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LILIES OF THE VALLEY 
 
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 BY 
 
 PERCIVAL W. WELLS 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 THE MAJOR OF THE KETTLE-DRUM, THE MARTYR'S RETURN, 
 HERBERT GRAY, ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 PERCIVAL AND LILLIAN WELLS 
 
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 WANTAGH, NEW YORK 
 
 BARTLETT PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 1915 
 

 COPYRIGHT, 1915 
 BY 
 PERCIVAL W. WELLS 
 
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 JUL 8S 1915 
 
 ©CI.A401797 
 
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®0 ffiiUtatt 
 
 My Last and Now My Only Love 
 
 TIT HAT is there in this life on earth that ties 
 ff Us zvearied passengers to it so fast? 
 Is it the memory of blessings past, 
 Or thoughts and hopes of future felicities? 
 How often pleasures seem but vanities, 
 And darkening shadows of lowering tempests cast 
 Unzvholesome gloom o'er us, and then at last 
 The spirit appears to sink in obscurities! 
 Yet love will save a suffering soul from death 
 And its desires, and bring to unhappy us 
 In the hour of need a thrill of victory, 
 A nezv return of strength, a quickened breath, 
 A faith in fortune more felicitous: 
 So then with love we soar into the sky. 
 
AMOR ET LIBRI 
 
 THE Cupid lying down symbolizes time taken 
 from the rush of the world for reading, think- 
 ing and meditation, and a love for it, taken with 
 pleasure and not as drudgery. Cupid is in Nature — 
 open Nature, and therefore he symbolizes what is 
 natural in opposition to what is artificial, superficial 
 or false. The sign on the tree. Amor et Lihri, 
 means Love and Books, Love of Books, or Love for 
 Books; Cupid and the Books, or Cupid and Books 
 (there being two names for Cupid in Latin, Cupido 
 and Amor). The whole thing symbolizes a uniting 
 harmoniously of natural offection with high and true 
 culture, heart and mind working together, sympathy 
 and intellectuality, the divine (Cupid was a god) 
 with the hufnan, simplicity and zvisdom. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 Page 
 
 To Lillian . . 5 
 
 Foreword .... 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 List of Illustrations 
 
 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 The Love of All the Years 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 I Wander Thro' the Wood This I 
 
 Aovn 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 Violets .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 As Summer's Kisses 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 To Thee .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 I Love the Name of Lillian 
 
 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 A Dream .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 What Care I? ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 Wild Roses .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 The Sorrows of Love 
 
 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 Memory .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 Lonehness ! . . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 In the Vale of Tears . 
 
 
 
 
 
 26 
 
 A World of Love . 
 
 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 Beneath the Shades of Night 
 
 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 The Ideal .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 29 
 
 Why All This Beauty? . 
 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 Be Not Affrighted, Lillian 
 
 
 
 
 
 31 
 
 Lov'st Thou? 
 
 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 Like to the Robin 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Vox Amoris .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 34 
 
 There is no Limit 
 
 
 
 
 
 35 
 
 Where Is Heaven? 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 36 
 
 To Lillian .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 Z7 
 
 My Angel .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 38 
 

 
 
 Page 
 
 The Whip-poor-will 39 
 
 How I Do Love ..... 
 
 
 
 . 40 
 
 Life's Just Begun .... 
 
 
 
 . 41 
 
 Her Eyes Are Like the Heavens 
 
 
 
 . 42 
 
 A Love Poem 
 
 
 
 . 43 
 
 There'll Come a Time .... 
 
 
 
 . 44 
 
 My World 
 
 
 
 . 45 
 
 The Art of Love 
 
 
 
 . 46 
 
 In Futurum ...... 
 
 
 
 . 47 
 
 Who Loves His Sweetheart More Than 
 
 I? 
 
 
 . 48 
 
 Four Laughing Eyes .... 
 
 
 
 . 49 
 
 Put Thy Hand in Mine 
 
 
 
 . 50 
 
 God Is With Us ... . 
 
 
 
 . 51 
 
 A Beautiful Flower 
 
 
 
 . 52 
 
 I Am Not Sad .... 
 
 
 
 . 53 
 
 Why Do I Love You? . 
 
 
 
 . 54 
 
 Our Jailor, Love .... 
 
