To shun the burden of the common ill,

Societies have multiplied at will ;

If to all these you add a thousand more,

You scarcely move the evil we deplore,

Still one society remains, to prove

The universal brotherhood of love !

O, thou sweet being ! brightest charm of life !
The loving sister, friend, maid, mother, wife,
And all in one word, Woman ! hear the call,
Which bids you rise and break the selfish thrall !
Man has forgone his trust ! man has denied
The God of love, and self is deified !
Rise, thou ! and in thy strong affection prove
The might of grace, the majesty of love !
Win back the souls from truth have gone astray,
Direct man's heart to heaven, and lead the way.
Why should not love be that which all men seek,
The common bond to bind the strong and weak ?
The only tie which can to man insure



22 LOVE.
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The good he needs, and make that good secure !
It must be plain, that truth is only one ;
Sole, self-existent, glowing like the sun !
There 's but one source of life and light — one God,
One faith, one church, one mutual bond of good.
Without that bond, life is but vainly given ;
And with it, earth becomes indeed a heaven !
He who has all the world's vast store supplies,
Yet wants this love, wants all below the skies.
He whose pure heart this bond celestial owns,
Has greater joys than are conferred by thrones.
