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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe3e991 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67246 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67246) diff --git a/old/67246-0.txt b/old/67246-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d23bbd3..0000000 --- a/old/67246-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3349 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of In the Morning, by Willis Boyd Allen - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: In the Morning - -Author: Willis Boyd Allen - -Release Date: January 24, 2022 [eBook #67246] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Charlene Taylor, hekula03 and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE MORNING *** - - - - - -=TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE= - - - Footnotes have been placed at the end of their respective poem. - - - - -IN THE MORNING. - - - - - IN THE MORNING. - - BY - - WILLIS BOYD ALLEN. - - Den Abend lang währet das Weinen, - Aber des Morgens die Freude. - - LUTHER’S VERSION. - - Hear what the Morning says, and believe that. - - EMERSON. - - - NEW YORK: - - ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH AND CO. - 38 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET. - - 1890. - - - - - _Copyright, 1890_, - BY WILLIS BOYD ALLEN. - - - University Press: - JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE. - - - - -To my Mother. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - AT CHRYSTEMESSE-TYDE 9 - - - VITA NUOVA 11 - - NOT IN THE WHIRLWIND 15 - - DIAPASON 17 - - CHAMOUNIX 20 - - IN THE MORNING 22 - - MARIGOLD 25 - - “SEVENTEEN, EIGHTEEN, MAID’S A-WAITING!” 27 - - TO M----, ON HER BIRTHDAY 29 - - “YOURS TRULY” 30 - - A SERMON BY A LAY PREACHER 32 - - IN SOMNO VERITAS 36 - - THALATTA 38 - - UNKNOWN 39 - - MY CROSS 41 - - A VALENTINE 42 - - WHITE PINK 44 - - APRILLE 45 - - MAY 46 - - AUGUST 47 - - CARLO’S CHRISTMAS 48 - - THE SUN WAS RED AND LOW 50 - - TWO VISIONS 52 - - MY CREED 54 - - AGAIN? 55 - - PANSY 56 - - GOLDEN-ROD 57 - - TO MARGARET, ON ST. VALENTINE’S DAY 58 - - TO A VERY SMALL PINE 59 - - MOSSES 61 - - THE MOUNT OF THE HOLY CROSS 63 - - CHRISTMAS SNOW 64 - - THE “CREATION” 65 - - THE HAPPY VALLEY 67 - - DOLLIE’S SPRING 71 - - THE THIRD DAY 73 - - THE SEVENTH DAY 73 - - FERN LIFE 75 - - Its Home 75 - - At School 76 - - Asleep 76 - - A Cradle-Song of the Night Wind 77 - - The Chime 77 - - The Hymn of the Northern Pines 78 - - At Last 79 - - PAUSES AND CLAUSES 80 - - TO M----, WITH A COPY OF “THE PETERKIN PAPERS” 81 - - MEMORIAL POEM 83 - - DANDELION 90 - - MARJORIE 92 - - PRIMROSE 94 - - CONTENT 96 - - WITH A SMALL LETTER-OPENER 98 - - SEA-GIRLS 102 - - HOMEWARD 104 - - A NONSENSE-SONG FOR M---- 107 - - TRANSLATIONS 113 - - In the North-land 113 - - A Lovely Flower 113 - - Eagerly I cry 114 - - He who for the first Time 114 - - Little Maid 115 - - It was as if the Heavens 115 - - IN MORNING-LAND 117 - - SIC ITUR AD ASTRA 119 - - THE COMET, NOVEMBER, 1882 121 - - “HIS STAR” 122 - - “LICHT, MEHR LICHT!” 124 - - PSALM LXXX 126 - - UNTO THE PERFECT DAY 127 - - HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS EVE 128 - - BLIND 130 - - REFUGE 133 - - GUIDO RENI’S “ECCE HOMO” 135 - - ON CHRISTMAS EVE 136 - - BY NIGHT 139 - - “STAR OF BETHLEHEM” 141 - - “BLESSED” 143 - - A CHRISTMAS PASTORAL 146 - - THE FOURTH WATCH 148 - - “WITH YOU ALWAY” 151 - - DECEMBER 31 152 - - IN MY ARM-CHAIR 154 - - - - -_AT CHRYSTEMESSE-TYDE._ - - - _Two sorrie Thynges there be,-- - Ay, three: - A Neste from which ye Fledglings have been taken, - A Lamb forsaken, - A Petal from ye Wilde Rose rudely shaken._ - - _Of gladde Thynges there be more,-- - Ay, four: - A Larke above ye olde Neste blithely singing, - A Wilde Rose clinging - In safety to ye Rock, a Shepherde bringing - A Lamb, found, in his arms,--and Chrystemesse - Bells a-ringing._ - - - - - IN THE MORNING. - - - - - VITA NUOVA. - - - A desert, treeless, boundless, - The low sun round and red, - Air stifling, moveless, soundless-- - And I alone with my dead. - - Her head lay on my shoulder, - The crimson light ebbed fast; - Her face grew paler, colder-- - The face of my own dead Past. - - Then darkness, black and frightful, - Dropped from the eastern sky, - With never a star, but a night-full - Of horrors creeping by. - - I saw how fiercely glistened - Their mad eyes, two by two,-- - They screamed, and as I listened - They laughed like a demon crew. - - See how that huge hyena - Grows bolder than the rest-- - Slinks--snarls--in the arena, - For the corpse upon my breast! - - I laughed like the brutes around me, - I snarled on my stony bed, - I severed the ties that bound me - And gnashed upon the dead. - - The tawny-sided creatures, - Red claw and dripping fang, - The hideous, grinning features, - The awful mirth that rang,-- - All vanished. Starless, boundless, - The night stretched o’er my head. - In the gray dawn, soulless, soundless, - I sat alone with my dead. - - Then rustling forms drew nearer. - By the faint approaching day - The frightful things grew clearer,-- - Great, unclean birds of prey - And carrion beasts, that waited - Until, on the booty rare, - Their hunger foul should be sated - With my poor Past, lying there. - - Oh, I, too, sullen-hearted, - No word of anguish said; - Till bird and beast departed - I waited--dumb--by the dead. - - The white east flickered with fire, - A lark flew singing by, - The glad light mounted higher, - Up-spread o’er all the sky. - - My burden, fair and human, - Still rested on my hands, - When lo! a gracious Woman, - Swift walking o’er the sands, - Until she stood before me, - Breathed words of hope and cheer; - Her radiant eyes were o’er me, - Her presence warm and near, - - And at her voice--oh, wonder!-- - The dead herself awoke; - The birds no longer shunned her, - She smiled, and moved, and spoke, - Then, “FUTURE” named, to guide me - She softly sprang away; - The Woman stayed beside me-- - Sun rose--it was full day. - - - - -NOT IN THE WHIRLWIND. - - - A poet sat in his oaken chair, - The pen in his eager hand, - Awaiting the voice that should declare - His Lord’s divine command. - - The sad winds sobbed against the pane, - The tempest’s tramp he heard - As it scourged the night with a hissing rain-- - But the Poet wrote never a word. - - Then came a burst of martial mirth, - And mighty cannon roared - Till they shook the beams of the steadfast earth-- - ’Twas not the voice of the Lord. - - In the Poet’s heart a memory rose - Of love’s first passionate thrill - That, kindling, grows as the red fire glows-- - But the pen was idle, still; - - When lo, a timid voice at the door, - And a child, with sweet delight, - Called “Father!” and “Father!” over and o’er-- - The poem was written that night. - - - - -DIAPASON. - - - On the crags of a far-off mountain-top - At earliest dawn a snowflake fell; - The North Wind stooped and cried to her, “Stop! - There is room in my icy halls to dwell!” - The snowflake gleamed like a crystal clear, - Then wept herself to a single tear, - Paused, trembled, and slowly began to glide - Adown the slopes of the mountain-side. - - Desolate ledges, frost-riven and bare, - A tiny rivulet bore on their breast; - Cloud-gray mosses and lichens fair - Mutely besought her to slumber and rest. - The rivulet shone in the morning sun, - And touching them tenderly, one by one, - With dewy lips, like the mountain mist, - Each waiting face as she passed she kissed. - - Among the shadows of pine and fir - A stream danced merrily on her way; - A thrush from his hermitage sang to her: - “Why dost thou haste? Sweet messenger, stay!” - The noontide shadows were cool and deep, - The pathway stony, the hillside steep, - The bird still chanted with all his art-- - But the stream ran on, with his song in her heart. - - Through broadening meadow and corn-land bright, - Past smoke-palled city and flowery lea, - A river rolled on, in the fading light, - Majestic, serene, as she neared the sea. - The sins and uncleanness of many she bore - To the outstretched arms of the waiting shore, - Till moonlight followed the sunset glow - And her crimson waves were as white as snow. - - On the lonely ledges of Appledore - I listen again to the ocean’s song, - And lo! in its music I hear once more - The North Wind’s clarion, loud and long. - In that solemn refrain that never shall end - The murmurs of swaying fir-trees blend, - The brooklet’s merry ripple and rush, - The evening hymn of the hermit thrush, - The undertone of the mountain pine,-- - The deep sweet voice of a love divine. - - - - -CHAMOUNIX. - - - Within Thy holy temple have I strayed - E’en as a weary child, who from the heat - And noonday glare hath timid refuge sought - In some cathedral’s vast and shadowy aisle, - And trembling, awestruck, croucheth in his rags - Where high upreared a mighty pillar stands. - - Mine eyes I lift unto the hills, from whence - Cometh my help. The murmuring firs stretch forth - Their myriad tiny crosses o’er my head; - Deep rolls the organ peal of thunder down - The echoing vale, while clouds of incense float - Around the great white altar set on high. - - So lift my heart, O God, and purify - My thought, that when I walk once more - Amid the busy, anxious, struggling throng, - One cup of water from these springs of life, - One ray of sunlight from these golden days, - One jewel from the mountain’s spotless brow, - As tokens of Thy beauty, I may bear - To little ones who toil, and long for rest. - - - - -IN THE MORNING. - - - ’Twas morn, - And day was born. - Bright in the west the stars still burned, - But ever, as the great earth turned, - The eastern mountain-tops grew dark - Against the rosy heaven--and hark! - A single note from flute-toned thrush - Drops downward through the twilight hush; - Half praise, half prayer, I heard the song: - “Oh, sweet, sweet, - Oh, life is sweet, and joy is long!” - - The sun - Touched one by one - The firs along the distant crest,-- - A silent host, with lance at rest; - Flashed all the world with jewels rare, - Quivered with joy the maiden-hair - Beside the brook that downward sprang - And rippling o’er its mosses, sang - With silvery laugh the same glad song: - “Oh, sweet, sweet, - Oh, life is sweet, and joy is long!” - - When lo! - Swift, to and fro, - A sombre shadow crossed its path, - Deep thunders rolled in awful wrath, - The thrush beneath the fir-trees crept, - The maiden-hair bowed low and wept; - The heavens were black, the earth was gray - The hills all blanched in the spectral day,-- - The night-wind rose, and wailed this song: - “Oh, long, long, - Oh, joy is fleeting, life so long!” - - Behold, - A shaft of gold - Shot through the wrack of cloud and storm, - The heart of heaven beat quick and warm; - From bird and stream, with myriad tongue, - The glad day carolled, laughed, and sung. - ’Twas morning still! Her tear-drops bright - The maiden-hair raised to the light; - I heard, half prayer, half praise, the song: - “Oh, sweet, sweet, - Oh, life is sweet, and joy is long!” - - - - -MARIGOLD. - - - Marigold, marigold, wi’ thy wee cup o’ gold, - What is it mak’s thee sae bonnie an’ gay? - Sunshine has drappit, an’ filled up my cup o’ gold - Fu’ to the brim wi’ the licht o’ the day. - - Marigold, marigold, surely ye canna hold - A’ the sweet sunshine ’at draps frae the sky! - Nay, I’ve a muckle o’ licht ’at I winna hold, - Saved up for you an’ for ithers to try. - - Marigold, marigold, stan’in’ there a’ sae bold, - What’s in thy een, ’at mak’s ’em sae bright? - I keep ’em wide open, stan’in’ here a’ sae bold, - Luikin’ at heaven frae mornin’ to nicht. - - Marigold, marigold, bairnie wi’ cup o’ gold, - What’s i’ thy hert, ’at mak’s thee sae strang? - Trust i’ the One ’at gave me my cup o’ gold - Lattin’ Him love me, a’ the day lang. - - - - -“SEVENTEEN, EIGHTEEN, MAID’S A-WAITING!” - - - Eighteen years ago the sunshine - Laughed to find a baby face; - Laughed to see the blue eyes sober, - In that golden, glad October, - Softly kissed the wisps of hair, - Softly kissed, and lingered there, - Like an answer to a prayer, - Like a whispered benediction, - Token bright of heavenly grace. - - Standing on life’s sunlit threshold, - Gazing forth with eyes of blue - On the great round world before her, - On the kind skies brooding o’er her,-- - From the baby hair the light - Never has departed quite; - Still it lingers, pure and bright. - Yes, the little maid is waiting, - With a purpose grand and true; - - Waiting for whate’er the Father - Calls His child to do and bear; - Waiting, as a thirsty flower - Waits the morning dew and shower. - Summers come and summers go, - Sparrows flutter to and fro, - Autumn breezes murmur low; - “Seventeen, eighteen, Maidie’s waiting, - With the sunshine in her hair!” - - - - -TO M----, ON HER BIRTHDAY. - -WITH A CHESS-BOARD. - - - Your turn to move again, dear, - I’ the gude auld game ca’d Life; - It’s a warstle o’ joy an’ pain, dear, - A mixin’ o’ lauchter an’ strife. - - An’ I fain wad be yer knight, dear, - To serve ye the livelong day; - Ready in armor to fight, dear, - To live or to dee, as ye say. - - Near at han’ i’ the gloamin’ I’d bide, dear, - I’ saddle at gray o’ dawn-- - Na, na, I’m no worthy to ride, dear, - Lat me be the White Queen’s pawn! - - - - -“_YOURS TRULY._” - - - “Yours truly,” she signs the note; ah, me! - How little she dreams what that would be - To him who, trembling, reads the line,-- - What if, indeed, she were truly mine! - - What visions those two dear words can bring - To the lonely heart that is hungering - For a single touch of her dainty hand, - One swift, shy glance he could understand, - - And know that the formal greeting sent - But half concealed what the writer meant,-- - That she gave, throughout the eternities, - Her own sweet self, to be truly his! - - There, there!--that fire, how it smokes--what, tears? - I’ll answer her letter-- - - “Dear Friend, I’ve fears - Your kind invitation I can’t accept; still - I’ll come if it’s possible. - _Yours truly_, WILL.” - - - - -A SERMON BY A LAY PREACHER. - - - The morning of Sabbath; a city at rest, - But waking serenely and donning its best, - For the warm March sun already is high. - Above, the arch of a white-blue sky; - Brown earth, with a touch of green, below; - Elm-boughs, uptost with a lift superb; - The melting ice and grimy snow - Playing meadow from curb to curb, - With small mud-rills in place of brooks, - And a sewer for sea! - - Ah, hold, my friend, - I grant how childish-foolish it looks, - But perhaps they’ve faith for the very end,-- - For streams and sewers, greatest and least, - Find ocean at last, in the misty East. - - The good people all are off to the churches, - While I, left here in the idlest of lurches, - Must seek a preacher to preach me a sermon, - Ordained with open-air dews of Hermon; - A discourse conservative, grave, edifying, - And--come, sir, no laughing! I really am trying - To find, if I can, the road steep and narrow; - Ah, here he comes, flying, a straw in his bill! - I’ll beg him take pulpit; now hear, if you will, - A sermon preached by a sparrow. - - “My text”--hear the bird!--“I take - From the street,”--that’s better,--“and make - Application as follows: - Down there where my comrades are basking, - There’s food to be had for the asking,-- - Understand me,--no shirking, - Our _asking_ means _working_,-- - Each swallows - The meal that’s laid on his plate, - Content with enough. There’s my mate, - Her feathers a-fluff in the sun. - That brownest, prettiest one-- - Your pardon! I ought to be preaching. - This, sir, is the gist of my teaching: - We sparrows take things as they come, - From four A. M. until six, - We work (using straw without bricks); - We stop now and then for a crumb - Thrown down by a child; full of cheer, - We twitter throughout the whole year, - Investing in no loans of trouble - Where the borrower always pays double.” - - But your text was the Street, my good bird. - This sounds like the Bible!-- - “I’ve heard - That life was the same, sir, in each; - And, though you want me to preach, - You’ll find that men, fowls, and book, - If you look, - Are all connected together,-- - In short, are birds of a feather; - And from a genuine sermon - You’ll learn, sir,--this I’m firm on,-- - The same Hand guides and governs all - Which holds us sparrows when we fall.” - - No more. Before I could even remind him - Of lack of an adequate exhortation, - Proper pauses, and peroration, - He was off, his straw streaming far behind him. - - His advice--well, certainly not very new, - Yet perhaps worth trying, I think--don’t you? - - - - -IN SOMNO VERITAS. - - - I dreamed that I sat in my chamber - And watched the dancing light - Of the blaze upon my hearthstone, - And the red brands, glowing bright. - - I listened to the rustle - Of the flames that rose and fell, - And I dreamed I heard a whisper, - A voice I knew full well. - - The room no more was lonely, - A Presence sweet was there, - A girlish figure, standing, - Beside my own arm-chair. - - I dreamed I spoke, and trembling - Lest she should prove to be - The creature of a vision, - I bade her sit by me. - - Her grave brown eyes she lifted, - Her dear hand placed in mine,-- - The air was sweet with incense - Of odorous birch and pine,-- - - And as we watched together - Those eager, dancing flames, - We talked of days forgotten, - And spoke our childish names. - - I dreamed that heaven seemed nearer, - The skies a lovelier blue, - Then--was it still a vision?-- - I dreamed my dream came true! - - - - -THALATTA. - - - Far over the billows unresting forever - She flits, my white bird of the sea, - Now skyward, now earthward, storm-drifted, but never - A wing-beat nearer to me. - - With eye soft as death or the mist-wreaths above her - She timidly gazes below; - Oh, never had sea-bird a man for her lover, - And little recks she of his woe. - - One sweet, startled note of amazement she utters, - One white plume floats downward to me; - Far over the billows a snowy wing flutters-- - Night--darkness--alone with the sea. - - - - -UNKNOWN. - - - There’s a star a-light in the gloaming, - A gleam in the skies above; - There’s a flower at rest on her bosom,-- - On the heart of her I love. - - What says the star of the twilight? - What is the song of the flower? - A cloud has covered the star-beam; - The blossom lived but an hour. - - Nay, ’tis the infinite heaven, - The depth beyond, that speak; - ’Tis the heart that throbs ’neath the blossom, - Not the lip nor the fair white cheek. - - The voice of the heavens is tender, - Its whisper is fond and low; - But the voice of the heart that is throbbing-- - Its message I cannot know. - - - - -MY CROSS. - - - Only a tiny cross; - She plucked it from a mountain fir, - And wreathing it in soft, gray moss, - Gave it in memory of her,-- - Yet--’tis a cross! - - Only a soft, gray cross; - But, half-concealed, full many a thorn - Lay waiting there, beneath the moss, - To pierce the bosom where ’tis worn, - This wee, sweet cross. - - Only a thorny cross, - Unconscious of the pain it gives; - Lifeless the fir, faded the moss, - Yet, while the hand that plucked them lives, - It is my cross. - - - - -A VALENTINE. - - - If but the furry catkin small - Could speak with gentle voice - And bid the sad, Rejoice! - A pussy-willow should be all - My valentine. - - If but the golden daffodil, - With many a cheerful word, - Could tell what it hath heard - By meadow, wood, or murmuring rill, - It should be mine. - - If but the valley-lilies pure - Could whisper in thine ear - A message thou wouldst hear, - Of One whose promises are sure, - Whose love divine, - - Such flowers my valentine should be. - Yet sought I none of those,-- - Only one crimson rose - To bear its Maker’s heart to thee,-- - Lo, it is thine! - - - - -WHITE PINK. - - - The maiden left a timid kiss - Upon the mossy stone; - Her lover true, the maiden knew, - Would seek and find his own. - - The lover never came again, - Nor guessed the woe he wrought; - Day after day neglected lay - The maiden’s kiss, unsought. - - At length, upspringing from the moss - Through kindly sun and shower, - Its petals fair unfolded there - This gentle, snow-white flower. - - - - -APRILLE. - - - Aprille, alacke! - With sunnie laugh her snow-white cloke flung backe, - And gailie cast aside; - Then cryed, - With little wilfulle gustes of raine, - Because she could not have her cloke againe. - - - - -MAY. - - - Over the hilltop and down in the meadow-grass - Heaven like dew on the waking earth lies: - Part of it, dear, is the blue of these violets; - Best of it all I find in your eyes. - - - - -AUGUST. - - - August, the month of virgins, is at hand. - Shrill-voiced, the locust pipes a-field; - With flash of burnished shield - Hovers the dragon-fly athwart the stream; - Like sea-bird slumbering in mid-day dream - Floats one white cloud above the drowsy land. - August, the month of virgins, is at hand. - - Silent upon the shore sits Dorothy,-- - Scarce heeds the softly murmurous tide, - Fair sky, nor aught beside; - Gazing afar, half troubled, half content, - Awaits with folded hands a message sent - Across the gleaming, restless, longing sea,-- - Silent upon the shore sits Dorothy. - - - - -CARLO’S CHRISTMAS. - - - May I come to your side, dear Mistress? - I am only a dog, you see, - And the Christmas joy and gladness - Perhaps are not meant for me. - - Yet I think the Master would let me, - If I only begged to eat - The crumbs that fell from His table, - And to lie at His blessèd feet. - - I have heard the wonderful story - Of the sleeping flocks by night, - Of Bethlehem and the angels - And the one Star, shining bright; - - And I’ve longed, when I heard the story, - A shepherd-dog to be, - For then it might seem that Christmas - Was partly meant for me. - - But I only look up at the Master - With a life that is veiled and dumb, - Content to share with the sparrow - His love, and the falling crumb. - - May I lie at your feet, dear Mistress? - I am only a dog, you see, - But if I may serve you and love you, - Why, that is Christmas for me! - - - - -THE SUN WAS RED AND LOW. - - - In her palace porch a Princess-- - The sun was red and low-- - At her feet a subject kneeling-- - Sweet, far-off bells were pealing-- - He rose and turned to go. - “I give you my love!” quoth the Princess - To the subject, bending low. - - Ah, Goldenhair, what hast thou given!-- - The sun is round and red-- - As thou standest there in the portal, - A Princess’ love, to a mortal!-- - The bells toll for the dead-- - A kiss from the lips of the Princess, - But never a word she said. - - Still radiant stood the Princess-- - The bells no longer tolled-- - At her feet the subject kneeling-- - The far-off chimes were pealing - Their sweet notes as of old-- - “I give you my love!” quoth the Princess; - And the sun was a crown of gold. - - - - -TWO VISIONS. - - - A vision of Morn,--the dew’s on the grass, - The ocean’s aflame, and a sweet fisher-lass - On its bosom’s unrest is afloat; - The sunlight is fair on her shy, upturned face, - As she dips the bright oars with the daintiest grace, - And the prow of her snowy-white boat - Its way urges softly through each foaming crest, - Like sea-bird, wings fluttering, closing to rest; - In her eyes shines the light of the glad day, new-born,-- - The pure, gentle Spirit of Morn. - - A Vision of Night,--the silvery stars - Alight in the East, ere its golden bars - Have imprisoned the slumberous sun; - The sea hoarsely breathing, the wind all astir, - The sparrow crouched low in the boughs of the fir, - But she, the Beautiful One, - Is awake, oh, awake, with her glorious eyes - Star-lighted and deep as the shadowy skies, - O’er the mist of her draperies, fleecy and white, - The radiant Spirit of Night. - - - - -MY CREED. - - - What is my creed, you ask, dear? - I look in your grave brown eyes - And believe--in your womanly sweetness, - Your purity, clear as the skies. - - I’ve faith--in your true, brave heart, dear, - Your life, with its joys and tears; - And far beyond storm-mist and sunshine, - Beyond weary days and long years, - - I hope--in a Love that is waiting - With infinite tenderness there - To comfort us both, you and me, dear, - For the burden He gives us to bear. - - - - -AGAIN? - - - Side by side, from their misty home, - Fell two bright drops of rain; - The storm-wind hurled them far apart, - Never to meet again. - - Hand in hand stood two dear friends, - Hearts wrung with sudden pain; - The storm-wind hurled them far apart,-- - Never to meet again? - - - - -PANSY. - - - Little flower with golden heart, - Strange, sweet mystery thou art. - Who can tell the thoughts that lie - In the depths of thy dark eye! - Dost thou dream of other lands, - Waving palm-groves, burning sands, - Days of languor, twilights tender, - Glorious nights of Orient splendor? - Shy, sweet type of lovers’ bliss, - Art thou an immortal kiss - By some fair sultana breathed, - To all faithful love bequeathed - By the tiny-sandalled bride, - Velvet-lipped, and starry-eyed? - - - - -GOLDEN-ROD. - - - O’er the dusty roadside bending - With its wondrous weight of gold, - Can it be the rod enchanted - Midas used in days of old? - - Hush! perchance it is a princess - In the sunlight nodding there, - Spell-bound by the wicked fairy,-- - Sleepy little Golden-Hair! - - Nay, it is Belshazzar’s banquet, - Where the drowsy monarch sups - With his swarm of courtiers, drinking - From the sacred, golden cups. - - See, I pluck his tiny kingdom-- - Long ago it was decreed-- - And divide it, dear, between us, - You the Persian, I the Mede. - - - - -TO MARGARET, ON ST. VALENTINE’S DAY. - -WITH A ROSE. - - - Margaret, pearl of dainty pearls, - Fairest of dimpled daisies, - My rose its velvet sail unfurls - To bear thee love and praises. - It drifts from port, no longer mine-- - Bring back, wee boat, my Valentine! - - - - -TO A VERY SMALL PINE. - - - What song is in thy heart, - Thou puny tree? - Weak pinelet that thou art,-- - Trembling at every shock, - Thy feebleness doth mock - Thy high degree. - - When rage o’er sea and land - The tempests wild, - How canst thou e’er withstand - Their might, or baffle them - With that frail, quivering stem, - Poor forest child? - - Nay, wherefore scoff at thy - Dimensions small? - For, folded close, I spy - A tiny bud, scarce seen - Within its cradle green; - And after all, - - In ages yet to come - Thy stately form, - No longer dwarfed and dumb, - But chanting to the breeze - Sublime, sweet melodies, - Shall breast the storm! - - Beneath thine outstretched arms - Shall children rest; - While, safe from all alarms, - Within thy shadows deep - Wild birds their tryst shall keep - And weave their nest. - - May such a lot be his - Who tends thee now! - With heavenly harmonies - Serene amid his foes, - Outstretching as he grows - In root and bough. - - - - -MOSSES. - - - Children of lowly birth, - Pitifully weak; - Humblest creatures of the wood, - To your peaceful brotherhood - Sweet the promise that was given - Like the dew from heaven: - “Blessed are the meek, - They shall inherit the earth.” - - Thus are the words fulfilled: - Over all the earth - Mosses find a home secure. - On the desolate mountain crest, - Avalanche-ploughed and tempest-tilled, - The quiet mosses rest; - On shadowy banks of streamlets pure, - Kissed by the cataract’s shifting spray, - For the bird’s small foot a soft highway; - For the weary and sore distressed - In hopeless quest - Of a fabulous golden fleece, - Little sermons of peace. - Blessed children of lowly birth-- - Thus they inherit the earth. - - - - -THE MOUNT OF THE HOLY CROSS. - - - Down the rocky slopes and passes - Of the everlasting hills - Murmur low the crystal waters - Of a thousand tiny rills; - - Bearing from a lofty glacier - To the valley, far below, - Health and strength for every creature,-- - ’Tis for them “He giveth snow.” - - On thy streamlet’s brink the wild deer - Prints with timid foot the moss; - To thy side the sparrow nestles,-- - Mountain of the Holy Cross! - - Pure and white amid the heavens - God hath set His glorious sign: - Symbol of a world’s deliverance, - Promise of a life divine. - - - - -CHRISTMAS SNOW. - - - What so merry as snow? - Gleefully robing the grave old town - In garb fantastic of ermine and down; - Whispering at the window pane, - Then spreading its wee, white wings again - Till, alighting at last with noiseless feet, - On tiptoe in the muffled street - It dances to and fro. - - What so pure as snow? - Flakes like the thoughts of a little child, - Undefiling and undefiled; - Wonderful, starry mysteries - Falling softly out of the skies, - Decking with white the bare, brown earth - In memory of the holy birth - At Bethlehem, long ago. - - - - -THE “CREATION.” - - - Winter is past. The changing, softened sky, - The robin’s cheery note, the sea-bird’s cry, - The willow pussies peeping from their nest; - The modest sparrow, with his dappled breast, - Flitting beneath the lilacs by the wall; - The budding tree, the tender grass, with all - Its tiny hands uplifted to the sun, - Who reaches down and clasps them, one by one; - The mayflower sleeping on her snowy bed, - And while the night winds murmur, “She is dead!” - Her shy sweet eyes unclosing joyfully - As if she heard the “Talitha, cumi!” - The stream, escaping from the winter’s wrath, - And leaping swiftly down its rocky path, - Or pausing in some shadowy, foam-flecked pool, - Among the nodding ferns and mosses cool; - The floating clouds, the fragrant earth, the sea, - With its low whispers of eternity,-- - All join in one grand harmony of praise - To Him, Creator, Lord, Ancient of Days. - - - - -THE HAPPY VALLEY. - - - Far away there sleeps a valley, - Cradled by the mighty hills, - Lulled to rest by sweetest music,-- - Whispering winds and laughing rills. - - Naught it knows of stormy passion, - Pestilence, or war’s alarms; - O’er it graze the peaceful cloud-flocks, - And the everlasting arms - - Of the mountains, underneath it, - Fold it closely to their breast, - While at nightfall, on its bosom, - Golden moonbeams softly rest. - - * * * * * - - Seasons come and seasons go,-- - Summer heats and winter’s snow, - Spring’s surprises, autumn’s peace, - Indian-summer’s golden fleece, - Purple-bordered, crimson-clasped, - By a hand already grasped - That hath costlier treasures brought - Than the wandering Argonaut. - - * * * * * - - A solemn hush is in the air. - Happy voices die away; - Dark-robed fir-trees murmur, Pray!