Class TS ^l:i-l3 
 
 Book . A^ -^^^ 
 
 Copyright l^°. 
 
 4445- 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
LIFE'S UISTDERTOW 
 
 MINNIE KEITH BAILEY 
 
 TOPEKA, KANSAS 
 
 CRANE & COMPANY, PRINTERS 
 
 1905 
 

 LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
 
 Two Copies Received 
 
 DEC 16 1905 
 
 Copyright Entry 
 
 CLASS a XXc. No, 
 
 COPY B. 
 
 Copyrighted 1905, 
 By Minnie Keith Bailey. 
 
COME UP HIGHER. 
 
 Come up higher; the air is purer, 
 The sky is bluer : come up higher. 
 
 Come up higher; the mind is cleaner, 
 The heart is truer : come up higher. 
 
 Come up higher; life is clearer 
 
 And heaven is nearer: come up higher. 
 
 [I] 
 
THE RAINY DA Y. 
 
 I sat for hours in the doorway, 
 
 Watching the falling rain ; 
 My eyes sought the ground, then lifted 
 
 To look at the sky again. 
 
 But the clouds at that moment had shifted ; 
 
 A sunbeam was peeping through, 
 And Nature herself was rejoicing 
 
 At the work she had to do. 
 
 The crickets chirped in the grass outside, 
 The birds from the vines replied; 
 
 The very leaves looked up and smiled 
 As the clouds kept floating by. 
 
 I thought of the sower and reaper, 
 
 The wonderful ways of God, 
 Who prepares for the seedtime and harvest. 
 
 For the bread that must come from the sod ; 
 
 [3] 
 
THE RAINY DA Y. 
 
 How all things must work together 
 To complete the wonderful plan, 
 
 The upbuilding and grand unfolding 
 Of the marvelous work, called man; 
 
 How each creature in God's creation 
 His place in the plan must fill; 
 
 How some must toil in the valley 
 And some must work on the hill; 
 
 How some thrive best in the shadow, 
 While some the sunshine take; 
 
 But each in his place is needed, 
 For God never makes a mistake. 
 
 So the rain must fall and the wind must blow- 
 The man who learns this is wise; 
 
 For the storms we dread and fear to meet 
 Are blessings in disguise. 
 
 [5] 
 
WORTH WHILE. 
 
 Is it worth while, my dear, in this Hfe of ours 
 That you look for the weeds among the flowers ? 
 
 Or wouldn't it be better, my dear, as you go 
 To seek for the blossoms that are sure there to 
 grow ? 
 
 To seek, to find, and to treasure them, too, 
 For they help make your life-work honest and 
 true. 
 
 In fact, my dear, in this life of ours 
 'Tis best to remember only the flowers. 
 
 [7] 
 
CON TEN THEN T. 
 
 I sought for it over land and sea, 
 Wherever the haunt of man could be. 
 
 I sought in the palace of wealth and ease, 
 WTiere life seemed sweet as springtime's breeze. 
 
 I sought in the poor man's humble cot, 
 Where ceaseless toil is the common lot. 
 
 I sought in childhood, youth, and age, 
 I sought with prophet, seer, and sage. 
 
 I sought it near and sought it far, 
 I sought in all known things that are. 
 
 I sought me long that blessed spot 
 Where reigns content; — I found it not. 
 
 [9] 
 
TRUE SERVICE. 
 
 Why serve ye the Lord, O ye people, 
 By building great temples of stone, 
 
 By taxing your strength and your patience? 
 He needs no work but His own. 
 
 Why serve ye the Lord, ye people, 
 By sermons and meaningless prayers 
 
 That prove that you preach without practice? 
 He calls for your work, not your prayers. 
 
 He calls for your earnest endeavor, 
 Your help and charity, too, — 
 
 For the slightest of all of His creatures 
 Who need any aid from you. 
 
 [II] 
 
TRUE SERVICE. 
 
 He rules in the Kingdom of Kindness, 
 The Kingdom of mind and of heart ; 
 
 And He needs not the work 
 
 That builds only upon the physical part. 
 
 The pure, the meek, and the mournful, 
 The workers in life's busy field, 
 
 He has need of, — not of the planners 
 Who garner from others' yield. 
 
 Then do more, think more, and show 
 More of the divine that to all has been given, 
 
 And this earth where all beauty doth grow 
 Will be ^4ike to the Kingdom of Heaven." 
 
 [13] 
 
YOUR TASK, 
 
 You may think you know the way better 
 The things that you most want to do : 
 
 The path that seems pleasant and smooth 
 May not be the place for you. 
 
 But right where you happen to be 
 Will be plenty of work for your hand, 
 
 And by doing the things that are near 
 You will learn to understand 
 
 That you in your place must stay, 
 
 Wherever that place may be, 
 And do with a willing mind 
 
 Each task that you may see. 
 
