IKIIIII MIIM|U.MI}I| Class BookLfgJT'/^^ Copyright N"^^_^^) COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. Aeolic Lyrics Aeolic Lyrics By HOWARD B. SEITZ Author of "Stephen Mulhew," a novel, Published by this House NEW YORK THE COSMOPOLITAN PRESS 1913 5^^^ Copyright, 1913, by Howard B. Seitz ©CI,A354049 PRO-LEAF Zephyrs of feeling thrill and thrum the bosom's strings, And fling the alcyonian soul on soaring wings. As pours the limpid purling rill, As wells the kinglet's liquid trill. So flow from out the mind of man Fancies and thoughts the emotions fan. ;• CONTENTS PAGE O Brook! 9 To the Vesper Sparrow 11 Autumn Auguries 12 To Spring's First Gem 14 The Wild Morning-Glory 15 In Memory of Minnie Bley 16 When Dewdrops Sparkle in the Grass 17 A Solitary Lover and Two Wild Roses 18 Plea for a Butterfly's Freedom 19 At the Fireside 20 The Summer Zephyr Blows 21 First Love 22 The Lover's Invitation 23 Dreaming 25 Why Weepest Thou? 27 Lines of a Youthful Prince 28 There's a Wild Mossy Glen 30 Somehow, Somewhere, Some Time, Some One 31 A First Spring Day 32 The Lover's Requiem 33 Her Birthday 34 The Call of the Bluebird 35 Eastertide 36 The Lover's Longing 37 To the Irish 38 In the World of My Dreams 39 Tolstoy 40 Death : Unleashing the Soul 41 O My Soul 42 Victor Hugo 43 Ye Minds of France 44 Schiller 45 Rumi, the Persian Mystic 46 To a Bird's-Foot Violet In December 47 Woman : Master of Man 48 O BROOK! By a clear purling brook in a moss-green glen, Far from the busy life and strife of men, I stroll and loll this early vernal day, Content all care and rue to pass away. 'Tis sweet, O brook ! again to hear you sing With impulses of ev'ry springing thing. Of bursting bud and tender em'rald blade, Of bubbling bird trills and tinkling rills unstayed. Wending your way thru swampy springing mead- ows, By spice and birch and golden glowing willows. To lave the roots of buttonwood and maple. Whose bloom glints forth and tints the green of April. Rushing headlong thru the bushy pasture wild, Where, haply, by the bland south wind beguiled, Are sheltered feathered pioneers of spring. Where the chary fox sparrow and the red-wings sing. By arbutus-grown slopes softly are you led Between ferny banks and o'er a stony bed, 10 AEOLIC LYRICS Tumbling and murm'ring thru the woodland dells Singing music sweet as far-off sheep-bells. Rippling, dimpling, bubbling, blithely as you go. Oh, that I the secret of your joy could know ! Still I linger and I listen to your merry lay ; And, O brook, I would that man were so contently gay! AEOLIC LYRICS 11 TO THE VESPER SPARROW Wee humble bay-wing of the greening pasture lane, It calms and joys my heart to see thee reappear To lift thy modest voice in quavering refrain And swell the song of feathered choirs this spring- ing year. Thy strain hath not the joyful ringing melody Of lark songs, nor the rapture of the song spar- row. Thy pensive lay is trilled with lyric euphony, Like the purling fall of crystal rills that overflow. Tho thou singest constant and unheeded unto men, I love to hear thy soulful trills that lapse away Serenely in the shrouding dusk above the fen With the fading twilight of the dying day. 13 AEOLIC LYRICS AUTUMN AUGURIES The scattered yellow hickories of Chestnut Hill Against the azure of the August sky Merge the hues of April's greening deshabille Into tinges of October's gilded scarlet frill, And show me Autumn's drawing nigh. The cornel-trees and sumacs in wild nooks In mellow robes with one another vie, The blushing maples bord'ring sluggish brooks Mark Nature's languishment with lustrous looks — Telling me that Autumn's drawing nigh. The lanky stalk on which the goldfinch feeds Its bursting thistle pod lifts high Above the wayside fence and sister weeds ; Already fades the herds-grass in the meads — Telling me that Summer's