-- - Pray for Summer, young and fair. - Crosses wave, - Souls to save, - Chant a requiem o’er her grave. - - Dead! the weeping autumn wind - Shrouded her in fallen leaves; - Dead! amid her golden sheaves,-- - Pray--ye that are left behind! - Crosses wave, - Souls to save, - Chant a requiem o’er her grave. - - Pray ye, pray! for Summer lies - Dead, upon the icy ground; - Heap for her a snow-white mound, - While the winter wind replies: - Crosses wave, - Souls to save, - Chant a requiem o’er her grave. - - * * * * * - - Sweetly, through the low, sad murmur - Of the fir-trees’ requiem, - Flows a song of hope and gladness, - Strong, triumphant over them. - - Summer is not dead, but sleepeth! - Soon the maiden shall arise, - And the world again be gladdened - With the sunshine of her eyes. - - Then the valley, too, shall waken - From the pale trance of her night; - Breezes soft shall kiss her forehead, - Radiant in the morning light. - - Years may come and go, but ever - Shall the valley rest among - Mountain mists and golden moonbeams; - While the hills, with myriad tongue, - - Lullabys shall croon above it, - Streamlets laugh, and harebells chime, - Fir-trees murmur, cloud-lambs wander, - Storms chant harmonies sublime. - - And for those who love the valley - Peace and rest are waiting there, - With the seasons onward moving, - Each more gladsome, each more fair. - - - - -DOLLIE’S SPRING. - - - Deep within a mountain forest - Breezes soft are whispering - Through the dark-robed firs and hemlocks, - Over Dollie’s Spring. - - Swiftly glides the tiny streamlet, - While its laughing waters sing - Sweetest song in all the woodland, - “I--am--Dollie’s--Spring!” - - In the dim wood’s noontide shadow - Nod the ferns, and glistening - With a thousand diamond dew-drops, - Bend o’er Dollie’s Spring. - - Shyly on its mossy border - Blue-eyed Dollie, lingering, - Views the sweet face in the crystal - Depths of Dollie’s Spring. - - Years shall come and go, and surely - To the little maiden bring - Trials sore and joys uncounted, - While, by Dollie’s Spring, - - Still the firs shall lift their crosses - Heavenward, softly murmuring - Prayers for her, where’er she wander,-- - Far from Dollie’s Spring. - - - - -THE THIRD DAY. - -LINES SENT WITH A FOSSIL FROND. - - - Many thousand years ago - God looked down and bade me grow; - Why it was, I never knew-- - Now I see it was for you! - - - - -THE SEVENTH DAY. - -SENT WITH A CLUSTER OF MAIDEN-HAIR FERNS. - - - Doubtless you are much surprised - That we are not fossilized, - Geologic, or antique,-- - Only little ferns and meek. - Yet we grew at His command, - Touched by that same loving Hand - Which the day from night divided, - Planets on their courses guided, - Set on high the firmament, - Alps from Alps asunder rent, - All the earth with life invested; - And He made us while He--“_rested_.” - - - - -FERN LIFE. - - -I. ITS HOME. - - Within a shadowy ravine - Far hidden from the sun, - A fern its wee, soft fronds of green - Unfolded, one by one. - - From morn till eve no twittering flock - Nor insect hovered nigh: - Its cradle was the lichened rock, - The storm its lullaby. - - By night above the dark abyss - The stars their vigils kept, - And white-winged mists stooped low to kiss - The baby, while it slept. - - -II. AT SCHOOL. - - Weeks passed away; the tiny fern - Frond after frond unfurled, - And waited patiently to learn - Its mission in the world. - - By fir-trees draped in mosses gray - The willing fern was taught, - And once each day a single ray - Its sunny greeting brought. - - -III. ASLEEP. - - Her cradle songs the North Wind sung - And whispered far and wide, - Until a thousand harebells swung - Along the mountain side. - - She sung of far-off twilight land, - Moss-muffled forests dim, - And, to her mountain organ grand, - The aged pine-trees’ hymn. - - -IV. A CRADLE-SONG OF THE NIGHT WIND. - - The pines have gathered upon the hill - To watch for the old-new moon; - I hear their murmuring--“Hush, be still! - ’Tis coming--coming soon!” - - The brown thrush sings to his meek brown wife - Who broods below on her nest: - “Of all the world and of all my life - ’Tis you I love the best!” - - But the baby moon is wide awake, - And its eyes are shining bright; - The pines in their arms this moon must take - And rock him to sleep to-night. - - -V. THE CHIME. - - Softly swinging to and fro, - Harebells tinkle, sweet and low! - All the world is fast asleep, - Birds and folks and woolly sheep; - Far above us towers the mountain; - Far below, an unseen fountain - From its rocky cradle deep, - Like a child, laughs in its sleep. - All our faces shyly hidden, - As the fir-trees oft have bidden, - Softly bending, sweet notes blending, - Moonbeams climbing, - Wee bells chiming, - Harebells tinkle, star-gleams twinkle, - To and fro, - To and fro, - Sweet--sweet and low. - - -VI. THE HYMN OF THE NORTHERN PINES. - - Sure--sure--sure-- - Are the promises He hath spoken, - His word hath never been broken. - Pure--pure--pure-- - Are the thoughts and the hearts of His chosen, - As crystals the North Wind hath frozen. - Strong--strong--strong-- - Underneath are the arms everlasting; - On them our cares we are casting. - Long--long--long-- - Have we sung of the life He doth give us-- - His mercy and love shall outlive us. - - -VII. AT LAST. - - Far from its mountain home the fern - Has found a resting-place; - A maiden has begun to learn - To love its winsome face. - - But when at night the north winds smite - Against the frosty pane, - The fern is listening with delight - To hear their voice again. - - For in their solemn murmuring - The pine-trees chant once more, - The harebells chime, the thrushes sing, - The mountain torrents roar; - - Again the dark-robed fir-trees stand - About its mossy bed, - And hold aloft with trembling hand - Their crosses o’er its head. - - - - -PAUSES AND CLAUSES. - -TO MY LITTLE NIECE, KITTIE. - -[With a Maltese Kitten.] - - - Kittie Mabel, will you take - This gift, for the giver’s sake? - Verse and song and roundelay - Will be yours this merry day; - Mine are all unfit to send, - Tattered rhymes, too poor to mend. - - But, although I haven’t any - Songs, my thoughts are swift and many. - All are flying straight to you, - And your heart, so sweet and true, - I am sure, dear, won’t decline - This small, furry Valentine. - - - - -TO M----, WITH A COPY OF “THE PETERKIN PAPERS.” - - - A Boston girl prefers a set of volumes that are uniform, - In Syriac, Chaldaic, Sanskrit, Arabic, or Cuneiform, - For these will test her paleontological ability, - And not insult her culture by superfluous facility. - She loves a scientific pedant, or, to use a synonyme, - A specimen, with printed name and label fair to pin on him. - Alas! I fear she will despise a book without a mystery, - That never once alludes to Art, or Mediæval History; - But as she is compelled each day to recognize and meet her kin, - I trust she will accept at least this tale of Mrs. Peterkin. - - - - -MEMORIAL POEM. - -READ AT THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL ASSOCIATION, -APRIL 29, 1886. - - - A Latin-School poem? ’Twere easy to write - On a theme so suggestive an epic at sight, - An ode, full of fire, or, if that wouldn’t do, - An Eclogue, or even a Georgic or two, - With allusions to classical roots, and Greek ponies - Hard ridden and worn--I confess that my own is. - A poet could scarce fail of making a hit, - Inspired by the presence of beauty and wit! - - Alas, for the days of our ancestors bold, - When the wassail was drunk, brave stories were told, - While the mirth of the feasters grew louder and higher, - And the bard struck the quivering chords of the lyre, - Without an apology, blush, or evasion, - Or stammering reference to--“this occasion,” - As raising his voice o’er the tumult and din, - He recounted in song all the fights they’d been in. - - Let bygones be bygones, the past be the past; - We live in the world of to-day, and at last - Society calls for less noise, more decorum, - Remarks less akin to the street than the forum; - Nay, mounting in civilization still higher, - The bard soon must go--perhaps even the lyre! - And if things should be ever at sixes and sevens, - There lies an appeal to his Honor Judge Devens.[1] - - And what, do you ask, is this tirade about? - Why not, as in Hunting the Snark, “leave that out”? - Ah, can I forget why we schoolmates are here? - How often we laugh when we’d fain hide a tear! - The ripples are bright on the waves of mid-ocean; - Eyes dance and smiles play over depths of emotion; - Oh, dear Alma Mater, be patient to-night, - Our hearts, misconstrued, thou canst translate aright! - - How memory pictures bright scenes to us all!-- - The old, shaky building, the school-room, the hall, - The way the grim doctor read Greek verbs and Latin, - The desk where he wrote and the chair that he sat in, - His upraised forefingers and forehead portentous, - The terror we felt when we found that he meant us; - Eyes gleaming below that great frontlet of hair,-- - Ah, could we have known of what really was there, - And fathomed that grand heart, so gentle and true, - Beneath the stern front that bent o’er me and you! - - Those lessons--how useless and tiresome they seemed, - While we “mulled” over Cæsar, drew pictures, and dreamed; - How Xenophon’s mighty Anabasis came - To cloud our young lives, till we hated his name, - The characters playing strange pranks on the pages, - While still we droned on, “He--advanced--thirteen--stages.” - We wished the Ten Thousand had all broken loose - Before they began on their endless σταθμοῦς; - We preferred that they wouldn’t get on quite so fast; - We wished that their leader had not ἀναβάσ-ed; - But Xenophon brought them all safe to the sea, - He got out of the woods, and, at last, so did we. - - Did you march on the Common? How proud were we then - To be reckoned in newspapers “two hundred men”! - How the uniforms shone as we wheeled o’er the grass-- - No koh-i-noor gleams like those buttons of brass! - Our scabbards and sashes were artfully dangled, - And if they at times in our ankles got tangled, - The terror to others was full compensation - For dangers attending our perambulation. - - Was it fun? There are those within reach of my words - Who remember when ploughshares were cleft into swords; - When hushed was the voice of youth’s laughter and mirth, - As the flag, broken-winged, fluttered, bleeding, to earth. - Are there men who will cherish their country’s last breath? - Are there three hundred thousand who love--to the death? - Hark!--the answering cry to that agonized call-- - And the Latin-School boys are the foremost of all! - - We have proved we’ve a banner, a country, a God, - By thousands of arguments--under the sod! - Who knows if the dear boys who fell in the fight - May not hold their reunion, as we do, to-night? - From the morning-land fair, and a rest never ending, - Their voices, well-loved, with our own still are blending; - Hark!--can we not hear the sweet echoes to-day, - As from camp grounds afar comes the soft reveillé? - - Oh, soldiers, still serving in ranks like their own, - But a little more quiet, more dignified, grown, - Still fighting from morning till set of the sun, - Each day new defeats or fresh victories won, - Pressing onward, undaunted still, shoulder to shoulder, - With our hearts growing young as our muskets grow older, - Let us take for our motto, emblazoned in light, - That stern old command of _Forward--Guide Right!_ - - - FOOTNOTE: - - [1] Presiding at the Dinner. - - - - -DANDELION. - - - A dandelion in a meadow grew - Among the waving grass and cowslips yellow; - Dining on sunshine, breakfasting on dew, - He was a right contented little fellow. - - Each morn his golden head he lifted straight, - To catch the first sweet breath of coming day; - Each evening closed his sleepy eyes, to wait - Until the long, cool night had passed away. - - One afternoon, in sad, unquiet mood, - I paused beside this tiny, bright-faced flower, - And begged that he would tell me, if he could, - The secret of his joy through sun and shower. - - He looked at me with open eyes, and said: - “I know the sun is somewhere shining clear, - And when I cannot see him overhead, - I try to be a little sun, right here!” - - - - -MARJORIE. - - - “Oh, dear,” said Farmer Brown, one day, - “I never saw such weather! - The rain will spoil my meadow hay - And all my crops together.” - His little daughter climbed his knee; - “I guess the sun will shine,” said she. - - “But if the sun,” said Farmer Brown, - “Should bring a dry September, - With vines and stalks all wilted down, - And fields scorched to an ember--” - “Why, then, ’twill rain,” said Marjorie, - The little girl upon his knee. - - “Ah, me!” sighed Farmer Brown, that fall, - “Now, what’s the use of living? - No plan of mine succeeds at all--” - “Why, next month comes Thanksgiving! - And then, of course,” said Marjorie, - “We’re all as happy as can be.” - - “Well, what should I be thankful for?” - Asked Farmer Brown. “My trouble - This summer has grown more and more, - My losses have been double, - I’ve nothing left--” “Why, you’ve got me!” - Said Marjorie, upon his knee. - - - - -PRIMROSE. - - - In the meadow, cool and sweet, - Where the cowslips bathe their feet, - On the banks of Scottish burns, - Down among the nodding ferns, - Where the shadows come and go, - Cheerful Primrose loves to grow. - - Little flower she is, and meek; - And if she could only speak, - I am sure her words would be - Whispered very timidly. - Skylark, hush your joyous singing, - Bonnie harebells, cease your ringing, - Listen, listen, drowsy bee,-- - Is the Primrose calling thee? - - Tiny rootlets white and brown, - Leaves as soft as cygnet’s down, - Fringèd petals, dainty pink, - Peeping o’er the burnie’s brink,-- - That is Primrose, sweet and true, - And I love her--do not you? - - - - -CONTENT. - - - “Little Herb Robert, what makes you so pink? - The daisy is taller and whiter.” - “The sun came along, and, what do you think? - It kissed me, and so I grew brighter.” - - “Grasshopper, why are you merry to-day?” - “I always am glad, if you please, sir, - Because I can hop on the clover and hay, - Nor have to fly up in the trees, sir.” - - “Sea-weed, poor creature! you’re left high and dry, - The tide has gone out; you are dying!” - “Ah, no, I am sure ’twill come back by and by. - I shall live, never fear; I’ll keep trying.” - - “Song-sparrow, how can you sing all the day?” - “Sweet food to my young I am bringing, - And when I am working for them, in this way, - Of course I can never help singing.” - - “Child, leave the hot, dusty roadside, and come.” - “I’d go, for I know that you love me; - But, please, I’d rather stay here, near my home, - For Papa’s in there, just above me.” - - - - -WITH A SMALL LETTER-OPENER. - -TO W. B. W. - - - Once more ’tis the night before Christmas; once more - The Christ-child is entering each open door; - The holly-bough glistens, the earth is all white, - In the jubilant heavens the Star is a-light. - May I sit by your hearthstone once more, as of old? - My story--a brief one--shall quickly be told. - - * * * * * - - We bring you no Sèvres nor Japanese Kaga, - But only an innocent kind of a dagger. - (Allow me a few editorial “we’s,” - The plural is handy in rhymes such as these.) - The blade is no marvel, ’tis not Muramasa-- - (“What’s that?” No one knows. Ask your daughter, from Vassar.) - Nay, we must admit, if perchance you should ask us, - ’Twas forged in the States, and not at Damascus. - Too slim for a trinket, too large for a charm, - Too small for a weapon, too dull to do harm; - Too blunt for a bodkin, of life to deplete us, - ’Twould not even serve for Hamlet’s _quietus._ - Cur igitur tibi gladiolum dabo-- - Quemadmodum hoc explicare parabo? - Sie können nicht ganz die Verwerrung verstehen, - Ich will zum Puncte deswegen nun gehen. - Ce poignard petit est une clef de mon cœur, - Que je donne quelquefois à mon ami, ma sœur, - A celui, enfin, qui reçoit, dans mes lettres, - Les mots le plus tendres que je puis y mettre. - κἀγὼ πρὸς ὑμᾶς τὴν κλεῖδα λαβεῖν - ἐθέλειν ἐλπίζω καί με νῦν φιλεῖν. - (If once on a jingle like this voi entrate, - You must finish, or--ogni speranza lasciate!) - I wish I knew Indian, but somehow nobody - Seems ever to learn more than “Passamaquoddy,” - Or “Mooselucmaguntic,” “Welokennebacook,” - “Oquossuc,” “Musketequid,” and “Quantibacook.” - To compose in that language you will not deny - Is difficult. If you don’t think so--just try. - - * * * * * - - ’Tis nonsense, dear friend, but I feel sure that you - Good-naturedly smile, and yet see ’tis true. - Unconscious as Lady Macbeth in her walking, - We give in our letters more _self_ than in talking. - Perhaps when our Father looks lovingly down - On our wandering footsteps in country and town, - Our burdens, our hindrances all, He can see, - And read in His wisdom more surely than we. - Far more than when kneeling by altar or crypt, - Our deeds make the record, in broad, cursive script. - Thank God that the Reader and Father are one, - That the poor, blotted copy-book, hardly begun, - Is read by Him only who wrote on the sand, - And the torn covers folded at last by His hand. - Hark! Christmas bells ring for the birth of the Son-- - Good-night! May He help us and bless us each one. - - - - -SEA-GIRLS. - - - A flutter of white - On Appledore’s shoulder,-- - The prettiest sight! - A flutter of white, - One by one they a-light - On the dark, jutting bowlder; - A flutter of white - On Appledore’s shoulder. - - Six girls in a flock - Where the white sea is breaking - Against the gray rock. - Six girls in a flock-- - Their gay voices mock - The din it is making; - Six girls in a flock - Where the white sea is breaking. - - Each flutters and clings - To the torn granite edges,-- - The merriest things! - Each flutters and clings. - Have they feathers and wings, - As they perch on the ledges? - Each flutters and clings - To the torn granite edges. - - - - -HOMEWARD. - -A TWILIGHT SONG OF THE WHEEL. - - - Away from the office and desk at last, - The business-haunted room, - The roar of a city, hurrying past, - The heat, the worry, the gloom, - To the glorious red of the sunset sky, - The sweet, cold wine of the air, - On the frozen road, my wheel and I, - A dusty, rusty pair! - - Push--Push-- - Two birds in a bush - Are laughing to see me hop; - On, with a bound - From the frozen ground, - With never a sway nor stop. - Over and over the pedals fly-- - “Come on!” to the twittering bird I cry, - As over and over the wheels fly past her; - Over and over, still faster and faster, - On through the ice-cold stream of air, - On where the road is frozen and bare. - - Roll--Roll--Roll--Roll-- - Silent and swift as a death-freed soul. - Glide--Glide-- - On the smooth, black tide - Of the ocean of night flowing in from the West, - Over and over, and on without rest, - Swifter and swifter, till over the crest - Of the hill, and down to the valley below, - Through the murk of the mist and the white of the snow-- - Now my steed falters, as, breathless and slow, - Up the steep hillside he labors and grinds, - Grinds--Grinds--Grinds--Grinds-- - Across and across he turns and winds, - Sand-clogged and rock-hindered, without hope or faith, - No longer a soul, but a sin-burdened wraith-- - Till, reaching the summit, he spurns the dark hill, - And onward he plunges, for good or for ill, - Over and onward, and onward and over, - He reels and he spins like a jolly old rover. - - Roll--Roll--Roll--Roll-- - Backward he flies to our one dear goal, - Where the whirling shall cease, and the rider shall rest, - And soft, trembling lips to my own shall be pressed. - Slow--Slow--Slow, - Slowly--more slowly--we go-- - What, darling, so far on the road to-night, - To welcome us both with your eyes’ sweet light! - The wheel no longer has need to roam-- - Be quiet, old fellow! we’re safe, safe at home. - - - - -A NONSENSE-SONG FOR M----. - -FROM THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND.[2] - - -I. - - Breathing, blowing, - The cool breeze is blowing, - High in the tree-tops, - Low in the grasses, - Softly it passes; - The daisies it kisses - And never one misses, - And laughs at the buttercups, - Breathing and blowing, - Its blessing bestowing - On all that it passes - Among the low grasses - And daisies and buttercups, - Never one misses, - But each one it kisses. - Softer and fainter it grows, - Faintly and softly it blows, - Breathing, sighing, - Dying, - Sweetly and softly it goes, - Goes--goes! - - -II. - - Hark to the wind from the mountain-tops blowing! - Raining, snowing, - Scattering ice-drops and crimson leaves blowing! - Teasing the burnies - With all their soft fernies, - Bending and waving - Among the green mosses; - Roaring and raving, - The long hair it tosses - Of each little maiden - Beside the brown burnies - With crimson leaves laden - All bound for the sea, - With wee boaties laden, - All crimson to see, - And high in the tree-tops - It rushes and roars; - It leaps from the hill-tops - And hurls with its might on the long, rocky shores - The floods of the sea, - All the time roaring and shouting and blowing, - Icy drops throwing, - Blowing, snowing, - It roars! - - -III. - - What shall the Soft Breeze do for thee? - What shall I do with my faint, sweet blowing, - Breathing, blowing, - My blessing bestowing? - I pray thee, Soft Breeze, - Do thou blow, for me! - Stir in the trees - And breathe in the grasses, - The soft, low grasses, - And when the tall buttercup, - Tall in the grasses, - Thy light foot passes, - Gather for me - A wee grain of gold from its treasures rare, - A ray of the sunlight it treasures there; - Then beg of the daisies a bit of their white, - Pure, pure white, - And two tiny petals, crimson tipped, - Because in God’s love they have just been dipped, - And bearing the sunlight, the whiteness and love, - Breathing, blowing, - Fair blessings bestowing, - Among the soft grasses - And tree-tops above, - High in the cloud-land’s silvery sheen, - Low in the winding valleys between, - Seek my wee girlie - Who’s just thirteen, - With hair so curly,-- - The curliest hair you ever have seen, - The brownest hair you ever have seen,-- - With eyes so blue, - Like skies so blue, - And hide thy gifts in her heart so true, - For to-day she’s just thirteen, - Thirteen. - - -IV. - - What shall the Fierce Wind do for thee? - What shall I do, with my terrible roaring, - Raving, roaring, - Icy drops pouring? - - I pray thee, Fierce Wind, - Do thou roar, for me! - Shatter the crags of the desolate mountain, - Scatter the drops of the trembling fountain, - Ride on the waves of the tossing sea, - Tossing and spouting, - Roaring and shouting; - Snatch a bright leaf from the burnie’s brink, - And a drop from the pool where the white lambs drink, - A wisp of hair from the maiden fern, - Bending over the laughing burn; - The health of the seas, - The life of the trees, - The beauty of fernies, - The faith of bright burnies, - Life and beauty and health and faith, - Whiteness and sunshine, love stronger than death, - These to the maidie that’s just thirteen - Shall all be given to-day, I ween,-- - Shall all be given, - In blessing from Heaven,-- - For now she’s just thirteen, - And her eyes are so blue, - Sweet skies so blue, - And her heart so true, - And to-day she’s just thirteen, - Thirteen. - - - FOOTNOTE: - - [2] Suggested by George MacDonald’s little book of that name. - - - - -TRANSLATIONS. - -SONGS FROM HEINE. - - - In the north-land standeth a pine-tree - Alone, on a hill-top bare. - It sleepeth beneath a mantle - Of snow and frost-work rare. - - It dreameth long of a palm-tree - Which, silent as a star, - On the burning desert mourneth - In Orient lands afar. - - * * * * * - - A LOVELY flower thou seemest, - So tender, sweet, and true; - And, as I gaze, steals o’er me - A sadness strange and new. - - Upon thy peaceful forehead - I’d lay my hands, in prayer - That God may ever keep thee - As tender, true, and fair. - - * * * * * - - Eagerly I cry, awaking, - “Cometh she to-day?” - Eventide--my sad heart, breaking, - Speaks the answer, Nay! - - In the night I know but sorrow - Till the dawn’s faint beam; - Mist-enwrapped, in each to-morrow, - Agony of dream. - - * * * * * - - He who for the first time loveth, - Godlike, worlds of bliss doth rule; - He who twice that joy essayeth, - Luckless wight--he is a fool. - - Loving where no love returneth, - Such a fool, alas!--am I; - Sun and moon and stars are laughing, - I laugh, too,--_and die_. - - Little maid, with lips so rosy, - With thy blue eyes, sweet and clear, - All my thoughts to thee are flying, - All my life is with thee, dear! - - Slowly pace the leaden-footed - Hours that mark the winter’s night; - Ah, that I were now beside thee, - Gazing, murmuring my delight! - - Kisses would I press, my darling, - On thy little hand to-night; - Nay--a tear should fall, unbidden, - On thy little hand so white. - - * * * * * - -(EICHENDORFF.) - - It was as if the heavens - Had kissed the earth to rest, - And she lay dreaming of them - With flowers upon her breast. - - The fields and murmuring woodland - Were bathed in fairest light, - So soft the breeze’s whisper, - So starry-clear the night! - - On outspread wings uplifted - My spirit fain would roam - Through cloudland realms unbounded, - To rest at last--at home. - - - - -IN MORNING-LAND. - - - In morning-land the radiant, rosy skies - Each moment gleam with some new-born surprise, - Or flush with dawning hope; the balmy air - Is laden with a thousand perfumes rare - And thrilled with chords of strange, sweet melodies. - - On that blest shore, which all around us lies, - Peace reigns supreme, and joyous carols rise - From every shaded copse and pleasaunce fair - In Morning-land. - - Knowst thou the land? Wherever friendly eyes - Beam faith and constancy; where true love flies, - Glad tidings of good-will and peace to bear; - Where service is divine, God everywhere,-- - There dawns the perfect day that never dies - In Morning-land. - - - - -SIC ITUR AD ASTRA. - - - I stood in a valley; above me - Uprose a mighty hill; - The air was vibrant with music - Of insect, bird, and rill. - - The flowers among the grasses - About my weary feet - Swung all their tiny censers, - Till perfume, heavy-sweet, - - Was shed abroad in the sunlight - And wafted to and fro, - While droning bees at the altar - Their _Aves_ chanted low. - - A soft breeze touched my forehead, - And whispered, “Peace, be still!” - But ever above me towered - That silent, awful hill, - - Whose peaks in mists were hidden, - Whose slopes were brown and bare; - And yet, as I gazed, I murmured, - “O God! If I were there!” - - For I knew that the peace of the valley - Was never meant for me; - And I longed for the mountain summit,-- - Its pure winds blowing free, - - Its life of strength and vigor, - Its thoughts of the good and true, - Its steadfast crags of granite - In the far-off, heavenly blue. - - I stand in the valley, and ever - I gaze at the mountain bare, - And I long for a hand to help me-- - O God! That I were there! - - - - -THE COMET; NOVEMBER, 1882. - - - Wondrous portent, set on high, - Moving through the silent sky, - Clothed in formless majesty,-- - - Who can read those words of light - On the star-lit wall of night? - “_Mene, Tekel_,” dost thou write? - - Nay, thou bright Star in the East, - O’er no haughty monarch’s feast, - Prophet nor Chaldæan priest, - - Doth thy gentle radiance shine; - Nobler resting-place is thine, - ’Tis a Baby’s brow divine. - - With the waning of the year - From afar thou dost appear, - Telling us that Christ is near. - - - - -“HIS STAR.” - - - Christmas Eve--and the mellow light - Of the Star in the East was aglow - O’er the Magi, hastening through the night, - In the desert, long ago. - - Christmas Eve--and the gentle light - Of the Star in the East was aglow - O’er the lambs, asleep with their shepherds by night, - On the hillside, long ago. - - Christmas Eve--and the golden light - Of the Star in the East was aglow - O’er a Baby’s brow, in the holy night, - In a manger, long ago. - - Christmas Eve--and the blessèd light - Of the Star in the East is aglow, - As it shone of old, through the sweet, still night, - O’er Bethlehem, long ago. - - - - -“LICHT, MEHR LICHT!” - - - Sob, cold wind of the sky, - For the rest that never shall come! - The stars have gathered on high, - The moon’s white lips are dumb, - And over her face like a shroud - Lies the wrack of the drifting cloud. - - Moan, dark sea of the night! - Fling up thine arms and implore - The heavens for light, sweet light,-- - One sparkle along the shore - From the sun that left thee to moan - In the horror of darkness--alone. - - Shudder, thou one human soul, - Forever alone in the night; - Whose billows unceasingly roll - In desolate seeking for light! - The moon’s white face is thine own, - Thine, thine the wind’s monotone. - Thyself art the night-- - O God, light, light! - - - - -PSALM LXXX. - - - “Turn us again, O God of Hosts, and cause - Thy face to shine.” - When fades the light of day, - And night in silence steals across the sky, - We know it is not that the glorious sun - Has left his steadfast throne amid the heavens, - But that our little earth has turned away - And hid its face till morning shall appear. - So may we, in our blackest night of doubt - And troubled thought, return once more to Thee, - Till Thou hast risen, O Sun of Righteousness, - And all the evil things of darkness born - Have fled before the shining of Thy face. - - - - -UNTO THE PERFECT DAY. - - - A morning-glory bud, entangled fast - Amid the meshes of its winding stem, - Strove vainly with the coils about it cast, - Until the gardener came and loosened them. - - A suffering human life entangled lay - Among the tightening coils of its own past; - The Gardener came, the fetters fell away, - The life unfolded to the sun at last. - - - - -HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS EVE. - - - A mighty world is hushed to-night - In sweet expectancy; - O’er snowy field and wood the stainless light - Of the clear moon - Shines broad and free; - While peacefully the earth-- - A great white throne - Prepared for One who soon - Shall rise and claim it for His own-- - Awaits His birth. - - The hearts of all mankind are turned - Toward lowly Bethlehem; - For in the east the wondrous Star, that burned - In days of old, - Still beckons them. - Back o’er the centuries, - Storm-swept and bare, - It moves, until, behold! - It stands above the manger where - The Young Child lies. - - O Christmas chimes, right joyfully - Ring out the tidings glad - To stars and frosty air and listening sky,-- - “Good-will to men!” - Till all the sad, - The weary and oppressed, - Their gifts shall bring - To Him whose birth again - Sheds peace on earth, and, worshipping, - Shall be at rest. - - - - -BLIND. - - - Throughout the weary day an Eastern sun - Had poured his beams upon the whitened walls - Of Jericho, till e’en the drooping palms - Refused to comfort with their wonted shade - The passer-by. As in a furnace blast-- - The glaring pavement spread beneath, o’erhead - A brazen, cloudless sky--all living things - Had gasped, with parching lips, and feebly prayed - For night. - ’Twas eventide; the northern hills - Breathed forth a blessing on the multitude - That thronged incessant through the city gates. - Softly the mist crept forth, and o’er their heads - Her dewy wings unfolded. In the west - The molten brass of noontide turned to gold, - And shone like some fair missal’s page, with hymns - And promises illumined. - One there was - Among the restless souls beneath its glow, - For whom the heavenly message was not writ; - For whom no sunset gleamed, nor morning dawned. - Oft had he listened to the merry shout - And laughter of the children at their sports, - But ne’er had looked upon their sparkling eyes. - Alone, he walked in darkness through a life - Of nights, with never hope of day. But hark! - Upon his ear there falls a gentle voice, - Whose tones of strange and heavenly sweetness thrill - His very heart. “’Tis Jesus, ’tis the Christ - Of Nazareth!” The woes of heavy years, - The quick-born hope, the old-time, dull despair, - The agony of help so near at hand, - Yet passing, blend in one wild, bitter cry: - “Jesus, thou Son of David, I am blind! - Have mercy on me!”