 
 
 . 55 
 
 A Voice from the Heart 
 
 
 
 . 56 
 
 The May Night .... 
 
 
 
 . 57 
 
 Beautiful Rose of Summer 
 
 
 
 . 58 
 
 A Lovely Rose .... 
 
 
 
 . 59 
 
 Semper Idem .... 
 
 
 
 . 60 
 
 To My Wife .... 
 
 
 
 . 61 
 
 Not Dusk, but Morning 
 
 
 
 . 62 
 
 Thine Eyes ..... 
 
 
 
 . 63 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 And lakes give outlet to the sea 
 
 O flower, bend to me thy petals blue 
 
 "You've played the game of love 
 Quite long enough, my friend" 
 
 For I may see my love no more 
 
 And I sat me down to dream 
 
 While the church-bells peal 
 
 Their message full of love 
 
 Why all this beauty? .... 
 
 Who then shall be my angel love 
 
 Save Lillian? .... 
 
 Life's just begun! ..... 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 Page 
 
 . 15 
 
 19 
 22 
 26 
 
 34 
 39 
 
 48 
 60 
 
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THE LOVE OF ALL THE YEARS 
 
 THE love of all the years gone by 
 Shall be at last for thee alone; 
 The bosom where my old loves lie 
 Shall be, sweetheart, thine own. 
 
 As brooks flow down into a lake, 
 And lakes give outlet to the sea. 
 
 So my love grows, and thou mayst take 
 And keep it safe with thee. 
 
 A sigh — a flash of memory — 
 A swollen heart — a burning tear — 
 
 Shall turn to living love for thee, 
 For thou art the most dear. 
 
 By loving I have learned to pour 
 Love's sweetness from my breast; 
 
 Give me thy fellowship, no more — 
 Thine be all the rest ! 
 
 13 
 
I WANDER THRO' THE WOOD THIS MORN 
 
 I WANDER thro' the wood this morn — 
 Among green trees I rove; 
 And lo! the branches and the leaves 
 Whisper to me, "Love." 
 
 O'er earth's fair fields I dreaming walk, 
 
 Dreaming of treasure-trove ; 
 But all the meadows seem to sing, 
 
 "Thy greatest treasure is Love." 
 
 Beneath the mighty sky I breathe a sigh, 
 
 Seeking God above ; 
 But the birds and trees and meadows whisper, — 
 
 "Seek for God in Love!" 
 
 14 
 
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VIOLETS 
 
 WE stopped to pick some violets on the plain, 
 And in the sunshine laughed once and again; 
 The day was beautiful; and there 
 
 I watched the wind dally with her hair. 
 
 We picked more violets, and I 
 
 Placed them on her bosom lovingly; — 
 
 O flower, bend to me thy petals blue. 
 And tell me, will my love be ever true? 
 
 15 
 
AS SUMMER'S KISSES 
 
 AS Summer's kisses and the sun 
 Descend to glorify sweet flowers, 
 So may God's blessings fall in showers 
 
 Upon my Lillian — 
 A lily of the valley, she, 
 
 An angel from above 
 Transformed into a flower for me — 
 My hly of love! 
 
 16 
 
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 TO THEE 
 
 HOU art for me like to a Summer's rose 
 Which patiently has waited thro' the Spring 
 (Winter passed, and loosened, the frost-bound floes) 
 For stirring impulse and tender opening. 
 
 Thy lips are redder than the petals rare 
 
 Which show their beauty to the morning dew ; 
 
 Thy glowing cheeks for me are far more fair 
 Than bloom of Jacqueminots when budding new. 
 
 The moving fragrance of thy love-warmed breath 
 Is sweeter than the sweetest rose perfume; 
 
 Thy hair more beautiful than any wreath 
 Of Summer's perfect roses blown in June. 
 
 Where roses are, must there be too a thorn? 
 Not with the rose that on my heart is worn ! 
 
 17 
 
I LOVE THE NAME OF LILLIAN 
 
 I LOVE the name of Lillian — 
 It sounds to me so sweet 
 That I would wish forever 
 'LilHan" to repeat. 
 
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 I love the eyes of Lillian — 
 So blue and full of light! 
 
 To look into her eyes would be 
 Forever a delight. 
 
 I love the voice of Lillian — 
 Like Nature's murmuring, 
 
 Which overflows with purest love 
 Especially in Spring. 
 
