PS 3543 .A56 S6 1899 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 00DDE7DaD24 ^°-^*. A°^ i°-n*.. ^ ^^ /^^\ \/ y^^, %,^^ "^^.^^ ^!iM^^. ^r.&^ ^^^^^- ^^^rS -lo^ '^0' r. *^ 6-' ^^ . -H •- -> » .*. >°-^*.. O M « . , ~ - .- ^ 'oK Ao^ Vx ' • • • jiy ^ ^: rAo^ •^^ Songs of Life and Love Washington Van Dusen }i Philadelphia Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company 1899 29699 Copyright, 1899, BY Washington Van Dusen. All rights reserved. TW0Ji0Pl£&-8ee£IIV£0. APR 7 -1839 ^^ DEDICATED TO CARL WEBER, ARTIST. BY HIS FRIEND AND FORMER PUPIL THE AUTHOR. I SMALL edition of poems entitled I ''Immortelles and Other Poems" was printed in 1890, and circulated mainly among my friends. These are included in the present booklet, to- gether with a number now published for the first time. The Author. Philadelphia, March 3, 1899. CONTENTS. PAGE REJOICE WITH ME 7 THE HUMAN FACE DIVINE 8 SPARE ME ONE IDOL 9 THE TEMPLE OF LOVE 9 THE HEIGHTS 11 HOPE WHILE BEAUTY LIVES 13 HEAVEN IS NEAR US 14 LITTLE ELAINE 16 OUTWARD BOUND 17 IN THE HARBOR 18 ONLY A DREAM 19 COME IN MY DREAMS AGAIN 19 PERFECT LOVE 21 LOVE IS FAR AAV AY 22 THE TOUCH OF SORROW 23 BY THE SAND DUNES 23 THE FLOWER OF CHILDHOOD 24 LULLABY 25 >llMMORTELLES 26 ^THE UNDERTOW 27 ^DRIFTING 28 vHER MISSION 30 * 5 6 CONTENTS. PAGE '' THE TWO SONGS 31 'a song of love 32 ^ SEA DREAMS 33 nIONCE a friend, a FRIEND FOREVER 34 -^ WINTER'S ROSES 36 ■'■ IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 37 THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS 38 j A LESSON FROM THE BROOK 39 MY IDEAL 40 •l LONGING 41 •* THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 42 ^ THE CUP OF LIFE 43 •^VOICES OF NATURE 44 ^TKE COMMON BOND 45 ''after THE STORM 46 NiESTRANGED 47 -"ALL'S WELL!" 49 vj NEGLECTED 49 REJOICE WITH ME. Rejoice with me by life's illimitable sea, That there are depths that ne'er can fathomed be! Soft music charms its dreamy, ideal shore ; Sweet visions come and go for evermore. Here could ^ve breathe with joy our lives away ; Each day a promise of a happier day, But Earth destroys our dreams and fancies fond. And leaves our Heaven evermore beyond. So, like a child, lured on by glorious skies. Our fair horizon leads us as it flies, To learn the vastness of this greater sea, Its unfathomed and unfathomable mystery ! O finite soul with infinite visions blessed. Thy life is grander than ever seer expressed ; E'er may thy tliought o'er this vast ocean soar. Nor weary pinions find a restful shore ! 7 8 THE HUMAN FACE DIVIXE. Rejoice with me, O man, that hope is thine ; That noble discontent is still divine ; That, spite of ills, of sorrow, want, and care, Love lives, and Love makes life forever fair I THE HUMAN FACE DIVIXE. How like an ancient temple overthrown, Its fires gone out, its columns all supine, Is that once fair, divinely tender face. Wherein the gods no longer own a shrine I Fair captive in a glorious ruin bound, How soon the world thy matchless beauty sears I How soon Desire turns nobler Thought away, Ajid Truth's pure fire grows colder with the THZ TEXIPLE OF LOVZ. ^ SPAPwE ME OXE IDOL. Break every image dear to my heart, Friendship forsake me, fortune depart; Spare me one idol ne'er to grow cold, Heaven will smile on me just as of old. Leave me one loving heart tender and pure; Leave me one sweetest dream aye to endure; Mar not ray vision with your cold eyes ; Leave me enwrapt with my roseate skies I Time, let thy dear enchantment still grow, Break not the spell that Love can but know; Whisper no fault where heaven doth seem. Let my heart rest in its beautiful dream. THE TEMPLE OF LOVE. I DEEA3IT I walked Love's sacred court. Fair Love without a peer, And humbly kneeling at her shrine, Besought her presence dear. 10 THE TEMPLE OF LOVE. The curtains parted gently And a sweet voice greeted mine, But her look was only earthly, And I longed for the divine ! I turned aside and prayed again That Love would bless me there ; Another came beside me soon In answer to my prayer; But she loved Wisdom more than me, And, though surpassing fair, Her cold gaze had no charm for me; I left her in despair ! O Love, send not thy maidens fair. But come thyself to still The craving heart that longs for thee. Which thou alone canst fill ! Love heard my yearning, passionate cry, And in her queenly way She came, like Truth from heaven, divine, And I — was only clay ! THE HEIGHTS. 11 THE HEIGHTS. While many linger in the lonely vale, Content with charms that greet each passer- by, A few adventurous youth march forth to scale The far-off peaks that raise their heads on high,— Those towering lieights that beckon eager eyes To grander outlooks and to boundless skies. Bright glows the sun upon those crests sublime, And, like a garden, smiles the vale below, As they press on in youth^s glad, fervid prime. With pnlse afire and faces all aglow; Whilst Beauty charms the hazy path in view, And Hope throws on the mist its rainbow hue, What though the pine-trees veil the skies in gloom, Dim grow the way, or barriers sternly bar? Ever and anon the distant mountains loom Supremely fair, and beckon from afar ! 