Class. 
 
 t^p^nr; 
 
 BooL 
 
 (kpiglitN"__ 
 
 COnfRICHT DEPOSm 
 
VARIED VERSES 
 
 CARTER S. COLE, M. D. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY 
 
 1991 
 

 COPYRIGHT. 1921. BY 
 MOFFAT. YARD AND COMPANY 
 
 MAR -4 iS22 
 
 0)CI.A6o4819 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 Some of these verses were published in a 
 limited de luxe edition entitled, ''Lays and 
 Lyrics"; and, of these, many have been given 
 musical settings. Of those now published for 
 the first time, several have already received a 
 musical interpretation. 
 
 The German translations were all done for 
 the musical settings the poems had received 
 in the original tongue. 
 
 The collection now presented may or may 
 not be thought worth while by the public ; but 
 the verses are the occasional outbursts of the dor- 
 mant lyrical impulses in a busy professional 
 life: perhaps, they shall find a sympathetic 
 appreciation in the hearts of those who have 
 been unable to give a metrical expression to 
 their feelings : in any case, it is the hope of the 
 writer that they may add a joy to the life of 
 some one. 
 
 c. s. c. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OCCASIONAL OFFERINGS 
 
 Meditation 11 
 
 Solace 12 
 
 A Snow Scene 13 
 
 Boating 14 
 
 A Word 15 
 
 Now and Then 15 
 
 A Problem 16 
 
 En Passant 16 
 
 Two Voices 17 
 
 Waiting 17 
 
 Where? 18 
 
 Amour sans Amour 18 
 
 Disappointment 19 
 
 Birthday 19 
 
 An African Piano 20 
 
 Human 20 
 
 Shadowland 21 
 
 The Ring 21 
 
 Sundown 22 
 
 Aerial Post 22 
 
 Con Amore 23 
 
 Sans Amour 23 
 
 A Wistful Wind 23 
 
 Unrest 24 
 
 Glass Music 24 
 
 Query 25 
 
 Wireless 25 
 
 Risen! Rejoice 26 
 
 Sweetheart 26 
 
 University of Virginia 
 
 (Centenary) 27-28 
 
 The Path 28 
 
 Dream-Acre 29 
 
 Superlative 30 
 
 Home 30 
 
 Twenty-One 31 
 
 Due Alma Lux 31 
 
 An Ideal 32 
 
 PLACE PAINTINGS 
 
 America 35 
 
 Niagara 36 
 
 Lake Louise 36 
 
 Mirror Lake and Placid.. 37 
 
 A Sea-Gate Sunset 38 
 
 Tidings 39 
 
 Amalfi 40 
 
 Capri 41 
 
 The Colosseum 42 
 
 Belluno 42 
 
 The Catacombs of St. Ce- 
 
 celie 43 
 
 Pompeii 43 
 
 Rigi-Kulm 44 
 
 Sans Souci 45 
 
 Impromptu 46 
 
C O N T E N r S 
 
 PEN PICTURES 
 
 E. C 49 
 
 W. W 49 
 
 A Boy 49 
 
 A Crystal Wedding 50 
 
 Louise 50 
 
 Hidden 51 
 
 L. G 51 
 
 Jane 51 
 
 Seventy and Seven 52-53 
 
 A Picture 53 
 
 The Titanic 54-55 
 
 E. K 56 
 
 Isadorables 56 
 
 J. C 57 
 
 Sunlight 57 
 
 E. G 58 
 
 A. C 58 
 
 R. B 58 
 
 A Pastor 59 
 
 Calling 59 
 
 In Memoriam 60 
 
 A Voice 60 
 
 The Song Sublime 61 
 
 Content 61 
 
 Love-Bloom 62 
 
 The Harvest Moon 62 
 
 A Kiss 63 
 
 Love's Symphony 63 
 
 Humility 64 
 
 Sea Gulls 65 
 
 Free 65 
 
 Lost and Found 66 
 
 Lost Love 67 
 
 Mother Love 67 
 
 A Mystery 68 
 
 Love Light 68 
 
 Above the Clouds 69 
 
 Unchanged 69 
 
 Dreaming 70 
 
 A Golden Wedding 70 
 
 A Cross 71 
 
 If n 
 
 A Chord 72 
 
 Love's Message 73 
 
 Tear Drops 74 
 
 Affinity 75 
 
 Alone 76 
 
 Bohemians 77 
 
 Far and Near 78 
 
 Roeanne (nine months 
 
 old) 79-80 
 
 Contrast 80 
 
 Heart Hunger 81 
 
 Asleep 82 
 
 Truth 83 
 
 An Inspiration 84 
 
 Silence and Song 84 
 
 Intuition 85 
 
 The Struggle 85 
 
 Mon Desir 86 
 
 Phyllis (sixteen months 
 
 old) 86 
 
 Aloft 87 
 
 A Contralto 87 
 
 A Song Writer 88 
 
 Fortunate 88 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 FLOWER FANCIES 
 
 A Wild Rose 91 Enthralling 93 
 
 Carnations 91 Violets 93 
 
 Rose-Bloom 92 Pretty Pansy 94 
 
 The Poppy 94 
 
 SPRING SONGS 
 
 A-whispering 97 
 
 Expectancy 97 
 
 A Breath of Spring 98 
 
 The Blue Bird. 
 
 The Soft South Wind.... 98 
 
 The Secret 99 
 
 A Robin 99 
 
 100 
 
 Immanuel 
 
 SONG CYCLES 
 .103-104-105 Love Divine 
 
 .105-106 
 
 WORLD WAR WEAVINGS 
 
 The Conflict 109 
 
 An Appeal 110 
 
 The Harvest Ill 
 
 Wood and Iron 112 
 
 Our Flag 112 
 
 Unafraid : 113 
 
 The Tocsin 114 
 
 Chateau Thierry 115-116 
 
 GLADSOME GREETINGS 
 
 Fancy Kind 119 
 
 A Whim 119 
 
 Av^ake! Arise! 120 
 
 A Love Word.... 121 
 
 Old and New 121 
 
 The Day 122 
 
 A Fear 122 
 
 Ring the Bells 123 
 
 Your Bit 124 
 
 Golden Grain , 124 
 
 GERMAN GLEANINGS 
 
 Azure Eyes 127 
 
 Brief Answer 127 
 
 Do'st Recall? 128 
 
 Prophet and Poet 128 
 
 L'ENVOI 142 
 
 After Heine 129-130 
 
 Folksong 130 
 
 The Witch Song (Hexen- 
 lied) 131-141 
 
OCCASIONAL OFFERINGS 
 
MEDITATION 
 
 CO near the busy throng, 
 ^ And yet, so still, along 
 The river bank we strolled, 
 Gazing with grateful eyes 
 Westward on purple skies, 
 Watching the tints of gold 
 And copper on the clouds 
 Fading, changing into blue: 
 But the idle, curious crowds 
 Never looked and never knew 
 What was going on above. 
 Never guessed the boundless love 
 That gave to man the power to see 
 Beyond this sphere — Infinity — 
 But, soon, the veil of night 
 Shut out the clouds from sight. 
 
 [11] 
 
A SOLACE 
 
 IMPRESSING a kiss 
 
 -*- On the heart of a pink, 
 
 She gave it to me : 
 
 The longer I think 
 
 Of the meaning of this, 
 
 The harder to see 
 
 What the outcome must be ; 
 
 For, surely the flower 
 
 Will never consent 
 
 To part with its prize : 
 
 Nor am I content 
 
 To give up the dower 
 
 That dazzled my eyes : 
 
 The plant itself dies. 
 
 But the kiss ever lives ; 
 
 And the sweet, tender thought 
 
 That the maid had in mind, 
 
 Which my fancy then caught, 
 
 To my heart always gives 
 
 A solace, I find. 
 
 When the Fates are unkind ! 
 
 [12] 
 
A SNOW SCENE 
 
 Tj^ALUNG the snow: 
 ■*" Writhing with pain, a woman cries,- 
 The minutes seem eternities; 
 Greatest of all events on earth 
 Impends — another mortal soul — 
 
 How can it know 
 The reason why ? — is seeking birth, 
 And starting towards the common goal 
 That every living thing must find: 
 Whirling the years go like the wind — 
 
 Why is this so ? 
 Tortuous, long and lone the way 
 Those tender feet must tread each day^ 
 Unless the spirit spurns the flesh, 
 Dreading the cares that life enmesh, 
 
 Eager to go. 
 The terrors here, hereafter dark, 
 Do not deter the singing lark; 
 The joy of love and laughter lend 
 Sweetness to life until the end. 
 
 Whether or no ! 
 
 [13] 
 
BOATING 
 
 ITkRIFTING on the dappled lake, 
 Riplets, rhythmic messengers 
 Tell the pebbled shore ; our wake 
 Furrows where the mirrored light 
 Dancing stays, then disappears, 
 Filling us with keen delight, 
 Floating. 
 
 Dreaming — 
 Thinking only joy ahead: 
 Never giving one wee thought 
 To the morrow — simply led 
 By our fancy fickle, free. 
 Far afield: the truth is naught — 
 Just a passing phantasy 
 
 Seeming. 
 
 Groping — 
 Constantly in different ways 
 Seeking pleasure, shunning pain. 
 Spending priceless nights and days 
 In an endless, bootless quest — 
 Chasing phantoms — then, again 
 Burdened by our own unrest — 
 
 Hoping. 
 
 [14] 
 
A WORD 
 
 TN reverie, with eye-lids closed, my mind 
 ■^ Neglectful both of space and time, but 
 
 free 
 My hand to trace whatever message sought 
 Transmission from the spirit world, I prayed 
 For light upon the real joy of life 
 As well as on the bliss beyond the grave : 
 A silence dreadful followed for the while 
 No answer came; but, then, with movement 
 
 swift, 
 The fingers wrote one word — and only one — 
 In answer to my two bequests ; the page 
 Illumined seemed, the mysteries of life 
 And death were clear, and peace again upon 
 My senses fell — my soul was glad ; the word 
 That made all plain, and gave new hopp was 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 NOW AND THEN 
 
 "WTHAT can be said to the mother heart 
 
 " To heighten her joy on earth? 
 Whenever she looks at her counterpart 
 With luscious, large and laughing eyes. 
 The sorrows, trials, pains of birth 
 Forgotten quite, she only heeds 
 The call of her child, its creature needs. 
 And happily pictures a later day 
 When love in completeness comes to stay — 
 Who dares reckon its worth? 
 
 [15] 
 
EN PASSANT 
 
 'T'HE hem of her gown brushed my foot 
 "*■ as she passed — 
 
 Oh, what a thrill, 
 I feel it still, 
 
 My heart-beats tumultous, brain in a whirl, 
 My breath short and hurried — and all for a 
 
 girl 
 The first time I saw her, perhaps too, the 
 
 last! 
 
 A decade has gone, still I scan each new 
 
 face — 
 Hopeless it seems. 
 And yet my dreams 
 Bring back by day as well as by night 
 Thoughts of that girl of whom I caught 
 
 sight 
 For a moment, and then lost all trace. 
 
 A PROBLEM 
 
 A PROBLEM difficult, not rare, 
 -^^ Obtains, as all agree — to choose 
 A wedding gift appropriate 
 For one we love. We first must dare 
 The money value quite to lose; 
 The tender thought should radiate 
 From anything we chance to send: 
 Untold the worth intent may lend 
 The token from a real friend. 
 
 [16] 
 
TWO VOICES 
 
 TTS plumag:e not full grown, 
 
 ■*■ A sparrow chirps, concealed by leaves, 
 
 Persistently an hour or less. 
 
 When straight from out the wilderness 
 
 Another bird, swift flown. 
 
 Appears and soon the cry relieves 
 
 By love and tenderness. 
 
 Alas, how many years 
 
 A human throat cries piteously 
 
 To all the world-indeed, life-long! 
 
 The simple burden of its song. 
 
 So full of scalding tears, 
 
 To reach the heart in sympathy 
 
 To which it must belong ! 
 
 WAITING 
 
 A TINY bird, whose pulsing throat 
 ■^^ Can scarce expel the trumpet note 
 Of joy that greets the dawn. 
 Will carrol forth to land and skies 
 The beauty of the early morn 
 That human art and speech defies: 
 Its language simple, sweet and plain 
 To all, save man, somewhere 
 Will thrill the feathered throng; again 
 Its message trilled, on air 
 Is borne to one who waits until 
 The melody may reach and fill 
 Its heart, and banish care. 
 
 [171 
 
WHERE? 
 
 W/^HERE is the land of most delight? 
 ^ We know the limitations here — 
 That alternating day and night 
 Compel a change we often fear: 
 The joy of love, so fleeting, wakes 
 Another hope that almost makes 
 Conviction strong that we shall find 
 In time, the place that knows no change, 
 Where human hearts are always kind, 
 And fancy has its fullest range; 
 Where nothing may the spirit bind 
 That seeks its freedom: Am I right 
 To say it is the Infinite? 
 
 AMOUR SANS AMOUR 
 
 A SOUL by silence shriven long, 
 ■^^ A heart denied its sweetest song, 
 Would live and throb if touched by light 
 Unseen for years: for darkest night 
 Replies with anguish, grief, despair 
 In answer to the daily prayer. 
 
 And shall we mortals never find 
 True happiness and peace of mind? 
 Or, shall we struggle aimlessly 
 Against the highest Heaven's degree, 
 And rob ourselves of bliss below, 
 Not knowing when, nor whence we go? 
 
 [181 
 
BIRTHDAY 
 
 THHERE are days to recall 
 •*- And days to forget: 
 But the one best of all 
 Was not when we met — 
 For that was ordained — 
 But when you were born! 
 The month and the morn 
 Are quite simply explained — 
 A fortuitous chance, 
 If they serve to enhance 
 The natural charm 
 That was yours from the start: 
 You need feel no alarm 
 About age: till you part 
 With your candor and truth. 
 You shall always have youth. 
 
 DISAPPOINTMENT 
 
 T SAW a quill of gold on high 
 ■*• Outlined upon an opal sky 
 Just as the sun was going down 
 Resplendent in its nimbus crown. 
 
 In vain I sought to grasp the pen 
 And learn the message it could give; 
 But while I stood and looked again, 
 The cloud dissolved: untaught, I live. 
 
 [19] 
 
AN AFRICAN PIANO 
 
 A FRICA my mother, 
 -^^ Jungle-bred and wild, 
 Never had another 
 Music making child: 
 Pine boards bound together, 
 With a wedge between, 
 Strips of steel the tether. 
 Solid, curved, and lean. 
 From my face, endearing, 
 Stranger than this tale. 
 Melodies you're hearing. 
 In a new-born scale. 
 
