/ 
 
 THE cm 
 
 ■OIL AND DREAM. 
 
 
 VERSE 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM CARY SANGER. jR. 
 

THE CITY OF 
 
 TOIL AND 
 
 DREAMS 
 
 VERSE 
 
 BY 
 WILLIAM CARY SANGER. jR. 
 
 AUTHOR OF "TIDES OF COMMERCE" 
 
 XTbc Ikntcfterbocfter press 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 19IS 
 

 4^\^P\<K^ 
 
 Copyright, 1918 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM GARY SANGER, Jr. 
 
 ©CI.A481761 
 
 FEB I9!S!8 
 
 *^» .'/h 
 
\ 
 
 This Bool^ is Dedicated 
 
 to 
 
 My Father and Mother 
 
"The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers 
 are few ; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest 
 that He will send forth laborers into His harvest." 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Most of the verses in this volume were 
 written while the author was at school and 
 college, some having been originally published 
 in the Vindex of St. Mark's school, during the 
 years 1910-1912, and others in the Harvard 
 Advocate from 1913 to 1916. The date at the 
 end of each poem indicates the year when it 
 was written. 
 
 The first edition of this book was published 
 in 1916. In the present edition there are 
 several new poems. 
 
 Tides of Commerce, by the same author, 
 contains additional verses written while at 
 school and college. 
 
 The writer wishes to thank those friends who 
 have helped him by their criticisms, comments, 
 and suggestions. 
 
 W. C. S., Jr. 
 
 Vll 
 
The City of 
 Toil and Dreams 
 
 INTRODUCTION— 1912 
 
 The cities of the world, with their intense 
 concentration of active human life, offer the 
 greatest field for the study and improvement of 
 mankind. 
 
 In the past, living conditions in cities have 
 been unwholesome and unsanitary beyond de- 
 scription. At certain times plagues swept away 
 life from whole city blocks and entire urban 
 districts, and even during the most favorable 
 seasons the mortality was high. But as the 
 centuries passed, cities began to improve; and 
 gradually a decided spirit of awakened civic 
 interest commenced to make itself felt. Men 
 began to see clearly, and they realized that things 
 not only could, but must, be improved, and as a 
 
2 Introduction 
 
 result the living conditions in tenement districts 
 were bettered; provision was made for more 
 parks and playgrounds, public schools were 
 remodeled, employment offices opened, and, in 
 short, a whole series of active and useful alter- 
 ations were commenced. 
 
 Although conditions have been considerably 
 bettered, the good work is by no means finished. 
 In fact, it has only just begun, for in countless 
 homes of the poorer quarters of the city, poverty, 
 disease, degeneracy, and wretchedness still hold 
 their pitiless sway. Innumerable indeed are 
 the unrecorded "legions of the damned. " 
 
 One thing, however, is encouraging: the tide 
 has already turned and the cities are slowly be- 
 coming better. Nor should it be thought that 
 cities are necessarily harmful to health. Cities 
 are a natural economic development, and when 
 properly planned and managed are certain to 
 make wholesome, comfortable, and attractive 
 places in which to live. Moreover, cities are 
 capable of contributing marked benefits upon 
 humanity which can be secured in no other way. 
 The concentration of the many varied interests 
 in cities makes it possible for the individual to 
 obtain knowledge of any subject or group of 
 
Introduction 3 
 
 subjects in a way which would be absolutely 
 impossible outside of a city. Whether his inter- 
 est be painting, music, architecture, writing, 
 medicine, law, engineering, or any other line of 
 activity, the individual will find in the cities the 
 most abundant opportunities for the study of his 
 field of interest — among a host of kindred people 
 who are specializing in the same subject, and in 
 addition will find a large number of critics and 
 masters who are the guiding spirits in their par- 
 ticular line. 
 
 And so it is with every one and with each field 
 of interest. The city is the means — and the 
 only means — of giving to humanity certain privi- 
 leges and blessings which go far towards en- 
 nobling and enriching mankind — by extending 
 the individual's sphere of life and by giving him 
 the opportunity for the realization of his dreams- 
 
 In order to secure to the fullest extent the 
 benefits which a municipality is capable of giv- 
 ing, the city must not only be clean and whole- 
 some, but also beautiful. The importance of 
 this has gradually come to be realized. Civic 
 and landscape architects are planning for the 
 remodeling and beautifying of streets and ave- 
 nues on an extended scale, while drawings are 
 
4 Introduction 
 
 being made for the development of civic centers 
 to be surrounded by groups of public buildings 
 of harmonious architecture. The city planners 
 provide, moreover, that avenues and boulevards 
 shall be further improved and interconnected 
 in such a way that the whole vast scattered sys- 
 tem may at last become welded into one attrac- 
 tive and harmonious unit. 
 
 Along with the architectural improvement 
 there must be the steady development of the 
 intellectual, physical, and moral character of the 
 people, for only with a strong and sturdy moral 
 fiber in its men and women can the material 
 development of the city fulfill its highest pur- 
 pose. The physical perfection of the city would 
 then become a symbol of the lives of its in- 
 habitants. 
 
 Such, then, is the dream of the Builders, and 
 slowly — so slowly — but nevertheless surely, that 
 dream is being realized. A seemingly limitless 
 amount of work has yet to be done ; but time and 
 determination will conquer all things in the end. 
 Already the signs of the awakening are at hand. 
 Each department of every city seems to be 
 catching at least some gleam of the dawn, and 
 not only the vast commercial stores and office 
 
Introduction 5 
 
 buildings of the cities but even the great rail- 
 road terminals are being built with a view to 
 architectural beauty as well as to efficient service. 
 
 Looking at the panorama of a great city of the 
 present day, and striving to comprehend the 
 industry and power for which it stands, with its 
 glorious, pulsing, active life, its continual work 
 of reconstruction and betterment, and its granite 
 buildings and towers reared against the sky, 
 there comes a vision of that city in the future — 
 a new and reawakened city, a greater and in- 
 finitely better city — the city that is to be. 
 
 If this little book succeeds in creating a greater 
 interest in civic problems, and an added appre- 
 ciation of the pathos, romance, and beauty to be 
 found in every city, it will have accomplished 
 the purpose for which it was written. 
 
 IQI2. 
 
 W. C. S., Jr. 
 
 P. S. September 25, 1915. The European 
 War has now continued for more than a year. 
 The world can appreciate better than ever what 
 unparalleled and gruesome carnage war with 
 present-day weapons involves, and can perhaps 
 foresee what future international combat would 
 
6 Introduction 
 
 be with mechanical inventions as yet undreamed 
 of but certain to be developed. Just as past 
 ages could not clearly imagine the present ma- 
 chinery of war, we can only dimly guess at the 
 wholesale weapons of destruction which future 
 ages could perfect and apply. We can under- 
 stand to-day how great are the losses of war — 
 ethnically, eugenically, and financially. Some 
 of war's losses, however, we cannot count. The 
 misery and agon}^ of the wounded soldiers can 
 never be tabulated on paper, nor can statistics 
 record the wretchedness and anguish of the be- 
 reaved families at home. Moreover, no figures 
 can ever tell us of the loss to the world from the 
 death on the battlefield of scientists, painters, 
 musicians, sculptors, writers, teachers, and all 
 that host of able and conscientious men whose 
 lives, had they been spared, would have enriched 
 and ennobled mankind. 
 