--and the Saviour hears. - Blind Bartimeus by the road-side waits - In anguish mute and trembling, when, O joy! - The bringer of glad tidings is at hand: - “Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee!” - - O weary, heavy-laden one, whose eyes - Have long been sightless to behold the truth,-- - Perchance in darkness walking even now, - And longing with an aching heart for light,-- - The Master’s message echoes sweetly still: - “Be of good comfort, rise, He calleth thee.” - And humbly kneeling at His feet, the words - Of healing, spoken in the olden time - To him who prayed for help, thou too shalt hear: - “Receive thy sight, thy faith hath made thee - whole.” - - - - -REFUGE. - - - How bad I am, O Lord, Thou knowest, - Deserving naught that Thou bestowest, - But wandering each day - Astray. - - Thy gifts are perfect, never ceasing, - The debt against me still increasing, - And yet I turn to flee - From Thee! - - Oft when my path is dark and narrow - There flutters down some tiny sparrow - To tell me of that love - Above. - - When daylight comes, I’m e’er forgetting - The message sweet; my sins besetting - Return, my soul to stain - Again. - - And so I cling to Thee, my Saviour, - Despairing by my own behavior - To cleanse myself from sin - Within. - - My cares I yield--for me Thou carest; - I take my cross--its weight Thou sharest - Henceforth my will be Thine, - Not mine. - - - - -GUIDO RENI’S “ECCE HOMO.” - - - O thorn-crowned head, the sins of all the world - Have pierced thy brow; - O gentle face, the woes of all the world - Thou bearest now! - - O patient eyes, to heaven in meekness turned, - Meekness divine, - Within your suffering depths what wondrous light - Of love doth shine! - - O faltering, parted lips, with anguish wrung, - Your words still live - And plead for us,--“They know not what they do-- - Father, forgive!” - - - - -ON CHRISTMAS EVE. - - - The day’s loud footfalls die away, - And stealing forth from her retreat - Like a hooded nun, the twilight gray - Glides softly down the busy street. - With healing touch her gentle hand - Rests on the city’s fevered brow; - Its throbbing pulse is quiet now, - And peace descends on the weary land. - Since morn the dull December sky - Has wept and moaned incessantly; - The tall, gaunt forms of shivering trees - Have groaned and rattled their bony arms, - Till, startled by the restless breeze, - The withered sprites of summer leaves - Have gathered to whisper their vague alarms, - Now whirling aloft to the dripping eaves, - Now wavering slow to earth again, - Borne down by the pitiless, hopeless rain. - Upon my hearth the ruddy light - Dances and plays at the fire-dogs’ feet - Chasing the shadows out of sight; - Around the walls it follows them fast, - Hunts them into a corner at last, - Up the chimney, out into the night. - The blaze laughs loud with a music sweet, - My heart grows warm in its cheery glow, - And a thousand fancies come and go. - The perfumed breath of the birchen brand, - Rich with forest spices rare, - Bears heavenward many a hope and prayer - That only One can understand. - Oh that my life were sweet and pure - As the incense of this burning wood! - Oh that my faith were strong and sure - As the flame that ever strives toward God! - I hear the sound of the sleet and rain - Brushing against my window-pane; - The voice of the wind is sad and low, - The shadows return, and to and fro - They flit and hover uneasily, - Until at last they rest on me. - Heap high the sturdy fire-dogs’ backs - With boughs of hemlock, birch, and pine. - The crisp bark curls, and smokes, and cracks; - It comes at last, the spark divine, - And bursting forth in broad, free laughter, - The glorious blaze comes hurrying after, - Springs up the chimney with a roar, - Chasing the shadows away once more, - Shining far out upon the floor, - And sweeping away on its gladsome tide - The fears and doubts, o’er which I sighed, - To the depths of the sea, to the depths of the sea,-- - The cares and sins that have haunted me! - - I thank thee for thy help, sweet hour, - For thou hast helped me true and well; - I thank thee for the gentle spell - Beneath which thou dost wield thy power, - And when the twilight seeks at morn - Her convent walls within the west, - My soul shall know its truest rest, - And bless the day when Christ was born. - - - - -BY NIGHT. - - - O’er Judah’s dark hill-tops the starlight is shining; - In silence the silvery light - Falls soft on the white, sleeping lambs and their shepherds, - By night. - - Sleep on, trustful flocks, while shepherds are watching; - Fear not, for soon shall be born - The dear Lamb of God, in a Bethlehem manger, - This morn. - - Keep watch, faithful shepherds, through gathering shadows, - Though the hillside be lonely and drear; - For lo, in the darkness the Shepherd of shepherds - Is near! - - Sing on, ye bright angels, repeat the glad tidings,-- - Joy, peace, and good-will on the earth; - Proclaim to the weary, the sad, and the suffering, - His birth. - - Shine, radiant Star in the East, till thy glory - O’er Wise Men and manger is poured, - For Mary’s dear babe is the blessèd Christ Jesus, - Our Lord. - - - - -“STAR OF BETHLEHEM.” - - - Gentle-Faced child-flower-- - One of the least-- - Dost thou remember - The Star in the East, - Bethlehem’s hill-tops - Flushing with morn, - When in a manger - The dear Christ was born? - - Lambs on the hillside - Peacefully slept; - Shepherds, abiding near, - Faithful watch kept. - Bright in the heavens - Shone a new star, - Guiding o’er deserts - Wise Men from afar. - - White Flower of Bethlehem, - Lo, it is morn! - Shine on the manger - Where Jesus was born. - We, too, shall find Him, - Though humblest and least, - Led by thy radiance, - Bright Star in the East. - - - - -“BLESSED.” - - - “Blessed are they that mourn.” - The gentle tones, - A moment faltering, then strong and sweet, - Ring out upon the morning air. The throng - Wait silently, lest by a whispered sigh - Or quick-drawn breath a word should fall unheard - From Him, the wonderful, the Prince of Peace. - “Blessed”--the widow, shuddering, draws more close - Her sombre draperies, and bows her head - In agony of dumb and hopeless grief. - - --“Are they that mourn!” A dry, half-stifled sob - Bursts from a gray-haired man; ’twas yesterday - They buried all most dear to him on earth, - And sun and stars were blotted out. Hot tears - Fall thickly on his knotted, sunburnt hands, - And still he listens to that strange, sweet voice. - - “Blessed are they that mourn.” What aching hearts - Among the eager, silent multitude - Cry out in bitter anguish that His words - Are vain and mocking! - - Lo, the Saviour turns - With infinite compassion in His eye, - And stretching forth His hands as though to give - The blessing He has promised, speaks again: - “They shall be comforted!” - - The morning sun - Breaks forth in triumph from the heavy clouds - That hid His face. The waves of Galilee, - Gleaming far distant in the misty east, - Cast off the shroud of night. The air is full - Of waking glory. But of all who feel - The gladness and the freshness of the morn, - Those only who have passed through deepest gloom - Receive the fulness of that new, sweet peace - His words have given,--and they are comforted! - - - - -A CHRISTMAS PASTORAL. - - - The shepherds were keeping their watch by night, - In the field with their flock abiding; - And soft on the fleece of the lambs fell the light - Of a new-risen star, - From deserts afar - The wise ones to Bethlehem guiding. - - What startles the watchers? A rustle of wings, - And a radiant figure above them. - The lambs are afraid, and the white, woolly things, - With tremulous bleat, - Nestle close to the feet - Of the faithful shepherds who love them. - - “Fear not!” comes the message, exultant and strong, - “Good tidings of joy I am bringing!” - And lo! with the song of a heavenly throng, - “Peace on earth! For this morn - A Saviour is born!” - The hillsides of Judah are ringing. - - The bright ones are gone; over thicket and stone - The starlight of Christmas is falling; - But the lambs, without even an angel, alone - In the great silent night, - With sudden affright, - For their lost shepherds vainly are calling. - - They knew not a tenderer Shepherd was near, - His flocks to deliver from danger, - And comfort all desolate lambs in their fear,-- - For peacefully lay, - On that first Christmas day, - Lord Christ, in a Bethlehem manger. - - - - -THE FOURTH WATCH. - - - Midnight upon Gennesaret; the restless waves, - Like jewels on the troubled bosom of the sea, - Flash forth in rays of silvery light, or hide within - Her dark and flowing tresses. Soft, as in a dream, - The night-winds sigh and whisper o’er the little ship, - While from the far-off, shadowy hills of Galilee - Their cool breath gently fans the weary twelve, as rests - A loving hand upon a fevered, aching brow. - Deserted lies the quiet, moon-lit shore, but all - The air is heavy with the perfume of the grass, - Crushed into fragrance by the waiting multitude - Whom Jesus fed. The Giver of the bread of life - Has gone apart upon the mountain-side to pray, - Alone. - The night is dark, the Master is not come; - The sea arises, and on every side the waves - Gigantic, black, and topped with lurid crests of foam, - Leap madly through the gloom. Labors the little ship, - Hurled to and fro and beaten back upon her course. - With slow and stubborn stroke the rowers wearily - Are straining at the heavy oars. But hark! above - The sullen roar of wind and sea, a well-loved voice, - Vibrant and sweet with chords of heavenly music, speaks, - And they were sore afraid; but He saith unto them, - “Be of good cheer, ’tis I, be not afraid.” - And lo, - The tempest ceased! and when they had received their Lord, - The ship had come unto the haven they desired. - - - - -“WITH YOU ALWAY.” - - - Why seek ye for Jehovah - Mid Sinai’s awful smoke? - The burning bush now shelters - A sparrow’s humble folk; - The curve of God’s sweet heaven - Is the curve of the leaf of oak; - The Voice that stilled the tempest - To little children spoke,-- - The bread of life eternal - Is the bread He blessed and broke. - - - - -DECEMBER 31. - - - Another year! - What is the story by the twelve-month told? - What treasure doth its memory enfold,-- - Base coin, or gold? - Sternly hath it hard lessons taught, - Hath it new cares, new joys, new burdens brought? - Few smiles, and many a tear? - - Another year! - What good and perfect gifts have gently come-- - Knowing not whence, we have been blind and dumb! - We ate the crumb - Without the sparrow’s faith, but still, - Father of Lights, Thou shinest on, and will, - Thy frightened birds to cheer. - - Another year! - The sunlight pours its blessings as of old, - Into the lap of each dear day,--its gold, - Its wealth untold. - As lessons new and sweet we gain, - Still hoping to the highest to attain, - We trust, and never fear. - - Another year! - But to the brave and true, lo, time is not! - A thousand years are as a day, forgot - The hardest lot, - To those who walk beside their God, - Loving the path His patient feet have trod, - Knowing that He is near. - - - - -IN MY ARM-CHAIR. - - - Flickers the ruddy firelight on the wall; - Now here, now there, the shadows restlessly - Dance in and out among the gleaming bars - That prison many a glimpse of sea and sky - Upon the pictured canvas. Brightly falls - The cheerful light upon familiar forms - Of volumes clothed in sober garb and gay, - Whose very names, in golden characters, - Invite to solace sweet, and peace of mind. - Footfalls incessant in the rainy street - Mingle their dreary cadence with the roll - And rhythmic echo of the iron wheel, - Half muffled by the storm’s dull monotone. - Within, the gentle presence of the flame, - With its soft rustle ever and anon, - Serves but to take away the very pain - Of silence absolute. - It is the hour - For contemplation meet. The air is thronged - With thoughts innumerable, fancies light, - That flit about on airy wing, or play - Among the fireborn shadows on the wall; - Till, touched by the Promethean glow, they take - A seeming form substantial, animate. - From out their thin octavo cells pour forth - The shapes ethereal of poet, sage, - Philosopher, and man of God, whose words - Make wisdom beautiful, and beauty wise. - Silent they rise before me, one by one, - E’en as the fabled genius, close involved - Within the tiny casket, gained at last - His proper self, and towered high above - His liberator. But of other mien - Are these strange forms around my hearth to-night. - With aspect grave, yet kind, they gaze on me - As old companions might on one they loved, - Who loved them in return. I know each one, - And recognize the habit of his life. - Old Gilbert White--whose flowing locks, and dress - Of quaint antiquity, precise and neat, - Recall his quiet walks in Selborne wood-- - Has paused with curious, meditative eye, - Before an owl upon my mantle shelf, - And rapidly, in shadowy script, records - The sapient bird’s presentment. - Near at hand, - A man of kindly countenance and mild, - Impressed with lines of pure and noble thought, - Bends low in prayer; ere long resumes his pen, - And adds one more sweet hymn to those that bear - George Herbert’s name. Anon appears a face - More gentle than the rest, it seems, with eyes - Of deep and tender yearning. Silently - The figure turns aside, and by the hearth - Remains aloof, with dreamy gaze intent - Upon the glowing coals. What fantasies - Are imaged there, reflected from his mind, - And striving for the elixir of his touch - And wondrous pen, that give eternal life - To such as they! Lo, built of candent fire - The Old Manse drops its Mosses at his feet; - Italia’s strange physician whispers now - Of potent herb and flower. The Puritan, - His wonted sternness softened, deigns to tell - Of old-time guilt--the Scarlet Letter’s brand-- - Till, glancing up, he shudders at the approach - Of stricken Hester, with her demon child. - - So wanes the night. In quick succession move - Shades of the mighty dead before my eyes. - Again is played the Comedy Divine, - And gloomily the awful form of him - Whose mind such Titan offspring bore, attends - The movement of each scene. The cowl and robe, - Close at his side, betray that zealous monk - Whose life was Imitation of the Christ. - Amid the still increasing throng, behold - Sage Izaak Walton, creel and rod in hand; - But while I gaze upon his visage mild, - Expectant half to hear his counsel how - The wily carp to ensnare, the fiery bridge - O’er which my fancy boldly trod, and found - Her way to realms unreal, topples down - With mimic crash, and lies a ruined mass - Upon the hearth. Yet by its waning glow - I see the hurried parting of my guests, - Retreating each within his narrow cell; - As when beneath a monastery roof - The low, sweet chant of vespers dies away,-- - The last faint echoes lingering still within - The moonlit cloisters,--silently the forms - Of holy men glide to and fro among - The shadows, till the hush of night descends - With brooding wings, and gathers all to rest. - - -THE END. - - - - -=TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE= - - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. - - Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been - corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within - the text and consultation of external sources. - - Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the - text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. - - Some words with hyphens, or without them, have been silently - adjusted to be more consistent. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE MORNING *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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- font-family:sans-serif, serif; -} - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of In the Morning, by Willis Boyd Allen</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: In the Morning</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Willis Boyd Allen</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 24, 2022 [eBook #67246]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Charlene Taylor, hekula03 and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE MORNING ***</div> - - -<div class="transnote"> -<p><b>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE</b></p> - -<p>Footnotes have been placed at the end of their respective poem.</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<h1>IN THE MORNING.</h1> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p class="p2 center fs200">IN THE MORNING.</p> - -<p class="p4 center fs80">BY</p> - -<p class="p1a center fs120">WILLIS BOYD ALLEN.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry" lang="de" xml:lang="de"> - <div class="verse indent0">Den Abend lang währet das Weinen,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Aber des Morgens die Freude.</div> - <div class="verse indent105"><span class="smcap">Luther’s Version.</span></div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container p1"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="verse indent0">Hear what the Morning says, and believe that.</div> - <div class="verse indent165"><span class="smcap">Emerson.</span></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="p4 center fs120">NEW YORK:</p> - -<p class="p1 center fs100">ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH AND CO.<br /> -<span class="smcap fs80">38 West Twenty-Third Street.</span></p> - -<p class="p1 center fs100">1890.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p class="p1 center fs80"><i>Copyright, 1890</i>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">By Willis Boyd Allen</span>.</p> - -<p class="p4 center fs80"><span class="antiqua">University Press</span>:<br /> -<span class="smcap">John Wilson and Son, Cambridge</span>.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2 class="nobreak antiqua" id="To_my_Mother">To my Mother.</h2> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> - -<table class="autotable fs90" width="100%" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> </td> -<td class="tdr"><span class="smcap">Page</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">At Chrystemesse-Tyde</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Vita Nuova</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Not in the Whirlwind</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Diapason</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Chamounix</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">In the Morning</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Marigold</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">Seventeen, Eighteen, Maid’s A-Waiting!</span>”</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">To M——, on her Birthday</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">Yours Truly</span>”</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Sermon by a Lay Preacher</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap" lang="la" xml:lang="la">In Somno Veritas</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Thalatta</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Unknown</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">My Cross</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Valentine</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">White Pink</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Aprille</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">May</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_46">46</a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">August</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Carlo’s Christmas</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Sun was Red and Low</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Two Visions</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">My Creed</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Again?</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Pansy</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Golden-Rod</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">To Margaret, on St. Valentine’s Day</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">To a Very Small Pine</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mosses</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Mount of the Holy Cross</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Christmas Snow</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The “Creation”</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Happy Valley</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Dollie’s Spring</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Third Day</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Seventh Day</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Fern Life</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Its Home</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">At School</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Asleep</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">A Cradle-Song of the Night Wind</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Chime</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Hymn of the Northern Pines</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span><span style="margin-left: 2em;">At Last</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Pauses and Clauses</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">To M——, with a Copy of “The Peterkin Papers”</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Memorial Poem</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Dandelion</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Marjorie</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Primrose</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Content</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">With a Small Letter-Opener</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sea-Girls</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Homeward</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Nonsense-Song for M——</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Translations</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the North-land</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">A Lovely Flower</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Eagerly I cry</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">He who for the first Time</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little Maid</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">It was as if the Heavens</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">In Morning-Land</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap" lang="la" xml:lang="la">Sic Itur ad Astra</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Comet, November, 1882</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">His Star</span>”</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap" lang="de" xml:lang="de">Licht, Mehr Licht!</span>”</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Psalm LXXX</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Unto the Perfect Day</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_127">127</a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Hymn for Christmas Eve</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Blind</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Refuge</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Guido Reni’s “<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ecce Homo”</span></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">On Christmas Eve</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">By Night</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">Star of Bethlehem</span>”</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">Blessed</span>”</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Christmas Pastoral</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Fourth Watch</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">With You Alway</span>”</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">December 31</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">In my Arm-Chair</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="AT_CHRYSTEMESSE-TYDE"><i>AT CHRYSTEMESSE-TYDE.</i></h2> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-capy"><i>Two sorrie Thynges there be,—</i></div> - <div class="verse indent3"><i>Ay, three:</i></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>A Neste from which ye Fledglings have been taken,</i></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><i>A Lamb forsaken,</i></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>A Petal from ye Wilde Rose rudely shaken.</i></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>Of gladde Thynges there be more,—</i></div> - <div class="verse indent3"><i>Ay, four:</i></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>A Larke above ye olde Neste blithely singing,</i></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><i>A Wilde Rose clinging</i></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>In safety to ye Rock, a Shepherde bringing</i></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>A Lamb, found, in his arms,—and Chrystemesse</i></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><i>Bells a-ringing.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[10-11]</span></p> -<p class="p4 center fs200">IN THE MORNING.</p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="VITA_NUOVA"><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">VITA NUOVA.</span></h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">A desert, treeless, boundless,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The low sun round and red,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Air stifling, moveless, soundless—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And I alone with my dead.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her head lay on my shoulder,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The crimson light ebbed fast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her face grew paler, colder—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The face of my own dead Past.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then darkness, black and frightful,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Dropped from the eastern sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With never a star, but a night-full</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of horrors creeping by.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I saw how fiercely glistened</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Their mad eyes, two by two,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They screamed, and as I listened</div> - <div class="verse indent1">They laughed like a demon crew.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">See how that huge hyena</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Grows bolder than the rest—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Slinks—snarls—in the arena,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">For the corpse upon my breast!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I laughed like the brutes around me,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I snarled on my stony bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I severed the ties that bound me</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And gnashed upon the dead.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The tawny-sided creatures,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Red claw and dripping fang,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The hideous, grinning features,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The awful mirth that rang,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All vanished. Starless, boundless,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The night stretched o’er my head.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the gray dawn, soulless, soundless,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I sat alone with my dead.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then rustling forms drew nearer.</div> - <div class="verse indent1">By the faint approaching day</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The frightful things grew clearer,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Great, unclean birds of prey</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And carrion beasts, that waited</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Until, on the booty rare,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their hunger foul should be sated</div> - <div class="verse indent1">With my poor Past, lying there.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, I, too, sullen-hearted,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">No word of anguish said;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till bird and beast departed</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I waited—dumb—by the dead.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The white east flickered with fire,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A lark flew singing by,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The glad light mounted higher,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Up-spread o’er all the sky.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">My burden, fair and human,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Still rested on my hands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When lo! a gracious Woman,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Swift walking o’er the sands,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Until she stood before me,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Breathed words of hope and cheer;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her radiant eyes were o’er me,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Her presence warm and near,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And at her voice—oh, wonder!—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The dead herself awoke;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The birds no longer shunned her,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">She smiled, and moved, and spoke,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then, “<span class="smcap">Future</span>” named, to guide me</div> - <div class="verse indent1">She softly sprang away;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Woman stayed beside me—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Sun rose—it was full day.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="NOT_IN_THE_WHIRLWIND">NOT IN THE WHIRLWIND.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">A poet sat in his oaken chair,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The pen in his eager hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Awaiting the voice that should declare</div> - <div class="verse indent1">His Lord’s divine command.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The sad winds sobbed against the pane,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The tempest’s tramp he heard</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As it scourged the night with a hissing rain—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">But the Poet wrote never a word.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then came a burst of martial mirth,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And mighty cannon roared</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till they shook the beams of the steadfast earth—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">’Twas not the voice of the Lord.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In the Poet’s heart a memory rose</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of love’s first passionate thrill</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That, kindling, grows as the red fire glows—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">But the pen was idle, still;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When lo, a timid voice at the door,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And a child, with sweet delight,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Called “Father!” and “Father!” over and o’er—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The poem was written that night.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="DIAPASON">DIAPASON.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_098.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">On the crags of a far-off mountain-top</div> - <div class="verse indent1">At earliest dawn a snowflake fell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The North Wind stooped and cried to her, “Stop!</div> - <div class="verse indent1">There is room in my icy halls to dwell!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The snowflake gleamed like a crystal clear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then wept herself to a single tear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Paused, trembled, and slowly began to glide</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Adown the slopes of the mountain-side.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Desolate ledges, frost-riven and bare,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A tiny rivulet bore on their breast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cloud-gray mosses and lichens fair</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Mutely besought her to slumber and rest.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The rivulet shone in the morning sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And touching them tenderly, one by one,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">With dewy lips, like the mountain mist,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each waiting face as she passed she kissed.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Among the shadows of pine and fir</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A stream danced merrily on her way;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A thrush from his hermitage sang to her:</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“Why dost thou haste? Sweet messenger, stay!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The noontide shadows were cool and deep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The pathway stony, the hillside steep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bird still chanted with all his art—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the stream ran on, with his song in her heart.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Through broadening meadow and corn-land bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Past smoke-palled city and flowery lea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A river rolled on, in the fading light,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Majestic, serene, as she neared the sea.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sins and uncleanness of many she bore</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the outstretched arms of the waiting shore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till moonlight followed the sunset glow</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And her crimson waves were as white as snow.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">On the lonely ledges of Appledore</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I listen again to the ocean’s song,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And lo! in its music I hear once more</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The North Wind’s clarion, loud and long.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In that solemn refrain that never shall end</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The murmurs of swaying fir-trees blend,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The brooklet’s merry ripple and rush,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The evening hymn of the hermit thrush,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The undertone of the mountain pine,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The deep sweet voice of a love divine.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAMOUNIX">CHAMOUNIX.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_065.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Within Thy holy temple have I strayed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">E’en as a weary child, who from the heat</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And noonday glare hath timid refuge sought</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In some cathedral’s vast and shadowy aisle,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And trembling, awestruck, croucheth in his rags</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where high upreared a mighty pillar stands.