 How do I not love Lillian — 
 
 Whose name and eyes and voice 
 
 Remain like jewels in my mind 
 O'er which I e'er rejoice! 
 
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A DREAM 
 
 THE other night I had a dream: 
 Young Cupid came to me, 
 And with a twinkle in his eye 
 
 Which I could plainly see, 
 He said, "You've played the game of love 
 
 Quite long enough, my friend; 
 The other gods and I are sure 
 
 'Tis time it found an end. 
 The girl you fell in love with first 
 
 Had thoughtful hazel eyes. 
 And when with love you gazed in them 
 
 They bore you to the skies ; 
 But it is rare that man can live 
 
 Forever with the one 
 Whom he first loves, and so, alas ! 
 
 You parted — sad and lone. 
 Ah, then you flirted with the girls. 
 
 Yes almost cruelly, 
 Yet could not find a soul like hers 
 
 Whose mate you might not be : 
 Those hazel eyes will haunt you, friend — 
 
 They loved you faithfully. 
 Brown eyes came next, but they, I wist, 
 
 Were fickle in their deed, 
 
 19 
 
And through their faithlessness they caused 
 
 Your heart — your own — to bleed! 
 Then blue you chose as being fair — 
 
 Deep as the summer sea — 
 But soon their inspiration failed 
 
 Because they were too free. 
 Hazel, and brown, and blue, and green, 
 
 And even brilliant black 
 Brought temporary light to you, 
 
 Which quickly faded back 
 Into the soul from whence it came — 
 
 Fickleness, alack! 
 But time has come when you must choose 
 
 Betwixt the blue and brown. 
 Here are Fate's scales — let's put both in 
 
 And see which one goes down." 
 So Cupid placed each in its pan. 
 
 And held them up to view ; 
 I'll let you guess which kicked the beam — 
 
 The brown eye or the blue? 
 
 20 
 
WHAT CARE I? 
 
 THE wings of night that hover low, 
 Flitting sad and lonesomely, 
 Are naught — what do I care, 
 When she loves me? 
 
 What care I if the day be dark 
 And shadow^s fall across the sky? 
 No gloom can close the windows of my heart 
 When she loves me! 
 
 21 
 
WILD ROSES 
 
 THE roses grow on hill and shore : 
 Bloom, O beautiful flower, for me ! 
 For I may see my love no more, — 
 He has gone out to sea. 
 
 Oh, smile for me, sweet wilding rose. 
 
 Kissed by the morning sun ; 
 My breast, once gay, is filled with woes — 
 
 Its cares are never done. 
 
 How quickly do the roses wither 
 When plucked from off their stem! 
 
 My heart, in this wild, stormy weather, 
 Is wilting, Hke to them. 
 
 The roses on the hill and shore 
 Have ceased to bloom for me, 
 
 For I shall see my love no more — 
 He has gone out to sea ! 
 
 22 
 

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THE SORROWS OF LOVE 
 
 LIKE Ata'i, Turkish poet, 
 Sing I of a loveless maid: — 
 Love a bubble, nothing to it — 
 Only grievance it has made. 
 "Heedless mistress ! Loveless fortune ! 
 Ever shifting, restless sky ! 
 Sorrows many ! Friends not any ! 
 Strong-starred f oeman ; feeble I !" 
 
 Girl with eyes like stars in heaven, 
 
 Beautiful as perfect day, 
 Why my aching heart hast riven? 
 
 Why dost thou not love me? say! 
 "Heedless mistress ! Loveless fortune ! 
 Ever shifting, restless sky ! 
 Sorrows many ! Friends not any ! 
 Strong-starred f oeman; feeble I!" 
 
 Never will the shadows lengthen 
 
 More than those that cover me; 
 Give me only night to strengthen 
 
 Grief that comes from loving thee ! 
 "Heedless mistress ! Loveless fortune ! 
 Ever shifting, restless sky! 
 Sorrows many ! Friends not any ! 
 Strong-starred f oeman ; feeble I !" 
 
