A CHILD'S FIRST IMPRESSION OF A STAR.

She had been told that God made all the stars

That twinkled up in heaven, and now she stood

Watching the coming of the twilight on,

As if it were a new and perfect world,

And this were its first eve. How beautiful

Must be the work of nature to a child

In its first fresh impression! Laura stood

By the low window, with the silken lash

Of her soft eye upraised, and her sweet mouth

Half parted with the new and strange delight

Of beauty that she could not comprehend,

And had not seen before. The purple folds

Of the low sunset clouds, and the blue sky

That look'd so still and delicate above,

Fill'd her young heart with gladness, and the eve

Stole on with its deep shadows, and she still

Stood looking at the west with that half smile,

As if a pleasant thought were at her heart.

Presently, in the edge of the last tint

Of sunset, where the blue was melted in

To the faint golden mellowness, a star

Stood suddenly. A laugh of wild delight

Burst from her lips, and putting up her hands,

Her simple thought broke forth expressively —

“Father! dear Father! God has made a star!”