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Mine eyes I lift unto the hills, from whence</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cometh my help. The murmuring firs stretch forth</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their myriad tiny crosses o’er my head;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Deep rolls the organ peal of thunder down</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The echoing vale, while clouds of incense float</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Around the great white altar set on high.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So lift my heart, O God, and purify</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My thought, that when I walk once more</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Amid the busy, anxious, struggling throng,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">One cup of water from these springs of life,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">One ray of sunlight from these golden days,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">One jewel from the mountain’s spotless brow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As tokens of Thy beauty, I may bear</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To little ones who toil, and long for rest.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="IN_THE_MORNING">IN THE MORNING.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_039.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">’Twas morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And day was born.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bright in the west the stars still burned,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But ever, as the great earth turned,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The eastern mountain-tops grew dark</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Against the rosy heaven—and hark!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A single note from flute-toned thrush</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Drops downward through the twilight hush;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Half praise, half prayer, I heard the song:</div> - <div class="verse indent4">“Oh, sweet, sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, life is sweet, and joy is long!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent5">The sun</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Touched one by one</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The firs along the distant crest,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A silent host, with lance at rest;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Flashed all the world with jewels rare,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quivered with joy the maiden-hair</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beside the brook that downward sprang</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And rippling o’er its mosses, sang</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With silvery laugh the same glad song:</div> - <div class="verse indent4">“Oh, sweet, sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, life is sweet, and joy is long!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent5">When lo!</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Swift, to and fro,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A sombre shadow crossed its path,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Deep thunders rolled in awful wrath,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The thrush beneath the fir-trees crept,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The maiden-hair bowed low and wept;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The heavens were black, the earth was gray</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The hills all blanched in the spectral day,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The night-wind rose, and wailed this song:</div> - <div class="verse indent4">“Oh, long, long,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, joy is fleeting, life so long!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent5">Behold,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">A shaft of gold</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shot through the wrack of cloud and storm,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The heart of heaven beat quick and warm;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">From bird and stream, with myriad tongue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The glad day carolled, laughed, and sung.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Twas morning still! Her tear-drops bright</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The maiden-hair raised to the light;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I heard, half prayer, half praise, the song:</div> - <div class="verse indent4">“Oh, sweet, sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, life is sweet, and joy is long!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MARIGOLD">MARIGOLD.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_148.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Marigold, marigold, wi’ thy wee cup o’ gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">What is it mak’s thee sae bonnie an’ gay?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sunshine has drappit, an’ filled up my cup o’ gold</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Fu’ to the brim wi’ the licht o’ the day.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Marigold, marigold, surely ye canna hold</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A’ the sweet sunshine ’at draps frae the sky!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nay, I’ve a muckle o’ licht ’at I winna hold,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Saved up for you an’ for ithers to try.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Marigold, marigold, stan’in’ there a’ sae bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">What’s in thy een, ’at mak’s ’em sae bright?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I keep ’em wide open, stan’in’ here a’ sae bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Luikin’ at heaven frae mornin’ to nicht.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Marigold, marigold, bairnie wi’ cup o’ gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">What’s i’ thy hert, ’at mak’s thee sae strang?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Trust i’ the One ’at gave me my cup o’ gold</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Lattin’ Him love me, a’ the day lang.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="SEVENTEEN_EIGHTEEN_MAIDS">“SEVENTEEN, EIGHTEEN, MAID’S A-WAITING!”</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_027.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Eighteen years ago the sunshine</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Laughed to find a baby face;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Laughed to see the blue eyes sober,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In that golden, glad October,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Softly kissed the wisps of hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Softly kissed, and lingered there,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like an answer to a prayer,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like a whispered benediction,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Token bright of heavenly grace.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Standing on life’s sunlit threshold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gazing forth with eyes of blue</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the great round world before her,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the kind skies brooding o’er her,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From the baby hair the light</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Never has departed quite;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Still it lingers, pure and bright.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yes, the little maid is waiting,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a purpose grand and true;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Waiting for whate’er the Father</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Calls His child to do and bear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Waiting, as a thirsty flower</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Waits the morning dew and shower.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Summers come and summers go,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sparrows flutter to and fro,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Autumn breezes murmur low;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Seventeen, eighteen, Maidie’s waiting,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With the sunshine in her hair!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="TO_M_mdash_ON_HER_BIRTHDAY">TO M——, ON HER BIRTHDAY.</h2> -<p class="p1 fs70 center">WITH A CHESS-BOARD.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_030.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Your turn to move again, dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I’ the gude auld game ca’d Life;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It’s a warstle o’ joy an’ pain, dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A mixin’ o’ lauchter an’ strife.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">An’ I fain wad be yer knight, dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To serve ye the livelong day;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ready in armor to fight, dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To live or to dee, as ye say.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Near at han’ i’ the gloamin’ I’d bide, dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I’ saddle at gray o’ dawn—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Na, na, I’m no worthy to ride, dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Lat me be the White Queen’s pawn!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="YOURS_TRULY">“<i>YOURS TRULY.</i>”</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_030.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">“Yours truly,” she signs the note; ah, me!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How little she dreams what that would be</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To him who, trembling, reads the line,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What if, indeed, she were truly mine!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">What visions those two dear words can bring</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the lonely heart that is hungering</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For a single touch of her dainty hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">One swift, shy glance he could understand,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And know that the formal greeting sent</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But half concealed what the writer meant,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That she gave, throughout the eternities,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her own sweet self, to be truly his!</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There, there!—that fire, how it smokes—what, tears?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll answer her letter—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent8">“Dear Friend, I’ve fears</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Your kind invitation I can’t accept; still</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll come if it’s possible.</div> - <div class="verse indent6"><i>Yours truly</i>, <span class="pad3 smcap">Will</span>.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_SERMON_BY_A_LAY_PREACHER">A SERMON BY A LAY PREACHER.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_039.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">The morning of Sabbath; a city at rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But waking serenely and donning its best,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For the warm March sun already is high.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Above, the arch of a white-blue sky;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Brown earth, with a touch of green, below;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Elm-boughs, uptost with a lift superb;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The melting ice and grimy snow</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Playing meadow from curb to curb,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With small mud-rills in place of brooks,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And a sewer for sea!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent10">Ah, hold, my friend,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I grant how childish-foolish it looks,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But perhaps they’ve faith for the very end,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For streams and sewers, greatest and least,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Find ocean at last, in the misty East.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The good people all are off to the churches,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While I, left here in the idlest of lurches,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Must seek a preacher to preach me a sermon,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ordained with open-air dews of Hermon;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A discourse conservative, grave, edifying,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And—come, sir, no laughing! I really am trying</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To find, if I can, the road steep and narrow;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ah, here he comes, flying, a straw in his bill!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll beg him take pulpit; now hear, if you will,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A sermon preached by a sparrow.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My text”—hear the bird!—“I take</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From the street,”—that’s better,—“and make</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Application as follows:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Down there where my comrades are basking,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s food to be had for the asking,—</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Understand me,—no shirking,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Our <i>asking</i> means <i>working</i>,—</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Each swallows</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The meal that’s laid on his plate,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Content with enough. There’s my mate,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Her feathers a-fluff in the sun.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That brownest, prettiest one—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Your pardon! I ought to be preaching.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This, sir, is the gist of my teaching:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We sparrows take things as they come,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From four <span class="allsmcap">A. M.</span> until six,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We work (using straw without bricks);</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We stop now and then for a crumb</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thrown down by a child; full of cheer,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We twitter throughout the whole year,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Investing in no loans of trouble</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the borrower always pays double.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But your text was the Street, my good bird.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This sounds like the Bible!—</div> - <div class="verse indent12">“I’ve heard</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That life was the same, sir, in each;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, though you want me to preach,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You’ll find that men, fowls, and book,</div> - <div class="verse indent8">If you look,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are all connected together,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In short, are birds of a feather;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And from a genuine sermon</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You’ll learn, sir,—this I’m firm on,—</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">The same Hand guides and governs all</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which holds us sparrows when we fall.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">No more. Before I could even remind him</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of lack of an adequate exhortation,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Proper pauses, and peroration,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He was off, his straw streaming far behind him.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">His advice—well, certainly not very new,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet perhaps worth trying, I think—don’t you?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="IN_SOMNO_VERITAS"><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">IN SOMNO VERITAS.</span></h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_042.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">I dreamed that I sat in my chamber</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And watched the dancing light</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of the blaze upon my hearthstone,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And the red brands, glowing bright.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I listened to the rustle</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of the flames that rose and fell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I dreamed I heard a whisper,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A voice I knew full well.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The room no more was lonely,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A Presence sweet was there,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A girlish figure, standing,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Beside my own arm-chair.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I dreamed I spoke, and trembling</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Lest she should prove to be</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The creature of a vision,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I bade her sit by me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her grave brown eyes she lifted,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Her dear hand placed in mine,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The air was sweet with incense</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of odorous birch and pine,—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And as we watched together</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Those eager, dancing flames,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We talked of days forgotten,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And spoke our childish names.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I dreamed that heaven seemed nearer,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The skies a lovelier blue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then—was it still a vision?—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I dreamed my dream came true!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THALATTA">THALATTA.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_154.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Far over the billows unresting forever</div> - <div class="verse indent1">She flits, my white bird of the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now skyward, now earthward, storm-drifted, but never</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A wing-beat nearer to me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With eye soft as death or the mist-wreaths above her</div> - <div class="verse indent1">She timidly gazes below;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, never had sea-bird a man for her lover,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And little recks she of his woe.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">One sweet, startled note of amazement she utters,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">One white plume floats downward to me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Far over the billows a snowy wing flutters—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Night—darkness—alone with the sea.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="UNKNOWN">UNKNOWN.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_039.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">There’s a star a-light in the gloaming,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A gleam in the skies above;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s a flower at rest on her bosom,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">On the heart of her I love.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">What says the star of the twilight?</div> - <div class="verse indent1">What is the song of the flower?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A cloud has covered the star-beam;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The blossom lived but an hour.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nay, ’tis the infinite heaven,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The depth beyond, that speak;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Tis the heart that throbs ’neath the blossom,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Not the lip nor the fair white cheek.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The voice of the heavens is tender,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Its whisper is fond and low;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the voice of the heart that is throbbing—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Its message I cannot know.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MY_CROSS">MY CROSS.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_098.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Only a tiny cross;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She plucked it from a mountain fir,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And wreathing it in soft, gray moss,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gave it in memory of her,—</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Yet—’tis a cross!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4">Only a soft, gray cross;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But, half-concealed, full many a thorn</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lay waiting there, beneath the moss,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To pierce the bosom where ’tis worn,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">This wee, sweet cross.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4">Only a thorny cross,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Unconscious of the pain it gives;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lifeless the fir, faded the moss,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet, while the hand that plucked them lives,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">It is my cross.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_VALENTINE">A VALENTINE.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_042.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">If but the furry catkin small</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Could speak with gentle voice</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And bid the sad, Rejoice!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A pussy-willow should be all</div> - <div class="verse indent4">My valentine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">If but the golden daffodil,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">With many a cheerful word,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Could tell what it hath heard</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By meadow, wood, or murmuring rill,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">It should be mine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">If but the valley-lilies pure</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Could whisper in thine ear</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A message thou wouldst hear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of One whose promises are sure,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Whose love divine,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Such flowers my valentine should be.</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Yet sought I none of those,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Only one crimson rose</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To bear its Maker’s heart to thee,—</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Lo, it is thine!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="WHITE_PINK">WHITE PINK.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_039.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">The maiden left a timid kiss</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Upon the mossy stone;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her lover true, the maiden knew,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Would seek and find his own.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The lover never came again,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Nor guessed the woe he wrought;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Day after day neglected lay</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The maiden’s kiss, unsought.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At length, upspringing from the moss</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Through kindly sun and shower,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Its petals fair unfolded there</div> - <div class="verse indent1">This gentle, snow-white flower.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APRILLE">APRILLE.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Aprille, alacke!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With sunnie laugh her snow-white cloke flung backe,</div> - <div class="verse indent5">And gailie cast aside;</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Then cryed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With little wilfulle gustes of raine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Because she could not have her cloke againe.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MAY">MAY.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_098.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Over the hilltop and down in the meadow-grass</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Heaven like dew on the waking earth lies:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Part of it, dear, is the blue of these violets;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Best of it all I find in your eyes.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="AUGUST">AUGUST.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">August, the month of virgins, is at hand.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shrill-voiced, the locust pipes a-field;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With flash of burnished shield</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Hovers the dragon-fly athwart the stream;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Like sea-bird slumbering in mid-day dream</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Floats one white cloud above the drowsy land.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">August, the month of virgins, is at hand.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Silent upon the shore sits Dorothy,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Scarce heeds the softly murmurous tide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fair sky, nor aught beside;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Gazing afar, half troubled, half content,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Awaits with folded hands a message sent</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Across the gleaming, restless, longing sea,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Silent upon the shore sits Dorothy.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CARLOS_CHRISTMAS">CARLO’S CHRISTMAS.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_148.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">May I come to your side, dear Mistress?</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I am only a dog, you see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the Christmas joy and gladness</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Perhaps are not meant for me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet I think the Master would let me,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">If I only begged to eat</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The crumbs that fell from His table,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And to lie at His blessèd feet.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I have heard the wonderful story</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of the sleeping flocks by night,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Bethlehem and the angels</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And the one Star, shining bright;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And I’ve longed, when I heard the story,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A shepherd-dog to be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For then it might seem that Christmas</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Was partly meant for me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But I only look up at the Master</div> - <div class="verse indent1">With a life that is veiled and dumb,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Content to share with the sparrow</div> - <div class="verse indent1">His love, and the falling crumb.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">May I lie at your feet, dear Mistress?</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I am only a dog, you see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But if I may serve you and love you,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Why, that is Christmas for me!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_SUN_WAS_RED_AND_LOW">THE SUN WAS RED AND LOW.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_042.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">In her palace porch a Princess—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The sun was red and low—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At her feet a subject kneeling—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sweet, far-off bells were pealing—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">He rose and turned to go.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I give you my love!” quoth the Princess</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To the subject, bending low.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ah, Goldenhair, what hast thou given!—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The sun is round and red—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As thou standest there in the portal,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A Princess’ love, to a mortal!