 23 
 
MEMORY 
 
 THE fairest faces that we gaze upon, 
 That touch our soul — the tender instrument 
 Of sympathetic love, with pleasure pent — 
 Stay but a little while, and soon are gone 
 Beyond the dim and misty horizon, — 
 And we know not, alas ! whither they went 
 Or with what bitter sorrows they are spent, 
 Those features which in our fond eyes so shone! 
 To leave a sweetheart is the worst of woes : 
 A lonely lover has no happiness, 
 So far from human sympathy he goes — 
 Despairing, suffocated, comfortless ! 
 O soul-consuming Grief, clouding the sky, — 
 What else art thou, forlorn, pale Memory? 
 
 24 
 
LONELINESS! 
 
 THE sky is dark, the world is dark, 
 And all around I see 
 Nothing but darkness, for the light 
 Of love has gone from me. 
 
 My heart is weary when the day 
 Breaks from the morning sky ; 
 
 And in the evening it is sad — 
 "Where is my Love?" I cry. 
 
 Alas ! will no love ever come 
 
 Upon the wings of time 
 To touch my soul with happiness 
 
 And render it sublime? 
 
 Will no love e'er o'ertake my path 
 
 As nearer Death I flee? 
 O God, have mercy on my soul, 
 
 And give my Love to me ! 
 
 25 
 
li 
 
 IN THE VALE OF TEARS 
 
 SOMEWHERE within the Vale of Tears 
 I lost my sweetest Love; 
 And tho' for many saddened years 
 
 With aching heart I strove 
 To find my sweetest Love again 
 
 Within the dusky grove, 
 And soothe the fears 
 
 That swelled my heart with pain, — 
 I wandered thro' the Vale 
 
 Tempestuously — bereft 
 Of reason, weak and strangely pale, 
 Seeking for traces that my Love had left. 
 
 I saw upon a sighing tree. 
 On whose dark stem were tears that it had shed, 
 A pair of cooing, whispering doves. 
 
 And I hated them because they had their loves — 
 Love had deserted me! 
 
 Along a dell shaded with drooping leaves. 
 And strewn with flowers whose tiny roots had bled, 
 
 I heard a babbling stream: 
 Thought I, "The brooklet grieves, 
 
 Perhaps because its Lover, too, is dead !" 
 And I sat me down to dream. 
 
 26 
 
And I sat me down to dream. — Page 26. 
 
A WORLD OF LOVE 
 
 A WORLD of love is a world of pain 
 Through which we mortals pass ; 
 After sorrows, love again, 
 And then more pain, alas ! 
 
 Our troubled souls are bowed from grief, 
 
 Pursuing a little pleasure. 
 O man, thou shouldst not place belief 
 
 In joys that have no measure ! 
 
 How can we then sublimely live 
 
 Without a touch of sorrow? 
 For the very pain which we receive 
 
 Fits us for life's tomorrow. 
 
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 BENEATH THE SHADES OF NIGHT 
 
 MY wearied spirit seeks for rest 
 Beneath the shades of night, 
 And to Sleep's kingdom, as a guest, 
 It wings its fitful flight. 
 
 A peaceful hour at gathering eve 
 
 Alone I set apart, 
 And let the soothing shadows weave 
 
 Themselves into my heart. 
 
 O sweetest rest ! O wondrous dreams ! 
 
 That in my sleep are wove ; 
 When I awake, it strangely seems 
 
 I feel thy presence. Love. 
 
 Sleep on, dream on, O thou my soul 
 Beneath the shades of night, — 
 
 For swift the receding shadows roll. 
 And dawn will bring thee light. 
 
 28 
 
THE IDEAL 
 
 PHILOSOPHERS have asked, What is the real? 
 They have not answered it, but only gave 
 
 To men a grist of words — a grave 
 In which to bury thought. These then but steal 
 
 Away to graveyards while the church-bells peal 
 Their message full of love, when all the nave 
 
 Is thronged with worshippers who wish to save 
 Something of Hfe — ah ! they have the ideal ! 
 
 Are we to take the trees when they are bare 
 As symbols of great Nature's course? Must we 
 
 Harvest the wheat when it is choked with tare? 
 Love and ideals do paint reality 
 
 With glowing colors, making wondrous fair 
 The spirit's stay on earth, where'er it be ! 
 
 29 
 
I 
 
 WHY ALL THIS BEAUTY? 
 
