d let you pass;
Yet here you have perished for water--
I forgot to put some in the glass.

Ah! poor little withered, dead rosebud,
How many a weak human heart,
Too like you, has famishing perished,
When life had but only a start?
Yes, many a heart, little rosebud,
Loving, and tender, and true,
For water has faded and withered,
And died in its beauty like you,
Not because there was dearth of life's fountain,
Nor the blessing to all might not pass,
But because the strong hand which it clung to
Forgot to put some in its glass.

MY SHIPS HAVE COME FROM SEA.

You are watching a ship, O, maiden fair,
With parted lips and wistful air,
The ship that out from the sheltered bay
With white sails spread moves slow away;
And I know, my girl, the thoughts that burn
In your heart are of ship's return.
Ah! I know so well how your pulses beat,
With the great sea sobbing at your feet;
And the yellow stars in southern skies
Are brighter not than your love-bright eyes.
I, too, have stood on the sea-wet sand
And tearful waved a farewell hand,
And watched with many a longing prayer.
My face, like yours, was young and fair,
And my eyes were bright as the diamond's glow;
They've lost their sparkle--long ago.
I stand along on the beach to-day,
Watching the ships that sail away;
But never a sail from over the sea
The flowing tide will bring to me,
My ships have come from sea.

The first was builded with childish hand,
It floated away a castle grand--
A beautiful bubble with rainbow hues,
Lined with the crystal of morning dews;
To break at my feet by the sunny sea,
A beautiful bubble came back to me--
Came back from my ship at sea.

I fashioned another in gladsome way
And sent it forth on a Summer day.
I see it yet, a fairer craft,
Never at danger mocking laughed;
Its shrouds were the sheen of happy hours,
Its helm a wreath of orange flowrs;
And I freighted it down with love and truth,
The golden hopes of my sunny youth.
Had it lived the storm--but it could not be,
A stranded wreck on the surf-washed lea,
My ship came home from sea.

And then a smiling fairy bark,
A fragile, precious-freighted ark,
Out on life's ocean drear and dark.
And I prayed to God as I never before,
To shield this back from the tempest's roar,
To spare me this--but it could not be,
A tiny coffin came back to me--
Came back from my ship at sea.

With reckless hand I launched again,
A venture