12 THE HEIGHTS. From morn till eve their towering summits thrill ! From morn till eve they tower above them still ! Once on the charmed path, nor toil nor care Can turn their eager feet from heights sub- lime ; Their rapt eyes see the rugged road grow fair Before them, leading upward as they climb, And far beyond — a crown o'er crests that swell — The highest glows, lone and inaccessible ! Dim grows the vale, and in the waning light They leave the travelled past, so lingered o'er. To view from thrilling outlooks on the height The hazy, boundless prospect spread before; Where earth and heaven softly blend and close. And this finite breathes that infinite's repose. The sinking sun floods o'er the golden west, And flames upon the snow-capped mount they scale; HOPE WHILE BEAUTY LIVES. 13 The twilight deepens on the purpling crest, And darker grows the overshadowed vale; The w^eary halt, and gaze with yearning eyes, Where hope still points beyond the fading skies. Lead on, resplendent Vision ! Not in vain The one sweet dream whose beauty never dies, Like a mirage comes o'er life's burning plain, Raising heavenward the traveller's drooping eyes ; And luring towards that dim, ideal shore Whose margin beckons onward evermore. HOPE WHILE BEAUTY LIVES. I HAVE known full many a sorrow, I have felt full many a care, But still with hope look for the morrow, And find the world forever fair. The darkest night still has its morn ; Some star holds out to grim despair; A little patience, heart forlorn ; The sunrise comes and all is fair. 2 14 HEAVEN IS NEAR US. E'en though a friend has seared my heart, Love left a darkened world to view; Give me the faith to bear death's dart, And Hope lives on, and Beauty too. Some vaster plan than ours to know. Still draws us onward evermore; Urged by eternal hope we go Towards some unseen, ideal shore. Then fade sweet day, thy glories gone. Our stars in heaven will reappear ; Eternal Beauty leads us on And Heaven smiles while Beauty's here. HEAVEN IS NEAR US. Close on the border of your actual life, O dreamer, dwells your paradise of dreams ! There, vague and dim, it glows with beauty rife, — Your heaven is near, and yet so far it seems ! HEAVEN IS NEAR US. 15 When Buddha, Jesus, Shakespeare, blessed the earth, The crowd passed by, nor knew those spirits fine; No chronicler took record of their birth. No sculptor paused to carve those forms divine. Perchance some angel fair will visit thee, And thou, unconscious of the boon she brings. Wilt never know how sweet her song might be. Till, all too late, your vision takes its wings ! Perchance of fairer lands, skies more serene. We dream, dumb to the glory round us thrown ; The while our golden sun goes down unseen. In all the splendor time has ever known ! So long we've dwelt in old familiar ways ; So wrapt in glory since our life begun ; Our eyes grow dim, like stars whose feeble rays Are lost in the blaze of an ascending sun. 16 LITTLE ELAINE. LITTLE ELAINE. She came across our lonely life, And while we looked the clouds were gone ; A little frail and fading flower, She shed her fragrance and passed on ! Too young to feel a touch of guile, She gave her heart to one and all ; Like rain from heaven her welcome smile Blessed all alike, or great or small. She bloomed with more than earthly grace, A bloom that fades with riper years ; A light that shines in grander force. Once seen through unavailing tears. She lingered like the Autumn leaves Whose gold shines on through ominous days, And like the setting sun went down. To shine, a star beyond our gaze. OUTWARD BOUND. 17 OUTWARD BOUND. I STEP aboard at last, and turn The crowded pier to view ; The great ship throbs from stem to stern,- My heart throbs strangely too; For one fair form my sight enthralls On that receding pier, And one sweet voice like music falls, — The last "good-by'' I hear. And still I gaze with lingering eyes On shores that kindly gleam. And still the hurrying steamer plies Adown the sparkling stream. The clustered spires, the marts that Time And endless traffic raise, — The motley ships of every clime Fade slowly in the haze. IN THE HARBOR. And so I turn with pensive eyes To gaze before the prow; I leave the past its fading skies, — The future leads me now. Sail on, good ship ; thy course is set Behold the broader way, And leave the past its vain regret, In the fulness of to-day ! IN THE HARBOR. Gone is the tempest, hushed are the billows. Lulled to a whisper the hurricane's blast ; Fair looms the shore and calm grow the waters. Smiling on dangers the good ship has passed, As we glide into the harbor at last. Fair looms the shore, and fairer its waters Shine in the after-glow, fading too fast ! Love, roam no more o'er life's restless ocean ! We have come to the harbor at last, — To the beautiful harbor at last ! COME IN MY DREAMS AGAIN. 