 THE wonders of the world appall me tonight — 
 The sun that has sunk down from out the sky 
 
 Has left a veil of glorious, blazonry, 
 Which lingers on in tints of golden Hght; 
 
 The slender moon with silver horns bedight 
 Has rarer beauty and more brilliancy 
 
 Than e'er I've seen — perhaps love's radiancy 
 Has given added splendor to the night. 
 
 Why all this beauty? Is it just to please 
 The race of man? Is Nature's glorious 
 
 Adornment merely a little passing show 
 Which we can scorn or appreciate at our ease? 
 
 If we think Nature made only for us, 
 We know not God as Him we ought to know. 
 
 30 
 
BE NOT AFFRIGHTED, LILLIAN 
 
 LIKE a swollen river runs my love for thee, 
 Deep-bosomed, unbridled, mighty in its course. 
 Now calm and still, flowing full and free — 
 Yet soon it rushes down steep cataracts and pours 
 Its seething volume toward the distant sea. 
 
 Wearing the rocks to foam with furious force. 
 The ripples on the bosom of my love 
 
 Come not from shallows, but rise from passion's 
 wind 
 That finds a swift descent from the heavens above 
 
 The common fields where puny brooklets wind 
 Their listless way, and with great tempests move 
 The astonished earth. My love — 'tis of such kind ! 
 
 31 
 
LOV'ST THOU? 
 
 HE Springtime glory has burst forth 
 With burgeoned, budding bowers; 
 With verdant carpets on the earth, 
 And birds and fragrant flowers. 
 
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 The laughing world is bright and gay ; 
 
 The rivers run with glee ; 
 And winged winds sing soft and say,— 
 
 "Lov'st thou? for I love thee." 
 
 32 
 
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LIKE TO THE ROBIN 
 
 A LITTLE robin sang with rapture 
 Upon a cherry tree, 
 Defying the world to come and capture 
 Himself and his melody. 
 
 He swelled his throat and thrilled with glee, 
 
 Rejoicing at the Spring, 
 And bade the world to come and see 
 
 How gaily he could sing. 
 
 Spring-time love, if thou canst make 
 Yon robin trill with glee, 
 
 1 do beseech thee, only take 
 My heart and gladden me ! 
 
 22 
 
vox AMORIS 
 
 THE music of the voice you love 
 Is like the song of birds in Spring 
 Who seek — blithe, airy troubadours — 
 Their highest happiness by warbling forth 
 Caressing melodies, — 
 Oh love, oh love, oh love ! 
 
 The voice of the one you love 
 Is music of myriad bells 
 Soft-toned in paradisal harmony, 
 With silver tongues that chime 
 Oh love ! oh love ! — 
 Touching, transcending cadences — 
 Love ! love ! oh love ! 
 
 The music of the voice you love 
 
 Is like the breathing of a soul 
 
 That's found eternal havens of peace, — 
 
 Oh love ! love ! oh love ! 
 
 34 
 
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THERE IS NO LIMIT 
 
 THERE is no limit to the love 
 That mortal men can have, 
 Nor will there be an end to that 
 Their hungry spirits crave. 
 
 If God is love, then we indeed 
 
 Are very parts of God, 
 Because love is the greatest thing 
 
 For which our lives have stood. 
 
 We should not seek a heaven in heaven. 
 
 But on the earth with us : 
 And there is no limit to our reach 
 
 If we are virtuous. 
 
 No longer search, O men, for God 
 
 Afar in a distant heaven. 
 For you will find Him in yourselves 
 
 With the love that He has given. 
 
 35 
 
WHERE IS HEAVEN? 
 
 WHERE is heaven? 
 A place above the skies 
 Where one with wings plays on a harp 
 After he dies? 
 
 And paradise ? 
 Beyond the rolling sun — 
 Assembly of the blessed saints 
 When all is done? 
 
 Heaven is here — 
 
 In thy blue eyes I see 
 
 My fate, my fortune, my future life, — 
 
 For I love thee ! 
 
 36 
 
TO LILLIAN 
 
 WHEN thou wast with me, by thy love 
 And presence I was buoyed ; 
 But now that thou art far from me, 
 My Hfe is but a void. 
 
 As when by day the cheerful sun 
 
 Shines gaily from the sky, 
 But sinks at eventide to rest 
 
 And night comes with a sigh, — 
 
 So I miss thee since thou art gone 
 
 Away from me, dear heart; 
 But there will come a time — God grant — 
 
 When we shall never part. 
 