 Try to imagine the feelings of such men — who 
 at the outbreak of the war, in obedience to their 
 sense of honor, volunteer — leaving their homes 
 and families and their life's work, to which in 
 their prayers they had dedicated their all — forced 
 by circumstances to kill other such men as they, 
 who, like them, had striven to uplift the world 
 
Introduction 7 
 
 by their efforts, and whose only reason for being 
 killed was that they happened to be on the 
 "other side." 
 
 No — the world must not permit war to con- 
 tinue. It has been "weighed in the balance and 
 found wanting." 
 
 The spirit of combat when properly curbed 
 and sensibly utilized is a blessing to all individu- 
 als, and must hereafter be developed and given 
 abundant opportunity to find expression in 
 universally practiced and vigorous athletics — 
 but not in international war. 
 
 An International Police Force of the armies 
 and navies of the great nations of the world 
 must be developed to uphold and make effective 
 by force, when needed, the decisions of an In- 
 ternational Court (such as The Hague Tribunal) 
 and thus secure the peace of the world. This 
 plan, which has been suggested by various in- 
 dividuals and has recently been much discussed 
 by newspapers and magazines, seems to be the 
 most sensible and effective yet proposed. When 
 all countries came to recognize the sanctity of 
 the International Court's decrees, the police 
 forces of the world powers could be very con- 
 siderably reduced in size. 
 
8 Introduction 
 
 As a preliminary step towards the creation of 
 an International Police Force, a practical and 
 effective plan is being developed which has for 
 its object the establishment among the World 
 Powers of a "League, to Enforce Peace. " All 
 the great nations of the earth would be signa- 
 tories to this League, and would agree to have 
 recourse to a Court of Arbitration for deciding 
 all justiciable questions and a Council of Con- 
 ciliation for all such as were non-justiciable, 
 before adopting any hostile measures. The 
 League would further provide that any nation 
 which should fail to abide by the terms of the 
 agreement would be debarred from economic 
 opportunities, privileges, and trade rights with 
 the rest of the League, and should this measure 
 fail, the League would use its combined armies 
 and navies to enforce submission to its laws. 
 
 Until the International Police Force is devel- 
 oped it is necessary and right for each nation to 
 arm itself to a reasonable degree for the purpose 
 of protecting itself against foreign invasion. 
 Ultra-pacifist and "peace at any price" policies 
 are as dangerous as they are unsound. The 
 military and naval forces which are developed 
 should be maintained, however, solely for de- 
 
Introduction 9 
 
 fense — and not for the purpose of invading for- 
 eign soil except as might be necessary in order to 
 fulfill the police duties of the League to Enforce 
 Peace. And at the same time that a nation pre- 
 pares itself with reasonable and adequate mili- 
 tary and naval armaments for defense, it should 
 strive without ceasing for the establishment of 
 a permanent International Police Force into 
 which its own army and navy, along with the 
 armies and navies of all other nations, would 
 eventually be merged. But while a nation is 
 adopting reasonable armaments for defense it 
 must not neglect the most important object to 
 be achieved — namely : the education of the people 
 in the interests of International Conciliation. 
 Justice, common sense, and righteousness among 
 the nations will then be based upon the surest 
 foundation — the knowledge and will of the 
 people. 
 
 A question of vital importance is, how soon 
 can permanent international peace be estab- 
 lished? But before this is to be positively ac- 
 complished, great and perplexing problems await 
 the present and coming generations. Old tradi- 
 tions are hard to break; old national jealousies 
 will for a long time smoulder. The world needs 
 
10 Introduction 
 
 new empire builders for old. Statesmen must 
 arise who will look with justice and kindness 
 beyond the borders of their own countries, 
 knowing and understanding the universal broth- 
 erhood of man. And in that day, the cities 
 of the world will come into their own. Men will 
 not destroy them with siege-gun, fire, and sword. 
 
 To-day the path of the armies of war is strewn 
 with desolation and death. Broken wagons 
 and artillery pieces lie scattered over the plains, 
 along with the battered bodies of the wrecks that 
 once were men. The smoke of burning homes 
 and cities, drifts far up into the weird gray heav- 
 ens, and, as night comes on, the burning towns 
 and cities cast their strange red light against the 
 lonely skies. 
 
 But To-morrow all will be changed. When 
 that To-morrow of International Peace does 
 come, men will no longer blindly destroy what 
 has been so carefully upbuilded. In the fields 
 there will be a different harvest and in the cities 
 there will be a brighter dawn. 
 
A CREED OF THE HARBOR 
 
 I believe in you, great harbor, 
 
 And great city ; 
 
 I believe in your courage, 
 
 Your toil, 
 
 And your dreams. 
 
 Slowly but surely from the city of Yesterday and 
 To-day 
 
 You are building a new and infinitely wonderful 
 
 City of To-morrow. 
 
 I was born at your gates 
 
 And have watched and loved you 
 
 Through the years : 
 
 Your ships and docks, your towering buildings, 
 your streets black with humanity; 
 
 I have watched the intense and ceaseless struggle 
 
 Within your soul, 
 
 The passionate striving of the forces of good and 
 evil. 
 
 I believe that you shall be victorious, great har- 
 bor and city. 
 
 II 
 
12 A Creed of the Harbor 
 
 I believe in your To-morrow. 
 
 Yet there are many who have hated you 
 
 And feared you 
 
 And cursed you. 
 
 Cursed you for your power and pride, 
 
 Cursed you for your merciless crushing of their 
 bodies and their souls. 
 
 Seeing only the driftwood and the refuse 
 
 Floating beside some old, uncared-for wooden 
 dock. 
 
 Not seeing 
 
 Your clean, new granite docks and piers — 
 
 Heedless of your white stone towers 
 
 Against the summer skies, 
 
 Neglecting to see the 
 
 Taintless tide come rolling in to your distant, 
 sandy beaches. 
 
 Your problems I have studied 
 
 And striven to aid in their solution ; 
 
 I know your dingy and 
 
 Mournfully dilapidated tenement districts 
 
 — The squalor and wretchedness. 
 