 And when your work is done 
 
 The way will be clear to you. 
 And you'll know your daily task 
 
 Was the only one for you. 
 
 [15] 
 
LIFE'S PUZZLE, 
 
 I think till my mind is weary 
 Of the puzzling problem of life; 
 
 Of the things that seem all crooked, 
 And the way that 's full of strife. 
 
 Of the mountains of trouble that tower 
 Over some of our struggling brothers; 
 
 Of the clouds that blacken their pathway 
 Till they scarce can see one another 
 
 For the shadow that falls over all 
 And the gloom they cannot dispel, 
 
 Till life to them is a pall 
 And a sorrow they cannot tell. 
 
 How their faces bear silent witness 
 To the gloom within the heart, 
 
 And their eyes are never lifted 
 To view the better part. 
 
 [17] 
 
LIFE'S PUZZLE. 
 
 And my heart grows sick with longing, 
 And my eyes with tears are dim, 
 
 For the hght that 's never dawning 
 Upon their pathway dim. 
 
 Yet to those who strive unceasing. 
 
 The time is sure to come 
 When the hght will gleam and the morning 
 
 Will dawn for the weary one. 
 
 And they '11 know that the way. 
 
 Though thorny and full of doubt and pain, 
 Was the only path for their feet 
 
 To tread that lead to eternal gain. 
 
 And so in hfe's great puzzle 
 
 I turn me to the light, 
 And list to the voice that bids me 
 
 "Walk by faith and not by sight." 
 
 [19] 
 
i 
 
RETRIBUTION. 
 
 Whatever you think, you grow to be, 
 Your Hf e is a hne that falls true : 
 And the things that you think or say or do 
 Are all very sure to come back to you. 
 
 They may come to you from the lips of your 
 
 child, 
 From the friend that you prize most dear: 
 And even the stranger you carelessly meet 
 Will reflect but your thought either bitter or 
 
 sweet. 
 
 So, work as you may and think as you will. 
 All unheeded by you in life's treadmill, 
 The things that you think or say or do 
 Are all very sure to come back to you. 
 
 [21] 
 
i 
 
MY GARDEN. 
 
 I see in my garden growing 
 
 The rose and the Hly fair ; 
 The pansy and the violet 
 
 All spread their fragrance there. 
 
 The rose to me doth speak of love, 
 The lily purity doth prove, 
 The deep-eyed pansy stands for thought, 
 The violet modesty hath brought. 
 
 So in the garden of my mind 
 
 The rose of love I place ; 
 The lily in her purity 
 
 My mind must also grace. 
 
 The pansy for most earnest thought 
 
 I tend with anxious care, 
 But the violet blue of modesty 
 
 Must reign supremest there. 
 
 [23] 
 
DO THY PART. 
 
 In life's fierce and earnest battle 
 Play not thou the laggard's part. 
 
 But with earnest, high endeavor 
 Work thou on with all thy heart. 
 
 Though the place to thee seems little, 
 
 Do not minindze the part, 
 But with heart and hand united 
 
 Take thy place in life's great mart. 
 
 And the place so small in seeming 
 
 In the end a gem shall be, 
 .\nd a hght to all appearing 
 
 Who shaU foUow after thee. 
 
 [-^5J 
 
DO THY PART, 
 
 Do that which comes to thee this day, this 
 hour, 
 
 And unto thee shall be given power 
 To do that which waits for thee 
 
 Even through time unto eternity. 
 
 [n] 
 
CHEER UP. 
 
 Don't worry about the trifles of life, 
 Don't fret at the tiresome places, 
 
 But with heart and hand in unison grand 
 Smooth away the wearisome traces 
 
 Of all the past, for trouble can't last, — 
 
 The sun in the sky is shining. 
 And every cloud, however dark. 
 
 My dear, has a silvery lining. 
 
 The specks on the face of the grand old sun 
 Will fade when we cease to hunt them, 
 
 And only the golden light remains 
 To cheer us and help us and show us 
 
 That all of the places when brightened up 
 By the light that is always shining 
 
 Will take on new glory and show us the way 
 We might miss in our vain repining. 
 
 For good will come of these places, my dear, 
 With their lessons of pain or sorrow ; 
 
 So turn to the light and all will be right, — 
 The sun will be shining to-morrow. 
 
 [29] 
 
ONLY. 
 
 Only a song of sweetness whose melody dies on 
 
 the air, 
 Only a prayer for help from a soul in dumb 
 
 despair. 
 
 Only a deed of kindness whose influence goes on 
 
 and on, 
 Only a word of courage to one whose strength 
 
 seems almost gone. 
 
