"Would thou could'st see the waters
In many a distant glen;

The mountain flocks that graze around;
Nay, even this patch of stony ground,
These crags, with silver lichen crowned,
I would that thou could'st ken!

"Would thou could'st see my face, brother, As well as I see thine;

For always what I cannot see
It is but half a joy to me.

Brother, I often weep for thee,
Yet thou dost ne'er repine!"

"And why should I repine, Annie?"
Said the blind boy with a smile;
"Iken the blue sky and the grey;
The sunny and the misty day:
The moorland valley stretched away
For man and many a mile!

I ken the night and day, Annie,
For all ye may believe;

And often in my spirit lies

A clear light as of mid-day skies;
And splendors on my vision rise,
Like gorgeous hues of eve.

"I sit upon the stone, Annie, Beside our cottage door,

And people say, 'that boy is blind,'

And pity me, although I find

A world of beauty in my mind,

A never-ceasing store.

"I hear you talk of mountains,
The beautiful, the grand;

Of splintered peaks so gray and tall;
Of lake, and glen, and waterfall;

Of flowers and trees;

Iken them all;

Their difference understand.

"The harebell and the gowan

Are not alike to me,

Are different as the herd and flock,

The blasted pine-tree of the rock,

The waving birch, the broad, green oak,
The river and the sea.

"And oh, the heavenly music,

That as I sit alone,

Comes to mine inward sense as clear

As if the angel voices were

Singing to harp and dulcimer
Before the mighty throne!

"It is not as of outward sound,
Of breeze, or singing bird;
But wondrous melody refined;
A gift of God unto the blind;
An inward harmony of mind,
By inward senses heard!

"And all the old-world stories

That neighbors tell o'nights;
Of fairies on the fairy mound,
Of brownies dwelling under ground,
Of elves careering round and round,

Of fays and water-sprites;

"All this to me is pleasantness, —

Is all a merry show;

I see the antic people play, -
Brownie and kelpie, elf and fay,
In a sweet country far away,
Yet where I seem to go.

"But better far than this, Annie, Is when thou read'st to me

Of the dear Saviour meek and kind, And how he healed the lame and blind. Am I not healed!-for in my mind His blessed form I see?

"Oh, love is not of sight, Annie,
Is not of outward things;
For, in my inmost soul I know,

His pity for all mortal wo;

His words of love, spoke long ago,
Unseal its deepest springs!

"Then do not mourn for me, Annie,

Because that I am blind;

-

The beauty of all outward sight;

The wondrous shows of day and night; All love, all faith, and all delight,

Are strong in heart and mind!"

EASTER HYMNS.

HYMN I.

THE TWO MARYS

Oн dark day of sorrow,
Amazement and pain;

When the promise was blighted,

The given was ta'en!

When the Master no longer
A refuge should prove;
And evil was stronger
Than mercy and love!

Oh dark day of sorrow,
Abasement and dread,
When the Master beloved
Was one with the dead!

We sate in our anguish

Afar off to see,

For we surely believed not

This sorrow could be!

But the trust of our spirits

Was all overthrown;

And we wept, in our anguish, Astonished, alone!

At even they laid him
With aloes and myrrh,
In fine linen wound, in
A new sepulchre.

There, there will we seek him:
Will wash him with care;
Anoint him with spices:
And mourn for him there.