 The overcrowding — dim, ill-ventilated corri- 
 dors, 
 
 Where the single gas jet 
 
 Flickers and flares 
 
A Creed of the Harbor 13 
 
 So fitfully and drearily, 
 
 Casting weird shadows along the crumbling 
 
 wall-paper of the narrow hallway. 
 I have also beheld your new and splendid monu- 
 ments of granite : 
 Civic buildings 
 
 Dedicated to the service of the people. 
 And I have seen your great schools and other 
 
 municipal structures 
 Built worthy of the Children of To-morrow 
 Whom they shall fashion and consecrate. 
 I have loved you, great harbor and city, 
 Your tireless energy, 
 
 Your continual work of improvement and recon- 
 struction. 
 I have watched your subways and foundations 
 Being built by day and night: 
 Weirdly wonderful at night, 
 
 With torches and electric lamps 
 
 Lighting up the faces of the workmen 
 
 And casting strange shadows 
 
 On the structural work 
 
 In the midst of the cavernous rock ledges 
 
 Far, far below the street level. 
 
 And by day I have watched your steel-girded 
 sky-scrapers being built 
 
14 A Creed of the Harbor 
 
 Away up into the clouds, 
 
 With tiny specks of workmen 
 
 Standing or walking along narrow steel beams 
 and projecting girders 
 
 Silhouetted against the sky. 
 
 I have seen your docks and steamers 
 
 By day and night, 
 
 Beloved harbor. 
 
 I have looked out upon you and traveled upon 
 your tides in the 
 
 Dawns and in the sunsets, 
 
 In rain and fog, in mist and snow. 
 
 I have known you in the spring and in the fall, 
 in summer and in winter, 
 
 At high noon and by starlight and moonlight. 
 
 I have been refreshed and rested in your parks, 
 
 Uplifted and inspired by your energy and 
 strength and patience. 
 
 I know that in your soul there is a depth of kind- 
 ness and love 
 
 Past all believing, 
 
 For I have seen your striving and toiling in your 
 search 
 
 For the truth 
 
 And the light 
 
 And the right. 
 
A Creed of the Harbor 15 
 
 I believe in you, for I know that 
 Where there is a granite monument 
 There also is a builder's dream. 
 
 1915- 
 
IN THE CITY OF TOIL AND DREAMS 
 
 City of Toil and Dreams, 
 
 City of might and power y 
 Splendor undying gleams 
 
 Proudly each hour. 
 Sorrow and sin and shame 
 
 Often attend thee. 
 Honor and praise and fame 
 
 Millions extend thee. 
 
 Dawn — and the shadows fade. 
 
 From wall and excavation 
 The laborer with pick and spade 
 
 (Brawn of the nation) 
 Gazes with sunlit eyes 
 
 His tired soul uplifting 
 Where in the morning skies 
 
 Bright clouds are drifting. 
 
 Noon — in the canon streets 
 Pulses the tide so proudly, 
 i6 
 
In the City of Toil and Dreams 17 
 
 Traffic that rolls and beats 
 
 Steadily, loudly. 
 Sullen, grim halls and marts, 
 
 Often their star-dreams hiding, 
 Yet — in their heart of hearts 
 
 Love is abiding. 
 
 Sunset — the tired throng 
 
 In street and square and byway 
 Endlessly streams along 
 
 Avenue, highway. — 
 All to their homes go back, 
 
 The traffic's roar increasing. 
 Crowds over bridge and track 
 
 Pass without ceasing. 
 
 Night — and the stars on high 
 
 Twinkle their friendly greeting. 
 Shadows are passing by, 
 
 Lovers are meeting. 
 Silent the moonbeams play 
 
 Dancing and gleaming. 
 Now the great city may 
 
 Turn to its dreaming. 
 
 Deep in thy starry night 
 
 Sleep through each mystic hour 
 
1 8 In the City of Toil and Dreams 
 
 While the moon's slanting light 
 
 Tips roof and tower; 
 In thy mortality 
 
 Angels helove thee^ 
 For immortality 
 
 Watches above thee. 
 
 City of Toil and Dreams^ 
 
 City of might and power, 
 Splendor undying gleams 
 
 Proudly each hour. 
 Sorrow and sin and shame 
 
 Often are near thee, 
 Kindness and love and fame 
 
 To all endear thee. 
 
 1915- 
 
THE LEGIONS OF THE DAMNED 
 
 There's a host that's scattered afar and near, 
 
 A miserable, hopeless crew, 
 The poor tattered army of unemployed. 
 
 Whose chances in life are few. 
 Some call them worthless vagabonds 
 
 And think their misery shammed, 
 Some call them wrecks, while some believe 
 
 They're the legions of the damned. 
 
 It's all very well for the rest to say 
 
 That there's plenty of work to do. 
 But, perhaps, if their luck wasn't quite so good, 
 
 Even they might be derelicts too, 
 Lost in the host of the unemployed 
 
 And doomed to sink in the end; 
 Drifting along to the gates of death. 
 
 For want of a helping friend. 
 
 And the world forgets that years ago, 
 Near the Mediterranean Sea, 
 
 19 
 
20 The Legions of the Damned 
 
 A pilot saved the helpless ships 
 
 On the waters of Galilee; 
 He came to this world to seek the lost 
 
 To care for the sick and the poor, 
 And to bring the wrecks on the sea of life 
 
 To the ports of the other shore. 
 
 But the world forgets, and they drift along, 
 
 Derelicts, here and there, 
 While the ships that pass haven't time to pause 
 
 (For the world hasn't time to care) ; 
 So drifting out on the sea of life 
 
 Awash, with the rudder jammed, 
 And the rocks to clear, but no pilot near. 
 
 Go the legions of the damned. 
 
 igio. 
 
THE VISION OF HIS WORK 
 
 The mist of early morning clears away, 
 And sunlight comes — along the harbor vast. 
 Derrick and dock and steamer wake again ; 
 And buildings of the city come to view; 
 Great offices that tower to the skies, 
 Resplendent in the warmth and majesty 
 Of golden fire — that flares across the bay 
 And tips with flame a thousand window panes. 
 Beyond the curving Battery's ferry-slips. 
 Across the sunlit harbor there appears 
 The outline of the distant westward shore. 
 The day-shift dockers now come swarming in 
 To wharf and yard, while steamers ring with 
 
 work 
 Of loading and unloading — blocks and spars 
 Rattle and creak and groan as derricks swing. 
 The salty tide with endless lapping wash 
 Mutters and sHps and eddies round the piles 
 Of time-worn docks where ships have moored for 
 
 years ; 
 
 21 
 
22 The Vision of His Work 
 
 And whistles of the harbor craft ring out, 
 Echoing back from wall and wharf and pier, 
 While far above, the white gulls cry and wheel. 
 And as the wakened harbor shines and gleams 
 In all the glory of the morning light, 
 The Vision of His work comes sure and clear 
 And leads the way, and beckons ever on, 
 And says to each: ''Come on, begin your work, 
 However small and himible it may seem, 
 Each little helps — the harvest here is great. 
 Good laborers are few — begin your work. " 
 And from some harbor craft far up the bay 
 A whistle seems to call — "Begin your Day. " 
 
 igi2. 
 
SNOWSTORM 
 
 (Seen from the observation gallery of a sky- 
 scraper tower) 
 
 Over the tops of the buildings. 
 