 37 
 
MY ANGEL 
 
 WHO is the nearest to my heart, 
 The dearest, sweetest one? 
 Who but the heavenly-souled, 
 Angelic Lillian? 
 
 When we depart from this fair world 
 Which we in love have lived upon. 
 
 Who then shall be my angel love 
 Save Lillian? 
 
 38 
 
Why all this beauty? — Page 30. 
 
THE WHIP-POOR-WILL 
 
 THE whip-poor-will is singing in the wood, 
 Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will ! 
 It strikes to my heart a feeling of solitude — 
 Hark — now all is still. 
 
 The whip-poor-will is grieving for its mate — 
 
 Or is it caUing for a love to come? 
 I too am lonely, and how can I wait 
 
 To take my sweetheart to our little home? 
 
 I love the song of the purring whip-poor-will, 
 Although it brings such sadness to my heart; 
 
 Not pain, but loneliness which seeks to fill 
 My bosom^ — for I miss my dear sweetheart! 
 
 The whip-poor-will is singing in the wood — 
 Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will ! 
 
 It touches my heart with solitude — 
 Hark — now all is still. 
 
 39 
 
HOW DO I LOVE 
 
 AS Summer loves the Earth, 
 Kissing it into divine fragrance, — 
 So I love thee, for thou art worth 
 
 More than the whole world's excellence; 
 Thou knowest that I speak the truth: yet prove, 
 
 If thou desirest, my love 
 For thee, O virgin Innocence! 
 
 40 
 
LIFE'S JUST BEGUN! 
 
 LIFE'S just begun ! the flowing tide 
 Of love has stirred it into motion. 
 Farewell to bachelorhood's calm pride, 
 
 And welcome, love's intense emotion! 
 With my fair Lillian by my side. 
 
 And her affection for my portion, 
 What care I for the world beside? 
 
 For life is mine — I'm sailing on Love's ocean. 
 
 41 
 
HER EYES ARE LIKE THE HEAVENS 
 
 THE white clouds flit across the skies, 
 Which lie, deep-blue, above; 
 I stand and gaze at them with thoughtful eyes. 
 Dreaming of LilHan, the girl I love. 
 
 The heavens remind me of her eyes, 
 So wonderfully blue and full of hght; 
 
 The clouds are like her smiles I prize — 
 So beautifully bright! 
 
 42 
 
A LOVE POEM 
 
 GOD knows I love sweet Lillian, 
 My lily of the dell; 
 And that I love her even more 
 Than I could ever tell. 
 
 She is so good — sweet Lillian — 
 I know God loves her, too: 
 
 And He has special interest 
 In lovers who are true. 
 
 43 
 
THERE'LL COME A TIME 
 
 LILLIAN, there'll come a time when thou and I 
 Shall be united ne'er to part; 
 And thy white bosom then shall lie 
 Against my beating heart. 
 
 Till then we'll live in fondest dreams 
 
 Of happiness, dear one; 
 God be our guide, for so it seems 
 
 He is e'er with us, Lillian. 
 
 44 
 
MY WORLD 
 
 BESIDE my parents and my friends 
 I have two loves: the one 
 Is Nature — comrade and sweet nurse; 
 
 And the other, LilHan, 
 Whose loving passion for me stirs 
 
 My deepest soul and bends 
 Me to her with a benediction. 
 
 What if all else should fail 
 And seeming friends depart from me 
 
 (Let it be understood 
 I do not speak of Jesus and of God, 
 
 Whose presence stays eternally) ? 
 I still should have no sorrow to bewail 
 
 So long as Nature and the Sun 
 Were faithful to me — and LilHan! 
 
 45 
 
THE ART OF LOVE 
 
 BY loving we learn to love — indeed there is 
 No other way. Our hearts need exercise 
 To have the secrets of their handicraft, — 
 Just as the jeweler must labor long 
 Before he can produce a marvelous thing. 
 Apprenticeship comes first, and then the art 
 Of setting gems and fashioning with care 
 Fine gold and silver-work, and beautiful 
 Designs, which do demand a skilful hand. 
 Knowledge, patience, and high efficiency. 
 As children in our family we begin 
 Apprenticeship to Love's most noble art ; 
 And then as eager youth comes on apace, 
 We journey abroad to find a quick response 
 To passion — and here we must evade Scyllas 
 And dangerous Charybdises, or else 
 Love's shipwreck strews itself upon the rocks 
 Where lurk all kinds of enemies — the Shapes 
 Of Cynicism, Hatred, Scorn, Despair, 
 Beside a thousand other revengeful forms ; 
 At last, if Love's apprentice has safely made 
 The necessary journey and learned his art. 
 He takes a comrade who will freely give 
 Him love for love and help affectionately 
 The now perfected artist in a home 
 Where love does constitute the stock of gems, 
 And may be had by all who come to buy, — 
 But only at the price of other love. 
 
