Shine, fiery Crocus, through that dewy tear!
That thou, arrayed in burnished gold, may'st be
A morning star to hail the dawning year.

Now Winter hath ta'en Summer by the hand,
And kissed her on her cheek so fair and clear;
While Spring strews bridal blossoms o'er the land
To grace the marriage of the youthful year.

The blackbird sings upon the budding spray,
I hear the clarion tones of chanticleer,
And robins chirp about from break of day,--
All pipe their carols to the opening year.

The butterfly mounts up on jewelled wing,
Risen to new life from out her prison drear:
All Nature smileth;--every living thing
Breaks forth in praises of the gladsome year.

Down in the sheltered valley, Mayflowers blow,--
Their small, sweet, odorous cups in beauty peer
Forth from their mother's breast in softened glow,
To deck the vestments of the princely year.

And splendid flowers in richly-colored dress
Will bloom when warm winds from the south shall veer:
And clustering roses in their gorgeousness
Shall form a coronet for the regal year.

Rejoice, O beauteous Earth--O shining Sea!
Rejoice, calm Summer sky, and all things dear:
Give thanks, and let your joyful singing be
An anthem for the glories of the year.

THE GREAT AMERICAN CRISIS.

_PART ONE._

The American crisis, actual and impending; the causes which have led to
it through the years that have passed; the consequences which must flow
from it; the new responsibilities which it devolves on us as a people in
the practical sphere; the new theoretical problems which it forces upon
our consideration--everything, in fine, which concerns it, constitutes
it a subject of the most momentous importance. The greatest experiment
ever yet instituted to bring the progress of humanity to a higher plane
of development is being worked out on this continent and in this age;
and the war now progressing between the Northern and the Southern States
is, in a marked sense, the acme and critical ordeal to which that
experiment is brought.

First in order, in any methodical consideration of the subject, is the
question of the causes which have led to this open outburst of collision
and antagonism between the two great sections of a common country, whose
institutions have hitherto been--with one remarkable exception--so
similar as to be almost identical. Look at the subject as we will, the
fact reveal