 Drifting, swirling snow, 
 
 Falling far down, down. 
 
 And losing itself in the gray-white mist of drift- 
 ing flakes below. 
 
 The cafion streets are lost somewhere in the 
 whiteness, 
 
 Little snow flurries gather and sweep along the 
 near-by ledge of the granite coping and 
 dizzy cornice, 
 
 And whirling far out are lost in the dim, white 
 abyss. 
 
 For a moment the storm slackens. 
 
 First the summits of other great buildings appear, 
 
 Granite towers looming out of the grayness; 
 
 Then come roofs of other lesser buildings far 
 below ; 
 
 23 
 
24 Snowstorm 
 
 Lastly, way, way down are seen the snow-gray 
 
 streets 
 With tiny specks of people and trolleys 
 Crawling slowly along. 
 Again the storm increases, 
 The streets disappear. 
 And soon the other giant office-buildings are 
 
 lost to view. 
 The great tower trembles in the storm 
 As the gale roars and moans and batters 
 Around the corners, 
 And the countless snowflake squadrons 
 Whirling from the sullen skies above 
 Go pelting and flying and eddying past the great 
 
 tower 
 And are lost — 
 Far, far, below — 
 In the grayness of the vague abyss. 
 
 1915- 
 
TO 
 
 I often wonder, dear, 
 If in the day, 
 
 Or in the moonlit stillness of the night, 
 When I so often wish that you were near 
 To make the quiet hours glad and bright ;— 
 Oh, most alluring girl of dreams and play, 
 Child of my hopes through all eternity, 
 Perfect in all, and with a heart so true, 
 I wonder, when I think and dream of you. 
 If you are also thinking then of me. 
 
 1915- 
 
 25 
 
UNDER THE BRIDGE 
 
 Only the great, dim bridge, 
 
 Far, very far above, and the stars 
 
 Dreaming lazily in the warm, still night. 
 
 Along the quiet river banks 
 
 The sleepy buildings of the city, 
 
 Shadowy, vague, blue-gray in the dimness. 
 
 The lights along the bank 
 
 Burn low; 
 
 Here and there on the star-lit tide 
 
 Dark moving outlines of boats, 
 
 Drowsy toilers of the harbor 
 
 Each with lights — white, red, and green. 
 
 That glide beneath them in the calm languid 
 water. 
 
 The city is very tired to-night. 
 
 Wistfully thinking of half -forgotten yesterdays 
 
 Or yearning to-morrows. 
 
 There is sadness and magic wonder in the moon- 
 light, 
 
 26 
 
Under the Bridge 27 
 
 A boat glides slowly under the great dim bridge, 
 And the stars dream lazily in the sky 
 Above the tired harbor 
 As it sleeps. 
 
LINCOLN MEMORIAL 
 (Bronze Statue) 
 
 Gaunt — in his humble, homely, wrinkled suit, 
 Rugged and grim, unswerving, resolute — 
 Kindly upon the sadness of the town 
 The great Emancipator gazes down. 
 
 But see — the sunset glow has touched the bronze, 
 Lighting the homely, kindly, saddened face 
 With sympathy and charity for all, 
 While here and there about the monimient 
 Are little groups of people. Now a man. 
 White-haired and halting in his feeble step. 
 Comes slowly shambling near and leans upon 
 His walking stick and gazes fondly up 
 Into the sunHt face — seeming to feel 
 An inspiration in that life so firm, 
 So sad, so sympathetic — then he pauses, 
 Bows his head, and hobbles on again. 
 
 28 
 
Lincoln Memorial 29 
 
 A widow next approaches — with a child, 
 And pointing upward to the glowing bronze 
 Half whispers a few words that linger long 
 Within the memory of the wondering boy. 
 A careless group of idlers saunter up 
 — But hush their laughter and subdue their tones, 
 Standing together there in silent thought. 
 And so throughout the restless, changing hours 
 The tired and the weary and the sick 
 Pause for a moment in their hurried course 
 And then — go on with courage, hope, and 
 
 strength 
 To face the endless problems of their lives. 
 
 Gaunt — in his himible, homely, wrinkled suit. 
 Patient and firm, unswerving, resolute — 
 Kindly upon the sadness of the town 
 The great Emancipator gazes down. 
 
 1913- 
 
THE PRICE 
 
 (Voices from the shadows of the great city) 
 
 In the glow of the early morning 
 
 When Time stretched out before, 
 And life was the life of the moment, 
 
 And no sentinel guarded the door 
 To the paths of sin and pleasure, 
 
 We played as it pleased us most; 
 Did what a thousand others 
 
 Have done without counting the cost. 
 We went where our will directed, 
 
 Went and were not afraid — 
 But now we know when the day is done 
 
 How dear was the price we paid. 
 
 1913- 
 
 30 
 
CATHEDRAL BUILDERS 
 
 I am only a poor workman on a great Cathedral. 
 But I praise the Master Builder 
 That I am allowed to do my share in the building. 
 Reverently I help to swing the great stone blocks 
 
 into their places ; 
 Where they shall rest 
 Until the end of the world. 
 And every evening at sunset, 
 When the day's work is done, 
 I look backward 
 
 And see with joy that the Cathedral is growing, 
 And I know 
 That the work is good. 
 
 1915- 
 
 31 
 
EVENING CALM 
 
 When all the ttunult of the day is past, 
 
 And evening shadows move across the walls 
 Of towering buildings — looming dim and vast 
 
 From somber streets, where deeper darkness 
 falls ; 
 There comes to me a calmness and a rest 
 
 That stills the troubled soul and brings it 
 peace 
 Like the reposeful dreaming of the blest 
 
 That after life's long journey find release. 
 
 1916. 
 
 32 
 
VOICES 
 
 (From the depths of the city) 
 
 Well — our story's just the same 
 As the rest who've tried the game, 
 
 For we've played our hand like other fools, — 
 and lost it in the end. 
 We've thrown our chance away, 
 And learned just what we pay; 
 
 God — we haven't even got one honest friend. 
 
 Oh, the life beyond remaking, 
 And the horror of the waking. 
 
 When the reeling dawn creeps upward with 
 its ghastly mocking light. 
 And we live through years of pain 
 Till the shadows fall again 
 
 And we face another hopeless, endless night. 
 
 Yes — we've lost the bygone years 
 And there's little left that cheers, 
 3 33 
 
34 Voices 
 
 For the harvest days are over when we might 
 
 have worked and won. 
 So we'll stagger on, God knows, 
 Till the final chapters close 
 And the useless, endless life at last is done. 
 
 igi2. 
 
THE GIFT OF THE WARRIORS 
 
 To you we now bequeath that peace 
 
 Which was not ours to know, 
 Freedom, security, release 
 From dangers of the foe. 
 
 The foreign ranks shall not again 
 
 Burnt cities trample under, 
 Nor shall the hosts across the plain 
 Sweep with their steel and thunder. 
 