 46 
 
IN FUTURUM 
 
 THERE'S nothing greater in this earthly Hfe, 
 Which we can Hve but once, however much 
 We long for another chance and dread the touch 
 Of Death and his unsympathetic knife, 
 
 Than noble love between a man and wife. 
 The Spirit of God is ever near to such 
 
 A holy union, guarding it from the clutch 
 Of trouble-gatherers who ferment strife. 
 
 As two great seas are brought together, so 
 Two loving and responsive souls are made 
 
 Into one soul for all eternity; 
 On earth they share both joy and pain, and lo ! 
 
 When they depart this globe where they have stayed 
 Their little while, they can all Time defy ! 
 
 47 
 
WHO LOVES HIS SWEETHEART MORE THAN I? 
 
 WHO loves his sweetheart more than I 
 Do love my perfect Lillian? 
 There is no hymn within Love's psaltery 
 
 To me more precious than this fair one — 
 'T love my Lillian." 
 
 Who trusts his darling more than I 
 
 My lovely Lillian? 
 What sweetness in this melody — 
 
 "Even when earthly fellowships are done, 
 I still will love and trust my Lillian" ! 
 
 48 
 
 I 
 
ii^ji. *:i- 
 
 Who then shall he my angel love 
 Save Lillian ? — Page 38. 
 
II 
 
FOUR LAUGHING EYES 
 
 FOUR eyes that laugh with one intent, 
 Four lips that smile with innocent fun, 
 Two breaths that meet with love's sweet scent, 
 
 Which would entice a nun. 
 It is no sin, so why repent? 
 
 God's blessing on two hearts that beat as one — 
 My own and the heart of Lillian ! 
 
 49 
 
PUT THY HAND IN MINE 
 
 PUT thy hand in mine, and kiss me tenderly, 
 Beautiful Lillian, fashioned so slenderly ; 
 Place a kiss upon my lips with thy dear lips so soft, 
 And do not stop with one, but kiss me oft. 
 
 Put thy gentle arms about me, little dove, 
 
 And hold me close to thy deep-bosomed breast; 
 
 And let us thrill with one another's love, 
 O wondrous lily that I love the best ! 
 
 Then let us pray to God that He may be, 
 With His great Spirit, near us eternally ; 
 
 Thus, darling, together, on our knees — 
 
 Before our God, who knows, and hears, and sees. 
 
 50 
 
 I 
 
GOD IS WITH US 
 
 THE sunset glowed upon the evening sky, 
 And it was fairer than the day; 
 Its beauty brought to me a sigh, 
 
 Thinking of Lilhan, who was away — 
 LiUian, my angel child, my pet, 
 
 The darling of my heart. 
 Whom I had seen not long ago, and yet 
 
 From whom I had to part ! 
 But by the tender grace of God, 
 
 We soon shall he in each other's arms, 
 And then we'll whisper, ''God is good. 
 
 And may He keep us from all harms." 
 
 51 
 
A BEAUTIFUL FLOWER 
 
 I love a lily-of-the-valley, 
 And long to have her near; 
 When one loves such a flower, shall he 
 Not keep and on his bosom wear? 
 
 In the Garden of Love there does not grow 
 
 A blossom more beautiful — 
 White as driven snow, 
 
 Modest, pure and dutiful. 
 
 I am the gardener, and I will take 
 
 The lily home with me; 
 Fragrant as a rose, fair as a snow-flake — 
 
 With her to love, how happy I shall be! 
 
 52 
 
I AM NOT SAD 
 
 IF pensive sighs and tearful eyes 
 And lonely heart o'erflowing 
 Would please my love — my sweetest dove, 
 I'd never cease from crying. 
 