—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The bells toll for the dead—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A kiss from the lips of the Princess,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">But never a word she said.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Still radiant stood the Princess—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The bells no longer tolled—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At her feet the subject kneeling—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The far-off chimes were pealing</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Their sweet notes as of old—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I give you my love!” quoth the Princess;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And the sun was a crown of gold.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="TWO_VISIONS">TWO VISIONS.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">A vision of Morn,—the dew’s on the grass,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The ocean’s aflame, and a sweet fisher-lass</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On its bosom’s unrest is afloat;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sunlight is fair on her shy, upturned face,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As she dips the bright oars with the daintiest grace,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the prow of her snowy-white boat</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Its way urges softly through each foaming crest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like sea-bird, wings fluttering, closing to rest;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In her eyes shines the light of the glad day, new-born,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The pure, gentle Spirit of Morn.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A Vision of Night,—the silvery stars</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Alight in the East, ere its golden bars</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span> - <div class="verse indent2">Have imprisoned the slumberous sun;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sea hoarsely breathing, the wind all astir,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sparrow crouched low in the boughs of the fir,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But she, the Beautiful One,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is awake, oh, awake, with her glorious eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Star-lighted and deep as the shadowy skies,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er the mist of her draperies, fleecy and white,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The radiant Spirit of Night.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MY_CREED">MY CREED.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_065.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">What is my creed, you ask, dear?</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I look in your grave brown eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And believe—in your womanly sweetness,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Your purity, clear as the skies.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ve faith—in your true, brave heart, dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Your life, with its joys and tears;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And far beyond storm-mist and sunshine,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Beyond weary days and long years,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I hope—in a Love that is waiting</div> - <div class="verse indent1">With infinite tenderness there</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To comfort us both, you and me, dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">For the burden He gives us to bear.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="AGAIN">AGAIN?</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_055.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Side by side, from their misty home,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Fell two bright drops of rain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The storm-wind hurled them far apart,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Never to meet again.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Hand in hand stood two dear friends,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Hearts wrung with sudden pain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The storm-wind hurled them far apart,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Never to meet again?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PANSY">PANSY.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_056.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Little flower with golden heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Strange, sweet mystery thou art.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who can tell the thoughts that lie</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the depths of thy dark eye!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dost thou dream of other lands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Waving palm-groves, burning sands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Days of languor, twilights tender,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Glorious nights of Orient splendor?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shy, sweet type of lovers’ bliss,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Art thou an immortal kiss</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By some fair sultana breathed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To all faithful love bequeathed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By the tiny-sandalled bride,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Velvet-lipped, and starry-eyed?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="GOLDEN-ROD">GOLDEN-ROD.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_098.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">O’er the dusty roadside bending</div> - <div class="verse indent1">With its wondrous weight of gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Can it be the rod enchanted</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Midas used in days of old?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Hush! perchance it is a princess</div> - <div class="verse indent1">In the sunlight nodding there,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Spell-bound by the wicked fairy,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Sleepy little Golden-Hair!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nay, it is Belshazzar’s banquet,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Where the drowsy monarch sups</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With his swarm of courtiers, drinking</div> - <div class="verse indent1">From the sacred, golden cups.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">See, I pluck his tiny kingdom—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Long ago it was decreed—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And divide it, dear, between us,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">You the Persian, I the Mede.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="TO_MARGARET_ON_ST_VALENTINES_DAY">TO MARGARET, ON ST. VALENTINE’S DAY.</h2> - -<p class="p1 center fs80">WITH A ROSE.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_148.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Margaret, pearl of dainty pearls,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Fairest of dimpled daisies,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My rose its velvet sail unfurls</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To bear thee love and praises.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It drifts from port, no longer mine—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bring back, wee boat, my Valentine!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="TO_A_VERY_SMALL_PINE">TO A VERY SMALL PINE.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_065.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">What song is in thy heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thou puny tree?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Weak pinelet that thou art,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Trembling at every shock,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Thy feebleness doth mock</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thy high degree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When rage o’er sea and land</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The tempests wild,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How canst thou e’er withstand</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Their might, or baffle them</div> - <div class="verse indent1">With that frail, quivering stem,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Poor forest child?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nay, wherefore scoff at thy</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Dimensions small?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For, folded close, I spy</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span> - <div class="verse indent1">A tiny bud, scarce seen</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Within its cradle green;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And after all,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In ages yet to come</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thy stately form,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No longer dwarfed and dumb,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">But chanting to the breeze</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Sublime, sweet melodies,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall breast the storm!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Beneath thine outstretched arms</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall children rest;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While, safe from all alarms,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Within thy shadows deep</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Wild birds their tryst shall keep</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And weave their nest.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">May such a lot be his</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who tends thee now!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With heavenly harmonies</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Serene amid his foes,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Outstretching as he grows</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In root and bough.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MOSSES">MOSSES.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_061.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Children of lowly birth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pitifully weak;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Humblest creatures of the wood,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To your peaceful brotherhood</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sweet the promise that was given</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like the dew from heaven:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Blessed are the meek,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They shall inherit the earth.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus are the words fulfilled:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Over all the earth</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mosses find a home secure.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the desolate mountain crest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Avalanche-ploughed and tempest-tilled,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The quiet mosses rest;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On shadowy banks of streamlets pure,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Kissed by the cataract’s shifting spray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For the bird’s small foot a soft highway;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">For the weary and sore distressed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In hopeless quest</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of a fabulous golden fleece,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Little sermons of peace.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Blessed children of lowly birth—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus they inherit the earth.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_MOUNT_OF_THE_HOLY_CROSS">THE MOUNT OF THE HOLY CROSS.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_063.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Down the rocky slopes and passes</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of the everlasting hills</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Murmur low the crystal waters</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of a thousand tiny rills;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Bearing from a lofty glacier</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To the valley, far below,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Health and strength for every creature,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">’Tis for them “He giveth snow.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">On thy streamlet’s brink the wild deer</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Prints with timid foot the moss;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To thy side the sparrow nestles,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Mountain of the Holy Cross!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Pure and white amid the heavens</div> - <div class="verse indent1">God hath set His glorious sign:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Symbol of a world’s deliverance,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Promise of a life divine.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHRISTMAS_SNOW">CHRISTMAS SNOW.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_065.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">What so merry as snow?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gleefully robing the grave old town</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In garb fantastic of ermine and down;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whispering at the window pane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then spreading its wee, white wings again</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till, alighting at last with noiseless feet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On tiptoe in the muffled street</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It dances to and fro.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">What so pure as snow?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Flakes like the thoughts of a little child,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Undefiling and undefiled;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wonderful, starry mysteries</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Falling softly out of the skies,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Decking with white the bare, brown earth</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In memory of the holy birth</div> - <div class="verse indent2">At Bethlehem, long ago.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_CREATION">THE “CREATION.”</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_065.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Winter is past. The changing, softened sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The robin’s cheery note, the sea-bird’s cry,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The willow pussies peeping from their nest;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The modest sparrow, with his dappled breast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Flitting beneath the lilacs by the wall;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The budding tree, the tender grass, with all</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Its tiny hands uplifted to the sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who reaches down and clasps them, one by one;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The mayflower sleeping on her snowy bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And while the night winds murmur, “She is dead!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her shy sweet eyes unclosing joyfully</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As if she heard the “Talitha, cumi!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The stream, escaping from the winter’s wrath,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And leaping swiftly down its rocky path,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Or pausing in some shadowy, foam-flecked pool,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Among the nodding ferns and mosses cool;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The floating clouds, the fragrant earth, the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With its low whispers of eternity,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All join in one grand harmony of praise</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To Him, Creator, Lord, Ancient of Days.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_HAPPY_VALLEY">THE HAPPY VALLEY.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_154.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Far away there sleeps a valley,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Cradled by the mighty hills,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lulled to rest by sweetest music,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Whispering winds and laughing rills.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Naught it knows of stormy passion,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Pestilence, or war’s alarms;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er it graze the peaceful cloud-flocks,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And the everlasting arms</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Of the mountains, underneath it,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Fold it closely to their breast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While at nightfall, on its bosom,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Golden moonbeams softly rest.</div> - </div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent1">Seasons come and seasons go,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Summer heats and winter’s snow,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Spring’s surprises, autumn’s peace,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Indian-summer’s golden fleece,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span> - <div class="verse indent1">Purple-bordered, crimson-clasped,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">By a hand already grasped</div> - <div class="verse indent1">That hath costlier treasures brought</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Than the wandering Argonaut.</div> - </div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A solemn hush is in the air.</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Happy voices die away;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Dark-robed fir-trees murmur, Pray!—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pray for Summer, young and fair.</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Crosses wave,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Souls to save,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Chant a requiem o’er her grave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Dead! the weeping autumn wind</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Shrouded her in fallen leaves;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Dead! amid her golden sheaves,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pray—ye that are left behind!</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Crosses wave,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Souls to save,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Chant a requiem o’er her grave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Pray ye, pray! for Summer lies</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Dead, upon the icy ground;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Heap for her a snow-white mound,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While the winter wind replies:</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span> - <div class="verse indent3">Crosses wave,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Souls to save,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Chant a requiem o’er her grave.</div> - </div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sweetly, through the low, sad murmur</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of the fir-trees’ requiem,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Flows a song of hope and gladness,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Strong, triumphant over them.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Summer is not dead, but sleepeth!</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Soon the maiden shall arise,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the world again be gladdened</div> - <div class="verse indent1">With the sunshine of her eyes.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then the valley, too, shall waken</div> - <div class="verse indent1">From the pale trance of her night;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Breezes soft shall kiss her forehead,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Radiant in the morning light.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Years may come and go, but ever</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Shall the valley rest among</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mountain mists and golden moonbeams;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">While the hills, with myriad tongue,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Lullabys shall croon above it,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Streamlets laugh, and harebells chime,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fir-trees murmur, cloud-lambs wander,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Storms chant harmonies sublime.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And for those who love the valley</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Peace and rest are waiting there,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With the seasons onward moving,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Each more gladsome, each more fair.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="DOLLIES_SPRING">DOLLIE’S SPRING.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_063.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Deep within a mountain forest</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Breezes soft are whispering</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Through the dark-robed firs and hemlocks,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Over Dollie’s Spring.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Swiftly glides the tiny streamlet,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">While its laughing waters sing</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sweetest song in all the woodland,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“I—am—Dollie’s—Spring!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In the dim wood’s noontide shadow</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Nod the ferns, and glistening</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a thousand diamond dew-drops,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Bend o’er Dollie’s Spring.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Shyly on its mossy border</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Blue-eyed Dollie, lingering,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Views the sweet face in the crystal</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Depths of Dollie’s Spring.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Years shall come and go, and surely</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To the little maiden bring</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Trials sore and joys uncounted,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">While, by Dollie’s Spring,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Still the firs shall lift their crosses</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Heavenward, softly murmuring</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Prayers for her, where’er she wander,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Far from Dollie’s Spring.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_THIRD_DAY">THE THIRD DAY.</h2> - -<p class="p1 fs70 center">LINES SENT WITH A FOSSIL FROND.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_148.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Many thousand years ago</div> - <div class="verse indent0">God looked down and bade me grow;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Why it was, I never knew—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now I see it was for you!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_SEVENTH_DAY">THE SEVENTH DAY.</h2> - -<p class="p1 fs70 center">SENT WITH A CLUSTER OF MAIDEN-HAIR FERNS.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_063.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Doubtless you are much surprised</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That we are not fossilized,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Geologic, or antique,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Only little ferns and meek.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet we grew at His command,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Touched by that same loving Hand</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Which the day from night divided,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Planets on their courses guided,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Set on high the firmament,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Alps from Alps asunder rent,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All the earth with life invested;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And He made us while He—“<i>rested</i>.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="FERN_LIFE">FERN LIFE.</h2> - -<p class="p1 center">I. <span class="smcap">Its Home.</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_065.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Within a shadowy ravine</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Far hidden from the sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A fern its wee, soft fronds of green</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Unfolded, one by one.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">From morn till eve no twittering flock</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Nor insect hovered nigh:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Its cradle was the lichened rock,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The storm its lullaby.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">By night above the dark abyss</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The stars their vigils kept,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And white-winged mists stooped low to kiss</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The baby, while it slept.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span></p> -<p class="p1 center">II. <span class="smcap">At School.</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Weeks passed away; the tiny fern</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Frond after frond unfurled,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And waited patiently to learn</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Its mission in the world.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">By fir-trees draped in mosses gray</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The willing fern was taught,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And once each day a single ray</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Its sunny greeting brought.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="p1 center">III. <span class="smcap">Asleep.</span></p> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her cradle songs the North Wind sung</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And whispered far and wide,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until a thousand harebells swung</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Along the mountain side.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She sung of far-off twilight land,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Moss-muffled forests dim,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, to her mountain organ grand,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The aged pine-trees’ hymn.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span></p> -<p class="p1 center">IV. <span class="smcap">A Cradle-Song of the Night Wind.</span></p> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The pines have gathered upon the hill</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To watch for the old-new moon;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I hear their murmuring—“Hush, be still!</div> - <div class="verse indent1">’Tis coming—coming soon!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The brown thrush sings to his meek brown wife</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Who broods below on her nest:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Of all the world and of all my life</div> - <div class="verse indent1">’Tis you I love the best!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But the baby moon is wide awake,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And its eyes are shining bright;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The pines in their arms this moon must take</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And rock him to sleep to-night.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="p1 center">V. <span class="smcap">The Chime.</span></p> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Softly swinging to and fro,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Harebells tinkle, sweet and low!</div> - <div class="verse indent1">All the world is fast asleep,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Birds and folks and woolly sheep;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Far above us towers the mountain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Far below, an unseen fountain</div> - <div class="verse indent1">From its rocky cradle deep,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Like a child, laughs in its sleep.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All our faces shyly hidden,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As the fir-trees oft have bidden,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Softly bending, sweet notes blending,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Moonbeams climbing,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Wee bells chiming,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Harebells tinkle, star-gleams twinkle,</div> - <div class="verse indent5">To and fro,</div> - <div class="verse indent5">To and fro,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Sweet—sweet and low.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="p1 center">VI. <span class="smcap">The Hymn of the Northern Pines.</span></p> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent3">Sure—sure—sure—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are the promises He hath spoken,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His word hath never been broken.</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Pure—pure—pure—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are the thoughts and the hearts of His chosen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As crystals the North Wind hath frozen.