 To you we give that needed rest 
 
 Which was not ours to find ; 
 Each night you sleep serenely — blest — 
 At peace in heart and mind. 
 
 No longer shall the dull red glow 
 
 Flare in the smoke-dimmed heaven 
 
 Whose flaming cloud-belts weirdly show 
 
 Where countless hosts have striven. 
 
 And unto you we give that fame 
 Which was not ours to share: 
 35 
 
36 The Gift of the Warriors 
 
 The glory of a sculptor's name, 
 A writer's words of prayer. 
 
 For we had dreamed our glorious dreams, 
 
 Each in his field of knowing, 
 But we laid them by — for war's dull gleams, 
 The hope of our life foregoing. 
 
 To you we give those hours of love 
 
 That we so early lost, 
 For war had called on us to prove 
 Our faith — whate'er the cost. 
 The joys of home and fireside: 
 
 A woman's soft caresses 
 And children's laughter — merry-eyed, 
 The love that cheers and blesses. 
 
 And unto you the dawn we give 
 
 Which is not ours to see, 
 To you and yours the right to live, 
 In thought and action — free. 
 
 To you we give the morning light 
 On lake and hillside streaming, 
 And flashing on the city's height 
 With colors bright and gleaming. 
 
The Gift of the Warriors 37 
 
 For you the freedom and the life — 
 
 For us an unknown grave 
 After an agony of strife 
 That others we might save. 
 
 Yet we rejoice that in our pain, 
 
 Our sacrifice and sorrow, 
 We may bequeath to you our gain, 
 The everlasting Morrow. 
 
 January, ipi6. 
 
IN THE NAME OF THE MASTER 
 
 Blind — we kneel in darkness, 
 
 Oh grant us of Thy sight. 
 Come near us, Great Physician, 
 
 And lead us to the light. 
 
 Deaf — we ask Thy mercy ; 
 
 But touch each waiting ear 
 That we may know the glory 
 
 Of the truth we long to hear. 
 
 Sick — in pain and helpless, 
 
 Through anguish none may tell; 
 
 We long to hear the message 
 That alone can make us well. 
 
 Lame — we lack the power 
 To serve Thee in Thy War. 
 
 Heal us — that we may follow 
 To battle-lines afar. 
 
 38 
 
In the Name of the Master 39 
 
 Lost — we need a Captain ; 
 
 Oh grant usjn our strife 
 Thy wisdom, strength, and courage, 
 
 Thy guidance in our life. 
 
 1913- 
 
TO YOU 
 
 (At the ages of lo, 20, 45, and 70 years.) 
 
 To you, because of your youth ; 
 
 Because of your faith and trust — 
 Hold to your visions of truth : 
 
 Dust may not build on dust. 
 
 To you, because you are strong, 
 And sound of body and limb ; 
 
 On — though the toil be long, 
 On — though the work be grim. 
 
 To you, who serve in the field, 
 Bearing the brunt of the fight, 
 
 Battle till wrong shall yield, 
 Blaze the trail of the right. 
 
 To you, whose life has been long, 
 Teach the old law — ever new : 
 
 Bid them be clean and strong, 
 Kindly and wise and true. 
 
 1913- 
 
 40 
 
SNOW 
 
 Snow, 
 
 Falling snow 
 
 And o'er the somber city stained and gray 
 
 The countless flakes come drifting down below 
 
 In silent hosts of white — serenely, slow, 
 
 Throughout the day. 
 
 Still, 
 
 Calm and still 
 
 The pulsing city's sullen murmur dies, 
 
 For now the evening hours come — until 
 
 Only the night and snowy squadrons fill 
 
 The winter skies. 
 
 Clean, 
 
 Fresh and clean 
 
 To-night the city rests in quiet sleep. 
 
 And over all its myriad homes a sheen 
 
 Of downy whiteness falls — a mystic scene 
 
 Of stillness deep. 
 
 41 
 
42 Snow 
 
 All, 
 
 One and all 
 
 The dwellings of the rich and poor are white 
 
 With Heaven's stainless snowy flakes that fall 
 
 On window ledge and chimney, roof and wall, 
 
 Throughout the night. 
 
 1915- 
 
ON CHRISTMAS EVE 
 
 Toys in a bright shop window, 
 
 A child forlorn and chilled, 
 Who stands and looks at the trains and books ; 
 
 — And a dream that is not fulfilled. 
 
 Houses of stone and granite. 
 
 A tramp, in passing by, 
 A moment waits at the iron gates ; 
 
 — And a hope that is doomed to die. 
 
 A mother and child by the fire, 
 
 A mother and child in the street, 
 A dream and a prayer, a sigh of despair, 
 
 — And a heart that will learn defeat. 
 
 Quiet and peace in the city ; 
 
 Over the sleeping town 
 The stars on high in the moonlit sky 
 
 In pity and love look down. 
 
 February, iqi6. 
 
 43 
 
TO A YOUNG GIRL 
 
 You did not know, 
 
 When we were talking together last evening, 
 
 Carelessly speaking of trivial things, 
 
 Whiling away time — 
 
 You did not know 
 
 That in my heart 
 
 I beheld you as the perfection of the creative 
 
 work of the Master Builder 
 Who builded the Stars and the Earth 
 And the Children of Immortality to inherit the 
 
 Earth. 
 You did not see — for the light was dim — 
 That once or twice tears came to my eyes, 
 I, who have seen — so often — 
 Other Children of Immortality 
 Like unto you in soul 
 But most pitifully tired and sick and helpless in 
 
 body, 
 Imprisoned in the heat and shadows of great 
 
 cities. 
 
 44 
 
To a Young Girl 45 
 
 Wherefore it was with a feeHng almost akin to 
 
 worship 
 That I beheld you 
 
 Who are so fresh, so undefiled, and so happy. 
 I shall not soon forget our little talk together 
 
 last evening, 
 When we spoke of various trivial things — 
 Carelessly, lightheartedly. 
 
 1915- 
 
PRAYER 
 
 (Easter Eve) 
 
 Oh — to-night the city needs Thee, and a milhon 
 
 hearts are calling; 
 Heed their misery and anguish — Thou who 
 
 knowest well their pain ; 
 Send abroad Thy host of workers who shall 
 
 change the old conditions 
 Till the last great Easter morning comes to reign . 
 
 igi2. 
 
 46 
 
HOME 
 
 Over the sands of desert lands 
 
 Or over the waves of the sea, 
 Across the sky my love thoughts iiy 
 
 On wings of eternity. 
 By day or night they take their flight 
 
 Beside you, dear, to be; 
 For wherever you are, though near or far, 
 
 Is home, dear heart, for me. 
 
 1916. 
 
 (Written November, 191 6, on the s.s. Touraine 
 of the French line while the author was en route 
 for France to join the American Ambulance 
 Field Service.) 
 