 HUMAN 
 
 "pkESPISED, outcast, 
 "*^ A loathsome creature in the sight 
 Of what we choose to call society 
 Her heart is just as human: right 
 Appeals, and not alone propriety: 
 Necessity compels, but with her choice, 
 Convenience disappears — the voice 
 Of love commands ; and when her tears 
 Repentent reach the Mercy seat, 
 And falling bathe the Saviour's feet, 
 I cannot think, in spirit years, 
 That she shall find her future lot 
 Must be with those who are forgot, 
 Despised, outcast. 
 
 [20] 
 
SHADOW LAND 
 
 Tr7"EARY of work, too tired to play, 
 " Watching the evening shadows creep 
 Silently, while the light of day 
 Faded, and darkness encouraged sleep. 
 Fanciful forms invaded my mind. 
 Phantoms weird of many a kind 
 Beckoned and nodded with easy grace. 
 Ceaselessly calling the worn out heart 
 Back to the shadow-land, restful place 
 Whither they went, no more to depart. 
 
 THE RING 
 
 /~\NCE there was a maiden fair, 
 
 ^-^ Gracious, charming, debonair. 
 
 Always by tradition taught 
 
 Love, like vestments, could be bought; 
 
 That affection, faith, respect. 
 
 Wealth compelled; that fools expect 
 
 Sentiment: and need I tell 
 
 That she learned her lesson well? 
 
 Twenty years elapsed, and then. 
 Gazing on her face again. 
 Wife and mother, wealth I saw; 
 But apparent was some flaw 
 In her happiness — the ring 
 Had not meant the real thing: 
 Love neglected gnawed her heart. 
 While she tried to play the part. 
 
 [21] 
 
SUNDOWN 
 
 T KISSED her as the sun went down 
 
 "■- Behind the mountains in the West: 
 
 A stillness settled on the land; 
 
 The afterglow of gold and brown 
 
 Illumined every sheltered nest, 
 
 Before the night could lay its hand 
 
 Of darkness over all: her eyes, 
 
 With sapphire tinged, enthralled my heart; 
 
 The simple, sacred silence said 
 
 This vital thought: The daylight dies, 
 
 But love alone, the better part 
 
 Of life, survives when we are dead. 
 
 AERIAL POST 
 
 A BOVE the earth, on high, 
 •^^ The wings of man, by air 
 Supported in the sky, 
 With reckless haste will dare 
 To speed these lines : must not 
 A happy, future lot 
 And path to wealth and fame 
 As unimpeded wait 
 The earnest artist? Fate 
 Cannot ignore the name 
 To which the Gods are kind 
 And send a favoring wind! 
 
 [22] 
 
SANS AMOUR 
 
 A LWAYS deprived of one who knows 
 •^^ How, in the hour of need and grief- 
 Frequent, alas! but rare the relief — 
 Comfort and peace to find and give. 
 When the desire to die — not live — 
 Stronger and strangely grows 
 Irresistible — such is the lot 
 Waiting for one who knows love not. 
 
 CON AMORE 
 
 PVERY joy of life to find, 
 ^^ Sharing with one who understands 
 What the innermost heart demands, 
 Reaping a harvest of pleasure here. 
 Poisoned by neither regret nor fear, 
 Full of affection for all mankind — 
 Such is the natural, normal state 
 When we have found love, soon or late. 
 
 A WISTFUL WIND 
 
 ■jiyfY spirit sought a kindred soul to find, 
 ^^^ And on the circumambient ether rode 
 A furious race, and reached the far abode 
 Of one who understood: a wistful wind. 
 Laden with scent of lotus bloom. 
 Kissed two long-lashed lids, and then, 
 Whispered my secret in sweet perfume. 
 But never returned to me again. 
 
 [23] 
 
UNREST 
 
 "WrHAT means this spirit of unrest 
 ^ That frets my soul, unwelcome guest? 
 The joys of life that others know, 
 To me are but a picture show; 
 The music of the master minds 
 Within my heart a welcome finds, 
 But fails to bring the long sought calm 
 That never knows the slightest qualm: 
 My friends are kind, and, yet, I feel 
 A wound that kindness may not heal, 
 A longing for another heart 
 That must have been of mine a part: 
 Perhaps, we only find above 
 That perfect peace — a perfect love. 
 
 GLASS MUSIC 
 
 TJE sang from the empty glasses to me, 
 ■'--'• Touching their rims with his finger 
 
 tips. 
 And brought into life such a harmony 
 As never could come from the quivering 
 lips. 
 
 Was it the music from nature's shrine. 
 Stored in the sand for a furnace blaze 
 To change to a vibrant chord divine 
 When the hand of the loving master plays? 
 
 [24] 
 
QUERY 
 
 TI77HAT is the meaning of valentine? 
 ^ Once in a year there comes the day 
 Allotted to those who are moved to say 
 The thing that lies nearest their hearts; 
 And so I am tempted, before it departs, 
 To tell you what lingers in mine : 
 That, despite the fact we have often met. 
 The word I would utter and may not forget, 
 Refuses to come when I try to speak : 
 My courage falters, my heart grows weak — 
 But the truth is revealed in this line! 
 
 WIRELESS 
 
 PAIR-HAIRED faery, 
 
 ■■- Fickle, wary. 
 
 Caught and calmed by needful sleep. 
 
 Are your fancies 
 
 Born of glances 
 
 From a mother's vigil deep. 
 
 Restless, tireless, 
 
 Human wireless. 
 
 When awake, a joy untold. 
 
 Dreams refreshing, 
 
 Love enmeshing. 
 
 Tenderly your heart enfold! 
 
 [25] 
 
SWEETHEART 
 
 OWEETHEART— of all— the word su- 
 ^ preme ! 
 
 Each time I hear it when I dream 
 The face of one alone appears: 
 Throbbing my temples, hot the tears 
 That blurred my sight these many years 
 That failed to make my dreams come true 
 And give the love my fancy knew. 
 
 Over the boundary line between 
 This life and that in worlds unseen, 
 They may not speak nor see nor hear — 
 Still in my heart one thing seems clear. 
 That if by chance your soul be near, 
 Some other sense will rend the mist 
 That filched from love on earth its tryst. 
 
 RISEN! REJOICE! 
 
 T HEAR a distant voice 
 -^ Of prophecy that says, 
 *Teace, prosperity always!" 
 At last the shackles fall 
 And free the soul: the pall 
 Of silence yields, the strain 
 Of songs inspired, again. 
 Delights the listening ear. 
 And many a grateful tear 
 Fallen: Rejoice! 
 
 [26] 
 
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA {Centenary) 
 
 A CENTURY — a puissant span — 
 ■^^ Has proved the wisdom of the man 
 Whose brain conceived the trenchant 
 
 thought 
 To give untrammeled knowledge brought 
 From every source to eager youth: 
 That naught might dim eternal truth, 
 Unprejudiced each heart to see 
 The creed that spelled eternity: 
 It was not deemed a hopeless plight 
 To want revealed religious sight: 
 The soul of every one was free 
 To fashion its own Deity, 
 To sound the depths or search the skies 
 For forms Infinity supplies — 
 Innumerable, weird and strange. 
 But never subject to the change 
 That is the fate of human kind. 
 The product of the mortal mind. 
 Transcendant was the precious star 
 That shone for all both near and far 
 Called Honour: never corner stone 
 On which to build a regal throne 
 More wisely chosen. Tell we must 
 How faith was justified: the trust 
 Was not misplaced; and from these walls 
 The spirit honest met the calls 
 Of duty unafraid these years 
 Gone by: the future holds no fears: 
 
 [27] 
 
Our Alma Mater is the light 
 
 That never fails: that guides aright 
 
 The heart and brain: her colonades, 
 
 With memories of ten decades, 
 
 Her sons and daughters shall inspire 
 
 To seek and find celestial fire: 
 
 Her field the world! Hold up her hands 
 
 To guide the youth of many lands! 
 
 THE PATH 
 
 T TPON the path by roses lined 
 
 ^ In fancy tread my willing feet: 
 
 The breeze through branches intertwined 
 
 Continually makes music sweet; 
 
 And fire-flies fitfully at night 
 
 Emit their tiny, transient flare — 
 
 A challenge to the twinkling light 
 
 Of orbs celestial : the care 
 
 That harries hearts and hurries age 
 
 To sound its note can find no tongue: 
 
 Instead, the birds in nature's cage. 
 
 Before the dawn, the trees among. 
 
 Are carolling their peerless lays 
 
 To rouse the world from sleep and bring 
 
 The joy they know and feel always 
 
 To every sentient, mortal thing; 
 
 And peace perpetual pervades 
 
 The rose-lined path with perfumed shades. 
 
 [28] 
 
DREAM-ACRE 
 
 npHE years were long, 
 "*- The road was hard, 
 But neither made me doubt my Maker; 
 And now with song 
 A nature bard 
 Salutes the morn in my dream-acre. 
 
 The river clear 
 
 In full view lies 
 
 While on its surface dance the sun-beams: 
 
 The blue jay near 
 
 With clarion cries 
 
 Diverts the channels of my day-dreams. 
 
 The beechwood trees 
 
 Majestic stand 
 
 Around my home above the valley: 
 
 With melodies 
 
 Untutored, grand 
 
 Their branches throb continually. 
 
 My wishes now 
 
 Are few — that long 
 
 The years may last: that not a breaker 
 
 May fate allow 
 
 To mar the song 
 
 Of birds that nest in my dream-acre. 
 
 [29] 
 
HOME 
 
 TVTHEN are you coming home cherie 
 ^ The place where your heart is at peace? 
 Already it seems an eternity 
 Since longings and yearnings should cease: 
 On every mile of the road for years 
 The guide-post that pointed the way 
 Displayed the same message: "A love that 
 
 endears 
 Awaits your home-coming to-day." 
 What has life to offset its numerous woes, 
 Its worries, burdens and pains. 
 Unless it be Love — which every one knows 
 Is the Heaven on earth God ordains. 
 
 SUPERLATIVE 
 
 T^THEN a heart by error tried 
 
 " Has a feeling desolate. 
 Knowing from the voice inside 
 That on love and not on fate 
 Hangs the happiness of life — 
 Still it may by faith assured 
 Learn that from the storms and strife, 
 Constantly by all endured. 
 Comes the bliss superlative 
 When the kindred soul is found. 
 Making us forget the wound : 
 Then forever we would live. 
 
 [30] 
 
TWENTY-ONE 
 
 rpWENTY-ONE, 
 •*• Life begun; 
 Play diminished: 
 College finished, 
 
 Still, the world is full of pleasure, 
 Heightened now and then by sorrow: 
 In the mind is found the measure 
 Making welcome each to-morrow: 
 In the heart the richest treasure 
 Of this life is safely guarded 
 By a perfect intuition; 
 Heed its warning, be rewarded 
 By the joys of love's fruition: 
 
 Wisdom slowly 
 
 Comes, but surely 
 
 Smiles upon 
 
 Twenty-one. 
 
 DUC ALMA LUX 
 
 THHAT when the cross I see 
 •■- I know that faith for me 
 Has made life sweet: 
 
 That on my earthly way 
 Thy never failing ray 
 Must guide my feet: 
 
 That with these mortal eyes 
 My view of Paradise 
 May be complete — 
 Due alma lux! 
 
 [31] 
 
AN IDEAL 
 
 ^Y^OU have heard from the strings 
 -*■ Of a fine violin many wonderful things ; 
 But they cannot begin to compare with the 
 
 voice 
 Of the one whom you love, 
 When she says that your choice 
 Has brought peace, like the dove. 
 
 Though an artist may paint 
 
 With remarkable grace and the charms of a 
 
 saint. 
 Without having a trace of the human 
 
 remain ; 
 Still, the composite whole 
 Of the thought in his brain 
 Must be limned by the soul. 
 
 All the beauties of art 
 
 And the wonders of God, to a soulless heart 
 
 Are no more than the sod; but the mind, 
 
 keen and bright 
 With divine inspiration. 
 Knows the wonderful sight 
 In the simplest creation. 
 
 [32] 
 
PLACE PAINTINGS 
 
AMERICA 
 
 T AND of the West, 
 "■^ Hope of the free- 
 America ! 
 All that is best, 
 God gaveth thee. 
 
 Refuge to all, 
 Bound by no creed, 
 
 America ! 
 You heed the call 
 Where there is need. 
 
 Mountains and plains, 
 Ore-filled and fair, 
 
 America ! 
 Sunshine and rains. 
 Riches to spare. 
 
 Varied the soil. 
 Bracing the air, 
 
 America! 
 Happy the toil, 
 Peace everywhere. 
 
 Time lays its hand 
 Gently on thee, 
 
 America! 
 Favored the land. 
 Home of the free! 
 
 [35] 
 
NIAGARA 
 TVrO simple words of man may tell 
 ■^^ The wonder seen, then known so well. 
 The roar majestic, rich and deep 
 That thrills, awake, or lulls, asleep; 
 The fleecy, floating, cooling mist 
 By rain-bows daily, nightly kissed; 
 The waters turbulent below 
 With froth and foam and undertow — 
 A swirling, seething, whirling force 
 Forever on its hurried course ; 
 The chasm riven from solid stone 
 While many centuries have flown: 
 The Infinite has lain its hand 
 Upon the waters and the land! 
 
 LAKE LOUISE 
 nnO paradise in regions wild 
 •*■ The North provides an open gate: 
 Towards the South, a real thrill 
 Enchants the heart — the glaciers great, 
 With snow incalculable piled 
 Upon a mountain higher still: 
 A turquoise blue and green the lake: 
 On either side, a mountain lifts 
 Enormous stones to zero heights. 
 On which to hoard the mighty drifts 
 Perpetual and pure that make 
 The rills of ribbon-white upon 
 Their unsealed sides: the shifting lights 
 Will soon reveal, the search begun. 
 Fantastic colors — precious gifts — 
 And flowers abundant, plants and trees 
 Enhance the charms of Lake Louise. 
 
 [36] 
 
MIRROR LAKE AND PLACID 
 
 TpNCIRCI^ED by a purple chain 
 
 ^-^ Of monuments eternal, lies 
 
 The lake, a mirror, cool and still. 
 
 That sees each cloud and from each hill 
 
 Reflects the pines till daylight dies: 
 
 The wood-thrush, even in the rain. 
 
 Will whistle early in the morn; 
 
 The wood-peewee, with sad cadence, 
 
 From bough or bush or rustic fence. 
 
 At noon directs the errant birds 
 
 To seek their mates and find their nests, 
 
 In language just as plain as words; 
 
 The robins strut and search the lawn 
 
 For worms and bugs, their russet breasts 
 
 Expanding with the frequent note 
 
 Emitted by a pulsing throat. 
 
 Contiguous is Placid Lake, 
 
 In which the mountains bathe their feet; 
 
 And when the snow-white clouds, so fleet, 
 
 Have kissed and clung to tops and sides. 
 
 And with reluctance rise to slake 
 
 The thirst of loftier spots, abides 
 
 The dew upon the Sentinels 
 
 That bar it from a timid guest: 
 
 But if the world one can forsake. 
 
 The virgin forest sings and tells 
 
 Of peace and beauty, joy and rest. 
 
 [37] 
 
A SEA-GATE SUNSET 
 
 "DEHIND the harbor hills and far beyond, 
 •*-^ The setting sun, with varied hues, had 
 
 kissed 
 The willing clouds, and in the wondrous 
 
 West, 
 A purple haze enmeshed with filmy veil 
 The tortuous shore and highlands overhung: 
 The bay unruffled, save some spots a breeze 
 Its cooling breath had spent, while overhead, 
 With tendrils crescent reaching out, a new 
 Mysterious moon, its silver light so soft. 
 Had almost grasped the pendant Venus near 
 To use it for her diadem, when night 
 Enveloped all, and myriad stars appeared 
 To gem the sky: the silver changed to gold. 
 And swiftly raced the evening star ahead 
 To shed its diamond rays upon a world 
 Unknown: Selene followed soon, and stars 
 Were left to pale before the Master-light. 
 
 [38] 
 
TIDINGS 
 
 T SAW a charming cottage near the sea, 
 "■■ A spot for perfect peace and joy to reign: 
 The world was scarce a faded memory, 
 So far removed its worries, cares and pain. 
 
 A cactus, palm, or any southern flower, 
 A welcome finds and unrestricted grows: 
 The vines entwining make a shady bower 
 To whisper love before the daylight goes. 
 
 Around are hills with brush and verdant 
 
 trees. 
 Relieved by streaks of white and yellow 
 
 sand. 
 And through the Golden Gate a cooling 
 
 breeze 
 Brings tidings from a far-off foreign land. 
 
 [39] 
 
AMALFI 
 
 A MALFI beckons me, I feel 
 ^^ The balmy air, the mystic spell 
 Of peace upon my senses steal — 
 The peace the monks had learned so well; 
 Their home upon the mountain side 
 Of solid stone, so strongly wrought. 
 Remains : the colonade, its pride. 
 With fruitful vines, is quickly sought, 
 Although from every point is seen 
 The lavish hand of nature when 
 It gave such vegetation green 
 And cloisters quaint to godly men: 
 Above, the mountains and the sky; 
 Below, the water, purple, bright. 
 Upon whose riplets constantly 
 The playful sunbeams sparkle light 
 Like myriad, priceless gems: at night, 
 The moon a silver wake provides; 
 And undisturbed the shore by tides, 
 A welcome tends and seems to say, 
 "The quest is over: rest, and pray!'' 
 
 [40] 
 
CAPRI 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL island that all may see 
 ■^^ Stands guard near the main-land in far 
 
 Italy ; 
 It is rugged and small, but prolific and fair, 
 And its people rejoice in their freedom from 
 care. 
 
 The waters of purple delight from its shore 
 To borrow some tokens, but covet still more 
 Of its soil, and have burrowed one side 
 For a grotto, all blue, to be seen at low tide. 
 
 Sorrento is seen as we look on the coast; 
 And standing alone, like a ghoul or a ghost. 
 With a tongue touched by flame from its 
 
 uplifted head, 
 Vesuvius watches its multitude — dead! 
 
 Between lies that wonderful changing sea. 
 So rich in its tints, then again so free 
 From all purple and green — just a large 
 
 sheet of glass, 
 A quiet, transparent and colorless mass. 
 
 A daily delightful event for the eye 
 Is the sun as it sets in the Western sky. 
 With a prodigal waste of its silver and gold, 
 Producing a picture of beauty untold. 
 
 Need I tell you the name of this marvelous 
 
 isle 
 So diminutive — great notwithstanding? A 
 
 smile 
 Is your answer: the truth, then, must be 
 You know it — yes, love it — the isle of Capri. 
 
 [41] 
 
THE COLOSSEUM 
 
 npHE night was clear: 
 ■*- The moon with borrowed light 
 Looked down upon the ruins grand 
 Where oft before, two thousand years 
 And more, from every heathen land. 
 The gladiators trained to fight. 
 Had crossed their fatal spears; 
 Where Christians tortured, turned 
 A welcome ear 
 
 To beasts more kind than men — 
 Wild beasts whose roaring advent brought 
 Relief for which their victims yearned 
 So long, and vainly sought — 
 The perfect peace eternal when. 
 Unchained, unmoved by tears. 
 The Spirit makes its flight 
 Beyond this sphere. 
 
 BELLUNO 
 
 TJIGH in the clouds, 
 
 ■■--'■ But higher still the jagged cliffs 
 
 That circle — some with snow-capped peaks — 
 
 Belluno, ancient, Alpine town: 
 
 Fretted the shrouds 
 
 Of ragged turrets making rifts 
 
 For air so pure and light that speaks 
 
 A message heavenly coming down. 
 
 Your fortress builded by a hand 
 
 Supreme, forever shall defy 
 
 Assaults of every kind: the land 
 
 Is blessed that almost joins the sky. 
 
 142 1 
 
CATACOMBS OF SAINT CECELIE 
 
 A TINY taper lights the way 
 ■^^ To tortuous paths beneath the sod, 
 Where christians in an evil day 
 Could supplicate their unseen God. 
 
 Within this city, underground, 
 Concealed a thousand years, remains 
 Of martyrs young and old were found, 
 Forever freed from mortal pains. 
 
 Their patron saint, the story goes, 
 Was buried here four hundred years 
 Unchanged: and since, the whole world 
 
 knows 
 Her name protects these tombs of tears. 
 
 POMPEII 
 
 OILENT city of the dead, 
 ^ Lost for centuries, then found, 
 Why was your defenseless head 
 Chosen for a funeral mound? 
 Whither did your people flee? 
 Were they buried by the dust ? 
 Did they rush into the sea 
 Seeking shelter where they must? 
 Why were some by lava chained, 
 Seemingly to danger dum.b? 
 These alone have still remained, 
 Calcified for years to come. 
 
 [43] 
 
RIGI-KULM 
 
 T^HE sun above, the sea below — 
 "*• A sea of fog, like driven snow. 
 Enveloping the lakes and hills 
 And lower peaks against their wills: 
 As far as eye can see around 
 The Alps majestic, some snow-bound, 
 And glaciers, too, the sun defy. 
 But warm the earth on which they lie 
 And keep secure their rugged tops 
 From life or any kind of crops. 
 Except the ones they hold and hide 
 Beneath their massive weight. The tide 
 Of time and cares of men below, 
 Cannot disturb nor change the glow 
 Of sunrise and of sunset grand. 
 In this enchanted, lofty land: 
 The rainbow colors kiss good-night 
 Each snow-bound crest, and with the light 
 At early morn, rejoice to stay 
 A moment; then, compelled, they stray 
 To pastures green and haunts of men, 
 But know they can return again 
 To peace and quiet, where the blue 
 Of Heaven's vault shall veil anew 
 The craigs and peaks so high in air. 
 Committed to the Master's care. 
 
 [44] 
 
SANS SOUCI 
 
 nnWO lions done in marble white 
 ■*■ Command the terrace day and night 
 On which a palace, silent, stands: 
 Magnolia blossoms fill the air 
 With odors luscious everywhere; 
 Abundant, trained by many hands. 
 The flowers; fountains small and great, 
 And virgin trees, the gift of God, 
 Whose fulsome tops with music nod 
 To every breeze, insatiate: 
 A pheasant frivols fearlessly. 
 And many a bird delights to bring 
 Its chosen mate and breed and sing 
 In this entrancing Arcady. 
 The quiet waters in the lakes 
 Invite the snowy plumaged birds 
 To stay their flight: and wakes 
 The day to hear the lillies words, 
 And hum of happy, busy bees 
 That rifle blooms of plants and trees 
 To satisfy a short-lived queen 
 In Sans Souci, forever green. 
 
 [45] 
 
IMPROMPTU 
 
 T MAY not guess your native state, 
 
 ■*■ Nor whence you wandered to this clime, 
 
 But this I know, some special fate 
 
 Together brings us at this time. 
 
 I cannot classify your voice 
 
 As from the East, or North, or West; 
 
 And though I dare not tell my choice, 
 
 It finds an echo in my breast. 
 
 My heart would place it in the South, 
 
 Despite the accident of birth, 
 
 Because one word, from such a mouth. 
 
 Can make a Heaven of this earth. 
 
 [46] 
 
PEN PICTURES 
 
E. C. 
 
 TTIS voice sublime 
 
 Will swell the choir celestial where 
 The angels happy hasten him 
 On pinions poised, surpassing fair : 
 And while, their eyes with weeping dim, 
 The countless thousands here bemoan 
 Their loss, they feel that they have heard 
 The one supreme in song and known 
 The heart to peoples all endeared 
 For endless time. 
 
 W. W. 
 
 TJE was opposed to war — 
 
 ■'"-*' Why not? — and, yet, the call 
 
 Of liberty afar 
 
 He heard, and with a wall 
 
 Of human force the sway 
 
 Of kings destroyed — and then 
 Disclosed the cryptic way 
 That lead to peace again. 
 
 A BOY! 
 A BOY! 
 
 ■^^ To live with him a second life, 
 And watch his growth in coming years, 
 To shield him from the storm and strife 
 That causes mortals many tears : 
 A vista long of happiness 
 Your love and tenderness must bless. 
 What joy! 
 
 [49] 
 
A CRYSTAL WEDDING 
 
 "C'IFTEEN years, no less, no more: 
 -*- Happy? — Surely, else the score 
 Would have been long since erased 
 And another made in haste. 
 
 Crystal is a fitting term, 
 Suited to conditions firm, 
 Crystalized by hopes and fears 
 Shared by two, so many years. 
 
 May your golden wedding find 
 Both in health and of one mind; 
 Then the life upon this earth 
 Makes you seek a second birth. 
 
 LOUISE 
 
 "I7"EEN for the strife, 
 •^-^ Full of the joy of doing. 
 Ready for work or wooing. 
 Hearing the best, and singing 
 Melodies, haunting clinging. 
 Pulsing with life. 
 
 Surely this earth 
 Gives you its richest treasure. 
 Health, and in fullest measure: 
 Yours is the obligation: 
 What is your aspiration? 
 
 What is it worth? 
 
 [50] 
 
L. G. 
 
 WHTH fingers frail he stroked his beard; 
 " And from his spacious chest was heard 
 A voice of beauty, depth and power 
 As iridescent as a flower. 
 That seemed to loose a secret well 
 Of pleasure hidden in my heart: 
 But who may dare or hope to tell 
 The wonder of consummate art? 
 
 HIDDEN 
 
 A DAUGHTER nine days old! 
 -^^ The mother truly wise 
 To keep the great surprise 
 Securely hidden in her heart, 
 And dance until the morning light 
 As easily as any sprite 
 Untrammeled by domestic art; 
 But truth a-laughing lies 
 Upon her breast with eyes 
 Of blue and hair of gold! 
 
 JANE 
 
 T^ELL me maid with violet eyes 
 •*■ Why my soul knows such unrest: 
 Does emotion or surprise 
 Cause this choking in my breast? 
 
 Do you know your subtle charm? 
 Let me warn you: have a care 
 Lest the heart may suffer harm 
 When it hides your image there! 
 
 [51] 
 
SEVENTY AND SEVEN 
 
 rpOOTHLESS the two, 
 ■*" And scanty their hair: 
 The one, a silver grey. 
 The other, in its way. 
 Almost a gold; the pair. 
 Dove-like, would coo 
 And kiss, heedless 
 Of the gaping crowd. 
 Laughing aloud 
 Happily, needless. 
 Seventy years and more 
 With blighting touch 
 On one: the other much 
 Younger than a year. 
 Clinging to the door 
 Of life with many a tear. 
 And sometimes with a smile. 
 For one, so much ahead. 
 The other, waiting while 
 The certain call would wed 
 The Future and the Past — 
 So much for her behind. 
 And yet, so little when 
 Compared to life again. 
 Forever said to last, 
 Although no finite mind 
 Foresees the hour. It seems 
 The veil is always drawn. 
 We may not know the morn 
 Here or hereafter. Dreams 
 Trouble us asleep — awake, 
 
 [52] 
 
They still perplex, because 
 Our disappointments take 
 Away ambition; then we pause, 
 Dreading to dream again, 
 Knowing the joy — the pain! 
 
 A PICTURE 
 
 A PICTURE daily looks at me— 
 ■^^ Indeed, its gaze attracts and halts 
 Whoever comes within its range: 
 A message in the face I see, 
 A fancy musical and free, 
 Enkindling in my brain a strange 
 Commotion, while its charm assaults 
 The fortress of my heart, so long 
 Impregnable — till now, so strong. 
 Can others read the wonders there. 
 The wistful eyes, the soft grey hair. 
 The peace that surely finds a place 
 In such a calm and trusting face; 
 The thoughts that come from fairyland 
 And give a joy before unknown. 
 The melodies so richly sown 
 With harmonies by magic hand? 
 At least, in future years, the day 
 Can come when every little child 
 May hear and learn those motifs new; 
 And then, perhaps, some one shall say, 
 The poet in his simple way 
 Has reached the multitude through you 
 With themes that cannot be defiled. 
 
 [53] 
 
THE TITANIC 
 
 "pRIDE of her builders, queen of the seas, 
 -*■ Flaunting her pennants to every breeze, 
 Swift as a gull in its over-sea flight, 
 Sailed the Titanic, supreme in her nlight. 
 
 Deep in her hold were the priceless stores 
 Destined for traffic on distant shores; 
 High on her decks were the staterooms 
 
 grand. 
 Filled with the flower of many a land. 
 
 Luxury such as had never been seen. 
 Furnishings rich in gold and green: 
 Dining and dancing the pastimes at night, 
 Full in the glare of the dynamos light. 
 
 Feeling secure on this mammoth, the sleep 
 Seemed to refresh as she sped o'er the deep ; 
 Early the air was instilled with sea-brine. 
 Bringing new life and a message divine. 
 
 Lashing the waves as they lapped at her 
 
 prow, 
 Bridging the troughs of the sea, stern and 
 
 bow. 
 Haughtily tossing the spray high in air. 
 Saucily speeding, with never a care, 
 '^Mistress," she said, '*of the waters am I: 
 Never before has the land or the sky 
 Known such control as I hold of the sea — 
 Strong and unsinkable — marvel at ME!'' 
 
 [54J 
 
Calm was the night when the sea made 
 
 reply : 
 Dusky, an object that towered on high 
 Quietly rode on the breast of the waves, 
 Bringing for heroes their shrouds and their 
 
 graves. 
 
 Scarce had the watch in the crow's-nest 
 
 lashed 
 Shouted, "An iceberg ahead!" when it 
 
 crashed 
 Full against the starboard side, 
 Tearing steel-plates far and wide. 
 Forcing water fast and cold 
 On the engines in the hold. 
 Quenching fires and drenching men 
 Trapped like wild-beasts in a den. 
 From the mizzenmast on high. 
 Wireless word of help near-by, 
 Reassured and promised aid — 
 Why should any be afraid? 
 
 Starboard and forward, a list and a dip 
 Told of the danger that threatened the ship : 
 Lifeboats were ordered^ — the jesters were 
 
 stilled — 
 All with a feeling of horror were filled. 
 
 Hearts that are bleeding in grief and 
 
 despair, 
 Know that the nations of earth everywhere 
 Honor these men and with pride read the 
 
 roll — 
 Greater no love than when death is its toll! 
 
 [55] 
 
ISADORABLES 
 
 GLIDING with rhythmical movements, 
 free 
 As the birds when they froUc in air, 
 Dancing and racing so merrily — 
 Strangers to sorrow, they have no care — 
 Waving like grasses swept by the wind. 
 With little to hinder and nothing to bind, 
 Surely their motion is poetry! 
 
 Even entrancing at rest, to the eye. 
 Because of the art in their pose: 
 Gracefully tilting their palms on high. 
 Balanced with ease on their naked toes. 
 Instantly grasping some subtle sign 
 From their priestess to alter a curve or a 
 
 line — 
 When will she teach them to fly? 
 
 E. K. 
 
 pOD-GIVEN the power 
 
 ^^ To draw the bow! 
 
 A tender flower 
 
 May never know 
 
 The joy it gives: 
 
 An artist lives. 
 
 Not only once, but when 
 
 The memory again 
 
 Recalls the art: know then 
 
 The debt you owe 
 
 To such a dower. 
 
 [56] 
 
SUNLIGHT 
 
 A RAY of sun upon the face 
 •^^ Had almost made the picture speak: 
 And as I pondered on the grace 
 And charm of her I knew so well, 
 On whom the busy sunbeam fell, 
 I could not chide the ray of light 
 For being spell-bound by the sight, 
 And nestling closer to her cheek. 
 
 Oh! favored sunlight, happy one 
 
 To daily visit all mankind. 
 
 And often, ere your task is done. 
 
 With warmth and love some heart caress 
 
 That grieves or lives in bitterness — 
 
 It, surely, cannot be amiss 
 
 To pause and press one fleeting kiss 
 
 Upon the fairest face you find! 
 
 J. C. 
 
 T HEARD a voice from a faraway land 
 ■^ That welled with the love of the song : 
 I feared lest the world might not under- 
 stand. 
 So I sought the singer, to grasp her hand. 
 And tell her I knew; that so long 
 Would those tones be golden, and deathless 
 
 the art. 
 As they sprang from the depths of the 
 
 human heart. 
 
 [57] 
 
A, O. 
 
 TYTITH lavish hand the Deity 
 ^^ Expended many gifts on thee: 
 But do you know that in your voice 
 That hurries every heart that hears 
 And makes the soul though sad rejoice 
 There lies down deep a font of tears? 
 Its echoes ringing cannot find 
 The words to tell them — but the wind 
 Will blend them with the nature notes 
 That spring from many feathered throats: 
 Long, cherish, guard this priceless thing 
 And comfort hearts awearying! 
 
 E. G. 
 Tj^OR many years his blighted eyes 
 ■*- Have tried in vain to see sunrise; 
 But through his ears, 
 Responsive to his fingers slim, 
 With joy and tears, 
 His violin has brought to him 
 The colours all from nature, pure: 
 Could sight itself have given more? 
 
 R. B. 
 TTTELL of joy, of hope the spring, 
 " Even truth may give a sting: 
 Sweet its message, clear, unsought — 
 Bitter when by sorrow brought: 
 Cupid is a jealous faery: 
 Never mortal wise or wary 
 Spurned the law that he ordains: 
 Love is King! Supreme he reigns! 
 
 [58] 
 
A PASTOR 
 
 'T^O measure life by years, not deeds, 
 -*■ Is usual with those that err; 
 But one who finds and fills the needs 
 Of aching hearts and poor lost souls. 
 And brings them to the sheltering folds 
 Where human ties are sweet and dear, 
 And hope eternal gives anew 
 The strength to struggle and to fight. 
 The courage needed to be true, — 
 Must realize that on this earth 
 His years are measured by his worth. 
 Which God alone may judge aright: 
 No wonder then, fond brother mine. 
 That fifty Winters— dare I tell?— 
 Have passed and hardly left a line 
 Upon your brow; and that your hair. 
 Though touched by grey, bespeaks no care, 
 Because your people love you well! 
 
 CALLING 
 
 A RE you calling me ? 
 ■^^ Can I mistake the voice I hear. 
 Far-off at times, then again so near. 
 Chanting a melody soft and low, 
 Only permitted to lovers to know. 
 Giving ecstasy? 
 
 I am calling you: 
 
 Although no sound from my lips is heard, 
 Out into space hurries each fond word. 
 Driven by energy stored in my heart. 
 Straight to the soul of its own counterpart. 
 Faithful, loving, true. 
 
 [59] 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 (F. 5. Ober) 
 
 PAITHFUL, thoughtful to the end— 
 
 -"- Death's messenger had called 
 
 Long since, and spirit forms 
 
 Were waiting anxiously 
 
 To greet a kindred soul ; 
 
 And, yet, though gasping, sore. 
 
 He would not pass into the world 
 
 Beyond, until he sent his love 
 
 To those who were his friends 
 
 On earth — for whom he would 
 
 Provide a cordial welcome 
 
 In the great unknown. 
 
 Old friend, the prospects brighten 
 
 For the life to come, since 
 
 We may hope again to know 
 
 The blessing of your friendship there: 
 
 Comrade, brother, we expect 
 
 To join you in eternal peace! 
 
 A VOICE 
 
 A VOICE at night, in the stillness heard, 
 -^-^ But just as clear in the busy throng, 
 As sweet as the note of a singing bird, 
 And sweeter than any written song. 
 Is whispering words that make my heart 
 Pulsate in quivering, quickened throbs; 
 I stop to listen, but quickly start. 
 Amazed to find I am choked by sobs: 
 Too late, I know the truth to be. 
 The voice of love was calling me. 
 
 [60] 
 
CONTENT 
 
 I TSELESS both feet, 
 
 ^ But swinging along 
 
 On crutches, swaying. 
 
 Almost playing. 
 
 There came from her throat, 
 
 Ravishing, sweet, 
 
 The lilting note 
 
 Of a merry song: 
 
 And I knew what I heard. 
 
 Like the trill of a bird. 
 
 Was a parcel and part 
 
 Of the well of content 
 
 In the depths of her heart: 
 
 The body was bent. 
 
 But beauty and truth. 
 
 Twin vassals of youth, 
 
 Lit luminous eyes 
 
 That mirror the skies 
 
 And the soul, infinite. 
 
 THE SONG SUBLIME 
 
 npHE music written, played or sung, 
 "■" May give delight to those who know 
 The mysteries and magic tongue 
 In which the cadenced phrases flow: 
 
 But every class, in every clime — 
 The creatures dumb — or deer, or dove, 
 Untutored know the song sublime 
 To thrill a heart or tell their love! 
 
 [61] 
 
THE HARVEST MOON 
 
 nnHE legends say the Harvest moon 
 ■■■ Is far the best of all the year; 
 Perhaps it is, but very soon, 
 The same of other moons you hear. 
 
 The beauty lies, not in the star. 
 The music sounds, not in the spheres. 
 But in the eyes that gaze afar. 
 And in the heart, with listening ears. 
 
 The soul that is with love in tune, 
 Can find in every earthly thing, 
 A far resounding, echoing rune. 
 That stirs the heart and makes it sing. 
 
 A heart at peace, a mind at rest. 
 Would give to life upon this earth 
 A cup so full of what is best, 
 That we might scorn a second birth. 
 
 LOVE— BLOOM 
 
 T PLANTED the seed of a flower rare, 
 "*- In earth prepared with infinite care; 
 But wind and want of rain and sun. 
 Completely undid the work that was done. 
 
 Unknowing, unthinking, a love-seed fell 
 On soil untilled, in an unknown dell; 
 And without the aid of sun or rain. 
 Its bloom and perfume have known no 
 wane. 
 
 [62] 
 
A KISS 
 
 I WAKED her with a kiss: 
 Who knows what thoughts, unfettered 
 then, 
 Were flitting through her brain, at rest; 
 What visions weird, or dreams again 
 Of love unknown, had filled her breast? 
 I only know my bliss! 
 
 All dreams may be surmise: 
 
 But when the curtains of her sight 
 
 Were barely drawn a line apart. 
 
 My soul was stilled with sweet delight, 
 
 I knew the joy that filled my heart 
 
 Was love-light from her eyes. 
 
 LOVE'S SYMPHONY 
 
 T IVING can give many joys, 
 ^ None so great as love may be, 
 Time alone all else destroys. 
 Love lasts through Eternity. 
 
 Dying may to some give pain. 
 One at least may ever deem. 
 Life has never been in vain. 
 Love has made it one sweet dream. 
 
 For the Future have no fear. 
 Let the Past a memory be. 
 Listen, you yourself may hear 
 Love's ecstatic symphony! 
 
 [63] 
 
HUMILITY 
 
 T^HE stars that twinkle and that shine 
 -*■ A wondrous source of beauty are; 
 But science only can opine 
 The secret of the shooting star. 
 
 What can the soul, to land chain-bound, 
 Pretend to tell us of the sea — 
 That restless, boundless girdle 'round 
 The earth for all eternity. 
 
 The simple fools may jest and jeer 
 Who never raise their eyes above. 
 Too ignorant to even fear 
 The force or fire of holy love. 
 
 Embrace the heart that has its grief: 
 The life that only knows sunshine 
 Can have no infinite belief 
 In what is human or divine. 
 
 Humility alone can bring 
 The mortal mind with God in touch: 
 They tell us that the Heavenly King 
 Has filled His kingdom full of such. 
 
 [64] 
 
SEA-GULLS 
 
 "rAR from their homes, on tireless wing, 
 ■*■ Only the waves of the sea for a bed, 
 Sea-gulls will follow, with rhythmical swing. 
 While the propellers are forging ahead. 
 
 Distance and time are not factors to them, 
 Storms only hasten and help them along: 
 Most of their kind they can rightly con- 
 temn — 
 One shrill, sharp note is the whole of their 
 song. 
 
 Even their bed is as restless as they, 
 Cooling their feet and caressing their 
 
 breasts : 
 Nature, however, has taught them the day 
 When to return and revisit their nests. 
 
 FREE 
 
 nnHE mind is free — 
 -■■ But not on land, 
 And never at sea 
 Ltotil the spirit that gave it birth 
 Has taught how little this life is worth. 
 
 Without the hand 
 
 Of Deity. 
 
 The heart is free — 
 But not below. 
 Nor even above. 
 
 Unless some power has made it know 
 The bliss that alone can make it so — 
 Unbounded love 
 Eternally. 
 
 [65] 
 
LOST AND FOUND 
 
 T ONG, long ago, just when I can't say, 
 ^ But it seems to me forever and a day, 
 I lost my love, and I don't know how — 
 Unless — ^but its idle to guess at it now. 
 
 Twice in the night, before it was dawn. 
 Came a voice of distress by some spirit 
 
 borne, 
 And only the years in the future told 
 How two little lambs had entered the fold. 
 
 At last came a line — just a simple note. 
 Clear and concise, in which she wrote 
 That in trouble and pain the old, old love 
 Alone stood the test and was help from 
 above. 
 
 Perhaps we shall never discover nor know 
 How God works his wonders and makes 
 
 love grow: 
 But a force irresistible holds in its power 
 The God-born love, not the love of the hour. 
 
 One never can tell what the Future may 
 
 bring, 
 We are seldom quite certain of anything; 
 But I know that my love in the years gone 
 
 by 
 Is still mine to-day and forever and aye. 
 
 [66] 
 
LOST LOVE 
 
 "VrOU may mock 
 -*- At the heart overflowing with grief, 
 
 You may lock 
 In your breast any thought of relief, 
 
 But some day 
 From the depths of your soul you shall 
 know, 
 
 You must say 
 No mortal may live without woe! 
 
 My heart bleeds 
 When I think of my love in the past; 
 
 My soul needs 
 Just one more tender word that may last; 
 
 My will craves 
 What it once thought it held quite secure; 
 
 My mind raves 
 At the loss it must feel evermore! 
 
 MOTHER-LOVE 
 
 npHE door-step of a busy thoroughfare, 
 •*- With surface lines and elevated cars, 
 And noisy workers welding iron bars. 
 Reveals, in gingham dress, with raven hair, 
 A woman of the working, plainer class. 
 Whose face is radiant with a careless smile, 
 As in her lap, outstretched and happy, while 
 Upon its face and head (a tangled mass 
 Of dark brown curls) the kisses rain, 
 A playful child inspires that mother-love. 
 So pure, unselfish, straight from heaven 
 
 above. 
 Which never has its like on earth again. 
 
 [67] 
 
A MYSTERY 
 
 ■W7HEN shall we know — God grant it be 
 
 " soon — 
 
 Music unwritten, but heard in our sleep: 
 Why does its wonderful entrancing tune 
 Lie in a mystery ever too deep? 
 
 Down in his heart, in the peasant's breast, 
 Untouched by trouble, and unmoved by 
 
 pain. 
 Poetry exquisite, never expressed. 
 Flows from an unending, natural vein. 
 
 Working untrammeled by sight and by 
 
 thought, 
 Pictures unconsciously limned by the brain, 
 Artists remember; but when they are 
 
 sought. 
 Canvas and colour refuse them again. 
 
 LOVE-LIGHT 
 
 liyrY heart like a bud that had never 
 
 ^^^ bloomed. 
 
 To shade and shadow seemed hopelessly 
 
 doomed. 
 No ray of sunshine nor breath of Spring 
 Would kiss and keep it from withering. 
 
 The light from a tender, human face. 
 Aglow with pity and exquisite grace. 
 Illumined the plant, all drooping alone, 
 And made from the bud a rose full-blown. 
 
 [68] 
 
ABOVE THE CLOUDS 
 
 A BOVE the Clouds, 
 
 -^ The vault of Heaven arched and bound- 
 less, 
 The azure blue so pure and clear. 
 The air itself so rare, and fresh and free. 
 Instil into the mind the groundless. 
 Hopelessness of plans projected here. 
 Regardless of the great Eternity 
 Above the clouds. 
 
 Above the clouds. 
 Our thoughts may always soar with ease, 
 And bring to us a fuller dawn, 
 Replete with knowledge of a sweeter life. 
 In which misfortune and disease 
 Can find no place: the weary, worn 
 Forget their troubles, know no care nor 
 
 strife 
 
 Above the clouds! 
 
 UNCHANGED 
 
 'T^HE leaves are changed from green to 
 ■^ gold. 
 
 And silver streaks the auburn hair. 
 Sometimes, before its owner fair 
 Has known the grief that makes one old; 
 The seasons change from warm to cold, 
 But human nature everywhere 
 Remains the same: at least, one thing 
 Unchanged, amidst so much unrest. 
 Unfailing joy and peace may bring 
 To those who serve its altar best. 
 
 [69] 
 
DREAMING 
 
 A WAKE and alert, I seem never to see 
 ■^^ The one whom I know is still waiting 
 
 for me; 
 But when I am dreaming, those eyes look 
 
 in mine 
 And answer my prayer in a language divine. 
 
 Perhaps in the Future, in worlds still un- 
 known, 
 
 My dreaming may bring me the love it has 
 sown; 
 
 The life after death all the sweeter should 
 be, 
 
 When love is unfettered for Eternity. 
 
 A GOLDEN WEDDING 
 
 TpiFTY happy, golden years! 
 -■- Although trials, losses, tears 
 May have cast some shadows dark, 
 And the carols of the lark 
 May have failed to bring you cheer, 
 When affliction drew too near; 
 Still, the long association 
 Is a special dispensation 
 Granted to but few below: 
 Yours the real joys to know 
 Here on earth, and, surely. Love 
 Shall provide no less above. 
 
 [70] 
 
A CROSS 
 
 OIMPLE, but high 
 ^ On Alpine crest, 
 Above the strife 
 And stress of life, 
 A cross, at rest. 
 Kisses the sky! 
 
 Steadfast through storm ; 
 The sun ablaze 
 With torrid light. 
 The moon at night 
 With silver rays, 
 Outline its form. 
 
 Token sublime 
 By ages blest. 
 With love untold, 
 Your arms enfold 
 The heart oppressed 
 In every clime. 
 
 [71] 
 
IF 
 
 TF I could speak, 
 
 -*- The language of the flowers, 
 
 Their fragrance lend 
 
 To every word and phrase, 
 
 What harp or lute. 
 
 With all its subtle powers, 
 
 Would dare contend — 
 
 Unless to suit 
 
 Its music to my lays? 
 
 If I could use 
 
 The language of the birds. 
 
 The melody 
 
 Bewitching of their lays, 
 
 I know my pen 
 
 Would not commit to words 
 
 Or poesy 
 
 My love: but then, 
 
 My heart would sing always. 
 
 A CHORD 
 
 ■p|EEP in my heart, is a chord divine, 
 -*-^Full of a harmony strange to this earth, 
 Until that masterful music of thine, 
 Calls it from spirit-land, giving it birth. 
 
 Could I translate into words such a strain. 
 Words that the people could grasp every- 
 where. 
 Nations enchanted would sing the refrain. 
 Filling with melody, earth, sea and air. 
 
 [72] 
 
LOVE'S MESSAGE 
 
 /^N trackless ways, 
 
 ^^ For nights and days, 
 
 A message from my soul has sped; 
 
 Incessantly, 
 
 On land and sea, 
 
 It follows boldly, whither led. 
 
 If efforts fail 
 
 On hill and vale 
 
 To reach the heart to which it goes. 
 
 It will defy. 
 
 However high. 
 
 The peaks that boast eternal snows. 
 
 The dark below, 
 
 From which we know 
 
 That raging flames may rarely rise, 
 
 Will only speed 
 
 The soul whose need 
 
 Is love supreme, that never dies. 
 
 I have no fear, 
 
 Though never here 
 
 The message finds its destined goal, 
 
 In spirit land, 
 
 A loving hand 
 
 Will grasp and greet my longing soul. 
 
 [73] 
 
TEAR DROPS 
 
 T AM thinking of you : 
 
 -*- In the hush of the morn, 
 
 Ere the rose-fingered dawn 
 
 From the darkness is born, 
 
 All alone, heavy hearted, 
 
 Come the dreams when we parted 
 
 Of a love old, yet new. 
 
 I am singing to you: 
 
 In my heart is a strain 
 
 Oft repeated again 
 
 In the same sweet refrain. 
 
 Softly speaking or calling; 
 
 On my cheeks, there are falling 
 
 Pearl tear-drops, like dew. 
 
 I am longing for you: 
 
 Does your heart feel my thought? 
 
 Has your consciousness caught 
 
 From the ether waves naught 
 
 That my heart throbs are saying? 
 
 Ate you yourself praying 
 
 That those dreams may come true? 
 
 [74] 
 
AFFINITY 
 
 A LONE I've waited, suffered, wept, 
 -^ The years have passed, and still my 
 
 grief 
 In silence borne, has on me crept: 
 The Future holds out no relief. 
 
 It seems that every hope has fled. 
 That love and sunshine all about, 
 Cannot by chance, upon my head 
 Descend, and much less seek me out. 
 
 And yet, another sense has told. 
 That on this earth not far from me, 
 A heart is beating, in whose hold, 
 My own love-fire glows brilliantly. 
 
 How can a flame forever last. 
 Without renewing proper food? 
 To make it stand the wintry blast. 
 Unspoken love can not be crude. 
 
 But not a sign and not a word 
 For years between ourselves has passed. 
 Unless, perchance, each one has heard 
 The other's heart by grief harassed. 
 
 [75] 
 
ALONE 
 
 T LOVE to listen to the singing birds; 
 
 -*■ The rusthng leaves have music of their 
 
 own: 
 But nothing sounds so sweet as do the 
 
 words 
 I hear in silence, when I am alone. 
 
 My fancy makes me free to choose the 
 
 voice 
 That never fails to lure me by its charm: 
 Besides, I am not hindered in my choice 
 Of what to hear, and when to take alarm. 
 
 The face of one whose memory is enshrined 
 In all the beauty of a boy's love-dream, 
 Is with the voice and figure close en- 
 twined — 
 A picture-poem, like a fairy neem. 
 
 The fragrance of a blooming flower bed, 
 The odor from the fresh and new mown hay, 
 Revives the recollections of the head 
 That once upon my shoulder loved to stay. 
 
 The strains of every air, by time endeared. 
 The harmonies that often are not scored. 
 Infuse my mind and cause it to be cleared 
 Of all unhealthy thoughts it may have 
 stored. 
 
 No wonder then, that people are content 
 To live alone, and never dare to mate: 
 A love unhappy proves the incident 
 Preparatory to a better fate. 
 
 [76] 
 
BOHEMIANS 
 
 ■vrOU may have a superstition 
 •*- Which amounts to a delusion, 
 Or a simple intuition 
 That occasions much confusion; 
 There are fads and fancies funny 
 That may help or harm digestion: 
 But Bohemians with money 
 Must excite comment and question. 
 
 It is hard to give a reason 
 For the foolish things we think; 
 It is harder still, in season, 
 To command the printers ink: 
 But Bohemians are careful 
 On the lines where others fail : 
 And though seldom ever prayerful. 
 They have friendship — not for sale! 
 
 An analysis will prove it. 
 That the heart as hard as stone 
 (Only dynamite can move it. 
 Though it really is bone) 
 In Bohemians is missing. 
 But, instead you always find 
 One whose music, sweet as kissing. 
 Throbs with love for human kind. 
 
 [77] 
 
FAR AND NEAR 
 
 nnHE night is done, 
 ■*- And linnets are 
 Astir: upon 
 The eastern sky 
 A blush: on high 
 No daring star 
 Disputes with day 
 The right of way; 
 And yet, the light 
 Confounds my sight — 
 For thou art far! 
 
 The day is done, 
 But all is clear: 
 No midday sun 
 Could give more light 
 To guide aright 
 And calm my fear 
 Than that I know 
 When from two eyes. 
 With feigned surprise, 
 The love-beams glow — 
 For thou art near! 
 
 [78] 
 
ROEANNE (9 MONTHS OLD) 
 
 "D ABIES all may interest: 
 ^ Clothed in little but a smile, 
 Each will prove a welcome guest, 
 When it coos or tries the while. 
 
 Dimpled wrists and dumpy feet 
 Lend their own peculiar charms 
 To a baby clean and sweet, 
 Nestling in its mother's arms. 
 
 You may think those open eyes 
 Prettier if a different hue; 
 But the parents who are wise, 
 Know that any shade will do. 
 
 Naturally, every dear 
 Has some special cunning ways 
 Which would take at least a year 
 To enumerate; these lays 
 
 Are to tell you of a child — 
 Not my own, I grieve to say^ — 
 Wondrous fair and meek and mild. 
 Full of sunshine all the day. 
 
 From the hour when she was born, 
 None who know her can deny, 
 Whether it be night or morn, 
 She is seldom heard to cry. 
 
 Trustful, calm, a face so rare. 
 Surely with those eyes of blue 
 And her soft abundant hair. 
 She is equalled by but few. 
 
 [79] 
 
Doubtless this may vex her mind, 
 How an angel here below, 
 Can the proper helpmate find — 
 For her sort is rare, you know. 
 
 Smile and coo in peace, Roeanne: 
 You will find when you are grown. 
 Peace quite rare, for every man 
 Tries to cull a rose full-blown. 
 
 CONTRAST 
 
 A LONG day of work, 
 ■^"^ A night of unrest. 
 Suspicions that lurk 
 Where faith should obtain: 
 Discouraged by pain. 
 Unhappy at best, 
 A body not well — 
 Does earth hold more hell ? 
 
 A touch of the hand, 
 A glance of the eye 
 That you understand: 
 A word from the heart 
 Untrammelled by art. 
 Your loved one near by 
 To give you a kiss — 
 Has Heaven more bliss? 
 
 [80] 
 
HEART HUNGER 
 
 ■piO you listen while you sleep? 
 ^^ Then I know you hear my cry, 
 For in slumber, light or deep, 
 I am calling — You know why! 
 
 When you go from place to place, 
 Can't you see me at your side? 
 Though my eyes be closed, your face 
 By my fancy is espied. 
 
 Music strange you hear and feel: 
 Do you marvel at its force? 
 Gould my spirit to you steal. 
 You, at least, would know its source. 
 
 Does the perfume of the flower. 
 Bring you pleasure, give you joy? 
 This to me gives every hour. 
 Thoughts of you that never cloy. 
 
 Though you lost your taste and touch 
 Yet the senses left, just three. 
 Would sufficient be for such 
 Individuality. 
 
 Do the ether waves from you, 
 Gause my hungry heart unrest. 
 Keep me wondering, is it true. 
 While I suffer, God knows best? 
 
 [81] 
 
ASLEEP 
 
 /^UR ship is delayed by the force of the 
 
 ^-^ gale, 
 
 And tossed by the billows and beaten by 
 
 hail, 
 But peacefully dreaming, my darling asleep 
 In a trundle-bed cot, is unmoved by the 
 
 deep. 
 
 Sweetly sleep! 
 
 The hand of another will 
 Temper the storm: 
 The heart of a mother still 
 Shelters your form. 
 
 The years that shall follow may bring you 
 
 delight, 
 Or even a lover to guard you at night; 
 But only the love of a mother may last 
 When fortune and friends are but dreams of 
 
 the past. 
 
 Sweetly sleep! 
 
 The hand of another will 
 Temper the storm: 
 The heart of a mother still 
 Shelters your form. 
 
 [82] 
 
TRUTH 
 
 WHO knows the spirit inspiring song 
 birds? 
 How do they learn what so sweetly they 
 
 sing? 
 May be their music is too rare for words, 
 Save for the words that their own fancies 
 bring. 
 
 Can we explain how some wonderful song 
 Comes to the writer unbidden, unsought, 
 Unless his muse is compelled by some wrong, 
 Or by some pleasure that's too dearly 
 bought. 
 
 Only the heart that has suffered and 
 
 grieved. 
 Knows how to touch by its voice or its word, 
 That of another too often deceived. 
 Whether the message be old or unheard. 
 
 One kind of music and one kind of song. 
 Ever strikes deep and in memory stays. 
 That from the heart, which can never be 
 
 wrong. 
 Having the Truth as its key-note always. 
 
 [83] 
 
AN INSPIRATION 
 
 OHE held my hand: 
 
 ^ And as her dark eyes flashed 
 
 Discreetly, pressed it, unabashed, 
 
 A magic wand 
 To give an inspiration for a song: 
 No one could fail to write 
 When sensation, touch and sight 
 Compelled creative thoughts to surge along. 
 
 She held my hand: 
 The voice of Spring rang clear, 
 The leaves and birds were near — 
 
 You understand — 
 All nature felt a new impulse in life : 
 
 The Winter chill had passed. 
 
 Until I saw aghast. 
 The man who wanted her to be his wife ! 
 
 SILENCE AND SONG 
 
 T CANNOT sing: 
 
 -*- Bright though the day, 
 
 Dark seems the way 
 
 While memories are haunting me 
 
 Of one who long since crossed the sea 
 
 In early Spring. 
 
 At sight of thee. 
 
 Even the night 
 
 Borrows new light 
 
 Fi-om distant orbs to give a charm. 
 
 My heart is free from all alarm — 
 
 I sing with glee. 
 
 [841 
 
INTUITION 
 
 nnHE birds seek shelter safely in the 
 ■■- boughs, 
 
 The lambs, by hills protected, fear no wind, 
 But mortals, who depend upon the vows 
 So rashly made, so easy to rescind. 
 Ignore the one, supreme, unfailing sense 
 That offers even animals defense. 
 
 The ceremonies by the church compelled, 
 
 The forms provided by the civil laws. 
 
 May merge two names, but never may they 
 
 meld 
 Two hearts discordant: if you seek the 
 
 cause. 
 Neglect of intuition tells the tale 
 Of why such unions know no word but fail. 
 
 THE STRUGGLE 
 
 nnHE path of knowledge is the same, 
 ■"- Defiant, difficult, obscure; 
 The goal, success — no easy game 
 For rich to play, much less for poor. 
 
 Sharp, cruel thorns beset the way. 
 The climb for many is too steep. 
 And ere they see the dawn of day. 
 Most weary toilers fall asleep. 
 
 The dreamer works, the worker dreams. 
 Each striving, struggling for the goal, 
 And while they press their futile schemes, 
 Each loses more — a mortal soul. 
 
 [85] 
 
MON DESIR 
 
 OOME attracted by a face, 
 ^ Follow blindly any pace; 
 More pursue a money prize, 
 Often won by fraud and lies : 
 Others for a lithesome form 
 Weather any kind of storm: 
 Many are by titles drawn, 
 Early taught on rank to fawn: 
 Graces rare, so sweet to see. 
 When possessed from infancy, 
 May escape a searching eye, 
 If no cloud obscures the sky : 
 But I know the better part. 
 Hidden by consummate art — 
 That which worships at the shrine 
 Of the cross — your soul divine — 
 Glows in grief that none may borrow: 
 Will you let me share your sorrow? 
 
 PHYLLIS (16 MONTHS OLD) 
 
 ■pHYLLIS you may never know 
 
 -■- How your gift has touched my heart, 
 
 Nor how every day you grow 
 
 Charms from which you may not part. 
 
 Later, when some man shall claim 
 
 All your love eternally. 
 
 Giving you his heart and name. 
 
 Can you keep a place for me? 
 
 [86] 
 
A CONTRALTO 
 
 nPHE secret of the voice you know: 
 ■■" The 'cello tones so deep and low 
 Come faultlessly and free; 
 But do you feel that sweeter thrill 
 Your heart pulsating, never still 
 Can give so secretly? 
 
 Perhaps that very mellow tone 
 
 Will wake the heart that with your own 
 
 Pulsates in unison: 
 
 Will make the chord none else may hear, 
 
 Except the one for whom it's clear — 
 
 When two hearts sound like one! 
 
 ALOFT 
 
 ■JYI ASTER of land and sea 
 ■*"" For many years, the mind 
 Has solved the mystery 
 Of winged things: the wind 
 Its servant, bears and speeds 
 The craft from place to place 
 More swiftly than the pace 
 Of falcons fast, and feeds 
 Aloft with purer air 
 The fancy fine; while Care, 
 The brute that all annoys 
 And stoutest hearts corrodes, 
 In vain the soul assails 
 That carried by the gales 
 Above the clouds, enjoys 
 Aerial abodes. 
 
 [87] 
 
A SONG- WRITER 
 
 /^NLY to look in those wondrous eyes, 
 ^^ Out of whose depths subtle harmonies 
 
 flow, 
 Brings back the hopes of a lost paradise. 
 Seen once in dreams, in the years long ago. 
 
 Hearing the thoughts hidden deep in your 
 
 mind. 
 Rapturous, written in musical phrase. 
 Transports the senses until they may find 
 Heaven revealed in melodious lays. 
 
 FORTUNATE 
 
 CHE put the rose upon her breast: 
 ^ And as it moved in sweet unrest, 
 I thought the flower fortunate, 
 Despite the fact that envious fate 
 Would wilt the leaves, the colour fade ; 
 That soon the vibrant passion shade 
 Would lose its lustre and depart: 
 At least, it slept upon her heart, 
 By living apples twain caressed 
 And knew one hour supremely blessed. 
 
 [88] 
 
FLOWER FANCIES 
 
A WILD ROSE 
 
 ■jHAR from the beaten paths and tracks, 
 -'- Out in the jungle, all alone, 
 Singing its song in colour tone. 
 Breathing a fragrance nothing lacks. 
 Modestly flourished a sweet wild rose. 
 
 Winnowed, perhaps, from some hidden 
 
 bower. 
 Why it should seek such a faraway spot. 
 The wind, its carrier, tells me not: 
 Why it would waste its short-lived hour. 
 Only the soul of the flower knows. 
 
 CARNATIONS 
 
 pARNATIONS may my thought reveal, 
 ^ If colours give a real tone. 
 Unless their fragrance shall conceal 
 The music which is theirs alone. 
 
 Perhaps, your latent art can feel 
 From them an added force to grow: 
 At least, their beauty must appeal 
 
 To those who understand and know, 
 
 • 
 
 [91] 
 
ROSE-BLOOM 
 
 TTIDDEN in the earth, a seed 
 ■'-'*' Patiently in silence grows, 
 Satisfied because it knows 
 God will tend its every need: 
 Casting off the shroud of night. 
 To the world its foliage shows 
 Why its heart was glad — the light 
 Lingered, loved, and left a rose. 
 
 But its mission, who may tell? 
 Will it blossom at its best 
 When the sun has sought the West? 
 Or will one who loves it well 
 Wrest it from its bed of clay. 
 Clasp it to her heaving breast. 
 Where, to dwell for just one day, 
 Is enough, by love caressed. 
 
 [92] 
 
VIOLETS 
 
 A ROSE may blush, 
 "^ But what may violets do 
 When, nestled close to you, 
 They hear entrancing music, new, 
 Except to shew a deeper hue. 
 And breathe their fragrance sweet, 
 Until your senses feel and greet 
 Their song and hush! 
 
 ENTHRALLING 
 
 T FOUND a rose-bud on the floor, 
 -■" So young, so soft, so sweet, so pink; 
 And since, I wonder more and more 
 If once its owner stopped to think 
 What danger lurked when to its bloom. 
 An added fragrance from its fair 
 But careless wearer gave perfume 
 Enthralling those who breathed the air. 
 Perhaps, it never has been missed: 
 And yet, it were a rich bequest 
 For him who loved the maid that kissed 
 And clasped it closely to her breast. 
 
 [93] 
 
PRETTY PANSY 
 
 pRETTY pansy, delicate, 
 -^ Let me ask you, ere too late, 
 How your colours mix and blend, 
 Whence the fragrance that you lend 
 Even to the ruthless hand 
 Plucking you from out the sand: 
 How such tender thoughts you stir, 
 Though a silent listener. 
 Were you, dainty, graceful thing. 
 Moulted from a Love-God's wing? 
 Can you heal a wounded heart. 
 Or is this beyond your art? 
 Tell your secrets just to me: 
 I shall guard them jealously! 
 
 THE POPPY 
 
 rpROM battle fields the poppy springs 
 -■- Suffused with memories it brings ; 
 And were not speech to flowers denied, 
 The tale of those who fought and died 
 Could reach the mother heart possessed 
 By grief and give it peace and rest: 
 But since we know the richer hue 
 To blood of heroes must be due, 
 In reverence we speak the name: 
 Imperishable now its fame. 
 
 [94] 
 
SPRING SONGS 
 
A-WHISPERING 
 
 T FEEL a change in everything, 
 
 -*• And all in the space of a day: 
 
 Some birds to the North are taking wing, 
 
 While those in the South already sing 
 
 In their own unequalled way. 
 
 A bud appears on a leafless tree, 
 
 The grass is no longer grey. 
 
 Upon a naked bush you see 
 
 Where nature kissed it secretly 
 
 To clothe it in colours gay. 
 
 Linger, listen! Can't you hear 
 
 Spring a- whispering in your ear? 
 
 EXPECTANCY 
 
 PHE buds are here: 
 
 *■ The birds are still on the wing, 
 But not so far away, 
 And almost any day, 
 
 feel they must come and bring 
 To my eager ear. 
 The new notes learned 
 On their Southern flight: 
 At break of dawn, the light 
 May show them returned. 
 And the air shall ring 
 With the themes they sing 
 To herald the Spring. 
 
 [97] 
 
A BREATH OF SPRING 
 
 A BALMY breeze no eye may see 
 ■^-^ Is wafted through the topmost boughs 
 And even to the root endows 
 With sap and green the silent tree. 
 
 Its leaves with melody abound, 
 The birds its branches fill with song: 
 Below, a weird mysterious throng — 
 Elusive shadows — play around. 
 
 Throbbing with ecstasy, everything 
 Wakes from its lethargy, eager for strife, 
 Feeling a yearning for love and life. 
 Thrilled by the quickening breath of Spring. 
 
 THE SOFT SOUTH WIND 
 
 wnNTER still grips the earth and trees: 
 
 " Timorous birds make a hurried flight, 
 But twitter and trill with suppressed delight 
 As they flit on a balmier breeze: 
 Sooner than any of human kind 
 They feel and know that mystery 
 Repeating itself in history 
 For aeons passed — that the soft South wind 
 
 Awakens the earth 
 
 And hastens the birth 
 
 Of the buds and plants: 
 
 And each throat pants 
 
 With desire to sing. 
 
 Because it is Spring. 
 
 [98] 
 
THE SECRET 
 
 nnHE snow and silence hear 
 ■*■ When Spring with whirring wing 
 Sets nature all a-stir 
 
 And wakes the birds that sing 
 Enchanting rondelays: 
 Sometimes they fail to bring 
 
 Through weary nights and days 
 The message that your heart 
 Has hungered for always ; 
 
 And, yet, when they depart, 
 This truth we have and hold, 
 That with exquisite art 
 The secret has been told. 
 
 A ROBIN 
 
 npHE stillness of an April morn 
 •*- Was broken by the stirring note 
 That from a happy, throbbing throat 
 Was welcoming the rosy dawn. 
 
 Aroused, I heard this message clear 
 The robin on a leafless tree 
 Was carolling repeatedly: 
 Awake! Rejoice! The Spring is here! 
 
 [99] 
 
THE BLUE-BIRD 
 
 pLINGING, 
 
 ^ Swinging, 
 Joyously trusting the wind 
 With something its own heart knows, 
 A blue-bird, flaunting the snows, 
 Merrily trills: Go find 
 Where the violet grows 
 And search for a rose: 
 Already the Spring 
 Gives to everything 
 A voice that must sing. 
 
 Ringing, 
 
 Winging. 
 
 [100] 
 
SONG CYCLES 
 
IMMANUEL 
 
 "TONS pass, but every Hebrew maid 
 ^*-^ Hopeful waits and listens yearning: 
 Palpitating hearts, and burning 
 Souls impatient, unafraid, 
 
 Watchful wonder, 
 
 Prayerful ponder 
 Who shall be the mother blessed. 
 By whose hand and at whose breast 
 God has planned to have the child 
 Brought to full maturity. 
 Pure and holy, undefiled 
 With assured security. 
 
 By the angel Gabriel, 
 
 Tidings of Immanuel, 
 
 Secrets of Elizabeth 
 
 Reach the city Nazareth, 
 
 In the heart of Gallilee: 
 
 From his lips the Virgin heard: 
 
 "Fear not, Mary,-' and this word: 
 
 "Favoured; all eternity 
 
 Bless and praise the son to be — 
 
 JESUS, Son of God, and thee!'' 
 
 Anxiously going. 
 Wondering, knowing 
 Ecstasy fine: 
 Watchfully caring. 
 Consciously bearing' 
 Concept divine: 
 "Holy His name ! 
 Merciful Saviour, 
 Always the same!" 
 
 [103 J 
 
Once in each revolving year, 
 Comes the season sweet to those 
 Who have hearts attuned to hear 
 Helpless infants when they cry: 
 Hushed the cradle — still the sky 
 Holds the stars the wise men chose 
 As their guide to Bethlehem, 
 Where, as every one now knows, 
 In a manger, marked for them. 
 Lay a child, a prince, a King! 
 Prophesied for years to bring 
 Peace, good-will, and happiness 
 To a world in great distress: 
 One whose life and power to lift. 
 Burdens painfully endured 
 By the lepers, never cured. 
 Was the special, blessed gift 
 Granted only at his birth 
 To the Son of God on earth. 
 
 A thousand times ten thousand years, 
 Cannot efface the wonder wrought 
 By power sublime: time but endears 
 The birth so long by sages sought, 
 The life so full of bitter tears. 
 The death by which eternal life 
 Was made an heritage secure. 
 And all this hard and cruel strife 
 Could end in peace for evermore. 
 
 In the Heavenly choir 
 You may hear this refrain: 
 *'He is coming again. 
 In a pillar of fire. 
 With affection, not ire: 
 
 [104] 
 
From the right hand of God 
 He hath taken the Book, 
 And shall reap from the sod — 
 Yea, from each little nook — 
 The rich harvest, so rife; 
 And a stream, crystal clear, 
 Pure, with water of life. 
 Takes away every tear." 
 
 LOVE DIVINE 
 
 A FAIRY Sprite, 
 ■^^ A child of three, 
 Happy and free. 
 In dappled light. 
 Under a tree. 
 Dancing and swinging, 
 Laughing and singing, 
 Enraptures me! 
 
 A maid, I ween. 
 
 At least sixteen, 
 
 Feeling the fire 
 
 Of golden youth. 
 
 Full of desire 
 
 To know the truth: 
 
 The earth below 
 
 And the sky above her,' 
 
 The streams as they flow 
 
 In their winding way. 
 
 The stars and the moon 
 
 To my heart plainly say : 
 
 [105] 
 
She has come; the boon 
 
 Of this life you may know — 
 
 Tell her that you love her! 
 
 Oh! for the language in which the heart 
 
 speaks ! 
 How can the voice surcharged with love, 
 Eager to shout from the topmost peaks 
 Paeans of joy to the stars above, 
 Tell in soft whispers the story of old. 
 Place on her finger the circlet of gold 
 Binding for life, yet making so free 
 Souls that are mated eternally? 
 
 Let silence speak : no words can tell 
 The feelings in my heart so deep: 
 Unless my sighs can make her weep, 
 Unless my eyes tear-stained dispel 
 Distrust, or pity at my grief 
 Can faith, affection, love compel, 
 As well as infinite belief. 
 My soul its tender thoughts must keep 
 To treasure in the endless sleep! 
 
 She is mine ! 
 
 Yes! for twenty years 
 
 We have shared every sorrow. 
 
 And known that to-morrow 
 
 For us had no fears. 
 
 Hearts clean and pure 
 
 Bound by faith evermore. 
 
 Live to learn and learn to live. 
 
 Know the best that God can give — 
 
 Love divine. 
 