</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Strong—strong—strong—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Underneath are the arms everlasting;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On them our cares we are casting.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span> - <div class="verse indent3">Long—long—long—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have we sung of the life He doth give us—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His mercy and love shall outlive us.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="p1 center">VII. <span class="smcap">At Last.</span></p> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Far from its mountain home the fern</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Has found a resting-place;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A maiden has begun to learn</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To love its winsome face.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But when at night the north winds smite</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Against the frosty pane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The fern is listening with delight</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To hear their voice again.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For in their solemn murmuring</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The pine-trees chant once more,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The harebells chime, the thrushes sing,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The mountain torrents roar;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Again the dark-robed fir-trees stand</div> - <div class="verse indent1">About its mossy bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And hold aloft with trembling hand</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Their crosses o’er its head.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PAUSES_AND_CLAUSES">PAUSES AND CLAUSES.</h2> - -<p class="p1 center fs80">TO MY LITTLE NIECE, KITTIE.</p> - -<p class="p1 center fs80">[With a Maltese Kitten.]</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_080.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Kittie Mabel, will you take</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This gift, for the giver’s sake?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Verse and song and roundelay</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Will be yours this merry day;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mine are all unfit to send,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Tattered rhymes, too poor to mend.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But, although I haven’t any</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Songs, my thoughts are swift and many.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All are flying straight to you,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And your heart, so sweet and true,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I am sure, dear, won’t decline</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This small, furry Valentine.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="TO_M_mdash_WITH_A_COPY_OF_THE">TO M——, WITH A COPY OF “THE PETERKIN PAPERS.”</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">A Boston girl prefers a set of volumes that are uniform,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In Syriac, Chaldaic, Sanskrit, Arabic, or Cuneiform,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For these will test her paleontological ability,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And not insult her culture by superfluous facility.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She loves a scientific pedant, or, to use a synonyme,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A specimen, with printed name and label fair to pin on him.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Alas! I fear she will despise a book without a mystery,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That never once alludes to Art, or Mediæval History;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">But as she is compelled each day to recognize and meet her kin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I trust she will accept at least this tale of Mrs. Peterkin.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MEMORIAL_POEM">MEMORIAL POEM.</h2> - -<p class="p1 center fs80">READ AT THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL ASSOCIATION, APRIL 29, 1886.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">A Latin-School poem? ’Twere easy to write</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On a theme so suggestive an epic at sight,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An ode, full of fire, or, if that wouldn’t do,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An Eclogue, or even a Georgic or two,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With allusions to classical roots, and Greek ponies</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hard ridden and worn—I confess that my own is.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A poet could scarce fail of making a hit,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Inspired by the presence of beauty and wit!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Alas, for the days of our ancestors bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the wassail was drunk, brave stories were told,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">While the mirth of the feasters grew louder and higher,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the bard struck the quivering chords of the lyre,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Without an apology, blush, or evasion,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or stammering reference to—“this occasion,”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As raising his voice o’er the tumult and din,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He recounted in song all the fights they’d been in.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Let bygones be bygones, the past be the past;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We live in the world of to-day, and at last</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Society calls for less noise, more decorum,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Remarks less akin to the street than the forum;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nay, mounting in civilization still higher,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bard soon must go—perhaps even the lyre!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And if things should be ever at sixes and sevens,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There lies an appeal to his Honor Judge Devens.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And what, do you ask, is this tirade about?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Why not, as in Hunting the Snark, “leave that out”?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ah, can I forget why we schoolmates are here?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How often we laugh when we’d fain hide a tear!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The ripples are bright on the waves of mid-ocean;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Eyes dance and smiles play over depths of emotion;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, dear Alma Mater, be patient to-night,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Our hearts, misconstrued, thou canst translate aright!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">How memory pictures bright scenes to us all!—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The old, shaky building, the school-room, the hall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The way the grim doctor read Greek verbs and Latin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The desk where he wrote and the chair that he sat in,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His upraised forefingers and forehead portentous,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">The terror we felt when we found that he meant us;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Eyes gleaming below that great frontlet of hair,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ah, could we have known of what really was there,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And fathomed that grand heart, so gentle and true,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beneath the stern front that bent o’er me and you!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Those lessons—how useless and tiresome they seemed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While we “mulled” over Cæsar, drew pictures, and dreamed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How Xenophon’s mighty Anabasis came</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To cloud our young lives, till we hated his name,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The characters playing strange pranks on the pages,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While still we droned on, “He—advanced—thirteen—stages.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We wished the Ten Thousand had all broken loose</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Before they began on their endless <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">σταθμοῦς;</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">We preferred that they wouldn’t get on quite so fast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We wished that their leader had not <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">ἀναβάσ-ed;</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">But Xenophon brought them all safe to the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He got out of the woods, and, at last, so did we.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Did you march on the Common? How proud were we then</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To be reckoned in newspapers “two hundred men”!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How the uniforms shone as we wheeled o’er the grass—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No koh-i-noor gleams like those buttons of brass!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Our scabbards and sashes were artfully dangled,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And if they at times in our ankles got tangled,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The terror to others was full compensation</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For dangers attending our perambulation.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Was it fun? There are those within reach of my words</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who remember when ploughshares were cleft into swords;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When hushed was the voice of youth’s laughter and mirth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As the flag, broken-winged, fluttered, bleeding, to earth.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are there men who will cherish their country’s last breath?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are there three hundred thousand who love—to the death?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hark!—the answering cry to that agonized call—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the Latin-School boys are the foremost of all!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">We have proved we’ve a banner, a country, a God,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By thousands of arguments—under the sod!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who knows if the dear boys who fell in the fight</div> - <div class="verse indent0">May not hold their reunion, as we do, to-night?</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">From the morning-land fair, and a rest never ending,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their voices, well-loved, with our own still are blending;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hark!—can we not hear the sweet echoes to-day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As from camp grounds afar comes the soft reveillé?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, soldiers, still serving in ranks like their own,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But a little more quiet, more dignified, grown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Still fighting from morning till set of the sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each day new defeats or fresh victories won,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pressing onward, undaunted still, shoulder to shoulder,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With our hearts growing young as our muskets grow older,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Let us take for our motto, emblazoned in light,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That stern old command of <i>Forward—Guide Right!</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="footnotes"> -<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> Presiding at the Dinner.</p> - -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="DANDELION">DANDELION.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">A dandelion in a meadow grew</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Among the waving grass and cowslips yellow;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dining on sunshine, breakfasting on dew,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">He was a right contented little fellow.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Each morn his golden head he lifted straight,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To catch the first sweet breath of coming day;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each evening closed his sleepy eyes, to wait</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Until the long, cool night had passed away.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">One afternoon, in sad, unquiet mood,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I paused beside this tiny, bright-faced flower,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And begged that he would tell me, if he could,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The secret of his joy through sun and shower.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He looked at me with open eyes, and said:</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“I know the sun is somewhere shining clear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when I cannot see him overhead,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I try to be a little sun, right here!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MARJORIE">MARJORIE.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_098.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">“Oh, dear,” said Farmer Brown, one day,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“I never saw such weather!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The rain will spoil my meadow hay</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And all my crops together.”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His little daughter climbed his knee;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I guess the sun will shine,” said she.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But if the sun,” said Farmer Brown,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“Should bring a dry September,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With vines and stalks all wilted down,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And fields scorched to an ember—”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Why, then, ’twill rain,” said Marjorie,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The little girl upon his knee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ah, me!” sighed Farmer Brown, that fall,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“Now, what’s the use of living?</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">No plan of mine succeeds at all—”</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“Why, next month comes Thanksgiving!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And then, of course,” said Marjorie,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“We’re all as happy as can be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Well, what should I be thankful for?”</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Asked Farmer Brown. “My trouble</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This summer has grown more and more,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">My losses have been double,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ve nothing left—” “Why, you’ve got me!”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said Marjorie, upon his knee.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PRIMROSE">PRIMROSE.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_042.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">In the meadow, cool and sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the cowslips bathe their feet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the banks of Scottish burns,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Down among the nodding ferns,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the shadows come and go,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cheerful Primrose loves to grow.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Little flower she is, and meek;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And if she could only speak,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I am sure her words would be</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whispered very timidly.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Skylark, hush your joyous singing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bonnie harebells, cease your ringing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Listen, listen, drowsy bee,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is the Primrose calling thee?</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Tiny rootlets white and brown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Leaves as soft as cygnet’s down,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fringèd petals, dainty pink,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Peeping o’er the burnie’s brink,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That is Primrose, sweet and true,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I love her—do not you?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENT">CONTENT.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_056.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">“Little Herb Robert, what makes you so pink?</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The daisy is taller and whiter.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“The sun came along, and, what do you think?</div> - <div class="verse indent1">It kissed me, and so I grew brighter.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Grasshopper, why are you merry to-day?”</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“I always am glad, if you please, sir,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Because I can hop on the clover and hay,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Nor have to fly up in the trees, sir.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Sea-weed, poor creature! you’re left high and dry,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The tide has gone out; you are dying!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ah, no, I am sure ’twill come back by and by.</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I shall live, never fear; I’ll keep trying.”</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Song-sparrow, how can you sing all the day?”</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“Sweet food to my young I am bringing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when I am working for them, in this way,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of course I can never help singing.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Child, leave the hot, dusty roadside, and come.”</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“I’d go, for I know that you love me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But, please, I’d rather stay here, near my home,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">For Papa’s in there, just above me.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="WITH_A_SMALL_LETTER-OPENER">WITH A SMALL LETTER-OPENER.</h2> - -<p class="p1 center fs80">TO W. B. W.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_098.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Once more ’tis the night before Christmas; once more</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Christ-child is entering each open door;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The holly-bough glistens, the earth is all white,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the jubilant heavens the Star is a-light.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">May I sit by your hearthstone once more, as of old?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My story—a brief one—shall quickly be told.</div> - </div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">We bring you no <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Sèvres</span> nor Japanese Kaga,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But only an innocent kind of a dagger.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">(Allow me a few editorial “we’s,”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The plural is handy in rhymes such as these.)</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">The blade is no marvel, ’tis not Muramasa—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">(“What’s that?” No one knows. Ask your daughter, from Vassar.)</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nay, we must admit, if perchance you should ask us,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Twas forged in the States, and not at Damascus.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Too slim for a trinket, too large for a charm,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Too small for a weapon, too dull to do harm;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Too blunt for a bodkin, of life to deplete us,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Twould not even serve for Hamlet’s <i>quietus.</i></div> - <div class="verse indent0" lang="la" xml:lang="la">Cur igitur tibi gladiolum dabo—</div> - <div class="verse indent0" lang="la" xml:lang="la">Quemadmodum hoc explicare parabo?</div> - <div class="verse indent0" lang="de" xml:lang="de">Sie können nicht ganz die Verwerrung verstehen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0" lang="de" xml:lang="de">Ich will zum Puncte deswegen nun gehen.</div> - <div class="verse indent0" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Ce poignard petit est une clef de mon cœur,</div> - <div class="verse indent0" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Que je donne quelquefois à mon ami, ma sœur,</div> - <div class="verse indent0" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">A celui, enfin, qui reçoit, dans mes lettres,</div> - <div class="verse indent0" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Les mots le plus tendres que je puis y mettre.</div> - <div class="verse indent0" lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">κἀγὼ πρὸς ὑμᾶς τὴν κλεῖδα λαβεῖν</div> - <div class="verse indent0" lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">ἐθέλειν ἐλπίζω καί με νῦν φιλεῖν.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">(If once on a jingle like this <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">voi entrate</span>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You must finish, or—<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">ogni speranza lasciate!</span>)</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I wish I knew Indian, but somehow nobody</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Seems ever to learn more than “Passamaquoddy,”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or “Mooselucmaguntic,” “Welokennebacook,”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oquossuc,” “Musketequid,” and “Quantibacook.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To compose in that language you will not deny</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is difficult. If you don’t think so—just try.</div> - </div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">’Tis nonsense, dear friend, but I feel sure that you</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Good-naturedly smile, and yet see ’tis true.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Unconscious as Lady Macbeth in her walking,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We give in our letters more <i>self</i> than in talking.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Perhaps when our Father looks lovingly down</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">On our wandering footsteps in country and town,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Our burdens, our hindrances all, He can see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And read in His wisdom more surely than we.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Far more than when kneeling by altar or crypt,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Our deeds make the record, in broad, cursive script.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thank God that the Reader and Father are one,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That the poor, blotted copy-book, hardly begun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is read by Him only who wrote on the sand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the torn covers folded at last by His hand.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hark! Christmas bells ring for the birth of the Son—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Good-night! May He help us and bless us each one.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="SEA-GIRLS">SEA-GIRLS.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">A flutter of white</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On Appledore’s shoulder,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The prettiest sight!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A flutter of white,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">One by one they a-light</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the dark, jutting bowlder;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A flutter of white</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On Appledore’s shoulder.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Six girls in a flock</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the white sea is breaking</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Against the gray rock.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Six girls in a flock—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their gay voices mock</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The din it is making;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Six girls in a flock</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the white sea is breaking.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Each flutters and clings</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the torn granite edges,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The merriest things!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each flutters and clings.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have they feathers and wings,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As they perch on the ledges?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each flutters and clings</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the torn granite edges.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="HOMEWARD">HOMEWARD.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="p1 center fs80">A TWILIGHT SONG OF THE WHEEL.</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Away from the office and desk at last,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The business-haunted room,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The roar of a city, hurrying past,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The heat, the worry, the gloom,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the glorious red of the sunset sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The sweet, cold wine of the air,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the frozen road, my wheel and I,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A dusty, rusty pair!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Push—Push—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Two birds in a bush</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are laughing to see me hop;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">On, with a bound</div> - <div class="verse indent1">From the frozen ground,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With never a sway nor stop.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Over and over the pedals fly—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come on!” to the twittering bird I cry,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">As over and over the wheels fly past her;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Over and over, still faster and faster,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On through the ice-cold stream of air,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On where the road is frozen and bare.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Roll—Roll—Roll—Roll—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Silent and swift as a death-freed soul.</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Glide—Glide—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On the smooth, black tide</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of the ocean of night flowing in from the West,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Over and over, and on without rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Swifter and swifter, till over the crest</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of the hill, and down to the valley below,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Through the murk of the mist and the white of the snow—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now my steed falters, as, breathless and slow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Up the steep hillside he labors and grinds,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Grinds—Grinds—Grinds—Grinds—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Across and across he turns and winds,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Sand-clogged and rock-hindered, without hope or faith,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No longer a soul, but a sin-burdened wraith—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till, reaching the summit, he spurns the dark hill,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And onward he plunges, for good or for ill,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Over and onward, and onward and over,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He reels and he spins like a jolly old rover.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Roll—Roll—Roll—Roll—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Backward he flies to our one dear goal,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the whirling shall cease, and the rider shall rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And soft, trembling lips to my own shall be pressed.</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Slow—Slow—Slow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Slowly—more slowly—we go—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What, darling, so far on the road to-night,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To welcome us both with your eyes’ sweet light!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The wheel no longer has need to roam—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Be quiet, old fellow! we’re safe, safe at home.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_NONSENSE-SONG_FOR_M_mdash">A NONSENSE-SONG FOR M——.</h2> - -<p class="p1 center fs80">FROM THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p class="p1 center">I.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_107.