 47 
 
TRUE LOVE 
 
 Others loved as the sea might love a ship that 
 
 passes by, 
 But we, we loved with a dream of love that could 
 
 never, never die. 
 Others loved with a mortal love that Death and 
 
 Time could sever. 
 But we, we loved with the love that lasts forever 
 
 and forever. 
 
 IQ16, 
 
 48 
 
ABSENCE 
 
 When I am far from you 
 On land or sea, 
 By lake or mountainside, 
 Although the skies may be the deepest blue 
 And sunshine warm the valleys far and wide, 
 Although the murmur of the ocean foam 
 May lull the seacoast through the drowsy day, 
 While sailboats on the sunlit waters roam 
 And gulls above the breakers wheel and play. 
 Yet in the midst of all this happiness 
 And all this wealth of nature lavished here, 
 How incomplete is all its graciousness 
 Without you, dear. 
 
 Perhaps it is your hat so trim and neat. 
 Perhaps the gentle rustle of your dress, 
 Or else your laughing eyes 
 That quite complete your loveliness. 
 Yet I believe that it is more than these, 
 I think it is your heart so true and kind; 
 So luring, yet demure and quick to please, 
 Just such a heart as one might dream to find. 
 4 49 
 
50 Absence 
 
 And therefore in my constant thoughts I hold 
 The vision of your love as pure as gold, 
 Symbolic of all sanctity and sacredness. 
 Believe me, dear, my life and happiness 
 Are not complete, although the skies are blue, 
 When I am far from you. 
 
 jgi6. 
 
PORTRAIT 
 
 (After the fashion of Pope) 
 
 Behold her, seated there upon her throne, 
 A sort of Goddess, waiting all alone. 
 She knows that hosts of lovers late or soon 
 Will throng about her, eager for a boon. 
 Her eyes of blue, her fluffy golden hair, 
 Would prove a painter's passion and despair. 
 Her dainty ankle (stocking silken black) , 
 Would make a hasty passer-by look back. 
 And who her girlish figure could behold 
 Without desiring her above all gold? 
 So charmingly she tossed her golden head, 
 "An angel come from heaven, " people said. 
 
 igi6. 
 
 51 
 
THE DOCTOR 
 
 (With acknowledgments to the author of " Gunga 
 
 Din") 
 
 Yes, I knew the doctor well, 
 And if only I could tell 
 
 You of his work and all he did to lessen pain, 
 You'd understand the story 
 Of a life that reaped no glory 
 
 Yet deserved the richest tribute man can gain . 
 
 Where the pulse of traffic beat 
 On the overcrowded street ; 
 
 And the city's roar and clatter filled the air; 
 Where lust and crime and thirst 
 Brought conditions to the worst, 
 
 You'd be sure to find the doctor working there . 
 
 Though the doctor too was poor, 
 Yet he'd go from door to door 
 
 Of the "East Side" in the night and in the 
 day; 
 
 52 
 
The Doctor 53 
 
 And he'd help them one and all, 
 For he never failed a call, 
 
 Though he knew he wasn't getting any pay. 
 
 A friend of his once said : 
 
 "It's too hopeless — they're soon dead. 
 
 Anyhow — just drop the place and come with 
 me"; 
 But he answered (pointing down 
 To his section of the town) , 
 
 "That's the very place a doctor ought to be. *" 
 
 And now his work is done, 
 And perhaps the doctor's gone 
 
 To a place that knows no sin, or pain, or fear; 
 But it's ten to one, you know, 
 That he chose to go below 
 
 Helping those who need him most — As he 
 did here. 
 
 JQII. 
 
AT VERDUN 
 
 (Composed at Verdun, France, January, 1917) 
 
 Here, where the forts of grim Verdun stand guard 
 
 Warding a nation's destiny and Hfe; 
 Here, where the foe's advance at last is barred 
 
 And France is saved, in this appalHng strife; 
 How often do my thoughts go back to thee, 
 
 Beloved one, that I have known so well. 
 The angel of my dreams across the sea. 
 
 Spirit of Love more fair than words can tell ! 
 Even the tumult of the cannonade 
 
 Seems in the wild weird night to die away 
 When like a guardian angel, unafraid. 
 
 Thy spirit comes to greet me in the fray. 
 Ah, surely then has love eternal power 
 To cheer our spirits through each desperate 
 hour. 
 
 1917. 
 
 54 
 
THOU KNOWEST 
 
 Thou knowest that I love thee, oh my dear ! 
 Thou knowest how through many a youthful 
 
 year 
 Before we both could truly understand, 
 Even in that enchanted Children's Land, 
 A certain consciousness of love to be 
 Attracted each to other. 
 We could feel and see 
 The light and hope of love's eternal fire. 
 And first faint dreams of yearning and desire 
 That drew me unto you, beloved heart, 
 And you, dear, unto me. 
 
 igi6. 
 
 55 
 
DRIFTWOOD OF THE SEAS 
 
 Through the channels of the city, 
 Wheresoe'er the tide may please, 
 
 Drift the legions — helpless, hopeless, 
 As the driftwood of the seas. 
 
 56 
 
THE VERDICT 
 
 Oh tell us which is greatest: the Captain of 
 Finance, 
 Or the toiler with his pick and bar and spade ; 
 The youthful happy heiress who leads the glitter- 
 ing dance, 
 Or the other child — half fed and underpaid? 
 
 Oh tell us who is conqueror : the general on the field 
 Who knows that all the nation calls him 
 "friend," 
 Or the invalid who battles with a foe that will 
 not yield. 
 Yet smiles and keeps up courage to the end? 
 
 And tell us which is greatest : the men who think 
 they know, 
 Or the unassuming, trusting little child? 
 "But wasn't there an answer in the ages long 
 ago, 
 Who was it, now, on whom the Master 
 smiled?" 
 
 57 
 
58 The Verdict 
 
 Oh tell us which is greatest — for the crimson 
 sunset light 
 Descends on rich and poor, and high and low! 
 "The verdict is not spoken till the ending of the 
 night." 
 Forgive us, Lord, for who are we to know? 
 
 1913- 
 
TO A GIRL 
 
 I miss you, little friend. I never knew 
 
 How dear you were until we said good-bye. 
 
 Do you remember now the somber sky, 
 Sunset, and ash of roses, and gray-blue? 
 Do you recall the words I spoke to you. 
 
 And you to me? The darkening clouds on 
 high 
 
 Weirdly and coldly told of winter nigh. 
 How quickly then the happy moments flew I 
 And now — so many, many miles away — 
 
 I dream of you, and you of me I know. 
 How often since that well-remembered day 
 
 Have I recalled the sunset and the glow, 
 And in the land of Memory at last 
 Lived once again our dream-life of the past ! 
 
 1915- 
 
 59 
 
AMERICA'S MISSION 
 
 Let this be thy mission, America, 
 
 First to make thyself 
 
 Worthy of the noblest dreams that ever thou hast 
 
 dreamt. 
 Forgetting not to learn from other lands 
 Such teachings as they have to offer thee. 
 And then, 
 
 Thus having learned and builded, 
 Go thou forth; 
 
 Not with a sword, but with a scroll 
 And bid the backward lands, 
 To learn what thou in turn can'st offer them: 
 Liberty, 
 Truth, 
 Democracy, 
 
 The brotherhood of all the nations of the earth, 
 Dwelling in faith and light. 
 And when to thee shall come 
 Strangers from foreign shores, 
 May they behold 
 Thy monuments of bronze, 
 
 60 
 
America's Mission 6i 
 
 Thy buildings vast of granite 
 Against the skies of blue, 
 And seeing may they know- 
 That these 
 
 Stand as the outward symbols 
 Of the courage and the freedom of thy Soul. 
 
 Marchy igi6. 
 
HOMEWARD BOUND 
 
 For years I've lived afar, 
 
 But now the battle's won, 
 The ages of toil are passed 
 
 And the work of my life is done. 
 My home lies far away, 
 
 And oh, the relief from pain. 
 When at the close of the day 
 
 I turn to mine own again ! 
 Turn to those long-lost paths. 
 
 The haunts of my early trails. 
 When I lived in a world I loved, — ■ 
 
 A world of tides and rails. 
 Those who love their own 
 
 Theywell can understand 
 My longing for my own — 
 
 My own beloved land. 
 
 Though 5^ears have intervened, 
 
 My thoughts have been with you still. 
 Each mile of the glistening rails, 
 62 
 
Homeward Bound 63 
 
 Each city and river and hill 
 Of the well-remembered land 
 
 Has cheered, me through my life, 
 And led me ever on 
 
 Through toil and pain and strife. 
 
 But now the night is gone 
 
 And I'm off for my home again; 
 Off for the trails I love 
 
 And the city that soothes my pain : 
 The city beside the sea 
 
 Where the glorious harbor lies, 
 With its towers of steel and stone 
 
 That mount to the very skies. 
 And every ship and train 
 
 That I long have loved and known 
 Will welcome me back again — 
 
 When I return to mine own. 
 
 J^I2. 
 
L'ENVOI 
 
 Sleep, great city, sleep. 
 
 The silver moon rides high, 
 The tide so calm and deep 
 
 About thy gates goes by ; 
 
 Far in the summer sky 
 The myriad stars look down 
 
 On granite tower and office wall, 
 
 Humble dwelling and marble hall, 
 
 The drowsy moonlight softens all, — 
 
 Over the great gray town. 
 
 Turn to your needed rest, 
 City of toil and dreams, 
 
 High in the starlit west 
 
 The white moon softly gleams ; 
 The tired city seems 
 
 To drowse in the dim, warm night. 
 On wall and housetop, high and low, 
 Shadows of black, and silver glow. 
 Where the slanting moonbeams fall below, 
 
 With mystic, starry light. 
 
 64 
 
L* Envoi 65 
 
 Wanderer, ragged and sad, 
 Lay down your head to rest ; 
 
 Maiden, radiant, glad, 
 
 Pause in your joyous quest, 
 (For the Angel of Sleep has blest 
 
 Each one, ere they close their eyes;) 
 
 Dancer — dream of your love at the ball. 
 Wanderer — dream of a marble hall, 
 For in sleep you are equal, one and all, 
 
 By the glow of the star-dim skies. 
 
 Sleep, great city, sleep. 
 
 The drowsy moon rides high. 
 The tide so still and deep 
 
 About thy gates goes by; 
 
 Far in the warm night sky 
 The pitying stars look down 
 
 On home and tenement, tower and wall, 
 
 Prison and hospital, house and hall, 
 
 The kindly moonlight softens all, — 
 
 Over the great, gray town. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS 
 
 67 
 
STAR OF THE WEST 
 
 They come from the other lands, 
 
 Lands of a by-gone day, 
 From the rule of a tyrant's hands 
 
 And a dream that has passed away. 
 Poverty, loss, and pain, 
 
 Ignorance, endless toil, 
 Have been their measure of gain 
 
 From a worn-out, blood-stained soil. 
 
 They have been crushed and torn ; 
 
 There has been slaughter and strife; 
 Their lands are wasted and worn, 
 
 And they need new hope and life. 
 So they come where the great ship rides 
 
 And they pray that they may have rest, 
 As they follow the star that guides — 
 
 Star of the West. 
 
 The gangway soon is crossed, 
 
 The twilight dies away, 
 The afterglow is lost, 
 
 And the great, dim night holds sway. 
 69 
 
70 Star of the West 
 
 Beyond the westward bar, 
 
 The sea is dark and vast ; 
 But the wanderers see a Star 
 
 That shall guide them home at last. 
 
 The liner swings from the dock, 
 
 The Lighthouse Cape is cleared, 
 She passes the last lone rock 
 
 And her course for the West is steered 
 The travellers gaze on high 
 
 As they sail from a land oppressed, 
 And they see thee afar in the sky — 
 
 Star of the West. 
 
 Star of our steadfast dream — 
 
 Liberty, Truth — 
 Long may thy splendor gleam. 
 
 Leading our youth. 
 Bright in thy nobler sky, 
 
 Radiant, blest, 
 Guide, as the years go by, 
 
 Star of the West. 
 
 1914. 
 
SPACE 
 
 Into the void of space, 
 
 Beyond the sight of our eyes, 
 
 Telescopes barely trace 
 
 The nearer stars of the skies. 
 
 And beyond the feeble zone 
 Of our latest and greatest lens, 
 
 Ultimate, vast, unknown. 
 The universe extends. 
 
 Moved by resistless force 
 
 Through interstellar night, 
 Suns, in their ordered course, 
 
 Glow in majestic flight. 
 
 In the stormy abyss of space 
 
 Nebulae flare and swirl ; 
 Comets through star-dust race, 
 
 Luminous meteors whirl 
 
 And flash through the starry swarm 
 Where the lights of the universe glow, 
 71 
 
72 space 
 
 While newer planets form 
 Above, around, below. 
 
 Bom in terrestrial strife, 
 
 To the law of the universe true, 
 
 Worids, after aeons of life, 
 Die — tobe bom anew. 
 
 Infinite endless change, 
 Limitless space and time, 
 
 Systems of worid that range 
 Over their course sublime: 
 
 Ever eternal life — 
 
 Ever recurring death — 
 
 Ever the dying strife — 
 Ever. the waking breath. 
 
 And little enough we know ; 
 
 Little enough we see 
 Of what the worlds can show . 
 
 Pitiftd — what are, we? 
 
 But this at least we find 
 In the starry realms of awe : 
 
 An all-controlling mind ; 
 A universal law. 
 
 1913- 
 
TO A COQUETTE 
 
 They said you were hard-hearted, 
 
 And cruel and vain, 
 
 Thinking only of your own pleasure and happi- 
 ness. 
 
 Planning your campaign of conquests 
 
 At each ball or entertainment which you at- 
 tended, 
 
 And caring far more for the perfection of your 
 delicately suggestive dress 
 
 Than for a world of infinitely better things. 
 
