r'd,
Could we have all we wish'd in our dear native land.

FOOTNOTES:

[22] Printed, for the first time, from the author's MS.

I WILL WAKE MY HARP WHEN THE SHADES OF EVEN.[23]

I will wake my harp when the shades of even
Are closing around the dying day,
When thoughts that wear the hues of Heaven
Are weaning my heart from the world away;
And my strain will tell of a land and home
Which my wand'ring steps have left behind,
Where the hearts that throb and the feet that roam
Are free as the breath of their mountain wind.

I will wake my harp when the star of Vesper
Hath open'd its eye on the peaceful earth,
When not a leaf is heard to whisper
That a dew-drop falls, or a breeze hath birth.
And you, dear friends of my youthful years,
Will oft be the theme of my lonely lay,
And a smile for the past will gild the tears
That tell how my heart is far away.

I will wake my harp when the moon is holding
Her star-tent court in the midnight sky,
When the spirits of love, their wings unfolding,
Bring down sweet dreams to each fond one's eye.
And well may I hail that blissful hour,
For my spirit will then, from its thrall set free,
Return to my own lov'd maiden's bower,
And gather each sigh that she breathes for me.

Thus, still when those pensive hours are bringing
The feelings and thoughts which no lips can tell,
I will charm each cloud from my soul by singing
Of all I have left and lov'd so well.
Oh! Fate may smile, and Sorrow may cease,
But the dearest hope we on earth can gain
Is to come, after long sad years, in peace,
And be join'd with the friends of our love, again.

FOOTNOTES:

[23] Printed for the first time.

THOMAS BRYDSON.

Thomas Brydson was born in Glasgow in 1806. On completing the usual
course of study at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, he became
a licentiate of the Established Church. He assisted in the Middle
Church, Greenock, and in the parish of Kilmalcolm, Renfrewshire, and
was, in 1839, ordained minister of Levern Chapel, near Paisley. In 1842,
he was translated to the full charge of Kilmalcolm, where he continued
to minister with much acceptance till his death, which took place
suddenly on the 28th January 1855.

A man of fine fancy and correct taste, Mr Brydson was, in early life,
much devoted t