IN AN ATTIC.

Otago Witness, Issue 664, 20 August 1864, Page 11

IN AN ATTIC.

[From the Atlantic Monthly.]

This is my attic-room . Sit do wn, my friend ; My swallow's nest is high and hard to gain ; The stairs are long and steep, but at the end The re 3t t repnys the pain. For here are peace and freedom; room for speech Or silence, as may suit a changeful mood ;— Society's hard by-laws do not reach

This lofty altitude. You hapless dwellers in the lower room 9

Sue only bricks, and sand, and windowed walls; But here, above the dust and smoky glooms. Heaven's light unhindered falls. So early in the street tbe shadows creep, Your night begins while yet my eyes behold The purpling hills, the wide horizon's sweep, Flooded with sunset gold. The day comes earlier here. At morn I see

Along the roofe the eldest sunbeam peep, — I live in daylight, limitless and free, • While you are lost in sleep. I catch the rustle of the maple leaves, I see their breathing branches rise and fall, And hear, from their high perch along theeaves,

The bright-necked pigeons call,. Far from the parlours with their garrulous crowds

I dwell alone, with little need of words ; I have mute friendships with the stars and clouds,

And love-trysts with the birds. So all who walk steep ways, in grief and night, Where every step is full of toil and pain, May see, when they have gained the sharpest height, Tt has not been in vain : Since they have left behind the noise and heat— And, thongh their eyes drop tears, their sight is clear. The air is purer, aad the breeze is sweet, And the blue heavens more near..

" Willy," said an interesting young mother to her youngest hopeful, "do you know .what the difference is between body and soul ? The soul, my child, is what you love with ; the body carries you about. This is your body," touching the little fellow's shoulders : " but there is somethingdeeper in. You can feel it now. What is it?"— " Oh, I know," said Willie, with a fla3h of intelligence in his eyes, "that's my flannel shirt!"

At a recent temperance meeting in Scotland, a convert got up to speak : "My friends," said he, "three months ago I signed the pledge. (Cheers.) In a month afterward, my friends, I had a sovereign in my pocket, a thing I never had before. (Loud cheers.) In another month, my friends, I had a good coat on my back, a thing I . never had before. '(Cheers much louder.) A fortnight after that, my friends, I.bought a coffin, because I felt pretty certain that if I kept the pledge another fortnight I should want one." . (No chiera.)