Ah, even jewels a rank must share--
Not every diamond's a Koh-i-noor!
Thus when our LILLIAN, needing but wings,
Plays us the queen of the fairies, we deem
Grace such as hers a bewildering dream--
Her laughter, her gestures, a dozen things,
Furnish our worshiping fondness a theme.

Or when our ALICE, scarcely less tall,
And none the less fair, tries her slim baby feet,
Or a new has lisped, to the pride of us all,
Smiling, we cry, "was aught ever so sweet?"
Even wee BERTHA, turning her eyes,
Searching and slow from one face to another--
Wrinkling her brow in a comic surprise,
And winking so soberly at her pale mother,
For a baby, is wondrously pretty and wise!

Well, _let_ the "vine" recline in the sun--
Three such rare "clusters" in three short years,
Have sapped the red wine in her veins that should run--
For the choicest of species the gardener fears!
LILLIAN, queen of the lilies shall be,
Fair, tall and graceful--queenly in will;
ALICE a Provence rose--rarely sweet she;
BERTHA NARCISSA--white daffodil--
And the "vine," once more strong, shall entwine around the three!

WHAT THE SEA SAID TO ME.

One evening as I sat beside the sea,
A little rippling wave stole up to me,
And whispered softly, yet impressively,
The word Eternity:
I smiled, that anything so small should utter,
A word the ocean in its wrath might mutter;
And with a mirthful fancy, vainly strove,
To suit its cadence to some word of love--
But all the little wave would say to me,
Was, over and again, Eternity!

After a time, the winds, from their dark caves,
Arose, and wrestled with the swelling waves,
Shrieking as doth a madman when he raves;
Yet still Eternity
Was spoken audibly unto my hearing;
While foaming billows, their huge crests up-rearing,
Rushed with a furious force upon the shore,
That only answered with a sullen roar;
As if it hoarsely echoed what the sea
Said with such emphasis--Eternity!

And by and by, the sky grew dun and dim;
Soon all was darkness, save the foam's white gleam;
And all was silence save the sea's deep hymn--
That hymn Eternity:
While some dread presence, all the darkness filling,
Crept round my heart, its healthy pulses chilling;
Making the night, so