Carrier of news and knowledge,
Instrument of trade and industry,
Promoter of mutual acquaintance,
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Carrier of news and knowledge,
Instrument of trade and industry,
Promoter of mutual acquaintance,
Of peace and good-will
Among men and nations.

Line after line my gushing eye o'erflow,
Led thro' a said variety of woe:
Now warm in read more

Line after line my gushing eye o'erflow,
Led thro' a said variety of woe:
Now warm in love, now with'ring in my bloom,
Lost in a convent's solitary gloom!

The postman always rings twice.

The postman always rings twice.

Every day brings a ship,
Every ship brings a word;
Well for those who have no fear,
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Every day brings a ship,
Every ship brings a word;
Well for those who have no fear,
Looking seaward well assured
That the word the vessel brings
Is the word they wish to hear.

Messenger of sympathy and love,
Servant of parted friends,
Consoler of the lonely,
Bond read more

Messenger of sympathy and love,
Servant of parted friends,
Consoler of the lonely,
Bond of the scattered family,
Enlarger of the common life.

Soon as thy letters trembling I unclose,
That well-known name awakens all my woes.

Soon as thy letters trembling I unclose,
That well-known name awakens all my woes.

And oft the pangs of absence to remove
By letters, soft interpreters of love.

And oft the pangs of absence to remove
By letters, soft interpreters of love.

Ev'n so, with all submission, I
. . . .
Send you each year a homely letter,
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Ev'n so, with all submission, I
. . . .
Send you each year a homely letter,
Who may return me much a better.

Belshazzar had a letter,--
He never had but one;
Belshazzar's correspondence
Concluded and begun
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Belshazzar had a letter,--
He never had but one;
Belshazzar's correspondence
Concluded and begun
In that immortal copy
The conscience of us all
Can read without its glasses
On revelation's wall.