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SEPTEMBER ROSES 
 
 A 
 COLLECTION OF VERSE 
 
 BY 
 NELLIE SEELYE EVANS 
 
 ENGLEWOOD, N. J. 
 1908 
 
LIBRARY of C0NGaE3S 
 Two C»p}e$ Receiv©!^ 
 
 JAN 2 1S08 
 
 !-_^ Copynfni tntr)f 
 CUSS jl XXc No, 
 1 iOPY 8. 
 
 .V B B 
 
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SEPTEMBER ROSES. 
 
 'Tis late, the garden's glow is gone 
 
 That bloomed through sun and showers: 
 
 From wayside hedge and scanty field 
 I bring these Autumn flowers. 
 
TO MY HUSBAND. 
 
IN THE GARDEN. 
 
 Page 
 
 Lines for a Suu-Dial -------13 
 
 In an Old-Fashioned Garden ----- 14 
 
 A Pansy from "Braeburn" ------ 15 
 
 In June _-.------ 16 
 
 Spring — An Interpretation ------ 17 
 
 Heartsease -------- 18 
 
 IN THE CITY, 
 
 Brooklyn Bridge at Night ------ 21 
 
 A Room in Fraunce's Tavern ----- 22 
 
 Old Trinity Yard - - 23 
 
 The Farragut Statue, Madison Square - - - 24 
 
 A June Day in the Mall - Central Park - - - - 25 
 
 "Liberty" on Bedloe's Island ----- 26 
 
 A Tanagra Figurine -------27 
 
 Manhattan's Hymn to the Sea-Goddess - - - 28 
 
 MEMORIES, 
 A Florentine Lady - - - - - - -31 
 
 Lafcadio Hearn ------- 33 
 
 "Shory— 0-Bune" . - 34 
 
 A Reverie _____--- 35 
 
Unexpected Joy - - - - -- - "3^ 
 
 The Genius - . 37 
 
 The Garden of God 38 
 
 The Jersey Marshes _.__-- 39 
 
 A Wild Rose from the White Mountains - - - 40 
 
 A Child Asleep - 41 
 
 A Burial --------- 42 
 
 To A. vS. - - - 43 
 
 At Birth .44 
 
 The Coast Range from the Straits of Juan de Fuca - 45 
 
 The Request .-------46 
 
IN 
 
IN THE GARDEN. 
 
 LINES FOR A SUN-DIAL. 
 
 Fly not too soone 
 
 Ye sunnie hours; 
 Hearts need thy joye 
 
 As well as flowers; 
 Life is set thicke 
 
 With clouds enow, 
 Soone come ye darknesse 
 
 And ye snowe. 
 
14 POEMS 
 
 IN AN OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN. 
 
 Holly hocks in pride of bloom. 
 Foxglove, tall and stately; 
 
 Larkspur, bluer than the sea, 
 Stand in rows sedately. 
 
 Marigold and feverfew. 
 Crimson Prince's feather, 
 
 Pinks with breath of spicy balm. 
 Red and white together. 
 
 On the dial's quiet face 
 
 The sunny hours grow apace: 
 Life be kind to neighbor mine, 
 Be his days of shade or shine. 
 
 May his dreams all peaceful be 
 
 Underneath his "ain roof tree." 
 
 March, 1907. 
 
D E 21 S . 15 
 
 A PANSY FROM "BRAEBURN." 
 
 Sweet velvet Hov/er v^hose pensive grace 
 Recalls the charm of her dear face. 
 Who sent thee here to say to me, 
 "In autumn hours I think of thee" 
 Some Chatelaine of olden France, 
 Some lady of a high romance. 
 She seems, nor can I yet define 
 The spell that made and holds her mine. 
 
 October, 1906. 
 
16 POEMS 
 
 IN JUNE. 
 
 High in my garden the thrushes are singing. 
 
 Blue is the sky, and the clouds are of pearl. 
 Crystal the song of the brooklet is ringing. 
 
 Soft like the tremulous notes of a girl. 
 Break not my heart with this exquisite gladness, 
 
 Sing and rejoice that the v/orld is abloom. 
 Banish forever all sorrow and sadness. 
 
 Live in the glory and beauty of June — 
 June, sweet June. 
 
 Warm were the blood-tinctured roses I sent her, 
 
 She that is fairest, and dearest, and best; 
 Heavy with dew, and love-breathing odors, 
 
 Borne on the wings of the slumberous west. 
 Break not my heart with this exquisite gladness. 
 
 Sing and rejoice that the v/orld is abloom, 
 Banish forever all sorrow and sadness. 
 
 Live in the glory and beauty of June — 
 June, sweet June. 
 
POEMS. 17 
 
 SPRING— AN INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Pink flush of the dawn, and what it means to me? 
 A look, and my soul is all worship of thee; 
 Aflood with the river, a-wing with the bird, 
 I know all the secrets that ever were heard. 
 The stars may forget, and the ocean betray. 
 But my heart holds forever the message of May. 
 
 May 26, 1907. 
 
IS POEMS. 
 
 HEARTSEASE. 
 (Set to music by Madisen Phillips.) 
 
 These most I find like thee, for they 
 
 Were sent to brighten earth, 
 Like angel visitants, they seem 
 
 Of high and heavenly birth. 
 Heartsease, heartsease, 
 
 Flower o' soul to me, 
 Thy velvet lips a secret hold, 
 
 And whisper constancy. 
 
 These most I find hke thee, for they 
 
 Their beauty never knew. 
 Nor dreamed their lovely lives could rise 
 
 Like incense to the blue. 
 Heartsease, heartsease. 
 
 Flower of love to me. 
 Thy velvet lips a secret hold. 
 
 And promise constancy. 
 
 These most I find thee, for they 
 
 Have wrought love's deepest spell. 
 And all my words are faint and weak 
 
 For half that love to tell. 
 Heartsease, heartsease. 
 
 Flower of hfe to me. 
 Thy velvet lips a secret hold 
 
 To all eternity. 
 
 April. 1907. 
 
IN THE CITY 
 
POEMS. 21 
 
 IN THE CITY. 
 
 BROOKLYN BRIDGE AT NIGHT. 
 
 This jeweled arch in airy flight 
 Some mystic sign must bear. 
 
 For lo! upon the midnight sky 
 God's thought is written there. 
 
 If but my soul a bridge of fire 
 Could throw across the dark! 
 
 And steadfast on that other shore 
 Moor its impatient barque! 
 
 September 11. 1907. 
 
22 POEMS 
 
 A ROOM IN FRAUNCE'S TAVERN. 
 
 (Pearl and Broad Streets, where General Washington 
 took final leave of his officers.) 
 
 From what high lineage came these sires of ours, 
 
 What stars shone at their birth. 
 To make our lesser men in prosier hours 
 
 Appear of such small worth? 
 A home-bred gentleman our Hero stood 
 
 And spoke in calm survey 
 Of perils past, of discord threatening. 
 
 Ambition put away 
 With that stern sword, the symbol high and pure. 
 Of how a soldier's honor should endure. 
 Within this room was said the last farewell. 
 
 And eyes war could not dim 
 Were wet with thought of all the past, and how 
 
 They, wondering, worshipped him. 
 
 September 11. 1907. 
 
POEMS. 23 
 
 OLD TRINITY YARD. 
 (Corner Wall Street and Broadway.) 
 
 Life and Death commingled meet 
 At the corner of the street. 
 Mammon, in his fortress there, 
 Counts his gilded dice with care; 
 Little reckons of the dead 
 With the grasses overhead. 
 Like an isle in some dark sea. 
 Vexed by storm's inconstancy. 
 Peaceful lies this little flock 
 Free from earthly strain and shock. 
 While the choir's cadence rings 
 Jubilant of heavenly things 
 Traffic's din and rush and roar 
 Passes by that holy door ; 
 Wealth and pleasure madly fly 
 In their phantom chariots by: 
 Miser, merchant, toiler, wait! 
 Stop a moment at the gate; 
 Read a line, and breathe a prayer 
 For the dead who slumber there. 
 
 October, 1906. 
 
24 POEMS 
 
 THE FARRAGUT STATUE. MADISON 
 SQUARE. 
 
 The city's life around him flows 
 In contrast to his high repose. 
 Action and calm serenely blent, 
 That makes heroic temperament. 
 He stands, as seemg other shores. 
 Where his good ship the pilot moors 
 Within that harbor, deep and wide. 
 Whose waters mark the eternal tide. 
 
 September, 1907. 
 
POEMS. 25 
 
 A JUNE DAY IN THE MALL— CENTRAL PARK 
 
 We watch the fountain in the sun 
 
 Toss high its silver spray, 
 While childien's vibrant voices fill 
 
 The closing hours of day. 
 
 All hauntingly the music thrills 
 
 The leafy aisles along. 
 With Seigfried's death-chant, or the strain 
 
 Of the Rhine maidens' song. 
 
 And dear our country seems, and fair 
 
 Its sky, and wave, and shore; 
 The benediction of great June 
 
 That leaves us nevermore. 
 
 September 13, 1907. 
 
26 POEMS 
 
 ^'LIBERTY" ON BEDLOE'S ISLAND. 
 
 We smile, and call her "Miss De trop," 
 
 Too crude for our desire. 
 And oft forget to pay the tax 
 
 That lights her crown of fire. 
 But if to one poor hunted soul 
 
 She brings surcease of pain. 
 If men oppressed and dungeon-bred 
 
 Look, and find hope again; 
 
 What are our sneers, and our neglect? 
 
 She waits beside the sea. 
 To warn the mighty ones of earth 
 
 That here is — Liberty! 
 
 September 11, 1907. 
 
POEMS. ' 27 
 
 A TANAGRA FIGURINE. 
 (In the Metropolitan Museum.) 
 
 Lady, at your mirror there. 
 
 You put the critics in despair! 
 
 Did that jewelled sandal fit? 
 
 And did Sappho sing of it? 
 
 In the chorus' ryhthmic dance 
 
 You did bear a wreath, perchance, 
 
 And on Venus' altar stair 
 
 Lay a strand of golden hair. 
 
 Like a maiden in a dream. 
 
 With that dainty poise and mien, 
 
 Thus you seem to modern ken 
 
 Perfect now as you were then. 
 
 When tales of gods and nymphs were true. 
 
 And the Parthenon was new. 
 
 October, 1906. 
 
28 POEMS. 
 
 MANHATTAN'S HYMN TO THE 
 SEA-GODDESS. 
 
 Here on the verge of the mihtant ocean, 
 Here by the breakers' eternal unrest, 
 
 O! Aphrodite, thy white feet have wandered. 
 Goddess most blest! 
 
 Crowned with pale stars in the lustre of evening. 
 Wounds of the spirit thy presence can heal. 
 
 Welcome I give thee, and deep adoration. 
 Here as I kneel. 
 
 Far from thy shrine in the temple-crowned islet 
 Love hath beguiled thee in sorrow to roam; 
 
 Here in my soul are both altar and refuge. 
 Make it thy home! 
 
 July, 1906. 
 
MEMORIES 
 
POEMS. 31 
 
 MEMORIES. 
 
 A FLORENTINE LADY. 
 
 (XVI Century.) 
 
 'Twas here in Florence, by the Arno's tide, 
 
 While leaning on the Bridge that Gaddi built, 
 
 I saw her first. So like a poet's dream, 
 
 With downcast eyes (blue as the meadow flower 
 
 That fringes brooks in April), two long braids 
 
 Of golden hair that met upon her breast, 
 
 Held by a silver clasp Cellini made: 
 
 Her dress, of palest green, embroidered in 
 
 Lilies of gold, our city's scutcheoned flower. 
 
 So fair she seemed beneath that noonday sky 
 
 Methought had Leonardo seen her he 
 
 Had straightway begged an hour to paint her in. 
 
 The lily maid of Florence. 
 
 Betrothed to our Duke, a biack-browed man 
 
 Fierce as his looks, 'twas said, and brooking none 
 
 Of opposite intention. A subtle mind 
 
 Deep skilled in judging men, patron of poets. 
 
 And of artists, too, no better judge of bronze 
 
 In Italy. But a heart cold as the frozen marge 
 
 Of northern seas, unfit to mate with youth. 
 
 Nor formed by nature for a lover's role. 
 
32 POEMS. 
 
 Scarce had the twelve month gone, when tolling bells 
 
 Warned of his lady's death. Next day I saw 
 
 In San Giovanni by the altar stair 
 
 That sainted woman laid in costly state. 
 
 Her babe beside her, shining like a star 
 
 Amid the gloom, where incense rose and made 
 
 A veil between them and the curious gaze. 
 
 Peace, like a benediction, lay on her sweet forehead: 
 
 Through my tears I saw her as last year 
 
 At Eastertide, in blithest mood and gay — 
 
 (Her silver hound in leash) accosting me, 
 
 "I pray you, pardon, sir, but has there chanced 
 
 To come this way a black-eyed page who bears 
 
 My tamest falcon on his wrist?" and so. 
 
 Smiling at my awkwardness, passed on. 
 
 For I could only bow in awe of her. 
 
 I, Guido, here do register a vow that ne'er 
 
 Shall suffer change, a loyalty to that 
 
 Dear Lady's name held consecrate forever. 
 
 And each year, upon the feast of All Saints, 
 
 Will I burn twelve candles for her soul 
 
 And deck the Virgin Mother's shrine with flowers. 
 
 For surely none so good and fair of life 
 
 Hath ever made our Duchy memorable. 
 
 April 18, 1907. 
 
POEMS. 33 
 
 LAFCADIO HEARN. 
 
 What was his vision? One of tropic shores. 
 
 And gardens murmurous with palm and pine. 
 Of far-off purple seas, and beckoning sails 
 
 That led to regions beyond space and time. 
 Exile from Grecian skies, he knew the spell 
 
 Of ancient Buddha, and pursued the Way, — 
 i hrice happy if some dawn but brought to him 
 
 A voice that whispered of eternal day. 
 
34 POEMS 
 
 ''SKORY O-BUNE," 
 
 In Japan small votive ships are set aHoat upon some 
 river on the anniversary of the death of a relative or 
 friend. They bear irxense and are supposed to convey the 
 souls of the departed back to the spirit v/orld. This cere- 
 mony often takes place at night. 
 
 Down the dark and silent stream. 
 
 Past the pine tree's fragrant breath, 
 Past the meadow, past the shrine. 
 
 Sail these argosies of death. 
 A fleet of souls by incense borne 
 
 To the deep, unasking sea; 
 Love, when I am dead, wilt thou 
 
 Float a votive ship for me? 
 
 October. 1906. 
 
POEMS. 
 
 35 
 
 A REVERIE. 
 
 Far inland, as I sat vAth book on knee, 
 There came one night a calling of the sea. 
 From broad Pacific's blue and windless dtep 
 To where the Arctic's giant icebergs leap 
 And shake their minarets of crystal cold. 
 And launch upon their voyage free and bold. 
 There seemed within my warm and silent room 
 The sound of many waters and the boom 
 Of breakers pounding on a rock-ribbed shore 
 That echoed to their tumult evermoie. 
 
 October 7, 1907. 
 
36 P O E AI is . 
 
 UNEXPECTED JOY. 
 
 He of Chiiloo feared the smi. 
 
 When he left his dungeon deep; 
 So I, long entombed from }Qy, 
 
 Know not how love's gift to keep. 
 Flold it in reluctant hands. 
 
 Awkward, lest I let it fall; 
 Give it back, dear heart, to thee, 
 
 10 dost know, and pardon all! 
 
 March, 1906. 
 
PO E 31 S . 37 
 
 THE GENIUS. 
 
 As burns a lamp before a shrine 
 
 In some cathedral dim. 
 We watched his genius glow and flame 
 
 And wondered, loving him. 
 
 When gusts of earthly passion strove 
 
 To quench the sacred spark, 
 A silence fell upon the soul. 
 
 The heart's warm hearth grew dark. 
 
 But through the mists of gathering night 
 We knew, though tempest-tossed. 
 
 Upon God's holy altar stair 
 That light was never lost. 
 
 October, 1906. 
 
38 P O E 31 S . 
 
 THE GARDEN OF GOD. 
 (An ancient cemetery at Bethlehem, N. H.) 
 
 There's a garden of God 
 
 Where the long grasses wave, 
 And the cloud-shadows lazily creep, 
 
 Where the sentinel pines, 
 
 With dark arms overspread. 
 Guard the dead in their centuried sleep. 
 
 There I found a red rose. 
 
 It was fragrant and warm 
 With the glow of lost summers and suns; 
 
 But more than the rose 
 
 Did I take on that day 
 From the slope where the wild creeper runs: 
 
 'Twas the youth and the bloom 
 
 Of those long in the tomb. 
 And the hope and the passion of old, 
 
 'Twas a gift of the night 
 
 To the day and the light. 
 And my heart holds its message untold. 
 
 July, 1907. 
 
POEMS. 39 
 
 THE JERSEY MARSHES. 
 
 Lo ! on the verge where the sea and the land meet, 
 
 Brooding, the marsh spreads, an emerald waste. 
 Above on swift pinions at sunset returning 
 
 Circle the wild-fowl in clamorous haste. 
 Ribbons of heavenly blue thread the rushes. 
 
 Rivers of sky that have dropped from above ; 
 Pink in the after-glow^, red in the dawning. 
 
 Pathways of dreams for the spirit of love. 
 Sometimes a sail, like the wing of a sea-gull. 
 
 White in the sunlight, or gray in the gloom. 
 Steals through the waterways, airily floating. 
 
 Ghostly the ship, like a phantom of doom. 
 Rich is the infinite sweep of the meadows. 
 
 With star-spnnkled flower-strewn spaces of gold, 
 Patient as God is, and broad as His bosom. 
 
 Rapt with the vision the centuries hold. 
 
 October 12, 1907. 
 
40 P O E M S . 
 
 A WILD ROSE FROM THE WHITE MTS. 
 
 O! mountains of rapture, O! v/elcoining streams, 
 
 O! hawk hanging high in the blue! 
 What message soever the morning can bring me 
 
 I'll share it, bold Viking, with you. 
 
 What word of my love, can the forest repeat it? 
 
 The stream has it learned as it flows? 
 No thought that's less white than the snow on the height 
 
 Will I send to my love with this rose. 
 
 O! high ship of cloud, with your rudder of pearl. 
 
 And your billowy sail in the sky. 
 Like my love you are proud, like my love you are pure. 
 
 And I'll follow my dream 'til I die. 
 
 July, 1907. 
 
POEMS. 41 
 
 A CHILD ASLEEP. 
 
 Softly on my bosom lies a child, 
 His presence there seems benediction mild 
 On all my care, to guard throughout the night 
 His gentle breathing is a pure delight. 
 Around me lies the city vast and v/ide, 
 A sea of human souls, a mighty tide 
 Ebbing and flowing through the gates of sleep. 
 Where angels. Life and Death, their vigil keep. 
 
 October, 1907. 
 
42 POEMS. 
 
 A BURIAL. 
 
 I buried Love in purple state, 
 To the roll of murmuring drums, 
 
 Such as befit a conqueror 
 Whose arm none overcomes. 
 
 With flags at head, and flags at feet. 
 And his charger standing by. 
 
 None saw a statelier funeral. 
 More regal pageantry. 
 
 But in my heart no bugles blow. 
 No flags — nor brave array: 
 
 Only the sword he left with me. 
 And the wound that bleeds alway. 
 
 May, 1907. 
 
POEMS. 43 
 
 TO A. S. 
 
 Great hearts do not break, but, living on. 
 Forge a firm chain that others lean upon. 
 
 March, 1907. 
 
44 POEMS. 
 
 AT BIRTH. 
 
 The day my soul was born 
 
 The stars forgot to shine; 
 The sun was hidden in a cloud, 
 
 But love was mine. 
 The day my soul was born 
 
 Life suffered an eclipse. 
 And death and time dissolved were 
 
 Upon Love's lips. 
 
P O E },i H . 45 
 
 THE COAST RANGE FROM THE STRAITS OF 
 
 JUAN DE FUCA. 
 
 In childhood's vision these were ramparts high 
 That guarded lands of faer}^ and of gnome; 
 
 Enchanted valleys, snowy flocks of birds 
 
 That swam secure above the blue sea's foam. 
 
 To eyes grown older, wiser with the world. 
 
 They seem the walls that John in Patmos knew. 
 
 The Holy City, jewelled like a bride. 
 
 All sunsets and all dawns blent in one hue. 
 
 October, 1907. 
 
46 POEMS. 
 
 THE REQUEST. 
 
 Love asked my all, a niggard half 
 
 I hoarded still within. 
 But when death claimed a boon of me 
 
 I gave the best to him. 
 
M 2 ^"^