 Yet song and prayer and deed and word 
 Are by the Master heeded and by Him accounted 
 good. 
 
 [31] 
 
A VEIN OF POETRY. 
 
 \r 
 
 Is life, my dear, but humdrum toil? 
 There 's a vein of poetry runs through it all. 
 
 It may be only a wild bird's lay, 
 
 Or only a violet that grows by the way. 
 
 It may be the sunset's golden hue. 
 It may be a drop of silvery dew. 
 
 It may be the love of a child to you given. 
 To point the way of your soul to heaven. 
 
 But you find it, my dear, in the commonest 
 
 things, 
 And the spirit within you looks up and sings. 
 
 [33] 
 
THE BEST WAY. 
 
 Why all this toil and turmoil, 
 
 Why all this care and pain, 
 Why all this ^'strenuous effort" 
 
 For only a mite of gain? — 
 
 For a fame that lasts for the hour. 
 
 For a crown of earthly power 
 That crumbles to dust and ashes 
 
 In the hand that crumbles, too ; 
 
 In the hand that 's weak and weary, 
 In the brain o'erwrought with care; 
 
 In the life your careless handling 
 Has left of real treasure bare. 
 
 There 's a better way, and a higher, 
 
 A way that ends in peace, 
 A way that blesses and eases, 
 
 A way where strife shall cease. 
 
 'Tis a way that 's fraught with kindness. 
 
 With joy and gladness blest; 
 And you '11 find, my dear, if you seek it. 
 
 It is of all ways the best. 
 
 [35] 
 
LITTLE MAID'S DREAM. 
 
 Little maid with eyes of blue 
 And your heart so clean and true, 
 With the world before your eyes 
 In its fairest, purest guise, 
 
 What dreamest thou? 
 
 Little maid with eyes of brown. 
 In thy meekness looking down 
 All life's field to you so strange 
 From your childhood's narrow range, 
 What dreamest thou? 
 
 Little maid with eyes of gray, 
 Leaving now your childhood's play 
 For the world's strife all untried. 
 With thy good angel by thy side, 
 What dreamest thou? 
 
 Eyes of blue and eyes of brown, 
 Eyes of gray in wonder drawn. 
 Wide to gaze on all so new. 
 Be thou ever kind and true. 
 
 And the dream thou dreamest, sweet, 
 Will be in thy soul complete; 
 And the path thou walkest in 
 Will be ever free from sin. 
 
 [37] 
 
THE THANKFUL HEART. 
 
 The thankful heart makes the happy face. 
 The cheerful home and the gentle grace 
 That adorns the faces of both yoong and (dd, 
 x\nd it cannot be bou^t for alver or gold- 
 
 The thankful heart comes from the sjMiit within, 
 
 And ^eds over all in life's busy din. 
 
 A dory divine and a radiance fair 
 
 That gives to each lesson significance rare. 
 
 The thankful heart grows from the useful life. 
 That in this world of toil and strife 
 The burdens of others will hdp th^n to bear, 
 And sorrow as wdl as joy will share. 
 
 [39] 
 
FINALE. 
 
 I walk the path of Ufe 
 
 And ponder much the ways of men : 
 
 The greed for gain, the quenchless thirst for 
 
 fame, 
 The selfish disregard of others' needs; 
 The careless handling of a brother's name; 
 The rush, the push, the endless race for wealth 
 
 and power 
 And then the end, — The narrow, narrow house. 
 The silence and the mystery of death. 
 
 I ponder much, and vainly ask 
 
 Myself the need of all the strife, — 
 
 This quenching of the soul of man 
 
 To give the body that of which 
 
 It has so little need; and then 
 
 For only a span of years so brief 
 
 That all our work is left most incomplete. 
 
 The soul that moves forever on 
 
 Must needs the body serve : 
 
 Must to the servant, servant be 
 
 Instead of master as decreed* 
 
 [41] 
 
FINALE, 
 
 By all that 's good and pure and true. 
 And for what? To leave at last that 
 Tenement of clay, and claim its own, — 
 The splendid brightness of eternal light. 
 The endless upward flight from out the night. 
 
 I ponder much the lack of thought 
 Of all things fair and sweet. 
 The disregard of all our nature's need. 
 The three in one — yet only one is fed, 
 And that on which it thrives must chain 
 The twain to earth ; unless by climbing 
 Higher we live above and look beyond 
 The human need unto the human end. 
 The one must serve — the twain must rule. 
 The intellect and soul combine to form 
 God's fair mentality; and unto this 
 There comes no end — but the sweet peace 
 Of calm security — the consciousness 
 That the paths we tread lead to endless light 
 From out the night. 
 
 [43] 
 
p, "2/ 
 
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