Page:Selections from the American poets (IA selectamerpoet00bryarich).pdf/242
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Sarah J. Hale.
Space for the eagle in the vaulted sky To plume his wing;Space for the ringdove by her young to lie, And softly sing.
Space for the sunflower, bright with yellow glow, To court the sky;Space for the violet, where the wild woods grow, To live and die.
Space for the ocean, in its giant might, To swell and rave;Space for the river, tinged with rosy light, Where green banks wave.
Space for the sun, to tread his path in might And golden pride;Space for the glow-worm, calling, by her light, Love to her side.
Then, pure and gentle ones, within your ark Securely rest!Blue be the skies above, and your still bark By kind winds bless'd.
THE ROSE-TREE AT THE BIRTHPLACE OF WASHINGTON.
Bright rose! what dost thou here, amid These sad mementoes of the past!The crumbling stones thy roots have hid, The bramble's shade is o'er thee cast,Yet still thy glowing beauty seemsFair as young childhood's happy dreams.
The sunbeam on the heaving surf Proclaims the tempest's rage is o'er;The violet, on the frozen turf, Breathes of the smiling spring once more;