scarcely even hope can buoy
Herself above thy waves, thou boundary of love,

And burial-place of joy!

Alas! how often does thy placid flow

A tearful current know,

As the lone watcher of the night, Broods over scenes of past delight, And all his spirit's lullaby

Is one sad murmur of the things gone by!

In Paradise thou wert not found,
Where, fenced by innocence around,
Stood man, superior 'midst his feudal train,
Unlimited his ample reign!

Thus shall it be again

When earth shall put on immortality,

And thro' creation's range no spot be found for thee!

I saw a gallant ship at anchor ride
And heard the sounds of deep lament
For those who willing exiles went,

To seek, in hope forlorn, a distant shore,

Where they in desolation must abide,

And the world's wealth obtain, but happiness no more !

I saw an only son

With early laurels won,

Though scarcely had his race of fame begun ;
Destined again and yet again to sweep

O'er the relentless deep;

I saw the mother's frantic agony

The father's tearful eye,

As to the last their cherished darling strove
In vain to soothe them with the words of love,
And vowed he would return, or perish valiantly!

I saw a lovelier form upon the strand,

By weeping parents led;-they murmured not,
Though ardent prayers for strength arise
To make this holy sacrifice,

Of her who was to them of untold worth,
The jewel of the social hearth!

And they resign her at her Lord's command,

And send her forth His messenger, even to a savage

land!

To each she turned, and fondly still she hung
On the last accents of that gentle tongue
Which soothed her infant fears

And charmed away the woes of riper years,
And calmly she could say, "Farewell!"
To others--but her bosom's anguished swell
Now speaks a grief forlorn, and irrepressible !

Yet see the delegate of heaven,

To whom her earliest vow was given,
From which she swerved not when he came
A more devoted love to claim.

For he had heard a summons o'er the deep,
And at the call divine

The bearer of the sacred sign

Goes forth, to rouse a pagan world from sleep!

A parting smile,

But scarce a tear, the young apostle gave

As the descending sun dipp'd in the ocean wave,
For him no more to rise upon his native isle;
On bright anticipated scenes his eye

Is fixed, and all too high

His glorious destiny

To spare for earthly loss one mournful sigh!

"Behold the world of pure abiding bliss," He said, which here in dim perspective seen, Upon the ruined site of this

Shall rise, nor ever barrier intervene

Man and his brother man between ; The zone of charity the globe shall bind, The soul its centre in the Saviour find,

While in that sphere of perfect unity His church shall realize the blest decree "THERE SHALL BE NO MORE SEA!"

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