passing by. I hear the liquid whistle of the plover In the dewy morning's chilly sky ; The black-capped mocker mopes, the wren is som- ber, The song sparrow sings not as a lover — Telling me that Summer's passing by. Tho crickets and cicadas chirp with wonted style, The katydids lamenting sigh And weirdly chant in the gloomy forest aisle ; The toiling bees collect saccharic spoil, — ^the while They warn me Autumn's drawing nigh. AEOLIG LYRICS 13 Loose flocks of blackbirds and sweet-twitt'ring swal- lows Now daily throng and dark the sky; The warbler on its southward journey follows The same sure instinct that will move its fellows, — And warns me Autumn's drawing nigh. And I am not too heedless to discern Youth's guileless joys are lapsing by. For Childhood's happy day I vainly yearn, And to the Future dubiously turn, — Seeing my Autumn looming nigh. 14 AEOLIC LYRICS TO SPRING'S FIRST GEM To thee, thou jewel of the bleak March wood! I loose Euterpe's tongue ; For thee, Hepatica, thou queenly bloom ! Shall my humble lyre be strung. Sweet firstling, flow'ring paragon of spring, So modest, yet so bold, — Why, O Paradisal blossom ! dost thou gem This wood-side bare and cold ? 'Tis not to sate the searching scientist And please his patient eye, But the roamer's pensive mind and turmoiled heart To cheer and pacify. I highly treasure thee because thou art The first fair flow'r of spring, — Amidst this ill-disposed environment A lovely little thing; But much more dearly thee do I esteem Inasmuch thou mindest me Of one, whose radiant image gemis my dreams, A being sweet and pure like thee. AEOLIC LYRICS 15 THE WILD MORNING-GLORY There blooms before the heat of August noon On the wood-border's sandy slope A starlike flow'r that illumes the eyes and soon Imbues my soul with splendent hope. The traihng vine hides with a jealous care This virgin cup of lucid dew From early sun's oblique unthirsting glare, As if the noontide scorch it knew. But it is not concealed from looks of such As seek surcease from human moil, 'Tis not withheld from the admiring touch Of fingers that will not despoil. Ay, well, O God ! the morning's glory may it be, To me 'tis as a morning-star ! Sublimely, mutely eloquent — extolling Thee — Benign Creation's avatar ! When all without is locked in ice and snow Still then before my eyes will loom Beyond the dying embers' glim'ring glow This Summer morn's untarnished bloom. 16 AEOLIC LYRICS IN MEMORY OF MINNIE BLEY There lies far back upon the meadow slope A grave that holds the dust of youthful hope, And between the green hedgerows shimmering stands A white slab that points toward yonder lands And becks the tear-dimmed gaze from earth away To the heavenly bliss of Minnie Bley. The roses here unclose their scented bloom. The woodbine's slender stem entwines the tomb. In the hickory grove the mourning-dove And his murmuring mate coo songs of love. Here Memory recalls the happy day When my heart was beloved by Minnie Bley. A maiden pure with radiant beauty fair, A queenly lily crowned with golden hair. In her snowy breast throbbed a tender chord That responded to love of mine outpoured. But shining beings gently bore away To the realms up above my bonnie Minnie Bley. Ay, weep with me, ye drooping willows, weep. As ye your wistful vigils softly keep, By the side of the trembling aspen trees That breathe grief to the gentle summer breeze, And closely screen the burning sunshine's ray From the grave of the sleeping Minnie Bley. AEOLIC LYRICS 17 WHEN DEWDROPS SPARKLE IN THE GRASS When dewdrops sparkle in the grass And silver streamlets by me pass, Then cast aside the glist'ning glass With its deceitful dregs. The revels of the giddy feast May hold in bond the sensual beast, — • Thank Heaven, I'm again released ! Amid the crystal-laden segs Shoulder-deep I stand, and