 But though many people more or less disap- 
 proved of your hard-heartedness, 
 
 They all admitted you were beautiful 
 
 And charming 
 
 And alluring. 
 
 Wherefore I desired to meet you and see for myself 
 
 What you were like. 
 
 I found that you were indeed a coquette — 
 
 Apparently quite hard-hearted, 
 
 73 
 
74 To a Coquette 
 
 And yet there was something in your eyes and in 
 
 your manner 
 That told of a warmth and tenderness 
 Of heart and soul 
 Beneath the exterior of light-hearted and trivia 
 
 frivolity. 
 And one day this was proved to me ; 
 For as we sat talking together 
 An old, old man, bent over with age and infirmity 
 Walked slowly past along the nearby road, 
 Tapping his walking stick on the pavement, 
 His head bent to see the road before him and 
 
 guide his slow footsteps. 
 Though now and again he looked up to the blue 
 
 sky and white clouds at the distant horizon 
 As though at something he would not see for long. 
 As you watched him 
 I saw your eyes fill with tears — 
 Although you tried to hide it from me, 
 As soon as you knew I knew, 
 By looking away and calling my attention to 
 
 something in the other direction. 
 Soon we resumed our former carelessly happy 
 
 conversation, 
 And after dinner that evening 
 I saw you half pause before a full-length mirror 
 
To a Coquette 75 
 
 And glance alluringly over your shoulder 
 At your reflection ; 
 
 Then, seemingly satisfied, pass on to the ballroom 
 Where conquests awaited you. 
 
 1915- 
 
BROKEN HEARTS 
 
 It is strange to see you unhappy, — 
 
 You who were always so light-hearted, 
 
 A princess among coquettes, — 
 
 You who are so sought after and admired by all 
 
 men. 
 Careless breaker of hearts. 
 It is strange to see you yourself heartbroken, 
 And we, whose hopes you have so lightly dashed 
 
 aside — 
 We, who loved you and thought you loved us 
 In days gone by. 
 Sympathize with you 
 And long to make you happy 
 (For we have forgiven you, and worship you now 
 
 as in the past) ; 
 And — were we able — would gladly 
 Restore your lover to you. 
 But this may not be, dear girl. 
 You know now what pain is 
 For your lover loves another girl 
 Better than you. 
 
 1915- 
 
 76 
 
RIVALS 
 
 The two girls were rivals. 
 
 They had first met a week before, 
 
 And since then had only seen each other once or 
 
 twice — at dances. 
 But each knew that both were beautiful — 
 Hence naturally rivals for the admiration of 
 
 the young men. 
 When asked if the other were not attractive, 
 Each would say, 
 "Yes, she is — But why does she do her hair that 
 
 way?" 
 Or, 
 "She's quite attractive — but she would be much 
 
 prettier with a different dress." 
 Neither would quite admit that the other was 
 
 absolute perfection. 
 Both were generally considered to be flirts — 
 Though kind at heart. 
 On one occasion at a dance 
 Each happened to glance over her shoulder at 
 
 the other 
 
 77 
 
78 Rivals 
 
 Just a little bit jealously and scornfully. 
 Their eyes met 
 
 And then — they both laughed good-naturedly, 
 For they understood. 
 
 J 91 5' 
 
IF I WERE DYING 
 
 I know that if I were dying, dying, 
 Nearing the dim eternal sea, 
 
 My thoughts across the distance flying 
 Swiftly would come to thee, to thee. 
 
 IQl6. 
 
 79 
 
TO A GIRL 
 
 Just to be near you, dear, 
 
 And hold you close to me, 
 
 And hear the whispered words 
 
 That make my dreams come true. 
 
 Your love and warmth and tenderness and fire 
 
 Flame and awake my spirit with desire. 
 
 And each caress 
 
 Then seems to bless 
 
 The sacredness of love's immortal plan. 
 
 Dear heart, it is my constant hope 
 
 That always where you are 
 
 There I may be. 
 
 By mountain far or dreaming sea. 
 
 And oh my prayer may Heaven hear : 
 
 Just to be near you, dear ! 
 
 August, 1917. 
 
 80 
 
SHE SLEEPS 
 
 She is not dead but sleepeth, 
 
 Softly now, lest you disturb her in her quiet 
 
 dreaming ; 
 She is not dead but sleepeth, 
 Gently now the moonlight through the curtain 
 
 lace is streaming. 
 
 How peaceful and serene her fair young face. 
 
 Her eyehds closed in still, refreshing gladness! 
 
 For with a heart so true there is no place 
 
 For sorrow or for sadness. 
 
 She is not dead but sleepeth; 
 
 Soon again she will awake and leave the silent 
 
 portal 
 To make eternal in our dwelling place 
 Our love immortal. 
 
 August 20, IQI7' 
 
 8i 
 
FOREVER YOUNG 
 
 Forever young, forever like a dream 
 
 Of wonder-love and tenderness divine, 
 
 My heart will always hold and worship thine 
 
 In love undying. 
 
 For though the years go past 
 
 My dream of youth will last 
 
 While time is flying. 
 
 Forever you shall be 
 
 The same dear heart to me 
 
 As in those Golden Days of youth and laughter. 
 
 For in the Land of Dreams 
 
 Where stunmer sunshine gleams 
 
 As it has been so will it be hereafter. 
 
 August 20, 1 91 7. 
 
 82 
 
WORLDS IN THE MAKING 
 
 Through the endless night, 
 Through the void astray ; 
 
 Limitless in flight, 
 Star-dust drifts away. 
 
 Ceaseless radiation 
 Whirlsi the dust afar; 
 
 Ceaseless gravitation 
 Forms it in a star. 
 
 Thus a world is made ; 
 
 Thus it takes its place, 
 Where its course is laid 
 
 In unending space. 
 
 1913- 
 
 83 
 
CHILDREN'S LAND 
 
 Come where the children play, 
 
 There shall you know 
 Dreams of another day, 
 
 Long, long ago; 
 When in the Golden Land 
 
 Likewise you played, 
 And on the Magic Sand 
 
 Joyously strayed. 
 
 Oft from your present road, 
 
 Dreaming — you glance 
 Back to the old abode, 
 
 As in a trance, 
 And in your longing eyes, 
 
 Softly the tears 
 Tell you that bygone ties 
 
 Hold — through the years. 
 
 Come to the Land of Dreams, 
 
 Memory Land, 
 Warmly the sunshine gleams ; 
 
 Forest and sand, 
 84 
 
Children's Land 85 
 
 Orchard and shady grove, 
 
 Hillside and plain — 
 Call to their early love, 
 
 Come back again. 
 
 So to the Land of Spring, 
 
 Youthful and fair, 
 Come — it will surely bring 
 
 Rest from all care ; 
 Bright is the Magic Sand, 
 
 Forest and plain — 
 Come to the Children's Land,. 
 
 Dream — once again. 
 
 igi4.