 But since my girl — oh precious pearl — 
 
 Loves me with happy passion, 
 Why should I weep or red eyes keep? 
 
 My heart needs no compassion. 
 
 53 
 
WHY DO I LOVE YOU? 
 
 DEAR little dove, with eyes so blue, 
 With trembling I look down 
 Into your eyes — if you but knew 
 The love I give you for a crown ! 
 
 You ask me, beautiful dove, 
 
 Why do I have such love for you? 
 
 Why do I love? 
 
 Ah, yes — I love — because I do ! 
 
 54 
 
OUR JAILOR, LOVE 
 
 LOVE is our jailor — I and he 
 Enjoy our prison gay and free; 
 Come too, dear people, by our side, 
 And bring as jailor, Love, beside. 
 
 Our court is full of mirthful eyes. 
 Of roguish hearts and merry cries ; 
 
 The prison doors are open wide, — 
 Come with us, and bring Love beside! 
 
 55 
 
A VOICE FROM THE HEART 
 
 IF friends were always true to me, 
 And faithful to their trust, 
 
 Treasuring more sincerity 
 Than mothy gold and rust; 
 
 If sunshine drove away the rain, 
 Streaming unclouded down. 
 
 And never let the mists again 
 My mirthful moments drown; 
 
 If love could follow all the way 
 As I advance thro' life, — 
 
 What poetry could I not, dear, say, 
 O sweetheart, future wife ! 
 
 56 
 
THE MAY NIGHT 
 
 THERE is a time, sweetheart, 
 When all our sorrows flee away. 
 And all else is forgot, sweetheart, 
 
 Except remembrance of the day 
 When we first kissed, sweetheart, — 
 That wonderful night of May! 
 
 57 
 
BEAUTIFUL ROSE OF SUMMER 
 
 BEAUTIFUL rose of summer, 
 Sweet in thy tender bud, 
 Waiting for lips to kiss thee 
 
 And move thy crimson blood, — 
 Open, O beautiful flower. 
 
 Reveal thy petals red 
 And give to me the fragrance 
 
 The dew pours o'er thy head. 
 Ah! would that God might give me 
 
 What He to thee hath sent, 
 And let me live for ever 
 
 As sweet and innocent ! 
 
 58 
 
A LOVELY ROSE 
 
 I SEND you, dear, this lovely rose, 
 Because it looks like you ; 
 Tell it your passion, for who knows 
 As much as roses do? 
 
 Take pity on my precious rose, 
 And pin it on your breast: 
 
 For I may come tonight — who knows? 
 To see the rose-bud pressed. 
 
 59 
 
SEMPER IDEM 
 
 MY heart is like the evergreen, 
 Which never fades away, 
 But fresh and vigorous is seen 
 E'en on a winter's day. 
 
 Like evergreen my love is, too, 
 
 For it is fixed upon 
 A spring of life forever true — 
 
 The soul of Lillian. 
 
 60 
 
Life's just begun! — Page 41. 
 
TO MY WIFE 
 
 DEAR sweetheart, my heart's delight, 
 When thou art far from me, 'tis night; 
 Come, let me press thy breasts of snowy white. 
 And feel the wonders of Love's soaring flight! 
 
 I love thee, oh I love thee, Lily; — stay 
 Beside thy Percival and with sweet kisses say 
 That thou wilt always love him. Dearer than day 
 
 Art thou to me, O Lily — wanton fay ! 
 
 61 
 
NOT DUSK BUT MORNING 
 
 GREAT sadness fell upon me, 
 When I left my loving Kate; 
 And the darkness as of Chaos 
 Seemed to cover Life and Fate. 
 
 Yet there's no such thing as Nothing 
 In this world where nothing dies, 
 
 Where the Sunshine of the Ages 
 Always round about us lies. 
 
 Then I found a precious Lily, 
 Love of loves — an angel-wife ; 
 
 And a happiness eternal 
 
 Has engulfed my heart and Hfe. 
 
 62 
 
THINE EYES 
 
 THINE eyes are lovelier than the stars 
 Within the azure skies ; 
 No brighter jewels heaven wears, 
 
 O love, than thy blue eyes. 
 The clouds oft cover o'er a star 
 
 So it will cease to shine ; 
 But may the clouds be ever far, 
 O blue-eyed love, from thine ! 
 
 63