Poetry.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 563, 27 March 1858, Page 3

Poetry.

THE "T WO] ANGELS. A t>oem published in America, by. H. W. Longfellow' the exquisite pathos of; which is not lessened by the fact that it was inspired .by , the birth of a child to .the writer, and the. death of Mrs. Maria Lowell, the wife of auo-, ther American t poet, on, the same day, at Cambridge, U. S. Two angels, one of life and pne of, death, Passed o'er the village as the morning broke; The dawn .was on their faces, and beneath The sombre houses capped- with plumes of smoke. Their attitude and aspect were the same, Alike their features and their robes of white; And one was crowned with amaranth as with flame, And one with asphodels, like flakes of light. I saw them pause on, their celestial >way; Then said I, with, deep^fear and,d<)ubfc,pppres"Beat not so loud, my .heart, lest thou,betray jhe place where thy .beloved are at rest!" And he who wore the crown of, asphodels, Descending, at my,doo^began to knock; And my soul sank within me, as in wells The waters sink before an earthquake's shock. I recognised the nameless agony— The terror, and the tremor, and the painThat oft before had filled and haunted me, And now-returned T?ith three-fold strength again. The door I opened,to my heavenly guest, And listened, for I thought I heard God's voice; And, knowing whatsoe'er He sent -was best, Dared neither to lament nor to rejoice. Then, with a smile that filled the house with light— "My errand is not death, but life," he,said: ' And ere I answered, passing out of sight, On his celestial embassy he sped. 'Twas at thy door, O friend, and not at mine, The angel with the amaranthine wreath, [ Pausing descended; and, with voice divine, Whispered a word that had a sound .like death. Then fell upon the house a sudden gloom— A shadow on those features fair and thin; And softly^ from that hushed and darkened room Two angels issued, where but one went in. All is of God! If he but wave his hand The mists collect, the rains fall thick and loud, j Till, with a smile of light on sea and land, Lo! He looks back from the departing cloud. -,Angels of life and death alike are His; Without His leave they pass no threshold o'er: .Who then would wish or dare, believing this, ,<. Against His messenger to shut the door? i