19 ONLY A DREAM. I DREAMT that I was loved by you, And all my life rose fair to view ; A charm on my glad spirit fell, My heart beat music to its spell. But when I woke to greet mine own, The vision fled ; I loved alone ; My heaven paled with day's bright glare, And left me but a world of care ! Only a dream, yet thou wert mine For one sweet hour, and life divine ! Only a dream, yet Heaven did seem To smile on me in that sweet dream. COME IN MY DREAMS AGAIN. Come in my dreams again. Love, as of yore ! Soft o'er my spirit dwell. Weave your enchanting spell Round me once more ! 20 COME IN MY DREAMS AGAIN. Come, oh, come back to me, Dear, as of old ! Come with those melting eyes. Glimpses of summer skies. Sunshine and gold ! Come in my dreams again. Angel of light ! Come in thy beauty blest, Haunting my blissful rest, Charming the night. Come, oh, come back to me. If but in dreams ! Sunned in thy glowing smile. Let me, entranced awhile, Live in its beams ! Come in my dreams again. Love, as of yore ! Come with that look divine. Lift this poor heart of mine To heaven once more. PERFECT LOVE. 21 PERFECT LOVE. Come to my heart, love ; shorn of woman's pride, Thou art its lord; the doors are open wide; Let in the light, whatever the chamber be ; No secret there but shall be known to thee. Take thou my soul, but let me also see Thy inner life, and all its mystery; The past that trailed its ermine in the mire, The living hope still fed with heavenly fire. Give all thy heart, that perfect love may be; Withhold from me, my own, no secret key, — Then may our lives like two glad waters run, Blend in one stream and be forever one. I am a woman, and my love to me Is all my treasure ; all I give to thee, — I put my soul in pain, oh, be thou true ! My yearning heart shall find its heaven in you ! 22 LOVE IS FAR AWAY. LOVE IS FAR AWAY. She sits alone by the summer sea, Alone amidst the passing throng, — The skies are blue, and merrily The waves sing their eternal song; The waves sing to the maiden fair, While soft winds play with her golden hair, For Love is far away ! The sunbeams kiss her golden head. For Love is far away, away ; "The sea is beautiful," she said, "And pours out music all the day; But ah, to me how sad the strain ! My heart is filled with desolate pain, For Love is far away !" But sweet the night that brings her rest, And sweet her dreams in the moon's pale rays. When Love looks down on her heaving breast And the heaven is near for which she prays ; The moonbeams play on her golden hair. But fade, like her dreams, with dawn and care, And Love is far away ! BY THE SAND DUNES. 23 THE TOUCH OF SORROW. The muse sang every song in vain, No spell hung on the listless air; The crowd paused not; the dull refrain Woke no responsive echo there. She dropped her tuneless harp and wept, — What cliarm could reach the heart's strange core ? Lo, Sorrow came; the chords she swept To thrill the world for evermore ! BY THE SAND DUNES. Here let me rest by the gold glinting shore. Where I first felt the spell of old Ocean's weird lay ; Here let me rest till the sunset is o'er, And dream, fondly dream of the days passed away ! 24 THE FLOWER OF CHILDHOOD. Once my spirits were bright as the billows that rolled With their foaming Avhite crests on the head- land near me ; And the future unrolled with its castles of gold, And Hope leaped its bounds like a storm- driven sea ! Here let me rest by the lowly sand hills \yhere my childhood was lulled by the ocean's wild dirge; Here let me dream till her voice again thrills, And its music is blent with the song of the THE FLOWER OF CHILDHOOD. To show me how beautiful life could be, God gave me a flower To bloom for an hour, With a beauty I never more shall see ! LULLABY. 25 She came like the fairest from heaven to me; She came like a flower To bloom for an hour, To show me how beautiful life could be ! LULLABY. Soft be thy slumbers, Innocence blest; Song^s tenderest numbers Lull thee to rest ! Sleep on in beauty, Loved and caressed; Dear is my duty Guarding thy rest. Sweet incompleteness, Life ever fair ; Time in thy fleetness. Touch her with care I 26 IMMORTELLES. IMMORTELLES. O MODEST flower! recall the grace Of one who loved and gathered thee ; For thou art now the only trace That brings her memory back to me. The immortelles all withered lie That once, like snow-flakes, charmed my gaze ; The only flowers that never die Are memories of happy days. Alas I so changed with years we grow, — So soon are bloom and beauty o'er, — We might pass by and never know The face that haunted us of yore. Life's river hurries on each houi', And turns to new scenes evermore; And leaves behind some cherished flower, To fade on Time's receding shore. Time, take these crumbled flowers and sever The last endearing charm from me ; But in my heart, oh, leave forever The immortelles of memorv ! THE UVDERTOW. THE U^DEETOW. We gaze npon the sunlit sea. But cannot 5