LOVE AND DEATH.
'Mong far-away valleys and grand mountains old,That tower sublimely with summits so bold,There dwelt, in the times of the long, long ago,Bright beings who knew not of grief nor of woe.No tones of unkindness among them were heard;Their souls ne'er by strife nor by discord were stirred;Their brows wore no frowns like the clouds on the skies,The lightnings of anger ne'er flashed from their eyes. Oh, fair were those mountains and beautiful vales,And pure was the breath of the free mountain gales!The forests gleamed bright in the sun's laughing beams,The moonlight shone tenderly over their streams,And stars with a radiance gentle and brightO'er mountains and vales beamed with tremulous light.Those beings passed only from earth one by one,Their mission fulfilled and their life-work all done.So joyful their exit, their friends could not weep,And called it not death, but the beautiful sleep;While still the strong links of their sweet deathless loveTo pure ones on earth bound the pure ones above.
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