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Breathing, blowing,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The cool breeze is blowing,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">High in the tree-tops,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Low in the grasses,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Softly it passes;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The daisies it kisses</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And never one misses,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And laughs at the buttercups,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Breathing and blowing,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Its blessing bestowing</div> - <div class="verse indent1">On all that it passes</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Among the low grasses</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And daisies and buttercups,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span> - <div class="verse indent3">Never one misses,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">But each one it kisses.</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Softer and fainter it grows,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Faintly and softly it blows,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Breathing, sighing,</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Dying,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Sweetly and softly it goes,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Goes—goes!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="p1 center">II.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Hark to the wind from the mountain-tops blowing!</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Raining, snowing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Scattering ice-drops and crimson leaves blowing!</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Teasing the burnies</div> - <div class="verse indent3">With all their soft fernies,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Bending and waving</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Among the green mosses;</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Roaring and raving,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">The long hair it tosses</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Of each little maiden</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Beside the brown burnies</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> - <div class="verse indent3">With crimson leaves laden</div> - <div class="verse indent3">All bound for the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">With wee boaties laden,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">All crimson to see,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">And high in the tree-tops</div> - <div class="verse indent3">It rushes and roars;</div> - <div class="verse indent3">It leaps from the hill-tops</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And hurls with its might on the long, rocky shores</div> - <div class="verse indent3">The floods of the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All the time roaring and shouting and blowing,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Icy drops throwing,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Blowing, snowing,</div> - <div class="verse indent5">It roars!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="p1 center">III.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">What shall the Soft Breeze do for thee?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What shall I do with my faint, sweet blowing,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Breathing, blowing,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My blessing bestowing?</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> - <div class="verse indent3">I pray thee, Soft Breeze,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Do thou blow, for me!</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Stir in the trees</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And breathe in the grasses,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">The soft, low grasses,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And when the tall buttercup,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Tall in the grasses,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Thy light foot passes,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Gather for me</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A wee grain of gold from its treasures rare,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A ray of the sunlight it treasures there;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then beg of the daisies a bit of their white,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Pure, pure white,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And two tiny petals, crimson tipped,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Because in God’s love they have just been dipped,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bearing the sunlight, the whiteness and love,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Breathing, blowing,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Fair blessings bestowing,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Among the soft grasses</div> - <div class="verse indent3">And tree-tops above,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">High in the cloud-land’s silvery sheen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Low in the winding valleys between,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span> - <div class="verse indent3">Seek my wee girlie</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Who’s just thirteen,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">With hair so curly,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The curliest hair you ever have seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The brownest hair you ever have seen,—</div> - <div class="verse indent3">With eyes so blue,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Like skies so blue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And hide thy gifts in her heart so true,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For to-day she’s just thirteen,</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Thirteen.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="p1 center">IV.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">What shall the Fierce Wind do for thee?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What shall I do, with my terrible roaring,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Raving, roaring,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Icy drops pouring?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent3">I pray thee, Fierce Wind,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Do thou roar, for me!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shatter the crags of the desolate mountain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Scatter the drops of the trembling fountain,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Ride on the waves of the tossing sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Tossing and spouting,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Roaring and shouting;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Snatch a bright leaf from the burnie’s brink,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And a drop from the pool where the white lambs drink,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A wisp of hair from the maiden fern,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bending over the laughing burn;</div> - <div class="verse indent3">The health of the seas,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">The life of the trees,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">The beauty of fernies,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">The faith of bright burnies,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Life and beauty and health and faith,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whiteness and sunshine, love stronger than death,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">These to the maidie that’s just thirteen</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Shall all be given to-day, I ween,—</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Shall all be given,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">In blessing from Heaven,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">For now she’s just thirteen,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">And her eyes are so blue,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Sweet skies so blue,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">And her heart so true,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And to-day she’s just thirteen,</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Thirteen.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="footnotes"> -<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Suggested by George MacDonald’s little -book of that name.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="TRANSLATIONS">TRANSLATIONS.</h2> -</div> - -<p class="p1 center fs80">SONGS FROM HEINE.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_042.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">In the north-land standeth a pine-tree</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Alone, on a hill-top bare.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It sleepeth beneath a mantle</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of snow and frost-work rare.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It dreameth long of a palm-tree</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Which, silent as a star,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the burning desert mourneth</div> - <div class="verse indent1">In Orient lands afar.</div> - </div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A <span class="allsmcap">LOVELY</span> flower thou seemest,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">So tender, sweet, and true;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, as I gaze, steals o’er me</div> - <div class="verse indent1">A sadness strange and new.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon thy peaceful forehead</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I’d lay my hands, in prayer</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That God may ever keep thee</div> - <div class="verse indent1">As tender, true, and fair.</div> - </div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Eagerly I cry, awaking,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“Cometh she to-day?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Eventide—my sad heart, breaking,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Speaks the answer, Nay!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In the night I know but sorrow</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Till the dawn’s faint beam;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mist-enwrapped, in each to-morrow,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Agony of dream.</div> - </div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He who for the first time loveth,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Godlike, worlds of bliss doth rule;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He who twice that joy essayeth,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Luckless wight—he is a fool.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Loving where no love returneth,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Such a fool, alas!—am I;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sun and moon and stars are laughing,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I laugh, too,—<i>and die</i>.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Little maid, with lips so rosy,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">With thy blue eyes, sweet and clear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All my thoughts to thee are flying,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">All my life is with thee, dear!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Slowly pace the leaden-footed</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Hours that mark the winter’s night;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ah, that I were now beside thee,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Gazing, murmuring my delight!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Kisses would I press, my darling,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">On thy little hand to-night;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nay—a tear should fall, unbidden,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">On thy little hand so white.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="center">(<span class="smcap" lang="de" xml:lang="de">Eichendorff.</span>)</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It was as if the heavens</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Had kissed the earth to rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she lay dreaming of them</div> - <div class="verse indent1">With flowers upon her breast.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The fields and murmuring woodland</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Were bathed in fairest light,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So soft the breeze’s whisper,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">So starry-clear the night!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">On outspread wings uplifted</div> - <div class="verse indent1">My spirit fain would roam</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Through cloudland realms unbounded,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To rest at last—at home.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="IN_MORNING-LAND">IN MORNING-LAND.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_042.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">In morning-land the radiant, rosy skies</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each moment gleam with some new-born surprise,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or flush with dawning hope; the balmy air</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is laden with a thousand perfumes rare</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And thrilled with chords of strange, sweet melodies.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">On that blest shore, which all around us lies,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Peace reigns supreme, and joyous carols rise</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From every shaded copse and pleasaunce fair</div> - <div class="verse indent9">In Morning-land.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Knowst thou the land? Wherever friendly eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beam faith and constancy; where true love flies,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Glad tidings of good-will and peace to bear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where service is divine, God everywhere,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There dawns the perfect day that never dies</div> - <div class="verse indent9">In Morning-land.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="SIC_ITUR_AD_ASTRA"><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">SIC ITUR AD ASTRA.</span></h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_042.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">I stood in a valley; above me</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Uprose a mighty hill;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The air was vibrant with music</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of insect, bird, and rill.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The flowers among the grasses</div> - <div class="verse indent1">About my weary feet</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Swung all their tiny censers,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Till perfume, heavy-sweet,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Was shed abroad in the sunlight</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And wafted to and fro,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While droning bees at the altar</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Their <i>Aves</i> chanted low.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A soft breeze touched my forehead,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And whispered, “Peace, be still!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But ever above me towered</div> - <div class="verse indent1">That silent, awful hill,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose peaks in mists were hidden,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Whose slopes were brown and bare;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And yet, as I gazed, I murmured,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“O God! If I were there!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For I knew that the peace of the valley</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Was never meant for me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I longed for the mountain summit,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Its pure winds blowing free,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Its life of strength and vigor,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Its thoughts of the good and true,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Its steadfast crags of granite</div> - <div class="verse indent1">In the far-off, heavenly blue.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I stand in the valley, and ever</div> - <div class="verse indent1">I gaze at the mountain bare,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I long for a hand to help me—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">O God! That I were there!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_COMET_NOVEMBER_1882">THE COMET; NOVEMBER, 1882.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_065.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Wondrous portent, set on high,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Moving through the silent sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Clothed in formless majesty,—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Who can read those words of light</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the star-lit wall of night?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“<i>Mene, Tekel</i>,” dost thou write?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nay, thou bright Star in the East,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er no haughty monarch’s feast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Prophet nor Chaldæan priest,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Doth thy gentle radiance shine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nobler resting-place is thine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Tis a Baby’s brow divine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With the waning of the year</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From afar thou dost appear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Telling us that Christ is near.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="HIS_STAR">“HIS STAR.”</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_061.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Christmas Eve—and the mellow light</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of the Star in the East was aglow</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er the Magi, hastening through the night,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the desert, long ago.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Christmas Eve—and the gentle light</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of the Star in the East was aglow</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er the lambs, asleep with their shepherds by night,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On the hillside, long ago.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Christmas Eve—and the golden light</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of the Star in the East was aglow</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er a Baby’s brow, in the holy night,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In a manger, long ago.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Christmas Eve—and the blessèd light</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of the Star in the East is aglow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As it shone of old, through the sweet, still night,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’er Bethlehem, long ago.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="LICHT_MEHR_LICHT">“<span lang="de" xml:lang="de">LICHT, MEHR LICHT!</span>”</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_055.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Sob, cold wind of the sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">For the rest that never shall come!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The stars have gathered on high,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The moon’s white lips are dumb,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And over her face like a shroud</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lies the wrack of the drifting cloud.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Moan, dark sea of the night!</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Fling up thine arms and implore</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The heavens for light, sweet light,—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">One sparkle along the shore</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From the sun that left thee to moan</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the horror of darkness—alone.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Shudder, thou one human soul,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Forever alone in the night;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose billows unceasingly roll</div> - <div class="verse indent1">In desolate seeking for light!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The moon’s white face is thine own,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thine, thine the wind’s monotone.</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Thyself art the night—</div> - <div class="verse indent3">O God, light, light!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PSALM_LXXX">PSALM LXXX.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_039.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">“Turn us again, O God of Hosts, and cause</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Thy face to shine.”</div> - <div class="verse indent6">When fades the light of day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And night in silence steals across the sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We know it is not that the glorious sun</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Has left his steadfast throne amid the heavens,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But that our little earth has turned away</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And hid its face till morning shall appear.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So may we, in our blackest night of doubt</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And troubled thought, return once more to Thee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till Thou hast risen, O Sun of Righteousness,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And all the evil things of darkness born</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have fled before the shining of Thy face.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="UNTO_THE_PERFECT_DAY">UNTO THE PERFECT DAY.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">A morning-glory bud, entangled fast</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Amid the meshes of its winding stem,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Strove vainly with the coils about it cast,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Until the gardener came and loosened them.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A suffering human life entangled lay</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Among the tightening coils of its own past;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Gardener came, the fetters fell away,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The life unfolded to the sun at last.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="HYMN_FOR_CHRISTMAS_EVE">HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS EVE.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">A mighty world is hushed to-night</div> - <div class="verse indent3">In sweet expectancy;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er snowy field and wood the stainless light</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Of the clear moon</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Shines broad and free;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">While peacefully the earth—</div> - <div class="verse indent4">A great white throne</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Prepared for One who soon</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall rise and claim it for His own—</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Awaits His birth.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The hearts of all mankind are turned</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Toward lowly Bethlehem;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For in the east the wondrous Star, that burned</div> - <div class="verse indent4">In days of old,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Still beckons them.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span> - <div class="verse indent2">Back o’er the centuries,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Storm-swept and bare,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">It moves, until, behold!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It stands above the manger where</div> - <div class="verse indent5">The Young Child lies.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O Christmas chimes, right joyfully</div> - <div class="verse indent3">Ring out the tidings glad</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To stars and frosty air and listening sky,—</div> - <div class="verse indent4">“Good-will to men!”</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Till all the sad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The weary and oppressed,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Their gifts shall bring</div> - <div class="verse indent4">To Him whose birth again</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sheds peace on earth, and, worshipping,</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Shall be at rest.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="BLIND">BLIND.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_039.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Throughout the weary day an Eastern sun</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Had poured his beams upon the whitened walls</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Jericho, till e’en the drooping palms</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Refused to comfort with their wonted shade</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The passer-by. As in a furnace blast—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The glaring pavement spread beneath, o’erhead</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A brazen, cloudless sky—all living things</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Had gasped, with parching lips, and feebly prayed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For night.</div> - <div class="verse indent4">’Twas eventide; the northern hills</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Breathed forth a blessing on the multitude</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That thronged incessant through the city gates.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Softly the mist crept forth, and o’er their heads</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her dewy wings unfolded. In the west</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The molten brass of noontide turned to gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And shone like some fair missal’s page, with hymns</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And promises illumined.</div> - <div class="verse indent11">One there was</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Among the restless souls beneath its glow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For whom the heavenly message was not writ;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For whom no sunset gleamed, nor morning dawned.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oft had he listened to the merry shout</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And laughter of the children at their sports,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But ne’er had looked upon their sparkling eyes.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Alone, he walked in darkness through a life</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of nights, with never hope of day. But hark!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon his ear there falls a gentle voice,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose tones of strange and heavenly sweetness thrill</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His very heart. “’Tis Jesus, ’tis the Christ</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Nazareth!” The woes of heavy years,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">The quick-born hope, the old-time, dull despair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The agony of help so near at hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet passing, blend in one wild, bitter cry:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Jesus, thou Son of David, I am blind!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have mercy on me!”—and the Saviour hears.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Blind Bartimeus by the road-side waits</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In anguish mute and trembling, when, O joy!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bringer of glad tidings is at hand:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O weary, heavy-laden one, whose eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have long been sightless to behold the truth,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Perchance in darkness walking even now,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And longing with an aching heart for light,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Master’s message echoes sweetly still:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Be of good comfort, rise, He calleth thee.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And humbly kneeling at His feet, the words</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of healing, spoken in the olden time</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To him who prayed for help, thou too shalt hear:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Receive thy sight, thy faith hath made thee</div> - <div class="verse indent0">whole.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="REFUGE">REFUGE.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_133.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">How bad I am, O Lord, Thou knowest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Deserving naught that Thou bestowest,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">But wandering each day</div> - <div class="verse indent7">Astray.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thy gifts are perfect, never ceasing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The debt against me still increasing,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And yet I turn to flee</div> - <div class="verse indent7">From Thee!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oft when my path is dark and narrow</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There flutters down some tiny sparrow</div> - <div class="verse indent4">To tell me of that love</div> - <div class="verse indent7">Above.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When daylight comes, I’m e’er forgetting</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The message sweet; my sins besetting</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Return, my soul to stain</div> - <div class="verse indent7">Again.