A voice, as of command, through the deep air, I. "We are passing on to the heaving main, From the bitter curse and the bondsman's chain; From the taunts of the vile and the proud we go, To the land where rich honey and milk will flow; Where the smile of God on our homes will lie, Like the calm, pure light of a summer sky; in our hearts may dwell, We go, where peace We bid to the region of plagues farewell. II. "We haste from these borders, where now the wail Of desolate mothers is on the gale; The cries of the first-born in death we hear, Fainter they wax on the pitying ear; The yearning bosom, whose sighs are pour'd III. "We go, though the journey be long and sad, But our God hath spoken-we trust his word, IV. "He will guide us onward, whose mighty hand Scattered cloud and blight over Egypt's land; Whose glance unobstructed surveyed it round, When fire and hail smote the desert ground; When the locusts swept through the upper sky, And drave the light from their course on high; When they sank, like poison, to blast the spring, To destroy each tender and vernal thing. V. "He will bear us on! We shall rest at last, And, in peace, look back on our journey passed; Like dews of eve on the mountain's head; He will guard our feet from the scorpion's trail; VI. "We will praise his name, in that goodly land, Where tend the steps of this lengthened band; Where the pomegranate ripens, and strays the vine, Where the olive-leaves bloom in the bright sunshine; Where the voices of waters and waving trees PHILADELPHIA. THE CELEBRATION OF SPRING.* The following article is a translation from the German by Mr. Herman Bokum, Professor of the German language in the University of Pennsylvania. It is from a work singularly entitled "The Sound of the Bell." This work consists of the musings of a young clergyman, and is characterized throughout by the enthusiasm of the German writers. It is written in a style of high devotional fervour. We have been permitted to make use of one of the chapters, for which we return thanks to the translator.-ED. I FOUND it impossible to stay any longer at home. The vernal sun threw its rays upon my writing *The Celebration of Spring owes its formal existence, in a great degree, to the social relations of Germany; it is by no means a day that has been set apart for this purpose by eccle. siastical authority. It would be wrong, however, to imagine, that the silent institution of these festivals was occasioned solely by the social and communicative spirit of the people. Germany is favoured with a climate in which sudden changes are not very frequent; and in general the different seasons announce themselves in a very regular manner. Its inhabitants, therefore, feel more inclined to celebrate their return.— Trans. |