THE VAUDOIS VALLEYS.

YES, thou hast met the sun's last smile,
From the haunted hills of Rome ;

By many a bright Ægean isle,

Thou hast seen the billows foam :

From the silence of the Pyramid

Thou hast watch'd the solemn flow

Of the Nile, that with its waters hid
The ancient realm below:

Thy heart hath burn'd as shepherds sung
Some wild and warlike strain,

Where the Moorish horn once proudly rung
Through the pealing hills of Spain:

And o'er the lonely Grecian streams

Thou hast heard the laurels moan,

With a sound yet murmuring in thy dreams Of the glory that is gone.

But go thou to the pastoral vales

Of the Alpine mountains old,
If thou wouldst hear immortal tales

By the wind's deep whispers told!

Go, if thou lov'st the soil to tread,
Where man hath nobly striven,
And life, like incense, hath been shed,
An offering unto Heaven.

For o'er the snows, and round the pines,
Hath swept a noble flood;

The nurture of the peasant's vines
Hath been the martyr's blood!

A spirit, stronger than the sword,
And loftier than despair,

Through all the heroic region pour'd,
Breathes in the generous air.

A memory clings to every steep
Of long-enduring faith,

And the sounding streams glad record keep

Ask of the peasant where his sires

For truth and freedom bled,

Ask, where were lit the torturing fires,
Where lay the holy dead;

And he will tell thee, all around,
On fount, and turf, and stone,
Far as the chamois' foot can bound,
Their ashes have been sown!

Go, when the sabbath bell is heard *
Up through the wilds to float,

When the dark old woods and caves are stirr'd
To gladness by the note;

When forth, along their thousand rills,
The mountain people come,

* See "Gilly's Researches amongst the Mountains of Piedmont," for an interesting description of a sabbath day in the upper regions of the Vaudois. The inhabitants of these Protestant valleys, who, like the Swiss, repair with their flocks and herds, to the summits of the hills during the summer, are followed thither by their pastors, and at that season of the year, assembled on the sacred day, to worship in the open air.

Join thou their worship on those hills
Of glorious martyrdom.

And while the song of praise ascends,

And while the torrent's voice
Like the swell of many an organ blends,
Then let thy soul rejoice!

Rejoice, that human hearts, through scorn,

Through shame, through death, made strong,

Before the rocks and heavens have borne

Witness of God so long!

THE SONGS OF OUR FATHERS.

"Sing aloud

Old songs, the precious music of the heart."

Wordsworth.

SING them upon the sunny hills,

When days are long and bright,
And the blue gleam of shining rills
Is loveliest to the sight.
Sing them along the misty moor,

Where ancient hunters rov'd,

And swell them through the torrent's roar―
The songs our fathers lov'd!

The songs their souls rejoic'd to hear
When harps were in the hall,

And each proud note made lance and spear
Thrill on the banner'd wall: