Sie-T'HR6€-5PIR- 
 IT^-AND-OTtieR- 
 
 P06M3 • BY-WeB- 
 3T6RP-tlVliTIM0- 
 
 # • » • 
 
 • • 4 > 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 p^' 3 ^ \ 5 
 
 @]^p» icpiirigi^t "^n. 
 
 Shelf .^Ui^Ts 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
THE 
 
 THREE SPIRITS 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER POEMS 
 
 BY 
 
 WEBSTER P. HUNTINGTON 
 
 >T^'7 
 
 / 
 
 ^<^ 
 
 1801 
 
 Gazette Printing House 
 Columbus O 
 
 A 
 
 O 
 

 Copyrighted by the Author 
 iSqi 
 
DEDICATED 10 MY FATHER 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Three Spirits. .... 9 
 
 The Gain of Living 33 
 
 Art against Nature, .... 34 
 
 To G. G. R 36 
 
 The Deserted Homestead, ... 37 
 
 Russia, 39 
 
 To A , 41 
 
 In the Cemetery at Norwich, . . .42 
 To THE Baby. .... .4s 
 
 To MY Mother's Portrait, . . .46 
 
 W. D. W 48 
 
 Rehoboam. . . . . . . .so 
 
 The Author to his Critics. . . . si 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 Unknown to Reason or to Faith, 
 Unsolved in prose or rhyme ; 
 
 Hope's mockery, the scoff of Death — 
 Thou mystery of Time I 
 
 Who shall ex})lore tlie hi(hlcn path 
 That man hath never trod ? 
 
 Who tell the vanity of Earth, 
 The majesty of God? 
 
 Who can do this hut tliou, O Soul 
 Immortal, loosed from clay ? 
 
 Oil, tear the darkness from our eyes 
 xVnd hless us with tlie day ! 
 
 Soar to the heig'hts the angels know. 
 And in thy boundless Higlit 
 
 Beg of the Powers a single ray 
 
 From the Fountainhead of Light. 
 
lo THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 Entreat that tnitli may l)e revealed, 
 That Hoi)e and Faith may rise, 
 
 Till some prophetic s})irit ope 
 The portal of the skies ! 
 
 See! The veil asunder })arts! 
 
 Swing wide the gates at last! 
 And on the Dreamer's vision dawns 
 
 The Spirit of the Past! 
 
 THE DRHAMHR. 
 
 Spirit of gladness, 
 
 Spirit of woe, 
 Spirit of sadness 
 
 Man eannot know, 
 Speak to the donhting heart, 
 
 Counsel the brave ! 
 Thou of all sj)irits art 
 
 Al)l(' to save ! 
 
 Scan with, your vision tlic path of tiu' years. 
 Strewn with life's sorrows, bedewed with life's tears; 
 Marked by the crosses of women and men 
 Who never on earth shall raise them again. 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. ii 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF THE PAST. 
 
 Peace, troubled lieart : I am an aged man — 
 Too old to list to th}^ complaints or heed 
 Thy phantasies. My age sits heavy on me 
 And I oft haye wished that I miglit one day be 
 A yictim of my sickle; l)ut to me 
 Death iieyer comes. 
 
 Yes, I am yery old. 
 My locks, that in the morn of earthly things 
 Did shame the })lnmage of the raven's wings, 
 Are whitened with tiie tonch of Time ; my eyes, 
 Once bright as histrous gems, are dim witii age ; 
 I stroke my beard and falter in my step. 
 Yet have 1 seen tlie strength of empires i>ass away; 
 Have held witliin this outstretched hand the power 
 To bless or to condenni ; to fill with hoi)e 
 The heart cast down 1)y grief; the arrogance 
 Of pride-encumbered men to blast; the thrones 
 Of kings to overthrow; the power to deal 
 To all humanity its weal or woe. 
 
 Of Earth's mysterious gloom, when Cliaos reigned 
 And brooding Night with })iercing eye descried 
 Naught save perpetual darkness in the world, 
 I knew the infancy. To me the birth 
 Of mortal life within tlie universe 
 
12 THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 Was but the })layful time of budding youth. 
 Thus live I still, caused by that great First Cause- 
 The One ()iuiii[)()te]it — who at His will 
 Brought sunlight out of darkness and displayed 
 His own divinity to all mankind 
 By planting deep witliin the human breast 
 That tender instrument. (Jod's masterpiece, 
 The Soul. 
 
 The chosen i)eople of the world 
 Wore out the dreary years of their first light 
 Beneath my gaze. Their father, Abraham, 
 In whom the truth divine first had its dawn, 
 Whose mighty heart beat in the breast of him 
 Who later on gave Law unto his race, 
 Sped o'er his earthly course marked and observed. 
 The passage of the Hebrew host I viewed, 
 When Moses through the waste of desert land 
 Led on the people of his God. The walls 
 Of high Jerusalem had not been reared. 
 When from the summit of tlie loftv clouds 
 The fields of Palestine beneath my feet 
 Lay basking in the glory of the sun. 
 
 How followed on the footsteps of the Jews 
 The inundation of the land with blood. 
 Thou knowest ; how, when centuries rolled b}^. 
 The love of sacrificial offerings, 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. j 
 
 So long indulged with bloody rites by priests 
 Whose su})erstitions ruled the peevish age, 
 Brought on a time when naught would satisfy 
 A nation's craving, save that Innocence, 
 Embodied in a sinless Man of Peace, 
 Should be itself the last great sacrifice ! 
 thou eternal scribe, who in the Heavens 
 Dost keep man's record in the Book of Life, 
 Blot from the compromising page the deed 
 Of this misguided people and command 
 That History shall be forever dumb ! 
 Galilee, whose liquid surface felt 
 The imprint of the Master's feet, be still ; 
 Nor whisper to the flowers uj»on thy l)anks 
 The fate of Him who walked above thy wave ! 
 And Calvary, whose firm foundation groaned 
 Beneath the weight of that uplifted cross. 
 Whose soil gave to the sacred blood a grave. 
 Seal thou thy li})s, as they did seal his tomb ! 
 
 Dream on, unconscious soul, and to thy breast 
 Grapple the fond delusions of thy life ! 
 Time never dies: but that which measures time, 
 The throb of human hearts, but for a day 
 Put forth tiieir feeble efforts, and are lost. 
 Nations may fall, and frcjm their crumbled dnst 
 A hundred more may rise to power again ; 
 
14 THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 And Man himself, his ho])es and fears, must shaie 
 
 The dissolution of existing things. 
 
 Yet in the Heavenly volume of the saints 
 
 These poor events are but the })aragraphs 
 
 That make the chapters in the Book of Life. 
 
 What would'st thou save from out tlie wreck of Earth? 
 
 (3f all the good that in thy heart doth dwell 
 
 What would'st thou have in Heav'n made infinite? 
 
 Ambition ? 'Tis a shining vanity 
 
 That lures thee, then enchains thee, then deludes. 
 
 Knowledge? Pause and comi)are thy boasted lore 
 
 With the great mind tliat rules tlie universe. 
 
 Love? Ah, this alone is the holy key 
 
 Wherewith thou may'st unlock th' eternal gates I 
 
 This is God's greatest boon to man — to love ! 
 
 Whether it be on earth with human rites 
 
 Or in the consecrated court of Heav'n. 
 
 Hear my voice, my })arting benediction : 
 
 Witliin thy spirit deep let Love abide ; 
 
 And to the joys of immortality 
 
 The angels, waiting, shall receive thy soul ! 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. i^ 
 
 Into the dark and boundless night 
 
 The pliantom spirit fled. 
 I heard the rustle of his robes 
 
 Like tlie night-wind overhead, 
 And the gentle cadence of his voice 
 
 Seemed from the buried dead. 
 
 Alone in the falling darkness, 
 
 Alone — ni}^ soul and I ! 
 Each dared not meet the other's glance, 
 
 Each dared not live or die, 
 While quaking at the ver}^ breeze 
 
 That gently passed us by. 
 
 How deep the silence of the hour, 
 
 How long the shadows grew ! 
 How ev'ry prayer that from the heart 
 
 Was breathed to God anew 
 Bore up its load of hope and fear 
 
 As Heavenward it flew ! 
 
 A pause, and to the open door 
 
 Another form was led ; 
 Approached, and o'er its thoughtful brow 
 
 A frown, in passing, fled, 
 While fixing on my face its gaze 
 
 In accents clear it said : 
 
i6 THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF THE PRESENT. 
 
 I am the spirit of the Present. Hear 
 My words, for I shall never reappear 
 To give thee counsel. What I now may say, 
 Preserve and act upon until that day 
 When ev'ry soul shall its transgression own 
 And reap the harvest as the seed is sown. 
 
 To live is to exist for better things, 
 Since Death, the transient visitor, but brings 
 The spirit out of darkness into light, 
 Adds glory to the day, dispels the night, 
 Rebukes all that is evil and makes free 
 The blessedness of immortality. 
 Yet doth thy share in future bliss depend 
 Upon the motives that do shape thy end. 
 Fulfilment of thy <luty here l)elow 
 Must be the test wherein thou art to show 
 Thy fitness for the future state. For thee 
 The spirit life is but a destiny. 
 Choice of a certain i)lace whereto mankind 
 Must come at last, is not of human mind. 
 The narrow confines thou hast long been taught 
 Do se})arate the dead who cheaply bought 
 Salvation from such other sons of Earth 
 As in the flesh ne'er tested virtue's worth, 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. 17 
 
 Exist in superstitious thought alone — 
 To Reason false, to Justice quite unknown ! 
 Hence thou art not of Heav'n or Hell at will ; 
 The question with tliy soul is, AVilt thou till 
 The spirit with the love that doth beget 
 Eternal peace, or with a vain regret 
 That, where thou dost surround a lesser si)here, 
 Thou migh'st have known a ten-fold greater? Here 
 Is the choice, which to make th}- soul conqiel. 
 No bondage holds thee for a seat in Hell, 
 For God thy free decision doth await — 
 Wilt make thy futui'c compass small or great? 
 Tlie Past is ])uried deep within the tomb 
 Around whose walls th' impenetrable gloom 
 Hath gathered like an everlasting night. 
 No welcome beam, no ray of Heav'nly light 
 Illumes the })ath tliat leads through endless ways 
 Back to Creation and the world's first days. 
 Deeds done and motives framed and thoughts con- 
 ceived, 
 And all tlie wik'S Avherewitli thou hast deceived 
 Thy dormant conscience, to achieve its fall. 
 Breed consequences thou canst not forestall. 
 Repentence, in itself, availeth naught, 
 Save as it lifts the soul by holy thought 
 Up and beyond Earth's base and trifling things 
 
i8 THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 And plumes the spirit with an angel's wings. 
 Hard though it be, and bitter like the draught 
 That on the iSIount of suffering was quaff'ed ; 
 And agonizing as tlie lot of those 
 Whom many pious men would fain suppose 
 Are tortured witli eternal life in Hell — 
 Doomed to be dannied forever wliere they dwell- 
 Hard though it be, thy mind must meditate 
 Upon this meaning plirase : To expiate. 
 In the nature of the Heaveidy plan 
 Provision is not made for sinning man 
 To dodge ])etween God's justice and His love ; 
 Tlie Law, conceiyed in ])erfeet truth above — 
 Itself all that is merciful and just, 
 Eternal, omnipotent and august — 
 Is the sole criterion of tliy deeds. 
 Administers to thy actual needs. 
 Provides for living })uri)()se and a cause — 
 In Heaven and on Earth the Law of laws! 
 Since tiien the law, thougli merciful, is strict; 
 Though granting nmcli doth never once conflict 
 With tlie great mind that made it to the end 
 That none might e'er evade it, none might bend 
 Its tendency and pose as saints redeemed, 
 When posing so they once again Ijlasphemed 
 Against all right and truth ; since it is true 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. 19 
 
 That mercy in the Law is nothing new — 
 A self-existent essential of it 
 And not by nature one point above it — 
 I bid thee know, ol)eyed its mercy stands 
 Great as creation; but, its just commands 
 Once broken, know no mercy, save therein 
 Is consequence jiroportionate to sin. 
 No human mind so weak but can detect 
 The tendency of evil and reflect 
 Upon its end ; and, so reflecting, know 
 The expiation it must undergo ; 
 For as to God the attributes belong 
 Of all that is infinite, so of wrong- 
 Committed 'gainst His laws, ihv consequence 
 Is likewise inflnite for each ott'ence. 
 
 THH DREAMER. 
 
 Tben, Spirit, speak! Wliy hast thou promised 
 me 
 A new abode? Doth inimortality, 
 Dispensed by God witli such a lavish hand, 
 Grant naught but woe eternal and expand 
 The limit of my agony and pain, 
 Till ages countless as the drops of rain 
 That fall from Heaven's vault seem but a day 
 
20 THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 Lost ill the tliglit of time? Is he astray 
 From holy trutli who in his lieart believes 
 That in some future state the soul retrieves 
 (Somewhat of error and mistake indulged 
 Ere to his i)uny mind hath been divulged 
 His destiny, the secret of his fate? 
 Doth God grant knowledge only when too late? 
 8peak, I em})lore tliee, though the speaking cost 
 The ])ain of certainty that I am lost! 
 
 THE SPIRIT. 
 
 Thy doubts, born not of tliought, but sudden 
 fear. 
 Before the liglit of trutli must disappear 
 As overwhelming darkness fades and dies 
 Wlien morning's sun illumes the eastern skies; 
 And in the glory of tlie new-born light 
 Thy mind's awakening shall be as bright 
 As budding dawn unfolding to full bloom, 
 Or ray from lieav'n, dispelling endless gloom ! 
 
 Have I not sai<l that in the realm from wlience 
 Thy soul did'st emanate, the consequence 
 Of evil deeds and God's law disobeyed 
 Sliall be in honest measure truly weighed 
 Witli thy ill conduct and thy conscious guilt? 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. 21 
 
 Thy faith, upon the firm foundation built 
 Of perfect confidence in love divine, 
 Should yield conception of (iod's great design. 
 Of life innnortal tlie celestial breath 
 Was not breathed in thee that a living death 
 Through all eternity should be thy lot — 
 Accursed in Hell and upon Earth forgot. 
 This bear in mind : Eternal law is just ; 
 It sanctifies no sin, nor doth it tlirust 
 A saintliness upon a few elect. 
 And in the act all other souls reject ; 
 It ])rovides no Innocent's sacrifice 
 To insure the guilty in Paradise ; 
 But sternly speaks, in accents clear and strong, 
 " Let him fear no evil who knows no wrong." 
 The distant future thou canst not define ; 
 The Past is dead — the Present, only, thine. 
 Tlien gras}) it while it lingers, ere it fades 
 Into that silent depth where grieving shades 
 Bend mourning o'er the grave of wasted time. 
 I see the mighty spectacle — sublime 
 And infinitely sad. The deejxlrawn sighs 
 Of spirits wee})ing o'er the spot where lies 
 Lost IIo})e, with Love and fair Aml)ition near — 
 All tliat we hold in life's sweet hour most dear — 
 Are waftecl to me on the midnight air. 
 
22 THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 Nothing but tears and vain regret is there ! 
 And wilt thou, too, hiy in that silent grave 
 The qualities that God in kindness gave, 
 That thou niight'st hear in life a noble })art 
 And in eternity a hai>})y heart ? 
 Beware ! Existence is no })altry tiling : 
 It hath an ecjual power to bless and sting. 
 
 Thou hast heard. Let, then, thine attentive ear 
 With e([ual earnestness incline to liear 
 The whispered counsels uf thy inmost soul : 
 Give Conscience in all things conn)lete control ; 
 Make it the ruler o'er thy mind's domain, 
 .Vnd like the music of some Heavenly strain 
 Whose gentle harmony, low, sweet and clear. 
 Pervades the universal atnjosphere. 
 Until the baser senses feel the spell 
 Of influences, they can not re})el. 
 Its guiding voice shall cause to fall inert 
 Thy wrong i)ropensities, and shall assert 
 Its wondrous })0wer to keep thee undefiled 
 Till thou with Goil in peace art reconciled. 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. 23 
 
 So saying, witli a silent tread, 
 
 Like one who walks amongst the dead 
 
 In some secluded burying ground ; 
 Or as a thoughtful priest might pace 
 The corridors of some holy place, 
 
 Betrayed not by a single sound ; 
 The Spirit fleet in soft retreat 
 
 Glided into the great Unknown, 
 
 While whispered the breeze in an undertone, 
 
 " A vision seen, a vision tlown ! " 
 
 Seen, and forever unforgot ! 
 
 Flown, yet around the hallowed spot 
 Where stood the Spirit a moment since. 
 
 As a rose its sweetness doth distil, 
 
 There lingered then and always will 
 A consciousness to all-convince 
 
 Th' uncertain mind, by doubt made blind, 
 That One had l)een there who had graced 
 The courts of Heaven and embraced 
 The joy of all things pure and chaste! 
 
 Thus musing on the strange {)ortent 
 Of ev'ry wonderful event 
 
 That })assed before me like a dream, 
 I caught tlie sound of voices singing — 
 Now softlv sweet, now loudlv riup-ina- — 
 
24 THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 That to the list'ning ear did seem 
 A Heav'nly strain, a glad refrain, 
 Bearing tlie ecstaey of bUss 
 Of those in a fairer world than this 
 Who living had done least amiss. 
 
 As, gazing into the Promised Land 
 
 A soul on the verge of Heav'n might stand, 
 
 Hearing the music of the spheres, 
 I paused, my heart two worlds between,' 
 And heard a hymn of powers unseen — 
 
 Tlie harmony of untold years. 
 And this is the song th' angelic throng 
 Sang of the triumphs of sacrifice 
 And telling of One who should arise 
 To speak the glories of I^aradise ! 
 
 THE CHANT OF THE ANGELS. 
 
 Eternal God ! Thou Perfect One alone 
 
 Of all who bow the knee before Thy throne — 
 
 Father of all— 
 Thou wlio didst think, and with the thought evolve 
 Th' material universe, and dissolve 
 The sweets of life within the soul of man; 
 
 We do recall 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. 2^ 
 
 The wondrous mercy of Thy mighty plan 
 Conceived ere otlier life than Thine began ! 
 
 And dost Thou now to favors multiplied 
 Like grains of sand upon the wild sea-side 
 
 Year after year, 
 Add this last token of Thy tender love 
 For erring Man, who didst Thy pity move 
 When i)ierced him first of deadly sin the fang ; 
 
 Wlien the first tear, 
 The crystal symlx)! of liis grief, o'ersprang 
 Its bounds, the sad betrayer of a })ang? 
 
 Speed the Si)irit on Heav'nly mission sent ! 
 Haste his departure, strengthen his intent ! 
 
 Cause Earth to know 
 Tliat Truth and Love survive and Mert'y })leads, 
 Though oft the heart, stricken and wounded, bleeds^ 
 Shuddering that no helper lifts the veil 
 
 Of endless woe ! 
 O Father, let Thy messenger })revail. 
 Teaching that laith in Thee can never tail ! 
 
26 THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF THE FUTURE. 
 
 Seeker of truth, who after righteousness 
 Doth hunger and thirst as mortality 
 Longetli for tliat which is infinite, Peace ! 
 Thou who dost meditate on sacred themes, 
 Communing with anotlier liigher world 
 Whose spirit forms, on wondrous errands sent, 
 Appear before thee and their counsels give 
 Of holiness, of virtue and of love ; 
 Thou mortal, first in liistory, for whom 
 Time, backward turning from his onwar<l course, 
 Lets fall his secrets from his 8})irits' lips ; 
 Who sees the past revealed and hears proclaimed 
 The necessities of the present hour, 
 As Heav'n gives welcome to the wandering soul 
 Greets thee the day of thy enlightenment ! 
 
 I come, apostle of the living truth, 
 Prophet of things that shall be, exponent 
 Of things that are and have been. Dost thou hear 
 An echo from the distant land, a sound 
 Of great rejoicing, as Solomon heard 
 Immortal psalms, sung by a thousand tongues. 
 Resounding in the temple of the Jews? 
 It is the deep, celestial harmony 
 Of angels breathing worship to their God. 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. 27 
 
 And thou, too, in the hour that sets thee free. 
 
 When on thy wondering gaze there breaks the dawn 
 
 Of an eternal day, niayst be of them. 
 
 Thy voice may join with tlieirs when Heaven peals 
 
 With the glad praises of the King of kings ; 
 
 And sliaring in their song, so mayst thou share 
 
 Their best eonce})tions and their destiny — 
 
 To know tlie sweet repose of perfect peace ; 
 
 Not ecjually with each comj^anion soul. 
 
 But to thy uttermost. 
 
 Yet here awhile 
 In the brief season that men call Life, 
 Ere Earth reclaims the graceful form she gave 
 And manly beauty yields to loathsome dust ; 
 While still the soul clings to its mortal home. 
 Looks calmly from thy eyes, and on thy l^row 
 Reflects the light of its ow^n purity ; 
 Here, now in sorrow, now in hap})iness, 
 In joy and grief, through tears and })leasant .smiles, 
 Shalt thou live on the life allotted thee. 
 
 If blind to truth, seek not to see all things ; 
 The tired brain must needs abjure its thought. 
 If Reason satisfy thee not, beware ! 
 For where the Reason falters there comes Doubt, 
 Thrusting his base deceptions in thy path. 
 While Faith is left to die upon the way. 
 
28 THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 Ask not, then, why thou livest, if to think 
 Of hving be a toil ; gird up thy faith. 
 And it shall all suffice, as at the feast, 
 Though little be consumed, thou hast thy till. 
 
 Yet, if thou canst conceive the primal cause 
 Whence spring the germs of life, the massive bulk 
 Of tlie great material universe 
 And all the myriad spirit forms that live. 
 Some seen of mortal eyes and millions more 
 Beyond the dark, impenetrable veil 
 That screens what is to come from that which is ; 
 Conceive thyself a part of God Himself, 
 The incarnation of His thought divine ; 
 Living, because He lives, thougli all-endowed 
 With power of shaping thine own destiny. 
 Thou canst be what thou wilt ; not in a da}'. 
 But in the end ; for death is but a change. 
 In which we hear the sweet and tender words 
 Of those who, standing on the fartlier shore. 
 Beckon us on with kind and gentle smile. 
 Bidding us be of courage, since we come 
 Into their midst with welcome everywhere. 
 So shalt thou share their struggles and their hopes- 
 A tearful witness when some spirit falls. 
 But joyful when he rises ; thus thy life. 
 Like theirs, shall be of progress and of love — 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. 29 
 
 Bright as the morning sun, though oft tlie clouds 
 Dim its refulgent beams and cast a gloom 
 Over the landscape of thy fondest dreams. 
 
 Be thou always resolute ; bear thyself 
 Not too exulting, but with dignity 
 Born of the spirit's knowledge of its end ; 
 As one who on his person doth sustain 
 The signs of perfect confidence and hope. 
 Hold not too lightly in thy mind's esteem 
 The trials death will open unto thee ; 
 Nor yet affect unreasonable fear 
 Of what the future may contain for thee. 
 
 Dreamer, thou livest in a time and age 
 When wicked phantoms of a cruel fate, 
 Long taught thee to be waiting for thy death, 
 Are falling, one by one. Beyond recall 
 Many are lost and buried in the Past, 
 As many more shall be ; they are dead. 
 Unwept, unheeded, and almost forgot. 
 Let none alarm thee with a well-wrought tale 
 Of an eternal punishment in store 
 For disbelievers in a certain creed 
 Or scorners of a most uncertain faith. 
 Severe will be thy expiation, true ; 
 And infinite, but not forever laden 
 With a crushing, ceaseless pain, greater tenfold 
 
JO THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 Than sin could merit at the hands of God. 
 Surely thou knowest one may suffer nuich 
 And yet not heed. Yesterday I sinned ; 
 To-day the pangs of vain remorse possess 
 My every sense ; to-morrow, or as years 
 Like fleeting dreams pass by, I have forgot 
 That I have sinned at all ; nor is the least, 
 The smallest weight of consequence removed 
 Or blotted from my deepest heart thereby ; 
 For as 'tis true that mortal suffering 
 Is often measured b}^ its falling short 
 Of that which constitutes true happiness, 
 Rather than by tliat which seems its deepest woe, 
 So in the land that lies beyond the grave 
 The lines of consequence are visible 
 More clearly to the holier spirit's eye 
 Than to the sinner who indulged the sin. 
 The great Creator has but made his law, 
 That justice cannot be revenge, and sin 
 Shall its atonement earn, of such a kind 
 As ev'ry soul is given strength to bear. 
 
 Man cannot ask for more tlian he is given. 
 Endowed with that creative faculty 
 Of mind and heart that shows a handiwork 
 Wrought by Omnipotence, and conceived 
 In the very ecstacy of jDower 
 
THE THREE SPIRITS. v 
 
 For a destiny higher than decay; 
 
 And with his promised immortaUty 
 
 Displayed u])on his ontward, worldly self, 
 
 As if his Maker's genius sought to prove 
 
 The argument of the soul's existence 
 
 To the world — thus made from God's own spirit 
 
 And formed as one whose soul can conquer Death, 
 
 Man is the masterpiece of creation. 
 
 And rarest and most priceless of the gifts 
 
 That in him bear fruition to his soul, 
 
 Are those two gems of immortality ; 
 
 Faith, Hope. 
 
 As dew upon the tinted rose, 
 Or rain on tender vegetation falls, 
 So these congenial kindred qualities 
 Refresh whate'er in spirit life they touch. 
 Then slight not these to make thyself more strong 
 In things that will inure less to thy good ! 
 Earth hath no comforter, nor Heav'n a boon 
 Such as was given thee when in thy breast 
 Faith had its birth and Hope first sprang to life. 
 Thou wouldst not lose thy memory, nor think 
 To profit by the loss of health or limb, 
 And yet, through heedless scorn and long disuse 
 Of gifts bestowed to elevate thee most, 
 Wouldst suft'er such to languish in decav 
 
32 THE THREE SPIRITS. 
 
 And leave thee helpless in thy vaunted strength. 
 
 Faith is the deep, wide harbor of tlie soul, 
 Where the wear}' mariner, long at sea, 
 Feasts liis deliglited eyes upon the shore. 
 And satisfied that all is safe and well, 
 Sinks, like the waves receding, to his rest ; 
 And Ho^^e, the star of promise in the skies. 
 Casts one last beam upon his prostrate form. 
 
 I had but dreamt. Yet as I woke 
 Methought I heard a voice that spoke, 
 And in the stillness of the night 
 Pronounced an admonition — "Write! 
 What thou hast lieard comes from above. 
 For I AM God and ' God is Love ! ' " 
 
 ^^S- 
 
OTHER POEMS. 33 
 
 The Gain of Living. 
 
 Think not that in one life's completed span 
 There is less joy than sorrow ; were it so 
 
 Then all that live were underneath the ban 
 Of that mysterious shadow, which doth throw 
 A strange, odd darkness over all below 
 
 That doth possess in life's First Cause no shnre; 
 For, since existence takes its peaceful flow 
 
 From rising in the Infinite, the heir 
 
 Of such divinity must fitly bear 
 
 The imprint of his Maker's blessedness. 
 
 Thus ev'ry soul is born not to despair, 
 
 But hath its meed of pleasure, more or less; 
 
 And though its earthly flight be high or low, 
 
 It hath more cheer than grief, more joy than woe. 
 
 '■^^ 
 
34 OTHER POEMS. 
 
 Art against Nature. 
 
 When some great painter a grand work essays, 
 Puts brush to canvass in a lofty theme 
 
 Of clouds or sky or sunlight's piercing rays, 
 
 The world must pause to note each golden gleam 
 
 And sing the artist's everlasting praise. 
 
 Each touch of art tliat makes tlie picture true, 
 Each line that shows the present master hand, 
 
 Each fleeting cloud hard striving to subdue 
 The glancing sliafts of light shot o'er the land ; 
 
 Each color blending with the ay.ure ])lue, — 
 
 Each mark of genius — is proclaimed to mean 
 A thought that life from inspiration draws. 
 
 The critics haste to criticism keen. 
 And wonder and exclaim, because 
 
 A man hath pictured forth so fair a scene. 
 
 But when th' eternal God in outlines pure 
 Reveals the dome of Heaven overhead, 
 
 To charm the soul, the senses to allure, 
 Man, only to the artificial bred, 
 
 What he might well adore can scarce endure. 
 
OTHER POEMS. 33 
 
 So often the best things in life we see 
 
 Hardly to remark, almost to ignore ; 
 The gifts least loved are those God makes most free, 
 
 And bounteous Nature, yielding up lier store, 
 Receives the tlianks of heartless apathy. 
 
 ■^^m^ 
 
36 OTHER POEMS. 
 
 To G. G. R. 
 
 When memory lightens the effort of thinking, 
 And prompts one's ansterity so to unbend 
 
 That a ghiss of good wine is worth}- the drinking, 
 'Tis sweetest to drink to the heaUh of a friend. 
 
 So, Ruggles, let never the bowl be forbidden 
 That promises closer our friendship to knit ;. 
 
 'T were rarest of vintage if in it were hidden 
 A taste of thy humor or spark of thy wit. 
 
 If asked once of thee. Is life worth the living? 
 
 The need for an answer could hardly ai)pear ; 
 'Tis found in the fact of thy constantly giving 
 
 Some pleasure to others who know thy good cheer. 
 
 For knowing, 'tis written, is surely believing, 
 
 And what better knowledge, indeed, can there be 
 
 Than that given those who have long been receiving 
 The proofs of the manhood that dominates thee? 
 
 Like the stream that thou lovest descending the 
 mountain, 
 
 Refreshing the fields in its fall from on high, 
 Thy life and its sunshine is drawn from a fountain 
 
 As clear as the light it reflects from the sky. 
 
other poems. 37 
 
 The Deserted Homestead. 
 
 Lonely, forsaken, desolate it stands, 
 
 Jts sombre outline carved against the sky ; 
 
 Unbroken solitude envelops all, 
 
 Save for the wild bird's shrill, discordant cry. 
 
 The bay of hunters' hounds on distant hills, 
 The music of the winds or noisy flow 
 
 Of waters rushing on in pebbly rills. 
 
 'Twere sweet, if not so sad, to feel thy spell, 
 Deserted homestead ! The quickening heart 
 
 Thy solemn grandeur wakes to solemn things ; 
 Impulsive recollections swiftly dart 
 
 Through sympathetic minds, as thy impress 
 Is sealed upon the memory of those 
 
 Who contemplate thy passing loneliness. 
 
 The rank weed grows in ruthless wantonness 
 
 Where once the feet of children pressed the stones ; 
 
 The hush of Death is on the chamber walls 
 Tliat echoed long ago their happy tones. 
 
 The loathsome spider weaves a silken net 
 
 Where once the watchful, prudent housewife 
 reigned 
 
 And rose above her sorrow and resfret. 
 
j8 OTHER POEMS. 
 
 The sun that smiled upon thee years ago, 
 In those long past, almost forgotten days, 
 
 Is still the same unchanging visitor ; 
 
 The same moon's silvery, calm and steadfast rays 
 
 Still light the trellis where the grapevines climb ; 
 The same breeze stirs the leaves to gentle sighs 
 
 As lulled the meadows in the olden time. 
 
 But those who knew the countless peaceful charms 
 That Nature set around thee, all are gone ! 
 
 The graveyard on the hillside tells the tale 
 
 Of how the Earth has claimed them, one by one; 
 
 And the old homestead, that after all survives. 
 Doth seem to speak unto the thoughtful mind 
 
 The simple lesson of their sim})le lives. 
 
 *5A/ 
 
 'X-:®:x< 
 
OTHER POEMS. 39 
 
 Russia. 
 
 Land of the Autocrat and slave! 
 Land of the royal, scei)tercd knave, 
 If kings have ruled by right divine, 
 Then cursed be God, who gave thee thine 
 Then Heav'n is Hell and virtue vice ; 
 Then hate for love may well suffice ; 
 Then honesty is so uncouth 
 That foul corruption mocks at truth ! 
 
 Were dread Siberia's- bloody soil 
 In travail with maternal toil, 
 Like some huge monster giving birth 
 To monsters, from the depths of earth 
 Each long drawn out and labored groan 
 Would pierce thee on thy gilded throne, 
 O Emperor ! From filthy mine 
 Where imps erect a grimy shrine 
 To worship Satan and the Czar ; 
 In dungeon cells that i)eei) of star 
 Or ray of sun lias never blest. 
 Thy victims' souls might break their rest 
 And fly from every slimy lair 
 To catch thee in a grewsome snare! 
 
40 OTHER POEMS. 
 
 From silent tombs and depths remote 
 The bones of those thy anger smote — 
 Who in the flesh thy grace implored — 
 To such misshapen forms restored 
 As most to fright thee, might arise 
 To rend thy heart, to l)last thine eyes ! 
 
 O evil mockery ! () shame 
 Of all mankind ! A Prince's name 
 Is greater than a peoi)le's life ! 
 An armed host prepared for strife, 
 A throne by slavery vipheld 
 The forces of an Empire weld ; 
 And over all is born to rule 
 A graceless tyrant, oi* a fool ! 
 
 Speed, tardy justice, speed the hour 
 When Vengeance may his prey devour; 
 Let royal blood in torrents pour, 
 If Czars and despots reign no more ! 
 
OTHER POEMS. 41 
 
 To A- 
 
 A FRAGMENT. 
 
 Thy mind and mine have followed in the course 
 Of pure and holy love, that takes its way 
 Over all obstacles tliat interpose 
 To block the })ath of passions less divine. 
 In sorrow I have loved thee, and tliou me; 
 In joy and gladness, too, we were as one, 
 When passing clouds obscured the hap})y sk}', 
 Or, shifting, did disclose the burning sun. 
 As in the tirmauient tlie })eaceful stars 
 Give forth the radiant light of Heaven 
 Like looks from angels' eyes ; as thro' the wood 
 The constant stream winds heedless of its course, 
 So hath our love been — intinite in change, 
 Like fleeting seasons' rounds, but always blest. 
 Through all the strange vicissitudes of life 
 I ne'er have loved thee but with all my heart : 
 With all my strength and mind, with all my soul : 
 So do I love thee still, and ever shall — 
 Forever and forever.- 
 
42 OTHER POEMS. 
 
 In the Cemetery at Norwich. 
 
 In ev'ry soul there is a tender strain 
 
 That wakes and echoes, when the hand of Time 
 Draws from the heart a mikl and sweet refrain 
 
 That rises from some memory subUme. 
 
 So liave I feh-, when drawn by pensive thought 
 My footsteps' l)ore me from the hillside down, 
 
 Midst massive rocks that years have never wrought 
 A change in, to the graveyard of tlie town, 
 
 That quaint and ancient village of the hills, 
 
 Where my forefathers, wandering, first took heed 
 
 It was a lovely spot, free from the ills 
 
 That they had tied — a i)lace (jf rest, indeed. 
 
 For these were men of sucli heroic mould 
 
 As feared no outward danger, shunned no toil ; 
 
 The liberty of conscience more tlian gold 
 Tliey strove to find on new and untried soil. 
 
 What was to them tlie forest's loneliness, 
 If thought were free and persecution past ; 
 
 If tyranny ceased longer to oppress, 
 
 And life endured witli lionor to the last? 
 
OTHER POEMS. 43 
 
 To seek the trutli where they thought most to find ; 
 
 To worship God as tliey conceived it best, 
 And teach the priceless lesson to mankind, 
 
 Was all the sim))le mission of their quest. 
 
 The trackless })lain should know the reaper's blade, 
 The hard rock yield its wealth of treasured store, 
 
 And boundless woodland's dark, forbidding shade 
 Should hide the ])osom of the earth no more. 
 
 The startled breeze that bore the warrior's cry, 
 And bound the ears that heard it with a spell. 
 
 Should serve instead with each delicious sigh 
 The tranquil victory of peace to tell. 
 
 The spot that marked the wild l)east's hidden lair 
 Sliould blossom as a garden decked with tiow'rs, 
 
 Where mothers' eyes might note with tender care 
 The happy flight of children's })layfui hours. 
 
 With such a purpose tliese bold pioneers 
 Braved all that evil Fortune might ordain : 
 
 Too nol)le to retreat, too stern for tears. 
 They never learned to falter or complain. 
 
 How well their work was done the years' swift flight 
 Hath proven unto us who follow them ; 
 
44 OTHER POEMS. 
 
 How well tliey lal)ore{l in the cause of Right, 
 And gave to Freedom's crown its brightest gem. 
 
 No eidogv can add nnio their fame, 
 
 Nor praise their sim[)le merit magnify ; 
 
 In death they leave no heritage of shame. 
 But rather teacli us liow to live and die. 
 
 Thus here they share at last the connnon lot 
 Of all wlio earn from earthly cares release; 
 
 Their privilege within this grassy plot 
 To know the rest of everlasting peace. 
 
 O God inscrutable, if Thou didst speak 
 And call them from this city of the dead, 
 
 In mercy send their s}tirits to the weak, 
 Who need l)y their example to be led. 
 
 -►^i 
 
OTHER POEMS. 45 
 
 To THE Baby. 
 