 [106] 
 
WORLD WAR WEAVINGS 
 
THE CONFLICT 
 
 TVTAR, a madness, hews its path 
 
 " Through peace and plenty, though 
 The Christ has come and taught and gone 
 Almost two thousand years! 
 The useless, bitter tears 
 Of widowed, pregnant women, worn, 
 (Ten million aching hearts forlorn) 
 Can never drown the woe 
 That follows in the wake: the wrath 
 Of injured nations, when assuaged. 
 Must leave a trail of waste and death. 
 With refuse, corpses, offal foul 
 Polluting many a water-way — 
 And none to garner grain by day. 
 While any blinking, barking owl 
 At night may hoot with tuneless breath 
 Where people's rights have been outraged. 
 And shall we never know the peace 
 That passeth understanding here? 
 Our culture, boasted must appear 
 A savage jest: the only lease 
 Perpetual is based on might — 
 Unless the brotherhood of man 
 Shall shed a kindlier, holy light 
 To change the present human plan. 
 
 [109] 
 
AN APPEAL 
 
 W;rARRIORS, brothers, from hatred 
 ™ awake ! 
 
 Now, in a frenzy misguided, you take 
 Lives that are precious, and give up your 
 
 own: 
 Vengeance belongs to the Father alone. 
 
 What is the profit? Where is the gain? 
 Millions are wounded or crippled, or slain: 
 None seek your country, but all the world 
 
 grieves ; 
 Sorrow comes quickly, how slowly it leaves ! 
 
 Civilization and culture demand 
 
 Peace for the arts and for each native land: 
 
 Silence the cannons! The swords — let them 
 
 rust! 
 Brotherhood, love are the weapons to trust. 
 
 [110] 
 
THE HARVEST 
 
 TNHUMAN, ruthless rulers, late 
 
 -*- So learned, now so full of hate 
 
 That neither law nor right appeal; 
 
 Unmindful of the common weal 
 
 And human sufferings : to all 
 
 Who fail with you to stand or fall. 
 
 Or happening on your wretched path 
 
 Of desolation, dare your wrath, 
 
 A mere machine of Hell that kills — 
 
 The time must shortly come that fills 
 
 The cup to overflowing! Then, 
 
 Discredited, despised, all men 
 
 With blasphemy shall join your name: 
 
 Your people branded by your shame 
 
 For years to come, must surely learn 
 
 In time, your iron hand to spurn: 
 
 That for a dynasty their sons — 
 
 The decent, honest, worthy Huns — 
 
 In vain have shed their blood ; and not 
 
 Their deaths can cleanse the awful blot. 
 
 Nor purge the nation, once so wise 
 
 On which the world with grateful eyes 
 
 Admiring gazed. Your work is done: 
 
 Your word is broken: where is one 
 
 Who trusts your promises? The day 
 
 Is near for democratic sway: 
 
 Upon your heads, your very own 
 
 Shall heap the harvest you have sown 
 
 And wrest from shame their troubled race 
 
 To rise and hold an honored place! 
 
 [Ill: 
 
OUR FLAG 
 
 CTRIPES, alternate red and white, 
 ^ Stars upon a field of blue, 
 Emblem glorious — the sight 
 Thrills the very heart of you! 
 
 Everywhere it floats or flies. 
 All the world shall surely know 
 Human life and mortal ties 
 Safe and sacred thrive and grow. 
 
 Peoples garnered by the winds 
 Sweeping over every sea. 
 Learn the liberty that binds. 
 Love the flag that made them free! 
 
 WOOD AND IRON 
 
 A CHANT of love — a song of hate — 
 •^^ For each, a cross the fitting gift 
 And token, rightly understood: 
 Our Saviour on a cross of wood 
 Was nailed on high, to expiate 
 The sins of others and to lift 
 From hapless man the curse of Cain: 
 An iron cross too light a weight. 
 But suited to the loveless breast 
 That knows not peace, that cannot rest. 
 Embittered by a song of hate: 
 Impaled, the cross shall there remain! 
 
 [112] 
 
UNAFRAID 
 
 A BLAZE with light, 
 ■^^ And holding to her breast 
 
 A precious weight, 
 The river, restive from the tide. 
 Upbears a nation's armored pride — 
 A fleet, serene at rest, 
 
 Insatiate 
 At bay, and belching shot and shell 
 As if the very powers of Hell 
 
 Were loosed. Humanity 
 May count upon its ready aid : 
 Its voice explosive, unafraid. 
 
 Upon the land and sea, 
 
 Demands the right. 
 
 [113] 
 
THE TOCSIN 
 
 T^HE tocsin sounds, and every breeze 
 -■- That sweeps the earth or stirs the seas 
 Is pregnant with its melodies: 
 America for liberty 
 And suffering humanity 
 Unsheathes the sword: with all her might, 
 Unflinchingly, she joins the fight 
 To curb and crush autocracy 
 And prove her own democracy: 
 Her blood and treasure she will give 
 That others too may work and live 
 Untrammeled: nothing less could make 
 Her follow in the gruesome wake 
 That carnage leaves: and nothing more 
 She seeks, except to pry the door 
 Ajar that leads to law and right. 
 Forever keeping day and night 
 An open path and shining light! 
 
 April 6th, 1917. 
 
 [114] 
 
CHATEAU-THIERRY 
 
 T TPON the sacred soil of France 
 
 ^ Where naught had stayed the Hun 
 
 advance 
 For many days and nights, the tread 
 Of troops untried, untiring, led 
 By forces spiritual, sublime. 
 Was heard afar, in measured time. 
 A single aim impelled each breast 
 That journeyed from the far-off West — 
 To stem a plague — the robber band 
 That pillaged, raped and raised its hand 
 Against the laws of God and men; 
 That murdered women, maidens, when 
 Its lust was satisfied; that knew 
 No law but force ; that even slew 
 The helpless, nursing babes — the Hun, 
 A beast unspeakable! Let none 
 Forget his many deeds of shame! 
 Unmindful of the holy flame 
 That blued the blade of liberty, 
 He boasted that democracy 
 Would never risk its freedom gained 
 In years long passed — so long maintained 
 Without a struggle; that its quest 
 Was ever gain — unscarred its breast 
 By Fate or need, it could not fight. 
 Untutored and afraid. Their might 
 Was heralded to every clime, 
 While right, a stranger, bode its time. 
 At Chateau-Thierry soon they learned 
 The freebom men of peace they spurned; 
 
 [1151 
 
And as their lines would melt away, 
 
 And every effort failed to stay 
 
 The irresistible onslaught 
 
 Of decent, fearless foes, they sought 
 
 A refuge by a swift retreat — 
 
 But swifter still the freemen's feet 
 
 Pursued, until aloud they cried 
 
 To get an armistice: they died 
 
 In masses on each other piled: 
 
 The woods and streams were all defiled 
 
 By corpses foul: so fast they fled 
 
 They would not pause to shroud their dead! 
 
 America, at least, in part. 
 
 Had paid her debt to France : her heart 
 
 And blood and brain, the world must see 
 
 Are at the call of Liberty. 
 
 [116] 
 
GLADSOME GREETINGS 
 
A WHIM 
 
 TT may be just a whim of mine, 
 
 ■■- But when I greet the New Year day, 
 
 Before me stands a living Hne 
 
 Of those who on this mundane way 
 
 Make life so sweet: the spirits, too, 
 
 Of friends who, silent, tread the road 
 
 That all must learn, in this review. 
 
 Appear from that unknown abode, 
 
 To testify that love remains 
 
 Imperishable. You are one 
 
 Whose image clear and dear obtains 
 
 In the array of those upon 
 
 The earth; and this the reason why 
 
 I send my word of love ahead. 
 
 To tell you so before we lie 
 
 Inanimate, upon our bed. 
 
 FANCY KIND 
 
 A CHRISTMAS thought 
 ■^^ Is in my mind: 
 It was not sought. 
 But sent, or brought 
 By fancy kind: 
 A Friendship true 
 For yours, and you. 
 This blessed day. 
 Henceforth, alway! 
 
 [119] 
 
AWAKE! ARISE! 
 
 A WAKE, arise! 
 •^^ The swiftly racing earth 
 Again revolving, brings 
 The day beloved — the birth 
 Of Christ — for which there rings 
 From many an old church tower 
 The deep- toned bells: 
 Some distant dells 
 With cannons, at this hour, 
 Resound; but over all. 
 The silent spirit call — 
 The voice of childhood — louder still 
 On land and sea, in air shall fill 
 Each aching heart with carolling 
 How death itself has lost its sting 
 Through life eternal: then, 
 The human ties too strong. 
 May dim or hush the song: 
 The respite short, again. 
 To arms, he cries! 
 
 [120] 
 
A LOVE WORD 
 
 THHE time is here: 
 ■*- Another year 
 Has brought the happy day 
 For children all, and you 
 And me — let none gainsay 
 That we are children too ! 
 Away with care: 
 Rejoice and share 
 The smile contagious: lend 
 A helping hand — some heart 
 Is bowed — a love-word send 
 To lift the load in part : 
 For hope and cheer, 
 The time is here! 
 
 OLD AND NEW 
 
 npHE old year dies, the new year brings 
 ■*• Its multitude of unborn things 
 That may or may not make for peace: 
 But why permit the faithful heart 
 To be disturbed by what may be? 
 From what has been, we have release: 
 Likewise, the days that shall depart 
 Must solve the troubles none foresee: 
 A new year, on the tireless wings 
 Of Time, a cheering message brings! 
 
 [121] 
 
A FEAR 
 
 TTPON me sometimes steals a fear 
 ^ That when I send a word of cheer, 
 At intervals of just one year, 
 You may this crucial fact forget. 
 That any day I have not met 
 A friend, is lost: and yet. 
 You ask me; How can this be true? 
 Your feelings ought to answer you — 
 If not, no word of mine will do. 
 Because the Christmas season lends 
 Its charms to little ones, and blends 
 The loving thoughts of real friends. 
 
 THE DAY 
 
 A NOTE of discord and unrest 
 ^^ May mar our cheer; 
 But, every year. 
 There is a day supremely blest 
 When hearts attuned in rhythm pulsate: 
 Rejoice and sing 
 With carolling — 
 
 That day of days propitious Fate 
 Proclaims! Let Peace 
 Abide and sorrow cease! 
 
 [122] 
 
RING THE BELLS! 
 
 ■piNG the bells! 
 ■■■*• The guns are hushed, 
 The crowns are crushed. 
 The world no longer weeps: 
 Upon the earth and sea — 
 In air — the misery 
 Of strife and anger sleeps: 
 Ring the bells! 
 
 Ring the bells! 
 The cradle timie 
 In every clime 
 Is here: the girls and boys 
 Have won the fight 
 For peace and right — 
 Who dares curtail their joys? 
 
 Ring the bells! 
 
 [123] 
 
GOLDEN GRAIN 
 
 T^HIS greeting speeds 
 -■- To many friends 
 Of many creeds: 
 The season tends 
 A tone esthetic to the joys 
 That thrill the hearts of girls and boyi 
 When grown-ups too, may feel again 
 The time to winnow golden grain — 
 The best in life: 
 Away with care — 
 The day is rife 
 With blessings rare ! 
 
 YOUR BIT 
 
 wnTHIN your heart you almost know 
 ^ My Christmas fancies, how they go: 
 This year compels a different strain 
 To wing my message once again: 
 Your Country reaches out to aid 
 The human race: Be not afraid 
 To do your bit, however small — 
 Our Country needs the help of all! 
 
 [124] 
 
GERMAN GLEANINGS 
 
BRIEF ANSWER 
 
 CWEETHEART, what dost thou, the live- 
 
 ^ long day? 
 
 Thousands of things. 
 
 When I am far, what feelest thou, say? 
 
 Thousands of things. 
 
 Make a confession — what dreams in the 
 
 night? 
 Thousands of them. 
 When thou hast wakened, what says the 
 
 daylight? 
 Thousands of things. 
 Harborest secretly wishes, tell? 
 Thousands of them. 
 Hast thou among them a nook where I 
 
 dwell? 
 Thousands of them. 
 
 AZURE EYES 
 
 XT^OUR eyes of blue, so still, but free, 
 
 I searched — their depths I found: 
 You ask me what it is I see : 
 I'm healed of every wound. 
 
 That pair of eyes have left a sear 
 Whose afterpains still rule; 
 But like the sea, those eyes are clear. 
 And like the sea, so cool! 
 
 [127] 
 
DOST RECALL? 
 
 UNDER the linden trees blowing, 
 Dost recall? 
 No end to our happiness knowing, 
 
 Nor finding, 
 First thou kissed me, 
 Then I kissed thee. 
 Perhaps, honey child, it was sinful. 
 But sweet, very sweet, was it not? 
 
 Your father would shout to the bower- 
 Dost recall? 
 
 We kept just as still as a flower — 
 He could call: 
 
 PROPHET AND POET 
 
 pROPHET, pray quickly me tell 
 
 -■- Why flowers and children together 
 
 dwell : 
 Pensive, the prophet stroked his beard. 
 Go to the poet, perhaps, he has heard: 
 Answer me poet, and hastily say 
 Why flowers and children together stay: 
 And my poet thought not long: 
 Finding a rhyme with pith and song. 
 This is the charm of blooms and child. 
 That neither can know of their grace unde- 
 
 filed. 
 0, thank you, thank you, poet mine, 
 Your words so sweet my heart entwine. 
 
 [128] 
 
AFTER HEINE 
 
 lyrlGHT rested on my eye lids, 
 •^^ My mouth was sealed by lead, 
 My brain and heart were frigid. 
 The ground my grave, my bed. 
 
 How long the time, I know not. 
 That sleep held me a slave: 
 At last, I wakened, hearing 
 A knocking on my grave. 
 
 When wilt thou rise, my Heinrich? 
 It is the judgment morn; 
 The dead are all arisen. 
 Eternal joy is born. 
 
 I cannot rise, my loved one. 
 The light no more I see: 
 Mine eyes from ceaseless weeping 
 Are blind entirely. 
 
 For thee, I'll kiss, dear Heinrich, 
 The night from out thine eyes, 
 And thou shalt see the angels. 
 And splendor of the skies. 
 
 I cannot rise, my darling. 
 Still bleeds my heart so free. 
 Where, by a word too bitter. 
 It once was pierced by thee. 
 
 I'll rest my hand, my Heinrich, 
 But lightly on thy heart, 
 And stop the flow forever. 
 And heal the wounded part. 
 
 [129] 
 
I cannot rise, my dearest, 
 My head wounds bleed — just see 
 The hole my bullet furrowed. 
 When thou wast torn from me. 
 
 With my own curls, dear Heinrich, 
 I'll fill thy head's deep wound, 
 And staunch the flowing blood-stream 
 Until relief be found. 
 
 So soft she plead, so loving 
 I could no more refrain. 
 And strove to lift my body, 
 To join my love again. 
 
 Then gaped my wounds wide open; 
 The spurting vessels take 
 From head and heart the blood-stream- 
 And lo! I am awake! 
 
 FOLKSONG 
 
 W/'HEN I walk in the garden early, 
 ^ Wearing my bonnet green, 
 I am first thinking merely. 
 What now my love may glean. 
 
 In heaven dwells no star 
 That I my friend would envy: 
 My heart I would not bar. 
 If I could tear it from me. 
 
 [130] 
 
THE WITCHSONG 
 (Ernst von Wildenbruch) 
 
 AT Herzfeld abbey, the prior told 
 •^^ How brother Medardus, grown weak 
 
 and old, 
 Could scarcely, he thought, outlive the day: 
 "Haste, brother confessor," said he, "away 
 And bid him confess his sins to thee. 
 Although I know that few they be: 
 The cloister fifty years to-day 
 He serves, and in its shades grew gray: 
 By fasts and penitences he, 
 Prepared, awaits eternity: 
 Of all, he is the holiest 
 And will th' Almighty please the best." 
 The priest then knocked at Medardus' 
 
 door — 
 A silence answered, nothing more: 
 The confessor crossed the threshold well 
 And strode within Medardus' cell: 
 And hour on hour the hours fared; 
 Amazed, the monks in wonder stared: 
 "Medardus, blameless in words and acts — 
 What can he reveal about sinful facts?" 
 
 The vesper bells, with muffled call 
 
 To chapel summoned brothers all : 
 
 They bowed their heads, they knelt around, 
 
 For brother Medardus low prayers 
 
 resound — 
 But list! there comes from far away 
 A pitiful voice in a mournful lay. 
 
 [131] 
 
Up rose the prior from the ground: 
 The monks gave ear with care profound. 
 *ln Medardus' cell the song is ringing — 
 It is Medardus who is singing!'' 
 They heard and asked: What can that be? 
 Those are not prayers and litany: 
 That sounds like sinful, worldly prate: 
 And see! and see! within the gate 
 The confessor hastes, by terror pressed! 
 "The Devil is the cloister guest! 
 Medardus to the Tempter fell — 
 Medardus feels the clutch of Hell!" 
 The prior lit the holy wand 
 And held the candle in his hand: 
 The monks, with tapers lit, beside 
 The prior walked, with measured stride: 
 The walls and halls re-echoing rang 
 The plaintive chant the brothers sang: 
 "From sinful lust, from Satan's might. 
 By grace protect us, God of Light." 
 
 The cell was open — white, haggard, thin, 
 
 Medardus lay on a poor cot within. 
 
 His folded hands in fervent prayer. 
 
 His eyes with livid fire aglare: 
 
 From stammering, quivering lips, a song 
 
 Unending, wild, was forced along: 
 
 A song so strange, a song forlorn. 
 
 Of longing love, of blasphemous scorn — 
 
 As if from far-off lands the air 
 
 Brought perfumes captivating, rare: 
 
 It was a song unlike a note 
 
 That ever came from human throat — 
 
 [132] 
 
A waii of woe — then frenzied zest, 
 
 With terror, rapture filled each breast. 
 
 The monks their holy candles waved: 
 
 *'Fly, Satan, let his soul be saved!" 
 
 Their crosses swayed, their censers swung — 
 
 Medardus all the wilder sung; 
 
 And deep each heart atremble rang 
 
 The sinful song Medardus sang. 
 
 On the monks there stole like a longing 
 
 dread 
 A deep, gnawing grief for their lives misled: 
 They thought of the things they now had 
 
 not. 
 Of the days of their youth long since forgot ; 
 And slower, still slower the sound of the 
 
 choir — 
 Then silence — they listened, enthralled by 
 
 his fire. 
 
 The prior, pious, zealous, and gray, 
 With horror filled, stood looking his way: 
 To brother Medardus he called in a tone 
 In which righteous wrath was plainly 
 
 shown : 
 ''Wouldst thou the brothers lead astray? 
 Begone, damned soul, to Hell away!" 
 And see! from his cot, Medardus arise! 
 A luminous glint his face glorifies. 
 His vacant eyes at distance stare, 
 As if by a vision enraptured there: 
 Then, suddenly, tears down his cheeks 
 
 streaming ran: 
 To the brothers Medardus to speak began: 
 
 \\.U\ 
 
**I once was a priest, was pious like you, 
 
 Devoutly I read my breviary too. 
 
 With a fear and a fervor that rose to a 
 
 flood, 
 For young were my limbs, and hot was my 
 
 blood : 
 The flaxen locks hung down from my head 
 As if streams of gold were overspread; 
 And when first they did my tonsuring. 
 It was like they mowed the meadows in 
 
 Spring. 
 That was the time when our native land 
 Was held in the grip of Satan's hand : 
 To lives of shame the women were turned. 
 And witches were bound at the stake and 
 
 burned. 
 That time, there came, as I sat there, 
 In the dead of night, my lamp aglare, 
 A rap on my door, a knock, a shout — 
 *We need you, father, make haste, come 
 
 out!' 
 The night was dark, and hollow the squall 
 As I was led to a bastion wall 
 Deep under the earth, down a slippery 
 
 flight. 
 Till it seemed that Hell must heave in sight. 
 A torch within my hand was placed; 
 In a wall of stone, a hole I faced: 
 'A witch to-morrow, in fire aglow, 
 Atones for her sins: to her now go: 
 A blessed death for her prepare, 
 And save her sinful soul by prayer!' 
 The bowels of the earth I sought, 
 
 [134] 
 
And in my throat my breath was caught: 
 
 From somewhere came a grating sound 
 
 Of clanking chains, and grief profound; 
 
 And in the darkest corner lay, 
 
 As in its lair a beast of prey, 
 
 A woman cowering and bent, 
 
 Her head against the damp wall leant: 
 
 The torch I fastened to a rung 
 
 That from the ceiling, hanging, swung: 
 
 *Thy face upon me turn,' I said: 
 
 *Come, sister, here, be not afraid/ 
 
 I saw how her ear my greetings drank — 
 
 How hand after hand from her face she 
 
 sank : 
 Her head she turned, then looked to see, 
 And on her knees she crawled to me : 
 Her naked arms my knees embrace. 
 Her eyes are rooted on my face: 
 I looked down, the torch, with dancing light, 
 Illumined her beautiful face outright: 
 I felt my heart melt, warmed by hers — 
 My eyes were filled with scalding tears; 
 My lips were mute, as pity crept. 
 And silent, sobbing, we both wept; 
 And when my tears she saw, at last, 
 With trembling arms, she held me fast; 
 A sob deep of her bosom sprang, 
 From stammering lips a whisper rang: 
 Thou canst still weep? Thou weepest for 
 
 me? 
 As I love the good Saviour, I love also thee/ 
 I was seized by fright at her words of dis- 
 grace : 
 
 [135] 
 
'Recall the hour: remember the place 
 Thy body to-morrow in flames shall bum: 
 Repent, confess, to Heaven turn!' 
 With startled mien she said to me: 
 * Why must I repent ? From guilt I am free. 
 My parents are dead: alone in a dell. 
 With grandmother, I was wont to dwell: 
 My grandmother knew many herbs that 
 
 cure. 
 And many a potion prepared for the poor: 
 But grandmother, bound at the stake, was 
 
 burned 
 As a devil's witch — so I have learned. 
 An ancient song my grandmother sang, 
 I learned from her lips, so sweetly it rang: 
 She told me it came from a far-away land 
 Whose people love-magic could understand: 
 I sang it, but knew not its meaning: then 
 I was seized by the hands of heartless men 
 And thrown into prison — this dungeon cell: 
 They said that it was the worm of Hell 
 That sang out of me to corrupt the race: 
 So to-morrow I burn at the stake in dis- 
 grace/ 
 
 Her tremulous lips to my ear closely press, 
 Her eye is imploring, in fright and distress; 
 On mine her heaving bosom lies — 
 'Oh, save me!' said she. 'Oh, save me!' 
 
 she cries: 
 'To live is so sweet, and death is so dire. 
 And dreadful the anguish to perish by firer 
 No creature have I offended or gi'ieved, 
 
 [136] 
 
No sin have I done, nor witchcraft con- 
 ceived : 
 The hearts of men are just Hke stone, 
 But thou art good, thou still canst moan: 
 The jailer sleeps, the door is free. 
 Come, let me fly, and fly with me! 
 We'll tread so softly that none may hear, 
 The torch we shall smother, no light to 
 
 fear; 
 The turret gate leads out to the field. 
 No one can see, to none must we yield: 
 When break of day the cocks have told. 
 We shall be far away, in the distant wold: 
 The forest is dark, the trees are dense, 
 I know a place that no one shall sense: 
 I know a region — the very spot 
 A treasure lies hidden and long forgot: 
 We shall search and find it: thou'lt take 
 
 it away. 
 Afar we shall fly, and there we will stay, 
 In a foreign land, just thou with me. 
 And ever and ever, just I with thee. 
 No wife to thy heart hast thou clasped 
 
 in caress. 
 Nor knowest how love of a woman may 
 
 bless : 
 Richer the love that thou shalt know 
 Than any man on earth, I trow: 
 The stars are fading, the hours race by, 
 It is time, it is time! Oh, come, let us fly!' 
 
 Her heated breath like the storm-wind blew. 
 Her white arms round my neck she threw; 
 
 [137J 
 
Her hair as dark as the wings of night, 
 Her limbs encircled, voluptuous sight! 
 With reeling head and with writhing heart, 
 Ecstatic, lustful passions start; 
 I bent lower down, her kisses I sought, 
 Then, trembling, I felt as if back again 
 
 brought : 
 Thou kissest a witch, thou blessest her 
 
 crime : 
 No share in God's favor hast thou for all 
 
 time.' 
 The word upon my lips was dead: 
 I flung her from my heart and fled, 
 By terror driven from her dwelling — 
 Her screams with despair and grief were 
 
 welling : 
 She fell to the earth, she lay on the stones. 
 And after me followed her sobs and her 
 
 groans : 
 But I fled on, out into the night, 
 On my knees in prayer, awake until light. 
 Till the night had passed, till the horror 
 
 was born — 
 And the horror came at the break of dawn. 
 
 The heaven blazed with morning flame. 
 The people swarming, hurrying came: 
 In a field far out, where logs were massed, 
 The stake stood dark, by gloom o'ercast — 
 And every eye was fixed on the pyre — 
 There stood she, awaiting her torture by 
 fire. 
 
 [138] 
 
Like fluttering birds lost out at sea, 
 
 So shifted her eyes round anxiously; 
 
 Then nearer, with crucifix I drew — 
 
 Her searching gaze held me in view — 
 
 And see! and see, how furtively 
 
 Her head she bows, slightly nodding to me, 
 
 A smile her lovely face upon. 
 
 Like the fading light of the setting sun! 
 
 The flaming brand the torchman swung. 
 Her languorous eyes on mine were hung; 
 The flames the branches dry wrapped round, 
 Her staring eyes held me spell-bound: 
 Like dust disturbed, the sparklets shivered, 
 Like falling leaves, her two lips quivered; 
 And shortly, asudden, I heard a ringing 
 From burning brush— she had started sing- 
 ing! 
 
 Like Spring showers rustling in the night, 
 So gripped me her song, with its sweet, 
 
 blessed might; 
 As if air exotic from alien blooms 
 Had borrowed and brought their rich per* 
 
 fumes : 
 As though, said a voice in my ear, thou 
 
 shalt never 
 Enjoy the delights thou hast lost forever. 
 The flames enveloped her naked feet, 
 She gave a last greeting — a nod discrete: 
 The black smoke rising around her swirled, 
 Her pitiful song with the smoke was 
 
 whirled : 
 
 [139] 
 
(Deep roared the flames to heaven spring- 
 ing, 
 Like tremulous bells, she kept up her sing- 
 ing) 
 My ears with both my hands defending, 
 That singing! that singing! When is it 
 
 ending?' 
 I turned with a shudder and fled from the 
 
 spot — 
 That heart-breaking voice would leave me 
 
 not: 
 Wherever I hastened, and whence sped 
 
 away. 
 That song, that song, was with me alway; 
 And whether asleep or awake in prayer, 
 All day, all night, and everywhere 
 Since then — it is fifty years to-day — 
 I hear it forever and ever stay!" 
 
 (Medardus looked wild and arose from his 
 cot.) 
 
 "I hear her again: perceive ye it not? 
 
 Up the walk, through the door, it draweth 
 near! 
 
 She treads on the threshold — is here! is 
 here ! 
 
 Thou woman pure — a witch so they claim, 
 
 Thou lovely form that they branded with 
 shame. 
 
 Ye luscious lips, ye eyes languid, tender. 
 
 Thou sweet, welling bloom of limbs sport- 
 ive, slender. 
 
 Thou rapturous bliss, once offered to me, 
 
 [140] 
 
Which, disdaining, I thrust into Eternity, 
 Thou offerest the blessing my crime cast 
 
 aside. 
 For me, heaven's door thou openest wide: 
 After fifty years of penance and pain, 
 I come and forever with thee shall remain!" 
 
 He raised up his arms — ^his limbs rigid 
 
 stay: 
 "Medardus is dead," the brothers low say: 
 They knelt in a circle: the gray dawn broke 
 Through the windows — the prior spoke: 
 'What human eyes cannot grasp nor see. 
 To One above shall manifest be: 
 It is he that hath said, 'Judgment is mine/ 
 Go brothers, pray: to judge is not thine!" 
 
 [141] 
 
L'ENVOI 
 
 A FIRE smouldering in my heart, 
 -^^ Has slowly burned for many years ; 
 It has a message to impart 
 Of life and death, of joy and tears: 
 And in the midst of many fears 
 Of critics with envenomed dart. 
 Has never burst into a flame, 
 But goes on smouldering just the same. 
 Awaiting, possibly, some art 
 To give its message to the world: 
 Or does it wait to find a name 
 Which, when emblazoned and unfurled 
 Will be so plain that all must see 
 And call the outburst Poesy! 
 
 [142] 
 
Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
 Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 Treatment Date: Sept. 2009 
 
 PreservationTechnologies 
 
 A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 
 
 111 Thomson Park Drive 
 Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
 (724)779-2111