A. COMPARISON.
ON o'er the pastures, where the mountain flowers Starring the sward trim garden beds outshew !
On through sweet pine-woods, cross the torrents' flow; On o'er vast boulder mounds, while still the hours Make labour lightsome ! Far above thee towers, Unseen as yet, the peak : on o'er the snow !
Nor heedless tread its smoother plain, for lo, The blue abysses yawn, the avalanche lowers !
Scale yonder beetling cliffs, where now the sun Beata fiercely, hew sure steps in walls of ice ; What though with toil-worn limb and labouring breath, Hold bravely on until the height be won.
So runs life's tale: childhood, youth's paradise, Hard manhood, weary age, the goal of death. H. T. R.