 Child of tlic iHoiMiiiig, whence coiiiest thou here, 
 With a gasj) and a .struggle, a sob and a tear — 
 From the North, from the South, from the East, from 
 
 the West, 
 Nestled close in her arms on the fond mother's breast ? 
 Hast thou come from the realm of the Silent Un- 
 known ? 
 The journey is long — didst thou come all alone? 
 
 Thine eyes are as blue as the waves of the deep, 
 
 Thy brow is as fair as an angel's in sleej) ; 
 
 Thy skin is as soft as the velvety down 
 
 Of the flowers that bloom 'neath a sunshiny crown. 
 
 Who sent thee? Who marked thee for Earth and its 
 
 woe, 
 Its joy and its sorrow? — Canst tell? — Dost thou 
 
 know ? 
 
 Sweet child, tliere is knowledge that passeth our ken ; 
 There is wisdom not given the children of men. 
 We grope in tlic (hirkness like slaves of tlie night; 
 Our lancy is folly — we know not its flight. 
 Thou art come, thou art gone; whether distant or 
 
 near, 
 We only can know thee how precious, how dear! 
 
46 OTHER POEMS. 
 
 To MY Mother's Portrait. 
 
 O gentle jtortrait of that gentler face, 
 So marked by all the sweetest gifts that grace 
 The woman's countenance, the mother's heart. 
 Do thou such temper to thy son impart 
 That M'ell he may his humble efforts raise 
 To add new lustre to thy shining praise ! 
 Blest, had he known tlie kind maternal care 
 Which more than tinite wisdom })lanted, where 
 The seed might grow in hearts made but to love- 
 At lengtli to l)lossom in the tields above ! 
 Sweet were the lessons to be learned from thee, 
 Had God in merc}^ willed it so to be ; 
 Hadst thou not entered on that other state 
 Where mortal eyes may never penetrate. 
 
 But ha})})y still the lot of him whose mind 
 Can trace thee, in the regions undefined; 
 Whose faith may pierce the false, deceptive glare 
 i)i Earth's i)Oor honors, and behold thee where 
 The weary soul casts off its heavy load. 
 To cross the threshold of the blest abode. 
 Thus often in the calm and })eaceful night, 
 When grosser cares are wont to fade from sight 
 
OTHER POEMS. 47 
 
 And vacant shadows on the wall appear — 
 
 Earth fleeing fast, and Heaven drawing near — 
 
 I on the border of the Future stand, 
 
 And, awe-struck, view thee in the promised land ; 
 
 While, as I see thy glory in the sky, 
 
 I know, indeeil, the soul can never die. 
 
 80 would 1 live thy i)ure and blameless life 
 That, when I view my Past, it may seem rife 
 With righteous deeds and holy thoughts, as thine ; 
 That Love within the Present may be mine ; 
 That Truth to me the lesson may impart 
 To meet the Future with a steadfast heart. 
 
48 OTHER POEMS. 
 
 W. D. W. 
 
 A man of such .sur})as,siiig grace 
 
 That kings might envy his address ; 
 
 Wliose acts for ev'ry time and i)lace 
 A perfect fitness do possess ; 
 
 A man of pure and ready wit 
 
 Whose shafts are free from poisoned stain, 
 But strike Avhere they are aimed to hit 
 
 And leave no rancor and no pain : 
 
 A nian of sucli unselfisli heart. 
 
 Of mind so lofty and serene, 
 Who knoweth manhood more than art 
 
 And hath no unclean thought to screen ; 
 
 A man of patience strangely rare, 
 Forgiving, gentle, kind and just ; 
 
 Bold in the right, but swift to spare, 
 (^uick to uphold, slow to distrust : 
 
 A stranger to unseemly pride 
 
 Or affectation's poor deceit : 
 In sorrow and affliction tried. 
 
 He drank the bitter and the sweet. 
 
OTHER POEMS. 49 
 
 A man of such superior mould 
 As all that's base soars far above ; 
 
 Who daily doth some charm unfold 
 To win a fiiend's unselHsh love. 
 
 That is a friend of mine. — His name? 
 
 Ah, that is not for me to tell. 
 If tliou hast known liim, his fair fame 
 
 Will teach thee that thou know'st it well. 
 
 — i^f:®:-)^ 
 
50 OTHER POEMS. 
 
 Rehoboam. 
 
 II CHRONICLES, XI, 2\-2}. 
 
 Good Rehoboam was a king 
 
 Who reigned in days of yore ; 
 His household numbered " eighteen wives," 
 
 And " concubines threescore." 
 
 For 'twas a custom honored then, 
 
 More oft, indeed, than now, 
 For kings and courtiers to take 
 
 A fre(|uent marriage vow. 
 
 And this kind of extravagance 
 
 Was sometimes overdone, 
 So that a man with consorts ten 
 
 Oft wislied for only one. 
 
 But Keholxjam, we are told, 
 
 " Desired many wives ; " 
 And that they rued it or complained 
 
 No evidence survives. 
 
 And thus the king, so Scripture .saith, 
 
 " Dealt wisely " many years ; 
 And when he died he well deserved 
 
 His eighteen widows' tears. 
 
OTHER POEMS. 5/ 
 
 The Author to his Critics. 
 
 Criticise with ini})unity, 
 Scan with particuhirity ; 
 
 Now is your opportunity 
 To mitigate the rarity — 
 
 So marked in each community — 
 Of truly C'hristian charity ! 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 IliillllllilM 
 
 015 939 291