The fondest ties will be broken; the brightest
hopes will fade; all its joys are transient; its interests meteoric, and
the fireside of cheerfulness will ere long become the scene of despondency.
Every swing of the pendulum of the clock tells that the time of its
probation is becoming shorter and shorter, and that its members are
approaching nearer and nearer the period of their separation.
"There is no union here of hearts,
That finds not here an end."
Alas! how soon this takes place! The joy of home would be perfect did not
the thought of a speedy separation intrude. No sooner than the voice of
childhood is changed, than separation begins to take place. Some separate
for another world; some are borne by the winds and waves to distant lands;
others enter the deep forests of the West, and are heard of no more;--
"Alas! the brother knows not now where fall the sister's tears!
One haply revels at the feast, while one may droop alone;
For broken is the household chain,--the bright fire quenched and gone!"
What melancholy feelings are awakened within at the sight of a deserted
home, in which loved ones once met and lived and loved; but from which they
have now wandered, each in the path pointed out by the guiding hand of
Providence. How beautifully does Mrs. Hemans portray this separation in the
following admirable lines!--
"They grew in beauty side by side,
They filled one home with glee;
Their graves are severed, far and wide,
By mount, and stream, and sea.
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