UlSi EVDNINQ Revery In The CEMETERYilT i John ilRKOLBKBYES ^ i ^> €^CI.A303364 -5> I. An£'^enm^^^!^i^(^ry in The Cemeim atVoodWn ||Veacefully the denizens of this hamlet sleep; ItV No rueful noises now their slumber stir. The hush of Nature at the close of day is deep; The evening breeze plays lightly on yon fir. The azure softness of the summer's sky Heralds the night with all its minstrelsy. Westward the amber clouds sail slowly by, The heavens burst forth in starry brilliancy; The wood thrush's liquid call salutes the ear, From distant shade his answering mate replies, From fragrant field the cricket's note I hear. The tufted sod a grateful couch supplies. ,mfU5?^r2^ ^'fi^T- --^^i^^: ^(Mi '# !^^t ''X'iYi 2^ ^ ^ V^ ^5.;2osJ5j^a-Vy-25!::jr> y4nEvctim^^er7 in The Cemeier/aiWoodlaw '^T'hrough bending boughs the placid lake is seen, Vy And distant hills in somber state repose. Majestically the river rolls between, And here and there its limpid surface glows. At length reclining on a crested mound Beneath this creeper tassellated tree, Whose clustering verdure rustles with the sound Of softly moving v^nds I cannot see, I yield myself to Fancy's dreamy sway, To mellow measures tune the harp of thought. And, aimlessly, upon its strings I play The ancient tunes the pensive Muse hath taught. h'To^r^ ■?ap; &#- -*<3r ''l^.■i^ :^t^ ^ s^-,^,«i.-c:z v*.^ 7tl P yonder rugged slope ascending night, ^•^ Hiding it's tangled growth, creeps slowly on. Until last lingering rays of waning light A moment flash aloft and then are gone. The clustering hedges and the dew-wet lawns, The rustic pathways, winding here and there, The woodbine that it's fostering tree adorns. Each to the dusky picture lends it's share. Familiar forms and faces, far remote. Are wrought in yonder clouds that fleck the sky; Uncertain for a moment seem to float And then dissolve before the searching eye. fc"*ttU5 ^W: eT7 inThc CemciqjaiVoo A\ awn Hnd there are they who first sought liberty- First caught it's light upon the helmet crest; Their forms among the hosts I dimly see; They move with ghostly tread among the rest. In many a lost Acropolis, perchance, Long grown with lofty trees and tangled vines, Deep buried lies each heroes broken lance, And by it's shattered shaft his form reclines. These passing spectres of the far remote, Before me move in dumb succession slow, Uncertain, but a moment seem to float Before the mind, and then as quickly go. =-^..4,3r '■^z i-\ 1, f-. //> '^i C^^IC- ■y-N^r:^ o» u' may, not if Nature's voice I would obey, That summoned me from out the silent deep. It is but a recall to some new day That opens through the gateway of this sleep. Not e'en, if here beneath this grassy sod Were I to rest the rolling ages through, Could there come aught to me but common good One law to all, o'er all descends the dew. Here high and low repose in equal calm; No rights bestow, or longer, rights deny. The Summer's zephyr wafts to all it's balm; The Winter's blast o'er all it's snow heaps high, i'TTtU'iJ/' yluEvenini ivy in The Cemeiejjat Voodlawr ®'er wrought ambition finds a respite here. The oppressor yields his sceptre and his crown. The weak repose in peace unchilled by fear The priest lays down his surplice and his gown. The weary toiler finds a welcome rest. The hoary savant yields to the unknown, And thus forever ends his earth born quest — To him the mystic record has been shown. The riddle of the Universe unsolved, Unknowing came they from the primal source; Unknowing, also, unto dust resolved; And thus they ran their uneventful course. m^ AnEvetiin^Rc^ory iuThc CemcterraiVoodlawr ^^o be but star-stuff crumpled into this, VU Enclosed within the glacier moulded clay, Nor faith could save them from the great abyss. Nor priestly prayer prolong one life a day. Thou strifeless, silent village of the dead, I sometimes love along thy paths to stroll, And pause v^here stately oaks their branches spread, To read upon some shaft the lettered scroll. Ev'n there a pride of conquest still observe In pillared monuments of sculptured stone, The last expiring effort to preserve A name, if only that and that alone. fc'*«i-i AnEvenin^R5)Gr7 ift^Ttic Cemeiejjai Voodlawn^ -| [4et, on yon hillside, where unnumbered dead U/ In nameless narrow confines thickly lie, All might as well be lain, their names unread- No tomb the wreck of time can e'er defy. A shrine to Hope alone the shaft should rise, The soul's deep purpose, thus in truth expressed, Will write it's record as Time swiftly flies Along the spiral of his unending quest. When they, of future time and finer mold, Such humble efforts shall in grace excell, Our deeper purpose will alone unfold. Nor will our rude attempts their art repel. tlj AnEvetiin^}^^>Gr7 in The CemeieijaiVoot jrt^or there shall live in ages yet to be, •■I Remolded from an infinite design, A man superb beyond our gift to see, Our cruder ways to soften and refine. The quicker pulsing of whose vibrant brain Shall far sought mysteries of life unfold; Whose softer heart will wake a new refrain Of brotherhood beyond the ages old. Who then will know that he, of all earth's types. Is conscious master of creative force — Molder of Fate, of mind the fruitage ripe, To shape his destiny and guide it's course. AnEvenmd^gv)or7 iftTlic Cemetery at Voodlawn^ Hnd list 'to spirit unto spirit call From out the deep across the shoreless sea, 'Till on the soul no longer night shall fall, No longer death can gain a victory. That mortal then hath immortality — A form beyond the zones of changing form That will appear again and ever be — Existent, deathless, never more-re-born. Thus runs the slovs^ evolving life of man Along the steep ascent to final things, And forms a part of the unfolding plan That from the eternal source of order springs. [^ ^ jiYi AnEvenm^I^o^)eT7 in The GemeiejjatVooiM awn '^^he deepening night now warns my feet away, ^i^ To walk no more within these borders green; This birth, no more at ending of a day Shall I con o'er again the evening scene. And so farewell to musing and to dreams. The mind methinks hath found it's better part, For all that is and also all that seems, Must form the fabric of this weaver's art. Perchance e'en yet when aeons shall have gone, And I, re-clad, shall visit earth once more, I may return thy fate to muse upon, And here again thy ancient mounds explore. M^^^^^ ¥j^:- ?<^