STRAY WHIFFS.

Miscellanea, Ballads, and Songs.

MISCELLANEA.

A CATECHISM.

Quid est spes? Vana res.

Quid est fides? Quod non vides.

Quid est charitas ? Magna raritas.

WHAT is Hope?

A telescope,

Through which into futurity we pry,

And not what is, but what we wish for, spy; The lame man's staff-a trusty-looking crutch, That breaks beneath him on the lightest touch.

What is Faith?

What no man hath

The evidence of things unseen,

A witness hard to find on earth, I ween.

What is Charity?

A rarity,

More difficult to find

Than the other two combined.

What is Life?

A scene of strife

With an unconquerable foe,

Who, in the end, must lay us low;
A drama of uncertain tendency,

To some mere farce, to some deep tragedy;
An unsought boon, whose forced possessing
As often proves a burden as a blessing;

A gift some use, some hoard, some throw away,
And soldiers sell for thirteen pence a-day;

A lease of strange and arbitrary measure,
That's terminated at the granter's pleasure;

A talent, given each man to invest,

And answer for with interest.

What is Death?

A stoppage of the breath—

A sleep which thousands ev'ry day are taking,

But none yet ever told its waking;

A voy'ge, for which we've all our lifetime to equip,
And yet are never ready for our trip;

A shadowy curtain, that hangs between
The audience and the coming scene;

A thoughtful bride, who sends her carriage

To fetch her bridegroom to the marriage;
A blessing-a curse—

Black feathers and a hearse;

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust,

Is all we know, and take the rest on trust.

What is Sin ?

What we are born in