Class Rnok J_ GopyiightN?_ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT; Apostrophe to Hope and Other Poems By Laura Hull-Morris XTbe Umfcfeerbocfter press New York 1915 Copyrighted, 1915 BY LAURA HULL-MORRIS Ube lfcnfcfeerbocker ipress, Hew IBorft NOV -9 1915 ©CI.A416291 MY LADY JOSEPHINE (Mrs. A. B. F.) This Volume Is Dedicated In Affection L. H. M. CONTENTS PAGE Dedication iii Apostrophe to Hope . . 3 Ingratitude . 6 Solitude . . 8 A Song of Reunion . . II To a Young Child 12 To a Friend (a Toast) 13 Wind Sprites (March) • 14 Chant Praises to the Lord 15 To My Lady Josephine (a Portrait) 17 Ye Waves of the Winds . 18 To a Dragon Fly • 19 The Rain . . 21 God's Way 22 Of Love . . 25 September . 26 My Native Home • 27 Pourquoi? . 29 Little Lady Baby Mine . . 30 VI Contents After Parting . Wishing .... To My Baby Boys (a Lullaby) Chopin .... Silence .... The Rain is on the Roses Extase .... Meditation My Books Clara Barton . Christmas Memories . Redivivus To a Ring .... The Sea .... A Bouquet of Orchids To Baby Dorothy Home .... The Song of the Sea . Winter .... To Her .... Easter Morning To Deborah The Poinsetta . . . PAGE 3i 32 34 36 38 39 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 53 55 56 57 58 59 61 63 64 65 Contents vii PAGE America 66 Lines to Julia 68 To a Face Illumined ..... 69 War and Peace 70 A Lenten Meditation ..... 72 On Presenting a Copy of a Favorite Book . 73 Destiny ........ 74 To a Leaf in Autumn ..... 76 The Sabbath 78 To a Violet 80 To Dorothy 81 A Thought to Mrs. — (Summer) .... 82 To My Husband 83 Envy. ........ 84 Childhood ....... 86 Youth 87 Manhood 88 Character ....... 90 The Budds of Millersville .... 91 Venus and Adonis ...... 93 Smiles 95 The Isle of Mackinac 96 An Idyl 100 viii Contents PAGE To a Grain of Rice . . . .- . 102 Ye Waves 103 To Dick 104 Visions 105 Trust 106 In Extremis 107 Veritas ........ 108 There will be Rest no Oh, why the Great Heart's Overflow! . .111 Drifting . . . . . . . . 113 In Harbor .114 Via Dolorosa 115 Insomnia .116 Sleep 119 The Mist ........ 120 An Album Leaf (to Mrs. C. C. B) . .121 To Mrs. 122 Oh, the Fair October Days .... 123 The Sonnet 125 Courage 127 An Octave 128 My Back Yard 129 Christmas Song 132 Contents ix PAGE My Mother's Last Message 134 Consolation 136 My Love and I . 137 Victory .... 138 A Hymn .... 139 The Wind Blows 140 To C. S. N. 142 Honors must be Won 144 Music .... 145 A Mme. Marie Celeste P 147 Put not Thy Trust in Princes 149 To Gertrude H . 151 Ode to Friendship 152 A Sleighing Song 154 To Mrs. H .... 155 Sincerity .... 156 A Thought 157 Gratitude. 158 To Mr. and Mrs. M. S. 159 The Land of the Laughing Water 160 L'Envoi .... 161 Apostrophe to Hope APOSTROPHE TO HOPE Hope rears her head, star-eyed, love-crowned, And smiles when all else frowns. Likened to rainbow arch in sky, Anchor to soul and gleam of the sun, Oh where may likeness to thee be found, sweet Hope? Thou art to seafarer, anchor and light; To wayfarer, love and home; To weakness, strength; to sickness, health; To sin, salvation; to strife, repose; To doubt, the trust that doth restore. Hope, thy name is bright ! Faithful as friend throughout the dark night. Repulsed, thou dost rise, in hut, cell, or home; The poor man's wealth, the rich man's boon. The Christian's faith through long years of striving, The artist's star, just for the toiling, Not for the hoard, that limited word, But for greater gain, the soul's enlarging. Success is a vain word. How know we when we succeed in lines which grow to infinity ? 3 4 Apostrophe to Hope From beginnings, small and dwarfish, hope is the thought. She beckons, guides, leads, o'er stony paths, Through darkest waters, always smiling, ever nodding, No man she passes by, or if she would, An awful darkness would fall on him Like weight of careworn ages. Impetus to light hearts, light feet and busy loving hands. The Unseen ! the Mighty ! She springs from the deep ; 'Gainst the tide she leaps; silent, defensive; Making fair th' impossible. Gilding the dawn of thought, scarce formed, Tim'rous, weak, to deeds of inspiration wrought. Patient in pain, present in sorrow; the crystal in tears ; Germ in the grain to blossom tomorrow. Thou art spirit of justice, fair Hope. These are thy offices, yet more; for at the last Thou desertest not; to the conscience, Thy soft whispers lend a light to guide the spirit After feet and hands, too wearied, refuse their bidding. And at the river where all travelers cross, In the same way, with pageant left behind, Simply, surely, even there, sweet Hope, thou failest not. Then the way is bright, the way that rich and poor Apostrophe to Hope 5 And sad and gay, must pass alike, is smooth and bright By thy glad rays, dear Hope. Beacon light! thou'rt all there is, save God. INGRATITUDE Were all the hordes of hell Barking at your high estate You owe but loyalty for a benefit. Gratitude is graven on the tombs of saints ; And rightly, too, for it is most sublime and rare ! Graven on the hearts of but a few, 'Twere ever so; I ne'er have given greatness; Generosity ; but that it fell as heart-break to the giver; And as thunderbolt from hell. And so, is earthly gain! He who knows not what he owes unto another, Shall, by Time, be taught; As pulses slower grow in days of contemplation, Justice comes ! It is a thing accurst, Not to know a benefit. Not to reckon with the Great Assayer; And so the triumph comes to him who hath most nobly wrought; To him who, in the plenitude of his great spirit, Must suffer and grow strong — In the nobility of acts, which may meet with no acclaim; Until Old Time shall say : 6 Ingratitude 7 "These privileges are mine, and none shall gainsay me. My gifts are mighty, as my words ; For I am the ultimate; The end ; which inscribes upon the scroll Of long-lived Fame, and enrolls The motive and the spirit." Let ingratitude be engraven only On the fronts of fiends, 'Tis not the high, or mighty mien; 'Tis the displeasure of the gods to reckon with, There is no mien hatefuller to angels or to men Than foul-faced Ingratitude. It is fit for devils only in their hell; It is a grievous stain. June 16, 1915. SOLITUDE Out upon the sea's broad sweep No life save mine, near all this vasty deep To eye discovered; save seagull's silent flight Afar, across the blue of wave and light Of shimmering seas, that lash Their shores in e'er recurrent foam; and dash Their rocky sides in rhythmic song. 'Midst tangled cedar's undergrowth I sit, 'Neath soughing vines, and earth's black loam, unlit By summer's sun; and hear these waters woo In strain invincible; in gentlest cadence sue. Here, I, alone, would fain its soft refrain Interpret, divine its noble strain, In solitude's most grateful lay. The spring's soft gurgle and its trickling stream More eloquent than words of man, would seem To still his moanings. The waving fern, Whose roots 'neath yonder rock discern In humble eloquence its feathered greens, Turns toward the sea, and forward leans To find its kind in ocean deeps. Solitude Each has a voice; the tendrils roam Unfettered; white sea cap's foam In monotone and e'er repeated swell 'Gainst rock-ribbed sides and mossy fell; The seagull's silent swing Above, adown, on graceful wing All basked in autumnal sun. The ship's soft course, the shaded bower; The widening water's greater power. Hast soul untouched? Come list to waves that lap These shores, as far mid-ocean cap Of foam another seeks all merged in endless song. Cedars sad as cypress with their promise of evergreen Prie-Dieu and mossy shrines, from out their copses lean; Here the soul essays to speak Its holiest utterances, in meek Expression, in this sanctuary of infinite mystery. ******* Sunshine, silence, solitude! O trinity to man, of triune good ! Hast time to think ? to Source of these Thy reck'ning turn, and spirit sees Divinity everywhere, and God in all. io Apostrophe to Hope And now the atmosphere is gray, and sky and sea; Their symphony in minor key; Enchanting as a fragment of some sweet Forgotten song; and past and present meet In Memory's holy psalmody. September, 1905. A SONG OF REUNION Let happiness renew, let joy come forth! And Angel of Mirth, spread your wings over all. Let the precious gladness, forth, like the sun; Even the sunbeams of life. Love rules over all, while he serves; Let Love be entwined with laurel leaves, And with olive branch be plumed! Welcome him as one mighty ; A greater than king. Shout with gladness, he enters where he will; Abides, giving joy, giving peace And bringing cheer. Gloria in Excelsis! Love is Here! March 23, 1905. II TO A YOUNG CHILD Quaint of speech and fair of feature Beauty of face and form; Something rarer still, and sweeter, Is the charm of early morn, In this child's enchanting spirit Shedding to the atmosphere, Something which God gives with merit, And changes not when years are sere. June, 1899. 12 TO A FRIEND (a toast) There are times for us all in the day When our hearts full of hope and joy Make the rustle of wings seem not far away And life is without alloy. The sunshine has a goldener hue, The air has life in its trend, And this is the time in the day to renew When we see the face of a friend. 13 WIND-SPRITES (march) Hear the songs the winds are singing ! In full chorus gaily ringing ! Tell me, wind-sprites, what you're singing. Merry song you sing to-day, In roulade and roundelay ? O'er the high and lofty gables, Telling us in wild weird fables Of the sprites that haunt the gables, Are you merry, are you glad, Then why make the heart so sad? Do you shriek or cry in pain, Is your moan for many slain In the life-strife and the pain, Or are you glad and gay, Your song roulade and roundelay ? February 19, 1901. 14 CHANT PRAISES TO THE LORD "Religion, love, and music] are they not the triple expression of one fact, — the need of expansion, the need of touching with their own infinite the infinite beyond them, which is in the fibre of all noble souls? These three forms end in God, who alone can unwind the knot of earthly emotion. ' ' Balzac. The Lord will defend me and build up His mighty fortress About me. He will abide with me for I believe ! Mighty His judgments and just, Merciful that His judgments are not the judg- ments Of men, but that He alone is Almighty. I love to praise Him in the silence When He cometh to abide as my strength. For my weakness is His promise of help. He forsaketh not the cry of the wounded heart. He heareth and answereth. Let me praise Him In the sanctuaries of His creations. I am not afraid when my Saviour is my friend. I am not afraid. Nor perils nor dangers of the night can assail. 15 16 Apostrophe to Hope He disperseth all my fear. Let me meet His favor ; He hath promised all things to His faithful, Even His radiant presence, And in mercy He answereth prayer. August 15, 1905. MY LADY JOSEPHINE Beautiful to look upon, A queen of gracious mien, A woman pure and gentle Is my Lady Josephine. Her words are music on the air, Her voice is sweet and low, Caressing, soft and rhythmic As summer sounds that come and go. Her mind is a jeweled casket, Store of treasure rich and rare ; Beautiful her soul within — Her presence wondrous fair. "Who can paint, the lily?" In vain for words I seek; Phrases fail and naught avails When I of my friend would speak. Her thoughts are lofty, noble, She will always find I ween, Friends and friendships manifold — My Josephine, my queen. 17 YE WAVES OF THE WINDS Ye invisible waves of winds in space, Like ocean's billows' measured rythm, Continuously do flow. Like water's waves, and yet are dry. Temper with thy gentlest touch, O winds, When Sahara's heated breath, Or Tempest's awful threat Thy bosom heaves. Soothe with velvet touch The fevered pillow and the night's slow ache; Enter the homes of those who toil With freshening caress, in Summer's torrid heat; To the weary and the needy, bring rest — Thy fresh, sweet nectared wine — From ocean's bed, full-filtered. And when the ice king 'shrouds the earth In pitiless embrace, To suffering be thou kind ; Blow gently, and bring balm, ye waves From ether's endless sea. August. 18 TO A DRAGON FLY Thou pretty thing in Nature's realm Where hast thou found thy gorgeous raiment, Thy jewels, the soft flutterings of thy gilded wings, Thine insouciance and thy grace? Thy imperious, lofty ways, amongst thy meaner kind, Whence thy poses, catching the sunlight in thine eyes? The brightest breeze that plays, as clear and limpid As the lake, is thine, in which to dip Thy brilliant wings, and soar aloft, away Above the sulky grub and impish toad. Thou risest, like a pendant into space Of clustered setting of all precious gems Abounding in thy beauteous form. Dost know that thou art ornament of all about thee? How gay thou art ! No burden save thy jewelled self. Thy pastime, but to rise, to soar, To fly to some green leaf or to another; To top of tree or blade of grass, 19 20 Apostrophe to Hope Nor fear for thy safe moorings. So perfected Is thy form in all proportions Of grace and equipoise, that laughter Seems within thy wings, and thou mightest be The emblem of all gaiety. Dost know that thou art regnant In the ether? The blue is thine, the turf, The bush, the green, the sward. And how know we, that stars are not to thee? Thou toilest not, but all the bright long day, Thou'rt tipping this and lipping there Accusing all as thine. Thou art not made for grovelling, Beauteous thing! And whence and where Thy dainty mainspring, toy? What mechanism Clothed within so rare a beauty To propel a dainty thing. And who dare say, thee nay, Or aught to make thee pause? THE RAIN How the dripping from the eaves Starts the fancy going, Peopling with sprites the leaves, Their songs in music flowing. Music sweeter, gentler far Than all earth's children maketh, No discord there can ever mar And the soul's thirst it slaketh. Oh, the dripping, dropping rain! The sprites a cadence weaving Into harmonious sweet refrain, Our weary souls relieving. As tears are sent to ease the heart When it throbs in pain, So Nature's needs to her impart In the bounty-giving rain. September, 1900. 21 GOD'S WAY Though I might have had it otherwise Than the way it has been sent, Hard as the way and slow the pace Strength to me ever was lent. When bitter foes assailed And tried God's ends to thwart, He gave them just enough of power To lead them to the mart Where all roads lead to Him; For every child his lot Ordained, for time, has been, And for eternity changes not. What waste of time and moments spent, What feverish haste in vain ! Slow to learn His one great word Growth is travail and pain. But for the foes and dangers past I had never reached the heights. These are His labourers in the plan; So I bless the Hand that smites. God's Way 23 With pity, think of those who dare To change His plan, to try Their own, in Life's great plan And send them but a sigh. And thank my foes, as suns arise As they see their work is done; For what is mine shall be my own Unchanging as the sun In its long course, to rise and set; Yet ever shines the while, 'Tis my short vision only That I must reconcile That it illumes another way When I have not the light, For kindly He withholds the glare For clearer, nobler sight Of truths learned on the way, Better to climb, than with a bound To heights attain; through Sorrow's plan And deeper plummets sound. I ride or walk, or sit and wait, I know those near are likewise tried With burdens, which each strives to bear With courage, putting pain aside. 24 Apostrophe to Hope So I take my cup of bitterness If my soul it doth expand, For life is living something more For this offering from His hand. True, His way not mine, oh no ! Paved with heart pangs and soul ache, And if I the way could know, My strength would waver and forsake But 'tis thus the fibre forms For storms and clouds o'ercast, And gives strength to endeavor To reach the haven at last. Nor hand of man or demon Can from me this prize wrest; For what is mine is surely mine If I claim it in the quest. And if I claim it not, and pray Thy will, not mine, be done, As rivers flow unto the sea, A Hand will lead me on. 1904. OF LOVE Oh who can sing of love ! The gentle tender tie that binds Within its chain and never finds The fault or tear And naught to fear; Oh who can sing of love! Of love which knows no change For time or aye, What minstrel's lay Can sing? 25 SEPTEMBER All hail, September! Harbinger of fall of leaf and bloom, With promise of the freshness of the frost. After days of weariness, of lassitude and ease, Return to active life and freshened buoyant air. Decay and failure thou foretellest, Hope's chastisement and withholding, To come in greater beauty in the spring. Vacation days of rest, the fuller days of toil, Pulses quickened by the lessons of the past, Of hopes and their fulfillment, Delays and failures blended, Typified in seasons of the year. 1901. 26 MY NATIVE HOME Fair City of the Plains, Your fame would bid us know That Nature smiled upon you When she named you long ago. Your trees are tall and stately, Your banks are mossy green ; Your skies are bluer than the blue Of other skies, I ween. You are fairer than the heather That o'er your valley blows, Fanned by gentle breezes Its spreading beauty sows. You are to me the measure Of a childhood's happy home; Memory twines a wreath in pleasure When in far off lands I roam. Fair City of the Plains, I love your hills and dales; My mind doth fondly ponder The soft breezes in your vales. 27 28 Apostrophe to Hope As no others, since, have done, Their sweet songs have touched my heart With a music almost magic; Bidding all but joy depart. Though framed in plains of beauty Your outlook is from high hills, I quaff a long draught to you From out your flowing rills; May Nature's horn of plenty O'er all your valleys strow Her contents ever lavish All good things to bestow. Join in fraternal union Success to your sons and their sires; All joy to mothers and daughters Who build 'round their altars the fires Of love as your beacon To your days guiding star, And brave men and fair women Send your praises anear and afar. February 14, 1900. POURQUOI? I know not why I should be sad, The heaven's vault is blue; The stars are shining for us all And I have you; The birds are singing in the boughs, The leaflet is in green, The world is full of beauty As we have seen. It storms, sometimes, and rains; Tears fall, and chilly blast. Why does the sunshine nicker And shadows last? While I have you, my darling, I will not give way to pain As we pluck the flowers together That bloom in rain. January, 1900. LITTLE LADY BABY MINE (To Baby T ) I have a little baby, Her lips are petals of the rose; Her eyes are blue as any skies, And on her brow the whiteness Of the lily grows. O she is blithesome ! And so lithesome Her soul is all sunshine; She is dainty, sweet, and winsome Little Lady Baby Mine. 1901. 30 AFTER PARTING The music's throb and the poet's rhyme, The painter's art and the truant time, The sculptor's work and the voyage long, The architect's draft and the singer's song, Can charm but little; less repay, When the voice we cannot hear, though near, And from companionships so dear We are withheld, through passing years; Though absence all our loves endears. In tenderer strain yet yearns the heart And longing more, with bitter smart; So turns to strong Endeavor's test And consecrates to works' behest; That days shall go, tomorrows come, And bring to us our loved ones home. In reunion, find our mercies sweet As the faithful in their Heaven meet. May 31, 1904. 3i WISHING How futile were wishing, and beautiful too, If wishing be part of that we shall do ; Not foolishly pining for that unpossessed, But rather the prayer of the righteous and blest. How gaily caparisoned the horses might go Which "beggars might ride" if wishing were so; And not for the earning of what shall be ours, For 'tis only by effort that we gain of our powers. Oh the elan of wishing, when thoughts troop around In which justice and beauty and fairness abound ! Sending gloom and distrust, with love's colors flying In the place of despair, whose embers lay dying. And wise wishes are often the prophets, fore- telling Of what is to come; of fears oft dispelling; 32 Wishing 33 Placed in our consciousness, there to abide, Till prophecy, true, no doubt can betide. Ah the uplift of wishing ! when Fancy runs riot In the arcades of Time where, 'mid peace and the quiet Of Thought's silent Temple, the soul's mystic shrine, Gives up legions of wishes from the wealth of its mine. For the best of the Muses, the crafts and the arts That beauty and truth shall obtain in the hearts Of Mankind's suffering children, and no longer their pain: Then the end of all wishing is Life's greatest gain. June 4, 1905. 3 TO MY BABY BOYS (a lullaby) One with fair hair with a glint of the gold, Another dear head in my arms to enfold. ******* Eyes light with laughter, Making sunshine for all; Smiles in their dear depths Raise the gloom's darkest pall. Pure as the lily heart From which the bee sips, Purer than heart of lily Are my dear babies' lips. Tears on the cheeks, loves, Angels should not weep, They are sent earth to brighten While they their vigils keep. Love-touched with fay fingers The deep dimples attest, Knuckle, cheek, chin, and knee; Rest, my sweet babies, rest. ******* 34 To My Baby Boys 35 Shall coming years be freighted With flowers and evergreens, To you a special mission To bowers and fairy scenes? Ah me, dear ones, I fear sometimes, That tears amid the laughter May come in notes discordant, And leave their traces after. I kiss my baby boys to sleep And pray for Heaven's blessing, Trusting the Father over all, My helplessness confessing; And when no Mother bends the knee And they gaze at a heart at rest, They will bear her where the cypress blooms, And know that what is, is best. March 14, 1899. CHOPIN Mighty builder of Gothic Temples! Mystic shrine ! Inspired and created in revered design. Heritage of more than classic lore; Singer whose forms and strains shall soar To touch the world-heart; its harmonies to fashion ; The world-heart to touch, its fickleness, its passion. Its steadfastness, its soul, its fancy; By his wondrous necromancy. From thy gables spring melodies Like cataracts' plash — roundelays, — Hurling down from the mountains ! Silver spray, from the fountains! Glinting and sprinting their lovely sheen Like jewels flashing in sunlight seen. Concealed now by turret and lost to view, Then sparkling o'er tower in gay crest of dew. Traceries rare, as old patterns in lace; Inwrought, o'erwrought, in rarest of grace; 36 Chopin s7 Architect, subtle in shadow and light, When the winds moan 'mid thy turrets at night, Thy noble structure returns their refrain And thou singest in earth's saddest strain. In thy gables and turrets and towers of song The soul finds abode and abideth long. Builder, O Builder, thou hast not wrought in vain Since thou spakest all moods to the long human train. Structure stuccoed in jewels, — crystallized tears. Their high vaulted dome to heaven appears. Dazzling heights, O Builder, whence thy soul man can view; Temple shrine where may worship thy devout chosen few. SILENCE Opaque as in the mind's recesses Silence holds her subtle sway. Folds us in her mantle's meshes, Points us to our inner day. In shadowy lines to us unsealing Visions of the better man ; Of Life's truths the mines revealing As the turmoil never can. Seed is planted in the sunlight, In the sun-lit day; Matured by fruitful dew of twilight, From tumult far away. August 14, 1901. 38 THE RAIN IS ON THE ROSES The rain is on the roses, Alice dear, Alice dear, The rain is on the roses, Alice dear, But to-morrow's sun will brighten, And our hearts with joy will lighten; Their message then shall greet you, Alice dear. Heaven-sent tears are fruitful, Alice dear, Alice dear, Heaven-sent tears are fruitful, Alice dear; They will bloom in greater glory, They will tell a sweeter story, When they greet you on the morrow, Alice dear. June 4, 1905. 39 EXTASE (impressions in the early morning) Glorious are the hills ! Song all time fulfills ; My heart in rapture thrills To the glory of the hills. To my soul the sight Of this early morning's light Shows Nature's rapturous might In all her native right. 'Mid boughs and branch, the trills From music's throat ; and thrills The air; as flow the rills Adown the verdant hills In Nature's wondrous lay, From early light of day Till sunset's latest ray. My soul, make no delay 40 Extase 41 To praise for gifts so rare As this delight to share And fling away thy care In joys of earth and air. May 5, 1904. MEDITATION {Le bon Dieu tie nous a rien donne plus precieux que le temps.) Time, thou priceless gift of God, Why waste we in repining? The harvest must be garnered, the fruition tended ; Yet how slothful, how complaining ! Knowing not the coming season, we must till on , Watering with our tears the sod, Furrowing with our sighs the clods, Gathering seed for another planting; For all things renew, and come again. Leaving no thing to lesson man, If he will but learn. Why tarry, my soul, And wait, always asking why ? He hath said: he who asketh, shall receive; And he who hath ears, let him hear; For in the signs given, if he will not, He shall not. Sincerely let us pray, Thy will be done, and from evil deliver us. Thou who dost hang worlds in ether, Dost hold the stars in space, The Oceans in their beds, 42 Meditation 43 The mountains on their bases; Thou, who makest The harebell and the leaflet, The lily and the rose. Who can magnify Thee, Power of the million Joves ! Tender as the child in arms, let us meditate on Thee. Since Thou hast promised that he who Asketh shall receive, grant, then, O Father, That what Thou sendest be not too great a burden, But give us rest, and give us peace. April 2, 1901. MY BOOKS My books are my companions, and lonely Indeed were I, if vacant space Were there to take the place When I come to greet them. They lend unto my moods, and rest I find; faithful friends and fast, Ne'er changing; but outlast The varying times and tides Of years a-gone, and yet to come. Trustful, faithful to their mission To lowly, puritan and patrician; Silent messengers from many minds. Ranged in tiers like sentinels To guide and guard the days From dreaded ennui ; and in praise Of life and loving, I go forth With braver heart and stronger For their sympathy; in spirit chastened Go; but to return to them as hastened To the embrace of one we love. He is not friendless who has books; And choice his friends, as he may choose In coterie select, where none may lose The precious aroma of nectar 'd wine 44 My Books 45 From which the gods might sip. And from the flight of verse, in inspiration wrought So fluent and so fine, as unsought It seems to flow untrammeled Like the mighty river in its course, Giving green; and bright in gladness, Or to some strain touched with sadness, All our sorrows and our joys sustaining, Ye books are human in all moods; In sighs and tears and laughter ; In logic, science, art ; thereafter, Speak unto my soul, as to a friend. Give me my books and I am rich In thought, in fame and store. In fancy rare, and historied lore; I revel with the mightiest kings And with the master crafts I toil; Commune with saints on high, With poets walk, with artists sigh In moments of delice; When Inspiration's tardy wing Spreads and illumines all To mortal gifts, and weaves the thrall Of mankind's sovereign need. CLARA BARTON Name apart in woman's annals High on the scroll of noble deeds another Night- ingale, With genius single-eyed to mankind's weal, She came upon the scene empowered to act. A hero woman; missioned for a time and place. She moved among her suffering kind, Nor flood nor fire, nor war's alarm, deterred. A Joan had not less of fear, nor for her country nobler wrought Than this pale Sister of the Charities. A soldier woman ; meek in obedience, intrepid in command. She moved at night, a patriot, among her nation's dead and dying. Hands ready, seeking for their toil, T'assuage the throbbing brow, the gashed flesh, And soft words to soothe the fevered spirit. She scattered seeds of promise, everywhere; In devastation's wake new gardens grew, and fields were blossomed. Nights turned to days, so eloquent in ministra- tion That praise to monument so enduring, cannot add 46 Clara Barton 47 To wreath of laurel and crown of olive Weaved from assuaged pain and whispered words of dying men. Through passes narrow and morasses' murky depths, On battle field, she strode, with chosen band of Spartans. Unfurl the flag ! Insignia of the Cross ! Its every wave protection to proclaim. To work; bring gladness to the eye of soldier martyr, And to the cheek its color, strength to limb And hope to heart. Let not our ranks be deci- mated Of noble manhood's life. Moist the parched lips, while battles rage And combats clash, where mothers may not go, Or sister's cheering word, nor kiss of wife may bless. My countrymen, what praise for one Whose immortelles are wrought of deeds! CHRISTMAS MEMORIES Where are the rattle, the drum, and horn That I heard on awakening each Christmas morn, When the wee ones' shouts rang loud and clear, Rang out in gay laughter and Christmas cheer? On Christmas eve the good-night kiss Half smothered in questions of joy and bliss, Of the morrow's hopes and of Santa Claus, And mysteries all, in many wise saws. My heart is full, but empty my hands, As my babies wander in far-away lands; And as my thanks ascend on high — A prayer, a tear and a tender sigh For something gone from this day so dear, Gone from its merriment, laughter, and cheer; For I hear not the drum in its deafening din Nor see the youngsters come marching in. It all seemed sweet and natural then, But I fear sometimes, since they've grown to be men, That the noises great and the deafening roar Of children and to}^s impress me more 48 Christmas Memories 49 With the sweetness of things that come not again — In Memory's haunts so long they have lain; And today, they are with me in childish glee As they were in those days, clustered 'round my knee. Xmas, 1904. 4 REDIVIVUS It must have been an angel in the night Bringing balm in mysterious unknown word to me; Word full of meaning and of might Fraught with hope for restoration; Redivivus, life and light ! Prom the heights, so fair and lofty and so bright Came the angel bearing balm in this word unknown to me; Ringing out as joyous bells in the stillness of the night Giving faith and taking unbelief away; Redivivus, life and light ! Its meaning to my vision brought new sight; This mysterious word, then unknown to me, And its answer in the silence of the night I only knew from vanquished pain and silenced woe. Redivivus, life and light ! 50 Redivivus 51 In each soul dwells its consciousness of might; Its spark divine; though its revelation oft delayed ; Oft it speaks, too, in the silence of the night To a knowledge born of seeking, Redivivus, life and light ! TO A RING (Remembrance) A GOLDEN circlet, a little ring; A dainty jewelled thing, Telling its silent message through the years Of the steadfast love he bore In the happy days of yore. Days that are as happy yet, For who would e'er forget The old sweet memories of the yester-time? When the heart's own lore Makes its spring-tide ever more. 52 THE SEA Fathomless mystery, the Sea! Mother Nature to her own Of dales and glades, of mount and moon; But of all, her child, the sea, Is the greatest mystery. It speaks, but few can understand; It hearkens but to her command; It roars and threats, and moans and smiles, Boundless moods the sea, From laughter light to mutiny. Beautiful, yet pitiless! From waves which shimmer blithesomely Softly swells thy lullaby; Knowest thou thy power? That even though thou lulled be, Still art thou awful, mighty Sea. Thou art dark and grave and gay; Worthy twin to mountain's height; The wave caps and the high peaks light, Children both, of Nature's heart 53 54 Apostrophe to Hope Sky-tipped peak, and boundless sea Dost thou then repine? O child as awful as Fate ! Or art thou not too grave and great, Waveless though thou be? And though thou givest bounteously, Still art thou awful, Beautiful Sea! A BOUQUET OF ORCHIDS A bunch of Orchids, children of the air! Thou dost descend to honor me; Thou, exclusive, rare and fair. Thy fay slippers fit for fairy feet Come merry with the dance; Aristocrat! from high retreat Ye come; as herald from my friend, Ye velvet- throated trumpets ! Which through my veins do send (Giving of thy fine cachet), Sweet speech, though breathed in silence, In the breath of thy bouquet. Ye velvet-hearted bells Ye came to me a-singing, Harbingers of joy; I see a heart in thee, More than flower, ye came a-ringing With a friend's most gracious lay; Her most precious message Sent me in thy rare cachet. 1906. 55 TO BABY DOROTHY A child, a flower; A blossom of incomparable perfume ; A mysticism of loveliness ; A mystery of God's power; A manifestation of His love; A beauty that has its pathos; A soul that has its mission; A smile that has its heaven. And this is Dorothy. February 19, 1903. 56 HOME Life is an Ocean; The home is the ship, Where Love rules the rudder, Let not a sail rip. Firm and steady her launch, Build her strong, build her true ! For all winds and all tides, Build her staunch. For there's one spot on earth Where the weary find rest, Where the wayward return After Folly's long quest. Safe craft to the haven As en voyage we roam O'er Life's foaming billows To our long cherished Home. April 30, 1904. 57 THE SONG OF THE SEA O the song of the sea is delightful to me, With its ever varying rhyme; Its harmonies fair and its melodies rare Are glimpses of music sublime ! O the song of the sea is a marvel to me, Its cadences fill my soul ; Bringing memories sweet old songs to repeat, From the waves and billows they roll! the song of the sea borne on waves to me, In chorus, song, ballad, and hymn, In thunderous voice they bid me rejoice, Their meaning is no longer dim ! That the song of the sea has a message for me, Is assurance tender and sweet; That to my soul it should open its scroll, Is happiness naught can defeat. O the song of the sea is joyous to me! The song, the song, of the sea! the song of the sea is great joy to me, The song, the song, of the sea ! 58 WINTER (" But winter has brighter scenes, . . . Splendors beyond what gorgeous summer knows. Or autumn, with his many fruits and woods All flushed with many hues. ' ' William Cullen Bryant.) Thou'rt royal, Winter! though forbidding oft to him Who see'st not the life that rests in root and stem Of leafless tree; and current 'neath the icy sur- face Of brook's and river's courses; who see'st not The warm ermine that thou hast donned in kingly splendor As mantle wrapped about thy bosom, entwining in its warm embrace. On yonder slope, within that trunk of brown and sere, Thy pulse throbs beat, the life is there, And fragrant balsam, frozen, but t 'unseal With first glad laugh of Spring; to me, thou'rt beautiful, Winter, in varied aspect of the morn and noon and night. This day the air is white with texture fine 59 60 Apostrophe to Hope And gossamer lightness, anon in tapestries of snowy loom Lambent in scurrying flakes, as conscience- driven, They knew thy needs, and hurrying to their fulfillment. Weaving wondrous patterns into space, and lying Close and low upon thy bosom, so beautiful and still! To me, thou'rt comely, Winter, aye more, thou'rt regal; How thy sky becomes thee! The softest hues of gray With thine aesthetic white commingle in coloring of iridium, And earth's soft tones with metal white are mingled In Art's most gracious Art. Though thy still dignity maintaining, thou frownest not; 'Tis but thy stately mien; and 'neath thy coun- tenance There dwells a warmth and kindliness. Thou'rt old and hoary, Winter, and thou'rt kingly. November 13, 1904. TO HER Here's a posey for my sweetheart, Look into its heart for mine; Emblem of love and friendship, Of all, life's rarest wine; For a heart, you know, is a gift below, To remind us of things divine. Take this message, blossom, To one I long to see; Take it with dainty tenderness From your home across the lea. For Nature is true, and so are you; So bear my sincerity. Can I trust you with this mission My heart to her to bear? For it can throb and even break If not with tenderest care Within her keeping, in love-feast reaping The blessings of friendship rare. So take this posey to my sweetheart, Look into its heart for mine; 61 62 Apostrophe to Hope Emblem of joy and friendship, Of all, life's rarest wine; For a heart, you know, is a gift below To remind us of things divine. EASTER MORNING He is risen ! glorious truth ! Light and not darkness is vouchsafed to men. His raiment as the sunshine, resplendent in His power. Who, among Earth's children may give forth To the Infinite, praise, in the finitude Of their understanding; who can extol His loving kindness? That He hath died for us, and that he hath Returned unto us, that our feet may not be cut By the sharp stones; that the wounds of our hearts Shall be healed by the favor of His infinite love. Let gratitude and praise fill the air; The Lord is risen! 1909. 63 TO DEBORAH I know a flower so dainty That in the garden grows, As sweet as bluest violet Or stately growing rose; It scatters its sweet perfume In generous behest, And gives out truth and beauty In Nature's bower the best. I know a girl so dainty, So like this flower is she, Her eyes as soft and gentle As the blossoms on the lea. Would'st know what flower I liken? Seek the sweet forget-me-not; Truth's and friendship's emblem Are hers by Nature wrought. August i, 1 90 1. 64 THE POINSETTA The passion-beauty Poinsetta Brought me from lady fair To grace my festal board On occasion rare; For when friend to meet friend comes Communion means the sweetest pleasure, The best exchange of thought Culled from moments leisure. Not alone the blossoms, Yet more, their meaning sweet; Of my friend the flower the emblem is, To my heart I oft repeat. February i, 1904. 65 AMERICA Our loved land America! Proud pearl of the seas! Set in mountains of gold, silver lakes and their leas; In a wealth of the Ind, she proclaims in her might The good she has done in the cause of the right. To the mercy and strength of a prosperous reign, All hail hymns of praise in defence of her main ! Her soldiers and sailors shall love her and die If need be, to perish 'neath far away sky. 'Mongst the nations of earth she comes like a queen A queen she doth stand, in gracefulest mien; Olive branch for her friends, flaming sword for her foes, She hath naught but hope, courage, faith, and repose. A star's radiance gleams in her coronet aflame, Emblem of light and love, of beauty and fame; These rays to her bright crown have been won By the manliest men the sun e'er shone on. America, thy sons and daughters and sires Give praise with shouts, with voices and lyres, 66 America 67 In battle or peace, in war hymn or in song, Obedience and reverence shall redress all wrong. ******* Until thy rills and wooded lanes, Mountain peaks and vales acclaim, From grassy slope to ocean's strand, All hail, All hail, to thy dear name, AMERICA ! 1896. LINES TO JULIA Fair Julia! sweet ether of a name; A girl I love and she loves me; She is ever constant, true; Though I rarely see her dear face now, For distance far has spanned the sea Which divides us not. True hearts grow near in memories, And thought makes soul to soul appear. So absence takes her not from me; While memory lives, I have no fear To be forgot; nor e'er base thought Of her forgetting. March, 1905. 68 TO A FACE ILLUMINED Enchanting smile ! the soul's reflection Of pure white chambers untraversed by sin ! Spark divine; spirit of God-head; Radiance glorified within ! Speak unto my soul's recesses Soul to soul, communion sweet In earth's language, yet immortal As when spirit issues meet. Radiant illumination, gift of God unto His own; Halo of the star-lit starshine, Love inspired, approved mission; Expression of its Source divine ! August 2, 1901. 69 WAR AND PEACE I am weary of reading of wars, And I wish we might have peace; And from the prowess of Mars I long for world-wide release. I am weary, so weary, of strife, And I long for peace and love Like beacon stars in the lighthouse of life To shine on the path that I rove. Every atom in the world is alive, Moving, and ever in motion; So futile all wish to deprive Fixed laws of their changeless portion. Yet I'm weary; though wishing be lost, And I know it seems weak to complain, But warring and striving have cost So many heroes in life to be slain. Let bells ring out to earth peace, And chimes sing toward men good- will ; Let delight the sorrows of warring decrease, The promise of youth's bright dream to fulfill. 70 War and Peace 71 Which lends hope to the coming tomorrow And adds to life's glad refrain; A truce to gloom and to sorrow, And a smile at care and pain. I am weary of reading of wars And I wish we might have peace ; And from the prowess of Mars I long for world-wide release. April 14, 1904. A LENTEN MEDITATION Lord save us from ingratitude ! That sin of cowering souls, Hateful in Thy sight as any crime. Save us from the clay That thou hast made with spirit, And let the divine within, That touch of Thee, Give th' expression of its Source to man Thy work most masterful. Grant an exultation in our thanks For all Thou sendest. Patience to await the mission Of the joys and burdens. For Thy goodness and Thy mercy Follow Thy benighted children Even as the light; and fulfillment Of Thy promises also, In the despair of their bewilderment; Yea, even as the luminance of their fulfillment. 72 ON PRESENTING A COPY OF A FAVORITE BOOK Look not long upon the cover of this book, Haste thou to its inner beauties; Linger there with many a look And it will help thee to perform life's duties. The cover's naught, the gems inside, Are culled from minds o'er the whole world wide. Teaching life's lessons in precept sublime, Pillars of truth, which decay not with time. 1895. 73 DESTINY Whence comest thou, and whither goest, Thou great dark mystery of a life? Leading through labyrinthal ways, As by the hand, man, thy servant, toy Or chessman on the board, to higher ways Or lower, as thou shalt specify. Two paths, maybe, and each divergent, But thou dost attend them both. Unknowable and Unknown! through devious paths We blindly go to follow thee. Thou oft denying, that thou may'st give, And laughing at our woes, Dost send us greater things. Nature's powers are thy command; All laws compelled by thee. The astral world thou dost invoke; Forged by thy will, all things thine, Our loves and joys come as thy gift, To fashion thy desires. All this thou doest too; Hatred and jealousy are tricks of thine, Revenge; all padded by their smiling looks, And trained to seem not what they are. So come Ambition, strife; Genius, envy; 74 Destiny 75 And Love, recompense! all their parts per- forming As plays toward the goal. Thou dost abase, but to exalt ; Dost oft lift up, but to cast down. Magician, Potentate, ages justify thy means unto an end: The foolish asking why, and halting, fear thee. The wise plod on with graver mien And trust with braver heart, knowing, Thus shape our ends to God's own will And to greater usefulness. Ships built for smooth or rougher seas, Soldiers to bear the brunt of arms, Some framed to labor, and others To that harder part — to wait. Thou dost deter by treachery and masked perfidy, And thou sendest love and trust. Merciful in severity, and severe in loving kindness, O Destiny, thou explorest the inner chambers of the soul ! The end, ever in thy limitless vision. And in this web of life, its warp and woof, Thou weavest for us all ! And who escapes thy mandates, Fate? Time is thy playground, Thy pastime the lives of men. Thou'rt awful; Immutable, inexorable, impenetrable, Fate. June 30, 1 90 1. TO A LEAF IN AUTUMN Fading smile of summer ! thou infinitesimal thing For which no man seems to care; Thou shape with consciousness, a part of many parts Thou art of this great Universe. Dost bud, unfold, and fall again; thy veined face A history tells of offices performed At Nature's own behest; thou, obedient, Camest at her call ; did what thou hadst to do Leaving with thy well-done work, its lessons. So small a part thou art of such a whole And yet so glorified; in infancy thou wert graceful, Fair to look upon; in maturity yet fairer; And in the sere, unsightly. Thy seasons are the same as man's. Thy pretty message in the spring, yet more Illumined in the summer, — in autumn shed. In winter's frozen blast, thou returnest to the earth There thy work to consummate In the great economy of God, where nothing wastes; 76 To a Leaf in Autumn 77 And each a part hath to perform. Thy form is dead now, e'en in autumn; But from its germ we look hereafter for its image; Thou and thy twin, ever failing, then renewing. September 22, 1900. THE SABBATH The Lord unto Himself a day appointed And in wisdom gave to His anointed The blessed Sabbath tide, In whose reverent silence dwells The soul's rest ; and thought within compels To loftier spheres. When hammers' busy work is dumb And the world's and labor's urgent hum Is stilled in toilsome mart, He shows His loving face In wondrous language through all space. Upon the reverent air; In sunlight poured in rich effulgence, From flow'ret, sward, to inward sense; Bringing messages of love. His builded cliff His altar; the trees His shrines, Whence to His creatures come the signs Of mighty promises. In thundering tones, or softest strain, In Ocean's roar or Sea's refrain, To hear His holy name. In waters' flow and brooks' bright gleams, In sparkling radiance His goodness seems To counsel all in living speech 78 The Sabbath 79 And from earth's arc Soprano's voice from throat of lark All praises brings In chorus of the earth and air, triumphant sings These mighty hymns to God in praise For His great boon, these consecrated days Of hope and rest. October 15, 1905. TO A VIOLET Thou hast touched the azure, And retained its lovely hue; Thou 'broiderest on the emerald Thy coronets of blue. In all the beauty 'round thee Of earth and sky and tree Thy arabesques, sweet violets, Vie with them on the lea. In thy dainty corona, Bejewelled with the dew, Are all the beauties of the sky Of ether's rarest hue. Thou hast five points to thy crown, Title to thy nobility; Thou dost thy royal raiment wear In lowly sweet humility. Forth like smiles from teardrops, Thou comest after rain; Oh would that thou thrice earnest, Nor so long in earth had lain. April 27, 1903. 80 TO DOROTHY (a valentine) Would' st have my heart? 'Tis wholly thine; I ask thine eyes, A gift divine, In their dear depths Love's law to find. 81 A THOUGHT TO MRS. (summer) Feebly the pen expresses All the soul fain would say Of the varied beauties Of this sunshiny summer day. Ashfield, Mass., August, 1901. 82 TO MY HUSBAND Sitting in the sunshine by the sea; O blessed privilege ! if those I love could be By my side, and with me share This beauteous sight Of amber clear as light ; While all the music of the spheres In chorus chants Te Deum ; and all fears Suspended, in this glorious mystery I now can read Of fruitful seed By its Author in my soul implanted. November 7, 1905. 83 ENVY (Envy is a grain of sand in the eye. — Chinese Proverb.) Envy! Toothless jade, or with one fang Whose root-envenomed sack surcharged is ne'er depleted. With bleared eyes swelled red, from grain of sand Which, being there, hurts not so much the envied as the envier. 'Tis she who never smiles, but head deep sunk Between two shoulders which an honest burden ne'er has borne She slinks and blinks, and from side glance Casts arrows poisoned with the venom of her inner self. 'Tis she who from false aims has failed And wishes all to fail; and but for power with- held From All- Wise source, would fell with one strong blow All whom her venom seeks to suck the life blood Or to weaken or destroy the effort. When Envy speaks! crack of doom! A cavern opens 84 Envy 85 And hell's voices forth, like desperation poured from cannon's belly; Hissing, spitting devastation everywhere. Hairless hag and witless, with all her cunning in invention She knows not that she the greatest tribute pays In envying; 'tis all she can, the best that's in her putrid bowels, The place for heart and brain no longer Mercy's seat. And what her end ? Love-lorn and love forsaken. No good to think upon ; a burnt spot for a soul Which through Eternity must envy. O punishment, to which no pain can correspond, Nor with suffering can compare ! She has not lived, but walking corpse in waking death ; So naught can add in hell to her bemoaning. Twin sister to the slanderer, hand in hand To deal destruction, if they could destroy; greatest sin And self-inflicted punishment, Envying Always ! Seeing which, mankind makes haste to fall not back Lest some such Imp of sin o'ertake, and it become like her and rot. April 9, 1904. CHILDHOOD In waking hours my mind doth linger O'er pictured scenes of yore, With the gilding of the gone-time Come images, a score or more. The meadows and the singing brooks With flowers garnished o'er Peeping at their mirrored faces, Opening wide a heaven's door. Many heavens are in childhood, Though flowers fade and leaves grow sear; Yet they bloom again, more lovely In the new-time drawing near. Yes, they bloom in greater beauty As if deeds from seeds were sown, And a blessed Hand revives them When He takes us for His own. March 14, 1899. 86 YOUTH When to fields I've oft been journeying With weary steps toward home returning, Gladdened by the house lamp's beam, From hills which now so distant seem; Hands o'erladen in prolix plenty Culled neath oak's old pillared sentry, Plucked from maze in Wonderland, Grown on banks by breezes fanned 'Mongst winds' soft whispers, sighing, soughing, As of Dryads in their wooing; In labyrinthal tangle playing, Fairies, on their tours a-maying! The childish mind, in sleep a-dreaming Of wonders, full; with meaning teeming, Asks, what decrees the honey sweet, And honeysuckles, red; And how are roots and birdlets fed; And music forth as organ pipe, And berries green, then ripe. 87 MANHOOD In Earth's symphonic swell Through pipes of living green Tones, fundamental, storm-wild dwell, Touched by Hand Unseen. Or to the gentle cadence of a sigh, Or voiceless ; or to the gentle dirge Whispers 'mongst the tremulous leaves to die. Its overtones, in softest strains to surge, Then crashing, mighty monotone! In cataracts' awful leap As one in grief, apart, alone, His madness in this strife to steep, And listening to the surging strain In ceaseless tragic song, he finds No solace for his voiceless pain In the message of the winds. $ * # # * # # Until he knows this ceaseless endless throb Runs through all life, as if penalty for being; And sob of all mankind, e'en of Nature, too, Enrolled, for her travail for growth. The sunlight gleams, then sinks; Oft in th' enfolding leaf to greater beauty It a- weary seems; the flowret strives, then dies; There is no grief for fulfilled life. 88 Manhood 89 From shapeless stem to blossom fair, With comely bud between, as beauteous as aught may be, As gem formed, too, by crystalled light unseen; And coral caves, low forming deeps From ruthless violence their treasures low. CHARACTER And so perfection strives. Slow-forming humus keeps Its richest soil 'neath forests old; And nurtures night and day The oak and undergrowth with mold Formed from life and its decay. So man, to his conviction turns, His faith and work his compass keep, And everywhere, by growth, he learns That all must wait to reap. September, 1904. 90 THE BUDDS OF MILLERSVILLE We crack the whip and make a start For a glimpse of the trees and Nature's heart ; Away from the noise and the busy mart To the Budds at Millersville. The circling beauty of long Fall Creek Sinuous and fair on whose banks we seek The trees, like plumes on mountain peak Colored from Nature's palette. There, ripened ear and stock of corn The pumpkin, squash, and vine adorn, Where latchstring hangs from morn to morn Giving its friendly greeting. We look into the hearth's warm glow, Cordial and kind, and we know That there are blessings here below If we only seek to find them. All unite in friendly meeting, Chairs hold out their arms in greeting; And one forgets that time is fleeting, In life's e'er changing season. 91 92 Apostrophe to Hope Books by philosophers, poets, and sages, Thoughts that endure for eons and ages, Are there, if one will but open their pages, To read and dream and ponder On the lessons of life which all must learn In books, or out of books, to make us yearn For better things which await us in turn In the Land beyond the River. And one goes away and back again, Voicing the praise of bluebird and wren, As they chant and sing their joyful amen To the Maker and Giver of all. Pictures, in red, brown, and golden hue, In memory linger, till the shadows and dew Of life's eve bring their own sweet rue To toilers and all a- weary. 1898. VENUS AND ADONIS (After reading Shakespeare's Sonnet.) As moon's cold rays to sun's hot kiss compared, So, when Adonis, lured by Venus, Died, a flower of sweetest purity Sprang, to deck the place where, in thin air, He passed away; and unbegotten race, Cold, pure, and loveless as he had been, Was left unborn, of which he might have been the sire, Had he so willed it. Paternal joy to him denied, Of gods and goddesses and nymphs, Love-flower entombed, unsatisfied: The unborn love and fire that lurks in Venus' breast. The rude boar's tusk his groin defiled, And, gashed to death, he lay unwept, But for his would-be bride. His bier, the sunny slope 'neath boughs Near brooklet's side, of mossy green, Whence sprang the flower of virtue, white and pure, Forever shrined so sweet her love, 93 94 Apostrophe to Hope In symbol's language to endure. T' upbuild itself in fount of tears, Flower nurtured by her grief had striven, And throve by moonbeam's softened ray, And by sun's heat unshriven. January 9, 1904. SMILES Mistake not valor ! for oft it lies Beneath the smile which lends a ray of warmth Which far outweighs the force that reeks Of bloodshed and of woman's tears. Let smiles be viewed with praise As far above the frowns and misfits For a Nation's needs. Let "heavy blows and fast" Be felt with velvet touch; For we need peace; not war; love, not hate; And all that follows in their train For mankind's weal. Send us no tyrant's claim, But give us peace and smiles, Great God of Love ! November 17, 191 1. 95 THE ISLE OF MACKINAC Fair Mackinac, whose waters wash the shores Of craggy steppes, to pine trees' odorous peaks, A soul's eloquence fit tribute were To thy supremacy o'er these seas. Thou risest like a mountain's height In verdant hills primeval denseness. A citadel famed in history's lore; The red man's haunt, whose bark of birch, Impervious and water dry, these broad seas swept In radiant days like these, sun-kissed and glad, Soft-footed, trod this isle; once warrior, But today in conquest scattered to his happy hunting grounds. Invaded by the French, his lovely land, His numbers decimated in fair America's advance As by the British quest, and so this beauteous isle Its leaves of history turns, as do its yellowed Leaves in Autumn; in forest's varied color, When frost's first nip in suff ranee 96 The Isle of Mackinac 97 Makes its golden harvest, that Nature shall her Power of splendor more unfold e'er Winter's snows. Our Nation claims thee yet again in choice possession There to hold, please God, as one fair jewel In her honored crown of gems. Peace reigns now here The placent waters and the glowing orb of day Do vie in wondrous claim upon each other. Limpidity vies with atmosphere, or nobler In its wrath, when Tempest's awful threat its bosom heaves. Here pines' rich balm and spruces' nut-brown cones Give forth their Arabic spice in Nature's prodi- gality And profusion; all laved in air of icy freshness. Cliffs rugged as the Norseman's hills, Enchanting mazes in the devious paths, To song of sea's soft lull, or in harmonious structure Of its under tones ; from opal skies The sun drops red and gold, mirrored in lake Of opaline reflection. Ah this were land Well worthy the conquest of the great ! Yon Fort, far seeing o'er the sea's expanse In grander picturesque, more beautiful than in War's alarm ; And now the dove of Peace its portals guards, 98 Apostrophe to Hope Its vantage, noble and serene, and men and seas are calm. Rest here, fair dove, that though the eagle near, Thy cote be not disturbed, let the laurel and the palm branch weave. beauteous Isle, bring unto thee the weary Here to rest; give of thy balm forever unde- pleted. And pray we that Nature in her varied changes May not award to this mid-ocean isle oblivion nor engulf ment; That her fair face upon foundations fast Shall last; and beautify, through ages yet to come, As worthy of her bounteous gift From mother source, as parent to her child. Mackinac, hast thou a twin? In all the earth Dost likeness favor thee, or is thy rugg&d beauty thine alone, Unique? Thy answer in the birch and pines' tall growth And whispered song, their unctuous, aromatic smell ; 'Tis also read in rock-ribbed pile of upturned stone And ocean's swell. In fragrant air and bounding wave The Isle of Mackinac 99 Thy kinship to kind Nature's heart, but yet alone, Apart, as some great work of Masterhand, created once Complete, well done, is ne'er its counterpart to find, Nor likeness made in any clime. September 28, 1905. AN IDYLL (souvenir affectueux) Many moods has the poet's mind. Tonight I am thinking of you; And the long summer walks And the long cherished talks, Just a page in the lives of two. One of many in the full Book of Life; Light and shade of two happy hearts; I was sad when you sorrowed, and glad when you laughed, As from the full goblet of youth we both quaffed, Nor thought once of Cupid's barbed dart. 'Twas a friendship of rarest delight. Silent or gay, you understood well, Though we drove through the wintry wind ; The mood of the one to the other defined, In silence, by magic's spell. ioo An Idyll 101 You have gone to the Other Shore; Does he die who ever is true? Though our eyes may not meet, There's ne'er a heart's beat That could ever be false to you. April 15, 1904. A GRAIN OF RICE Born in thy sunny clime, The Occident thou hast invaded With thy dainty and pervading entity, In thy beneficent gift containing Manna for the perishing, Unimprisoned from thy sheath, Nature's little capsule, Grain of rice ! Dainty ministrations, thine, To gentle needs and to heroic ends, Thou fair white thing ! Let others sing to Bacchus And to the flowing bowl, I salute thy snowy mounds, fair white grains of rice! No ghosts enrage in thy stomachic sepulcher. Oh to see thy waving sea of heads ! To pause upon the threshold of thy mission, To think upon thy beauty and beneficence; As that which gives unceasingly And without stint, O fair white grains of rice ! September 21, 191 1. 102 YE WAVES Ye waves, laugh and dance in your gayest of moods, And throw your white spray to the beach, mead, and woods; In festoon and figure bespangle your veils, Leap high in mid air, and entangle your sails. Changing moods you indulge, you resist your confines, Your laughter returns, though you moan too, sometimes ; 'Gainst your borders too narrow, you roar and resist, To return to your laughter, when by sunshine bekist. 103 TO DICK Now you have my congratulations, My best sincerest salutations ! Not less sincere, Believe me, dear, Because a little over due; But just as heartfelt, true to you. September, 1901. 104 Visions are sent, Visions are given, Messages come from The heights of heaven. 105 TRUST Trust when the waves are highest, Trust when the ebb is low, God in His mercy heareth, Trust in the overflow. 1901. 106 IN EXTREMIS (Vision of Sir Launfal, and the words which Christ in the vision said to him: "Who gives himself with his alms, feeds three — himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.") I cry to my God in the night for strength, And He sustaineth me. I pray to Him for deliverance from mine enemies, And He heareth me. I seek the way through His guidance, And He leadeth me. Giving faith and showing His marvels, Else my feet stumble and I fall. Verily His promises glorify And His counsels are cherished; For He is greater than all, and over all. With Him I can stand, Even though the mountains crumble And all men turn against me. He accounts the sparrow's fall, And, unworthy as I am, He will abide with me when I call aright Upon Him. Great and Omnipotent Are His works and mighty are His counsels. October 6, 1904. 107 VERITAS ("The truth is like the sun, it may be obscured for a time; but, like the sun, it will not be obscured al- ways. ' ') Know ye not, minions, that naught but true greatness abides? The possessor knows his not; but guided by the unerring hand of Right, Impelled by forces of the mighty hosts, he acts; Not for plaudits, nor fleeting, flattering sound, But for some prayer of his or theirs, asked at a time When souls were in communion with the Lord of Hosts. A decree is given, a mission sent ; God, through His laws, Gives us to Fate; we call it Destiny; what better name? The right prevails, though sometimes late to us it seem. What of delays? born of the divine, it cannot fail; 108 Veritas 109 Strive for the heart of things ; claim His promises As worthy as is thy meed of faith; nothing fails that's true; 'Tis but the false, of tinsel, trickery, and broken faith, that fails; All vanities webbed in Loom of Life, bring but defeat. Powerless praise ! Truth thou soul of all ! November i, 1901. THERE WILL BE REST There will be rest; For One who never fails has promised That in the quiet harbor of the blest All strife shall be forgotten In new life ; There will be rest. There will be songs; For One who never fails has promised That strength shall come for which the spirit longs And care with dust shall die And be forgot; There will be songs. 1900. OH WHY THE GREAT HEART'S OVER- FLOW! Oh why the great heart's overflow In flood-tides swells which come and go, Like ocean's depths and cataract's leap, Across vast space and vaster deep, Athwart and o'er the undertow! Why its limits, limitless, Since limitations we confess Of poor mortality's horizon Of faith to ideals, hardly won, And infinite pain we would repress With finite power; its surging throb Would still; its vast domain would rob Of space and deeps indefinite Which lead us toward the Infinite Through soundless deeps and ceaseless throbs. Be still, faint heart, it is thy soul That cries through thee; and on the scroll Of mighty ages thou shalt read Of steadfast faith, of pregnant seed, Of deeds made worthy to enroll. ii2 Apostrophe to Hope For Love is statelier than kings ; Greater than equity ; and loftier sings Her noble song, than ocean's moan Or cataract's dash, or sea's volcanic cone; And through the chaos softly rings When Justice hidden seems ; and din is great, Her balance broken; and the light comes late. Her full white arm for Right not bared, Her sight no longer darkened, as she dared With mortal eyes to see; with mortal ends to mate. But seas and hearts and souls be calmed! Let halting Doubt no longer damned By eyes which look but yet are scaled, The moonbeam by the sun's light paled. And Justice, blind, shall see aright, Shall wrest from out the darkest night That which her balance weighs. And sun's full shine shall light the days Its sparkle on the high waves' crest And sun and love, the tired soul rest. Though depths, their deeps, their sigh and sob, Go on through ceaseless ages ; but to rob At last, the weary pain, the bitter smart Of poor mortality — this human heart. DRIFTING I gaze out for a sight of the land, Hear the ebb sing soft and low; The water sparkles and large fish leap, While drowsy with fresh sea air I can sleep With no thought of the undertow Or the gleam of receding sand. April 17, 1904. "3 IN HARBOR I look out on the dark'ning main, The shrieking winds blow mad O'er iron waves of a wintry sea. And the piercing rain And the storm seem glad That my love is in harbor with me. 114 VIA DOLOROSA ("They know not what they do. ") My heart is full of sighs And in my soul there lies A pain unspeakable. In Rebellion's icy stare My spirit stills the prayer, My heart so aches. I grope, and fail to find The light; yet the conscious mind Assurance gives, Though God seem far away, This cloud of somber gray His presence hides. 1906. 115 INSOMNIA Eyelids drawn by hand of fiend, a thousand terrors, As of noisome things; of reptiles, sleek and sinuous, Spitting the poison from their gums; Of beetles, wasps and asps, and nameless little things, That with a dot do sting the body to a pulp. Legions of devils laughing while their imps the Heart strings pull. Busy, too, as devils in their hell. Pulses running burning lava, eyes surcharged with brine; Or puffing orbs to bursting, chasing furrows Which once were cheeks of snowy roundness. Eagles and birds of prey, long-beaked, sit And from the heart do peck an atom every hour And chatter while they make their feasts. What and why all this? Mayhap for nerves o'erwrought in music's realm, Or for a mission to the sick, a life to others given; Or book of sunny thoughts, to gladden all who read, Writ by midnight oil, too long, too ceaselessly. 116 Insomnia 117 A fair star beckoning over there, a magnet to the man. A bird of beauty, perched to lure by song so sweet That song and plumage are too fair and beautiful. Mayhap a poem, of so rare a worth, so wond'rous in its prophecies, And yet its beauty digging entrails out of him who writ. A painting too, a story tells of tortures of the damned ; Extremes which meet in fervid heat, turned by excess To bitter gall. The receding of the goal As he approached it, the small mean little thing Compared with what he felt, and what his soul could feel. And so a statue ; which should have breath, But would not; should speak; but cold, unyield- ing, Silent and disdainful, because it cannot feel the lava In its author's burning veins. And so the bard hath writ of the torments of success ; All wrought as best they could, and not in vain, If but to learn man's impotence. And each a great truth tried to tell. Another, and a briefer yet, the miser's gold to count, Until both hands and heart are palsied by the act. n8 Apostrophe to Hope A poor mean quality, which makes men fools, forgetting God And all most dear, to hoard and worship for a few brief years ; In getting, hastening for themselves their end; That those who follow them the gift may dissi- pate. The laborer shall toil and sweat, his night's relief engaging For toilers of the brain and heart, ambition's weary slaving. Each earns his modicum of rest and waits upon the morrow, Eager for the promises and morning light to come. 1902. SLEEP When the shades of night come down Winged messengers flit around. Their name is Sleep. They come from Poppy-land, Scattering the pollen from their blooms And blest indeed is he who has a dust From their fay fingers. In every atom is a dream ; f orgetfulness And rest. Each leaf a barque on Lethe's stream, Whose tide, swift flowing, Leads out to seas of peace. Oceans, whose waves Sing songs of lullaby ; cradles of crested foam ; Billows music-laden with siren's songs Which need not rhyme, to make their melody. Pilot-like, guiding To that lovely land, where senses in abeyance, The spirit floats to higher realms, And there, forgetful of its weary self, Dwells for moments in empyrean. The way is trackless; The air is ether And the port is Heaven. 1899. 119 THE MIST Veils of filmy nebulae Hang aloof as soft as air Along the valley's tortuous way Trailing their silken tissues there. Airy, fairy, vaporous, soft, Dainty gray folds of grace, Draping and drooping, rising aloft — Fleeing away into space. Silently, lightly fading away By evening's zephyr bekist; Shadowy folds of silken gray, Mysterious shades of mournful mist. April 4, 1905. AN ALBUM LEAF (TO MRS. C. C. B.) (In answer to a request from her daughter.) How can I in a little space, Such as you have awarded, Pay tribute to so fair a face And mind so sweet and candid As your Mother's? Many oaths make not the truth, "But the single vow vowed true"; So if I lack the space, forsooth, The sentiment for which I sue, Is all your Mother's. 121 TO MRS. ("I seem to have nothing for you but love — you give, I receive." Mrs. 's letter.) "Nothing but love!" amiga mia, Thy offering exceeds all the wealth of Ind. Its coral caves, the mines Wherein the sparkling gems are stored Give forth no priceless thing, like thine to me. That which exceeds e'en equity, Fair justice and is its source. And thou givest praise for a soul's weak expres- sion In music ; heart throbs along the way, If charm there be, 'tis this. Thou, dear friend, art generous to my faults, Too blind to inefficiencies, which I deplore; Thou givest of thy great soul's depths, Thou givest and mine receives. 1908. OH, THE FAIR OCTOBER DAYS Oh, the fair October days In the mellow of the year, When leaves in reds, browns, and grays — Their varied colors sear, And bluebirds twitter and twitter, And flit from the bough to the bough, Trusting, not asking, but waiting and singing- The plentiful year to endow. The leaves are falling, falling, In these melancholy days Gilding the air ever, With a dreamy subtle haze. Ah, it is pleasant to linger 'Mid their reds and golden brown, And dream and wander through them As they come raining down With a promise of enrichment And the earth to fructify, Yea, as sorrows chasten ever, As we go wandering by, Like the leaves, on a sad October day. 123 124 Apostrophe to Hope Oh, the yellow air of amber; Ah, the days so soft and somber Into peace and hope reviving For a rest from longer striving, Like the quiet of a fair October day. THE SONNET Gem of Poesy ! consummate art ! Sublimely fashioned to a wondrous perfection Of form in thought and thought in form; A modeled, chiseled, and perfected thing; But limited and circumscribed By rule inflexible. The form constrains and takes from liberty its wings ; Like statue in the whitest marble Cast in lines conventional, attracts, but does not Touch the heart; but Mind is held in its en- thrallment And Beauty is its sponsor, Admiration lends its eye; But Soul withholds its loving tribute To a form. Shakespeare, greatest bard since Homer, Defied the form exact; defined it a "stretched measure"; 125 126 Apostrophe to Hope That scope his song might have, and Muse be not tormented. As hedged by lines and form before the thought, In numbers, length, and measure; as by a calcu- lation wrought Not in technique, yet abiding still by law, And with an art concealed the art, In Music's throbs. In thought unsearched and undevised, in flow, as fluent As the stars, throughout their courses; Nor in puzzle, nor enigma, wrought, But simplified to eloquence. Give larger vehicle to song; old Masters' hallelu- jahs ! Whose power, begot in inspiration, Was born in spontaneity ; today choose vehicle more mighty; The stately strophe of the Greek, mightier Than spinet's limit or harpsichord's harassment ; Lines which hamper less, larger note can sound In wider gamut, in depth and height and breadth. And greater wit will find its way; give loftier flight To sense and spirit than in Sonnet and old Sonaten, Though quaint in classic elegance And prim in antique song. April 16/1904. COURAGE Why do we sing When all seems vain? Is it the Martyr's song, An echo of his pain? Of courage midst The foes of earth; Of trust, though clouds obscure, In all this dearth Of joy and mirth What hope can here allure ? June, 1903. 127 AN OCTAVE In the silent unfolding Of the frond of the fern, In its spreading beauty Our lessons we may learn ; As in perfected lily Or perfect blooming rose; For not with noise and tumult Grows the work ; but in repose. November 17, 1903. 128 MY BACK YARD My neighbor's beds are sweet and pretty In parterre lines, round and square, The turf cut short, and not a blade Of bonny blue grass dare Its head in tasseled shock to lift Lest sickle's ravage lay it bare. True, the spots, both brown and gray, To my eyes more unsightly, than My little wildwood tangle Untouched by hand of man, Nor scythe or sickle, grass head culls From my little back yard plan. There are daisies and red roses, To greet me every morn; Sweet buttercups and eglantine, And honeysuckle wreaths adorn My back yard in profusion Growing 'mongst some stocks of corn. Set in deepest mats of grasses, Whence comes their nurture meet, 9 I29 130 Apostrophe to Hope And giving me a breath of air My neighbors too, so pure and sweet, As hand of Nature placed them Their daily greetings to repeat. Convention says that they must go; That Nature is too wild. And so their pretty heads must bend By sickle's ruthless blade denied. They fall — and to me it seems a dirge To wasted life, unreconciled. Convention says thou shalt not Leave Nature in profusion. Who dare gainsay this stiff old dame Who feeds us on delusion ! My soul says, but thou shalt; Though to her it mean confusion. Protesting they, as lying low, While uttering sweet perfume, To me their ravages most dire And hard as hand of doom. Ah me, must I thus say good-bye, Who shall their beauty reallume? If, then my tangled wildwood Must, flowers and all be laid To sod and soil unsightly, Beauties doomed to fade, Whose hand can reawaken But God's, what He has made? My Back Yard 131 Sunshine that meant to green the grass Perforce, must cut and dry the soil, And colors of prismatic hue In vain for their perfection toil. Thus thwarted by the sickle's grasp To earth their beauteous claims despoil. June 5, 1904. CHRISTMAS SONG Wealth of gold in sunshine Of silver in the snow, Music in the atmosphere, If we all but know How and where to find them With minds and hearts in tune Pulsing to the rhythm Of Nature's tender rune. God favors some to find This blessed privilege: From others oft withholden, Who look but on the ridge And not to mountain heights, Where choicest blossoms bloom, Where rarest virtues thrive Sent hence, by noise and gloom. Flowers in the springtime, Stars in azure blue, Birds aloof a-singing, And only man doth rue; 132 Christmas Song 13; Of all God's children chosen 'Tis he alone, who sees Nor feels not in his brother The kinship of all these. Too gentle and too true To join in din and strife, The bird sings while it flies Lest in his joyous life He learn of mortal envy; Which might destroy his peace, And wither the sweet flowers, Then would his glad song cease. Give birds air and sunshine; Give flowers the light and sod, To all who envy, prayers; To mankind, love of God, That the law of Heaven May find, at last, on earth Its glory and fulfillment In Faith and Hope, new birth- 1897. MY MOTHER'S LAST MESSAGE "Tell them the glorious news!" Triumph on Eternity's shore; Message to absent loved ones Sent back from Heaven's door. Glorious to live in the spirit In the light of her Saviour's face, Where pain and woe are banished, Where all are saved by His grace. From Time through Eternity's cycles Where naught can fail or destroy, She passed attended by angels To a joy without alloy. Where cycles are not measured By anticipation, dread, or hate, But come and go without reck'ning, Where it is neither early nor late. The heritage of His faithful Where naught can fail or decay, Nor morning, noon, or night time, But a glorious livelong day. 134 My Mother's Last Message 135 She had prayed, trusted, and waited; And her Father attended her there In answer to His promise Of blessings, wondrous and fair. From the high seats of the mighty In a radiance surpassing sweet, To shine and beckon us onward, To encourage our halting feet. "Glorious news!" Triumphant O'er earth's vain and sinful thrall! Oh may we see her face again When we answer to His call. September 4, 1899. I thank the Great Powers that it was given to me, even in so weak a way, to preserve this eloquent message. It seems to her daughter the most beautiful, last message, before entering into the new, and higher life. — L. H. M. CONSOLATION Age is not years; 'Tis the weight on the heart Of working and pain Of waiting and tears. Years, but a span; They pass like a breath To Eternity's shore, And the spirit's the man. I3 6 MY LOVE AND I There are heart throbs the world cannot see, There are thoughts that the world cannot ken ; These are for mine and for me, Far away from the haunts of men. There are hand clasps so tender and true, There are glances so fraught with love, But these are for me and for you As the stars are the heaven's above. 1898. 137 VICTORY The clouds lower And then they rise; The sunshine flickers And then it dies. So, my heart, Be thou but brave; As He who watches And e'er forgave, Be patient yet; The wrongs thou hast Are also His, — He will repay; Thy victory, last. November 17, 1903. 138 A HYMN There is a lot that falls to all Of shade and sunshine intertwined; Like shadows cast by moonshine's fall Which proves the light beyond divined. 'Tis all a part of what God sends To grace the growth that He desires, And to this dispensation lends A sweetness which His care requires. 1887. 139 THE WIND BLOWS (NOVEMBER) Yea, the wind blows, — Its breath a sigh or a moan. And in lull and repose, — A fresh wak'ning dirge or a groan. s|e ;Ji * "!■ * , "n v "Tis a sigh to the wayfarer, far from home In lands alone and a-weary, Its cadences rise and fall like a moan In his world so lonely and dreary. 'Tis a dirge, when o'er the new-made grave It marks its lonely refrain, As if seeking the heart, where no earthly crave Can disturb or discover the pain. A dirge, not to the sleeping, But to the weeping; Not to the dead, but the living; Not to the resting, But to the hasting ; Not to the proved, — but misgiving. 140 The Wind Blows 141 Who escapes the moan in the winds ? Who, the sigh in the heart, Or hears not the dirge, which always reminds Of heavenly peace and world's care apart. 'Tis a dirge, not to the sleeping, But to the weeping; Not to the dead, but the living; Not to the resting, But to the hasting; Not to the proved, — but misgiving. TO C. S. N. A mighty man has risen! A king called to his home; Nor words can tell of thee, revered friend, But works live here, where thou hast been, Deeds speak of thee most eloquent. Their aroma, like spice, which lingers long; Sweet perfume of remembrance Weaves garlands of the choicest blooms. And Memory brings her frankincense To lay all these, not on the tomb, But on the crown, wrought from earthly cross; And to the kingly heart, which pulsed with love Of all humanity; sympathies attuned to all mankind, In kindness, absolute. Yea, a mighty man has risen! He conquered, Served, and now he reigns. Anthems of the glad well done, ring in celestial strains To greet his coming to that lovely land To which he journeyed on, fearless and tearless. He labored here, revered; filled with earth's honors ; 142 To C. S. N. 143 Empty, these ! As now to fairer lands he goes To meet rewards prepared for such as he. Words, ye are inadequate; though reverent and sincere, When ye essay to sing of him ; For aye, a mighty man is risen. February 23, 1908. HONORS MUST BE WON (to a young lad) Honors must be won, my boy ; There are others in the race, Many noble workers Pressing on with steadfast pace. Working not for commendation, But excellence is their aim; Let thy banner be ' ' Excelsior ' ' ! Its folds, alone, mean Fame. So, if honors must be won, Be fair to one and all; The more of help, the more divine The honors to your lot shall falL October 24, 1899. 144 MUSIC ("Far in the past I heard the heaven-tuned voice That charmed my soul and held me to my choice ; 'Twas thine, O Melody.") music, whose soul is harmony, Enter into our earthly lives That, by thine acquaintance, we may progress To higher spheres and loftier. Thou art the spirit of the spheres, Thou penetratest to the innermost Making the refinement of all things earthly ; To lead by thine expansive measures To celestial joys ; poets sing of thee ; But no finite mind may grasp thee yet. Thou art the language of angels, By growth, slow yet secure, Of the spirit toward the Spirit To him who seeks, shall man learn Of all thou art; applauded, Yet much hath man to learn of thee. Thy mission is to solace, to uplift, To magnify; by thee, life's great leaven, Love, shall be cemented; friendships shall be centered, Wars shall be quelled by thee 10 145 146 Apostrophe to Hope And the minds of men be tempered. Times shall change, and by thy force and eloquence Strength shall come from gentleness Harmony out of discord ; for where thou art O Melody, all avenues are thine. Priest, publican, and sinner shall know thee For thou'rt heaven's chief help in saving souls. January 21, 1899. A MME. MARIE CELESTE P Knowest thou the esoteric meaning of a name? Its content? Mary Celeste; purity is thy fame; There is a hidden prophecy, which we give not to ourselves, As t'were a significance, superseded by the elves. ******* Laura, for deeds and laurels ; For Josephine, fidelity, wealth, and grace; For Dorothy, a dignity, and comeliness of face. Julia, a dainty ether; Deborah, lofty, pure, and true; And in love and trust, I, for Gertrude's heart, would sue. Jane, not Jennie, is woeful with Eliza ! Margaret is eloquent for her kind ; While Elizabeth, a test is, of most virtuous mind. Ella, not Helen or Elena, is a fancy; Prophecy small, unto the end; When in extremest need, for her, you may not send, But to Frances, I adore her ! 147 148 Apostrophe to Hope Tho' I've not found the Sallys faithful, or have you? Nor Emmas, staunch and loyal, in friendships' noblest few. I would not name my child a Rosie, Lest thorns would grow athwart, And pierce the beauteous posey, Deep into friendship's heart. Rosalie and Adelaide Are beautiful together, And should be loyal, firm, and true In fair and stormy weather. To Coras, Kates, and Doras, The poet sends a sigh; But, unto the Floras, Weave garlands, fling them high! So, to you, ma chere Marie, A name apart, by faith, was given, That, by your works, while here below, You shall ascend to Heaven. Washington, D. C, July 1, 1915. PUT NOT THY TRUST IN PRINCES (psalm cxlvi) Put not thy trust in princes ; Hold the best thou hast to give for One who never fails As long as thou shalt live, to care for thee ; More than father, for his earthly child, Or mother, for her nursling. Love imperishable ! through all neglect Of Him and His commands, save thy faith in Him. And when some mortal spirit wounds thine own, Turn thou to Him. Put not thy trust in princes, For e'en beyond this earthly pilgrimage, He hath prepared thy home, forgives thine inconsistencies, Withholds so long His wrath. Gives yet a little time, that thou take heed That through this Vale of Tears thou may'st ascend To His domain to rest; and with the saints, to help His work to do on earth ; perchance, a messenger To those distressed; back to this Vale, 149 150 Apostrophe to Hope To point, unknown to them, the way to that dear love That never fails and knows no change. Love as immutable as God. Put not thy trust in princes, else thy heart Will yearn in vain for what it hungers ; Famished, ever seeking for its need, Turned in upon itself to cry, until it finds And knows Thy love, O Father, and in it rests. There to fortify for storms, until their stress is past. In th' imperishable, limitless shelter of Thy love; To shield and break the weight of care upon us, Which could hurl against the reef of heedlessness And weakness born within us. The prince may be the lowliest; yea, as in a manger When a King was born ; the stars sang And face of Nature smiled. A little babe, un- guiled, And ne'er to sin, The Prince of House Most Royal. March 2, 1904. TO GERTRUDE H Thou art one of the loves of my life ; So graceful and debonaire; So gentle, sweet, and fair; That I would a tribute pay Worthy of my love today. Devoted, loyal, ever, Thou hast come into my life and heart, As fragile as a reed thou art; Yes, fragile as a reed; Yet strong as a great deed. In thy love of truth and right, Thou art sister, daughter, friend; Not often do the Powers send One like unto thee, — As my Gertrude comes to me. Alas, the days go slowly by; The future holds for us much more Than yet vouchsafed; it has in store Love and a home for thee, Wherein a heart shall faithful be. February 18, 1903. 151 ODE TO FRIENDSHIP ("Mysterious cement of the soul, sweet 'ner of life, and solder of Society.") Sacred mystery ! true synonym of God, Of Nature, Love, and Life. There thou standest, like the great white oak Nor storm nor stress can beat upon thy trunk to slay it. Like Time and Truth, itself, to last, Stronger growing, 'gainst the cank'rous tide, Thy fibre ever proving. Rare as orchid And high as edelweiss, growth of all most rare. Tested, to stand, like the adamantine rock; A rod of Moses in the wilderness ; Yea, e'en Aaron's rod, putting forth buds in barren lands. Let me know thee, Friendship, for no chord That hand of man can strike in Earth's great symphony Likens to thee. Yea, higher than the orchid And loftier than the edelweiss, which thrive not In the lowlands. What soil would'st have? Equality; first of standards, mind, and soul. There is a law unwrit, but not unproved 152 Ode to Friendship 153 To water with tears of joy and grief And leaven with waiting and sorrow. And ye, Pilgrim, who to fair fulfillment Would have this priceless boon, will ye not these For that which alwaj^s gives and always has to give. Not of the word but of the spirit. On Fame's declivities, there is naught to take thy place O ministering friendship ! Oft have I heard thy strain, and in each zone of life, As rare thou art, ne'er obsolete; But living shining entity. So as the night of years draws on Give thyself to mine and me, In the likeness of God's love, then shall I be satisfied. Thou who smilest in the desert of our darkest desolation, Ah, thou art the link to God and angels, The Truth! the Alpha and Omega The three in One. August 22, 1902. A SLEIGHING SONG All Nature is a-smiling, The happy hours beguiling; Her jewelled mantle wearing She reigns a princess, bearing Beauty; and with wand a-waving, The magic scene enslaving, The earth and air a-glitter With the glimmer and the glamour Of the glint! Oh the merry sleighing weather O'er paths where once was heather; To the sounds of happy laughter Hearts beating fast and faster To the jingle of the jangle And the boughs bent all a-tangle In the glimmer and the glamour And the glitter Of the glint! i54 (" All we are is in the soul ; are you sure yours has had its full development?") Balzac. TO MRS. H- She sees by the light of the soul ; Unerring her sight a queen she walks in the light. A word, and Nature's beauties unroll; The red of the rose, The pale of the pinks, The light of the heavens Where the afterglow sinks In its liquid and molten gold, For she sees by the light of the soul. * =t= * * * * When to my vision shall unroll the scroll May I see by the light of the soul. February 8, 1903. 155 SINCERITY Of all the gifts the gods bestow Is sincerity the rarest ? Yet to mortals here below, It is indeed, the fairest. March 18, 1915. 156 A THOUGHT I love the sunshine ; And when the leaden skies its brilliance hides, A sense of thanks comes o'er me And all other sense o'er rides In gratitude for shelter. October 30, 1910. 157 GRATITUDE When I wander in Thy fields, O God, Thou upliftest me; As I pluck the messengers Thou hast sent, I learn of Thee; As I bend the knee to these, Thy gifts, Asking for their lessons, My heart ascends to Thee; And to the trees, Thy shrines, In thankfulness for their shade; Which, with unvarying kindliness Shelter from the scorching rays, As Thy beneficence In the noonday sun of life. And their cool effulgence in the night Soothes the fever of the spirit; Like the green tent in the wilderness Their canopy is rest; Their leaves and boughs are altars, Munificent expression of Thy power Silent and ever reassuring As Thy laws. July 24, 1903. 158 TO MR. AND MRS. M. S. Wedded ! Ah, that is a wonder-word ! The old sweet story of hearts entwined. Of love and hope and faith preferred ; May you therein this emblem find. God grant that with chaste orange bloom Shall weave the blessings health and peace In life's e'er varying loom. That orange bloom, pure white, Shall e'er the symbol be Of what "you ask aright," Of love and faith and purity. ' ' From wrong debar ' ' ; And as the shadows lengthen "Make brighter every star." Washington, D. C, December 7, 1909. 159 THE LAND OF THE LAUGHING WATER Minnesota ! Minnetonka ! Minnehaha ! Sweet euphony in sky and air ! Nature's voice, in anthem fair; In full choruses to blend, Heaven's messages to send In the rareness And the fairness Of the riant splendors of this land Of laughing water. Minneapolis, October 10, 1914. 160 L'ENVOI poesy, thou art the wine-press ! Thou winged Mercury! The bloom and flower of thought; The intimate utterances of the soul Carrying balm to the belabored spirit ; Though the thoughtless would not conceive thee. The Truth ! the ultimate, the life, When by th' Assayer's hand, the dross from gold is weighed, O beauteous Poesy! Its essence; as by the crucible of time and thought, Of pain and joy, That thou givest of thy psychic prophecies. Time proves thee the expounder of the finest truth; For as thou singest, so is he who singeth; There is no falsity, no mask in thee. Washington, D. C, July i, 1915. 161 Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proces: Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: Oct. 2009 PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATIO 111 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111