There is a love by Nature fix'd,
Deep planted in the human heart;
It is a feeling pure-unmix'd-
That cannot from the breast depart.

It is the love the mother bears
To the sweet babe she lulls to rest -
The object of her tenderest cares -
The fondest thought that warms her breast.

There is a love, so fond, so true,
No art the magic tie can sever ;-
'Tis ever beauteous, ever new, -
Its chain, once link'd, is link'd for ever.

It is the first delightful thrill
That dawns within the maiden's heart,
That Time's cold wing can never chill,
Or force its silver tie apart.

There is a love, a passionate beam,
Too fond, too warm, too bright to last,-
The frenzy of a fever'd dream,
That burns a moment-then is past.

'Tis like the lightning's lurid glare,
That streams its blaze of fatal light
Flames for an instant thro' the air,-
Then sinks away in deepest night.

There is a love, whose feeling rolls
In pure unruffled calmness on,
The meeting of congenial souls,
Of hearts whose currents flow in one.

It is a blessing that is felt
But by united minds that flow,
As sun-beams into sun-beams melt,
To light a frozen world below.

There is a love, that o'er the war
Of jarring passions pours its light-
And sheds its influence, like the star
That brightest burns in darkest night.

It is a love but known to those
Who, hand in hand, amidst the strife,
Together have withstood their foes,
Together shared the storms of life.

It is so true, so fix'd, so strong,
It parts not with the parting breath ;
In the soul's flight 'tis borne along,
And holds the heart-strings, e'en in death.

'Tis never quench'd by sorrow's tide; -
No ! tis a flame caught from above,-
A tie that death cannot divide
'Tis the bright torch of wedded love.

But there is one love, not of earth,
Tho' sullied by the streaming tear;-
It is a star of heavenly birth,
And only shines unshaken there.

'Tis when this clay resigns its breath,
And the soul quits its frail abode,-
That, rising from the bed of death,
This love is pure-the love of God.