"At my side My cradled infant slumbers peacefully. 'Tis calm indeed! so calm, that it disturbs And vexes meditation, with its strange, And extreme silentness." Coleridge. MARGARET. MARGARET had arranged every thing after her frugal dinner was finished, and she sat down to her work at her cottage window. She had worked some time, when her little girl, who was then playing near her, asked her to walk out. "Wait a little while, my love," said Margaret; "wait till I have finished my work, and we will go." The little girl was shortly repaid for the patience with which she sat down near her mother, quietly waiting till she was ready. They were soon on the smooth sea shore. It was a clear, calm afternoon in October; the clouds, which had rendered the morning wet and gloomy, had passed away, and the sun shone brightly on the gently agitated waves, which bore every now and then to the sparkling pebbly shore (and left there frequently) their fringe of surf and sea weeds. They lingered long by the sea side, for Margaret thought there was a distant chance of her husband's boat returning earlier than usual. "My father will not come yet, mother," said her little girl, "if you are looking so for him."-" No, he will not, my dear," answered Margaret, who had stood, forgetful of every thing else, gazing on the sea, "we will go home." They returned, and Margaret sat again with her work by the open window, singing cheerfully to her child. At last, she found that her eyes became a little wearied, and the light was growing dim; on looking out of the window, she perceived that the sun was sinking into the western waves: no little snowy sail, however, appeared in the distance; she put her child to bed; she left the bed-room door partly open, and sang very softly; the smiling child soon fell asleep, hearing only, for a short time, her mother's sweet voice. Margaret ceased singing, for it became darker. The sun had quite set, and a long broken line of crimson light alone blended with the dark lead-coloured ocean; the same hue melted into the dusky sky. It grew darker and darkér: Margaret leant her whole head out of the window, and strained her sight, but she could now see nothing. Turning her head partly round, she listened, but even the |