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And so I cling to Thee, my Saviour,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Despairing by my own behavior</div> - <div class="verse indent4">To cleanse myself from sin</div> - <div class="verse indent7">Within.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">My cares I yield—for me Thou carest;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I take my cross—its weight Thou sharest</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Henceforth my will be Thine,</div> - <div class="verse indent7">Not mine.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="GUIDO_RENIS_ECCE_HOMO">GUIDO RENI’S “<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">ECCE HOMO.</span>”</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_098.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">O thorn-crowned head, the sins of all the world</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Have pierced thy brow;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O gentle face, the woes of all the world</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Thou bearest now!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O patient eyes, to heaven in meekness turned,</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Meekness divine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Within your suffering depths what wondrous light</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Of love doth shine!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O faltering, parted lips, with anguish wrung,</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Your words still live</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And plead for us,—“They know not what they do—</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Father, forgive!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="ON_CHRISTMAS_EVE">ON CHRISTMAS EVE.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_039.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">The day’s loud footfalls die away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And stealing forth from her retreat</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like a hooded nun, the twilight gray</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Glides softly down the busy street.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With healing touch her gentle hand</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rests on the city’s fevered brow;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Its throbbing pulse is quiet now,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And peace descends on the weary land.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Since morn the dull December sky</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Has wept and moaned incessantly;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The tall, gaunt forms of shivering trees</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have groaned and rattled their bony arms,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till, startled by the restless breeze,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The withered sprites of summer leaves</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have gathered to whisper their vague alarms,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now whirling aloft to the dripping eaves,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Now wavering slow to earth again,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Borne down by the pitiless, hopeless rain.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon my hearth the ruddy light</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dances and plays at the fire-dogs’ feet</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Chasing the shadows out of sight;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Around the walls it follows them fast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hunts them into a corner at last,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Up the chimney, out into the night.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The blaze laughs loud with a music sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My heart grows warm in its cheery glow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And a thousand fancies come and go.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The perfumed breath of the birchen brand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rich with forest spices rare,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bears heavenward many a hope and prayer</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That only One can understand.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh that my life were sweet and pure</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As the incense of this burning wood!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh that my faith were strong and sure</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As the flame that ever strives toward God!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I hear the sound of the sleet and rain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Brushing against my window-pane;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The voice of the wind is sad and low,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shadows return, and to and fro</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They flit and hover uneasily,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until at last they rest on me.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Heap high the sturdy fire-dogs’ backs</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With boughs of hemlock, birch, and pine.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The crisp bark curls, and smokes, and cracks;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It comes at last, the spark divine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bursting forth in broad, free laughter,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The glorious blaze comes hurrying after,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Springs up the chimney with a roar,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Chasing the shadows away once more,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shining far out upon the floor,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sweeping away on its gladsome tide</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The fears and doubts, o’er which I sighed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the depths of the sea, to the depths of the sea,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The cares and sins that have haunted me!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I thank thee for thy help, sweet hour,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For thou hast helped me true and well;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I thank thee for the gentle spell</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beneath which thou dost wield thy power,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when the twilight seeks at morn</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her convent walls within the west,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My soul shall know its truest rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bless the day when Christ was born.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="BY_NIGHT">BY NIGHT.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_098.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">O’er Judah’s dark hill-tops the starlight is shining;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In silence the silvery light</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Falls soft on the white, sleeping lambs and their shepherds,</div> - <div class="verse indent6">By night.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sleep on, trustful flocks, while shepherds are watching;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fear not, for soon shall be born</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The dear Lamb of God, in a Bethlehem manger,</div> - <div class="verse indent6">This morn.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Keep watch, faithful shepherds, through gathering shadows,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Though the hillside be lonely and drear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For lo, in the darkness the Shepherd of shepherds</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Is near!</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sing on, ye bright angels, repeat the glad tidings,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Joy, peace, and good-will on the earth;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Proclaim to the weary, the sad, and the suffering,</div> - <div class="verse indent6">His birth.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Shine, radiant Star in the East, till thy glory</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’er Wise Men and manger is poured,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For Mary’s dear babe is the blessèd Christ Jesus,</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Our Lord.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="STAR_OF_BETHLEHEM">“STAR OF BETHLEHEM.”</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_141.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Gentle-Faced child-flower—</div> - <div class="verse indent1">One of the least—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dost thou remember</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The Star in the East,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bethlehem’s hill-tops</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Flushing with morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When in a manger</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The dear Christ was born?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Lambs on the hillside</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Peacefully slept;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shepherds, abiding near,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Faithful watch kept.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bright in the heavens</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Shone a new star,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Guiding o’er deserts</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Wise Men from afar.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">White Flower of Bethlehem,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Lo, it is morn!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shine on the manger</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Where Jesus was born.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We, too, shall find Him,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Though humblest and least,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Led by thy radiance,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Bright Star in the East.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="BLESSED">“BLESSED.”</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_107.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">“Blessed are they that mourn.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The gentle tones,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A moment faltering, then strong and sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ring out upon the morning air. The throng</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wait silently, lest by a whispered sigh</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or quick-drawn breath a word should fall unheard</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From Him, the wonderful, the Prince of Peace.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Blessed”—the widow, shuddering, draws more close</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her sombre draperies, and bows her head</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In agony of dumb and hopeless grief.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">—“Are they that mourn!” A dry, half-stifled sob</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bursts from a gray-haired man; ’twas yesterday</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">They buried all most dear to him on earth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sun and stars were blotted out. Hot tears</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fall thickly on his knotted, sunburnt hands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And still he listens to that strange, sweet voice.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Blessed are they that mourn.” What aching hearts</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Among the eager, silent multitude</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cry out in bitter anguish that His words</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are vain and mocking!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent105">Lo, the Saviour turns</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With infinite compassion in His eye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And stretching forth His hands as though to give</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The blessing He has promised, speaks again:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“They shall be comforted!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent115">The morning sun</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Breaks forth in triumph from the heavy clouds</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That hid His face. The waves of Galilee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gleaming far distant in the misty east,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cast off the shroud of night. The air is full</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of waking glory. But of all who feel</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">The gladness and the freshness of the morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Those only who have passed through deepest gloom</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Receive the fulness of that new, sweet peace</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His words have given,—and they are comforted!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_CHRISTMAS_PASTORAL">A CHRISTMAS PASTORAL.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_039.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">The shepherds were keeping their watch by night,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">In the field with their flock abiding;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And soft on the fleece of the lambs fell the light</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Of a new-risen star,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">From deserts afar</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The wise ones to Bethlehem guiding.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">What startles the watchers? A rustle of wings,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And a radiant figure above them.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The lambs are afraid, and the white, woolly things,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">With tremulous bleat,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Nestle close to the feet</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Of the faithful shepherds who love them.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Fear not!” comes the message, exultant and strong,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">“Good tidings of joy I am bringing!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And lo! with the song of a heavenly throng,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">“Peace on earth! For this morn</div> - <div class="verse indent4">A Saviour is born!”</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The hillsides of Judah are ringing.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The bright ones are gone; over thicket and stone</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The starlight of Christmas is falling;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the lambs, without even an angel, alone</div> - <div class="verse indent4">In the great silent night,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">With sudden affright,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">For their lost shepherds vainly are calling.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They knew not a tenderer Shepherd was near,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">His flocks to deliver from danger,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And comfort all desolate lambs in their fear,—</div> - <div class="verse indent4">For peacefully lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">On that first Christmas day,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Lord Christ, in a Bethlehem manger.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_FOURTH_WATCH">THE FOURTH WATCH.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_148.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Midnight upon Gennesaret; the restless waves,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like jewels on the troubled bosom of the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Flash forth in rays of silvery light, or hide within</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her dark and flowing tresses. Soft, as in a dream,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The night-winds sigh and whisper o’er the little ship,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While from the far-off, shadowy hills of Galilee</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their cool breath gently fans the weary twelve, as rests</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A loving hand upon a fevered, aching brow.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Deserted lies the quiet, moon-lit shore, but all</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">The air is heavy with the perfume of the grass,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Crushed into fragrance by the waiting multitude</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whom Jesus fed. The Giver of the bread of life</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Has gone apart upon the mountain-side to pray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Alone.</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The night is dark, the Master is not come;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sea arises, and on every side the waves</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gigantic, black, and topped with lurid crests of foam,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Leap madly through the gloom. Labors the little ship,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hurled to and fro and beaten back upon her course.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With slow and stubborn stroke the rowers wearily</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are straining at the heavy oars. But hark! above</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sullen roar of wind and sea, a well-loved voice,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Vibrant and sweet with chords of heavenly music, speaks,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they were sore afraid; but He saith unto them,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Be of good cheer, ’tis I, be not afraid.”</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And lo,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The tempest ceased! and when they had received their Lord,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The ship had come unto the haven they desired.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="WITH_YOU_ALWAY">“WITH YOU ALWAY.”</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_065.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Why seek ye for Jehovah</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mid Sinai’s awful smoke?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The burning bush now shelters</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A sparrow’s humble folk;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The curve of God’s sweet heaven</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is the curve of the leaf of oak;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Voice that stilled the tempest</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To little children spoke,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bread of life eternal</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is the bread He blessed and broke.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="DECEMBER_31">DECEMBER 31.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_128.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Another year!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What is the story by the twelve-month told?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What treasure doth its memory enfold,—</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Base coin, or gold?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sternly hath it hard lessons taught,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hath it new cares, new joys, new burdens brought?</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Few smiles, and many a tear?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent5">Another year!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What good and perfect gifts have gently come—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Knowing not whence, we have been blind and dumb!</div> - <div class="verse indent4">We ate the crumb</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Without the sparrow’s faith, but still,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Father of Lights, Thou shinest on, and will,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Thy frightened birds to cheer.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent5">Another year!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sunlight pours its blessings as of old,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Into the lap of each dear day,—its gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Its wealth untold.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As lessons new and sweet we gain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Still hoping to the highest to attain,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">We trust, and never fear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent5">Another year!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But to the brave and true, lo, time is not!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A thousand years are as a day, forgot</div> - <div class="verse indent4">The hardest lot,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To those who walk beside their God,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Loving the path His patient feet have trod,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Knowing that He is near.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="IN_MY_ARM-CHAIR">IN MY ARM-CHAIR.</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_154.jpg" width="70" alt="" /> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0 drop-cap">Flickers the ruddy firelight on the wall;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now here, now there, the shadows restlessly</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dance in and out among the gleaming bars</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That prison many a glimpse of sea and sky</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon the pictured canvas. Brightly falls</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The cheerful light upon familiar forms</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of volumes clothed in sober garb and gay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose very names, in golden characters,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Invite to solace sweet, and peace of mind.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Footfalls incessant in the rainy street</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mingle their dreary cadence with the roll</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And rhythmic echo of the iron wheel,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Half muffled by the storm’s dull monotone.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Within, the gentle presence of the flame,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With its soft rustle ever and anon,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Serves but to take away the very pain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of silence absolute.</div> - <div class="verse indent9">It is the hour</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For contemplation meet. The air is thronged</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With thoughts innumerable, fancies light,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That flit about on airy wing, or play</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Among the fireborn shadows on the wall;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till, touched by the Promethean glow, they take</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A seeming form substantial, animate.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From out their thin octavo cells pour forth</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shapes ethereal of poet, sage,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Philosopher, and man of God, whose words</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Make wisdom beautiful, and beauty wise.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Silent they rise before me, one by one,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">E’en as the fabled genius, close involved</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Within the tiny casket, gained at last</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His proper self, and towered high above</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His liberator. But of other mien</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are these strange forms around my hearth to-night.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With aspect grave, yet kind, they gaze on me</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As old companions might on one they loved,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who loved them in return. I know each one,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">And recognize the habit of his life.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Old Gilbert White—whose flowing locks, and dress</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of quaint antiquity, precise and neat,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Recall his quiet walks in Selborne wood—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Has paused with curious, meditative eye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Before an owl upon my mantle shelf,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And rapidly, in shadowy script, records</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sapient bird’s presentment.</div> - <div class="verse indent12">Near at hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A man of kindly countenance and mild,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Impressed with lines of pure and noble thought,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bends low in prayer; ere long resumes his pen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And adds one more sweet hymn to those that bear</div> - <div class="verse indent0">George Herbert’s name. Anon appears a face</div> - <div class="verse indent0">More gentle than the rest, it seems, with eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of deep and tender yearning. Silently</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The figure turns aside, and by the hearth</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Remains aloof, with dreamy gaze intent</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon the glowing coals. What fantasies</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are imaged there, reflected from his mind,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">And striving for the elixir of his touch</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And wondrous pen, that give eternal life</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To such as they! Lo, built of candent fire</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Old Manse drops its Mosses at his feet;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Italia’s strange physician whispers now</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of potent herb and flower. The Puritan,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His wonted sternness softened, deigns to tell</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of old-time guilt—the Scarlet Letter’s brand—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till, glancing up, he shudders at the approach</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of stricken Hester, with her demon child.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So wanes the night. In quick succession move</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shades of the mighty dead before my eyes.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Again is played the Comedy Divine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And gloomily the awful form of him</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose mind such Titan offspring bore, attends</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The movement of each scene. The cowl and robe,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Close at his side, betray that zealous monk</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose life was Imitation of the Christ.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Amid the still increasing throng, behold</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sage Izaak Walton, creel and rod in hand;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But while I gaze upon his visage mild,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Expectant half to hear his counsel how</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The wily carp to ensnare, the fiery bridge</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er which my fancy boldly trod, and found</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her way to realms unreal, topples down</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With mimic crash, and lies a ruined mass</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon the hearth. Yet by its waning glow</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I see the hurried parting of my guests,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Retreating each within his narrow cell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As when beneath a monastery roof</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The low, sweet chant of vespers dies away,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The last faint echoes lingering still within</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The moonlit cloisters,—silently the forms</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of holy men glide to and fro among</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shadows, till the hush of night descends</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With brooding wings, and gathers all to rest.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="p4 center fs80">THE END.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="transnote"> -<a id="TN"></a> -<p><b>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE</b></p> - -<p>Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been -corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within -the text and consultation of external sources.</p> - -<p>Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the -text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.</p> - -<p>Some words with hyphens, or without them, have been silently -adjusted to be more consistent.</p> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE MORNING ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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