reverently view Heaven's far-swrept vault, and breathe thin sprays of dew. Oh, could Morning's liquid clarity imbue My mind ! — the spirit humbly begs. 18 AEOLIC LYRICS A SOLITARY LOVER AND TWO WILD ROSES Tho it be the full meridian of June, When from pain the mind should be immune, The wood-throstle's golden fluted tune, The wild grape's fragrant blooming bowers are jejune, — Sweet anguish aches, and from my heart will not depart. I roam among the old familiar haunts ; I dully hear the black-capped mocker's saucy taunts. Ever and anon before me Mem'ry flaunts An image that my restless spirit daunts. Ah, could the dream transform to tactile form ! I pluck two blushing roses from the laden stem. Oh, happy fancy ! these thy sunny hair shall gem ! These thy lips will lushly touch ! I'll send thee them ! These refresh my dream. These thou wilt not con- temn. As now I think of thee, then thou wilt think of me ! AEOLIC LYRICS 19 PLEA FOR A BUTTERFLY'S FREEDOM Ah, thoughtless little lad ! Wert thou to only know How sweet is that existence, Thou wouldst soon let it go With glee upon its wings Back to its happy sphere, There to enjoy its life, So short and yet so dear ! Wouldst thou not rather see It dancing in the air And sporting 'mid the clover And its kinsfolk free and fair? Ay, little brother mine. It too delights to play, And mark, — no creature is As this so blithe and gay ! 20 AEOLIC LYRICS AT THE FIRESIDE When the northwest wind chilling blows, And when the fireside warmly glows, Then truly Love's cup overflows. From heart to heart this message goes : "We shall sever, — never — never!" Cheerily cracked the cosy hearthstone. Merrily beamed bright eyes that softly shone. Two souls that knelt at Hymen's throne Communed in an unuttered tone : "We shall sever, — never — never !" The memories of Love's young year, Of little children's prattling cheer, Of mutual joys and throes, endear The tie and whisper in each ear : "We shall sever, — never — never !" As the sun fires Autumn's sere, so blushed A mother's faded cheek and flushed A sire's drawn brow ; for each there gushed One thought, to each all others hushed, — "We shall sever, — never — never !" Recalled and sweetly are retold Old words set up in types of gold ; From each to each 'tis fondly told That God their bond would always hold : "We shall sever, — never — never !" AEOLIC LYRICS 21 THE SUMMER ZEPHYR BLOWS Tl^e Summer zephyr blows o'er billowed ripened grain, And whispers thru the bladed corn, and swells the sweet refrain That delicately comes from lush tall-standing grass Where grasshoppers and contented crickets pass Their chirring notes in ceaseless chorus. Softly stir The taper chestnut leaves, and the poplars sway and purr In the woodland's mass of green ; dead branches weirdly creak. Ripples murmur on the wave in the shallow creek. 23 AEOLIC LYRICS FIRST LOVE Tho all may quaff again out of the brimming bowl, Is there one owns not that disappointment stole The quintessential nectar from each sequent cup? The pristine taste the memory will ne'er give up. Nor reckless dissipation nor Labor's steep can drown Love that Death has severed or that Hymen failed to crown. Tho buried deep within the man and walled apart, Anon sweet seraphs will unlock the vaulted heart. AEOLIC LYRICS 23 THE LOVER'S INVITATION Oh, come with me, my Love ! With azure skies above, This bright morn of May We'll blithely hie away To the wild blooming glen Where tread no feet of men. Where Nature spreads green covers For her secretive lovers. Oh, wilt thou not be there. Dear Love, with me to share The mossy-cushion'd rock ? There I shall interlock Thy little hand in mine ; As tendrils cling and twine The rose, my arms enfold Thee, and as softly hold. There all day may be heard Love lays from ev'ry bird. And they too will hear me Recite my love to thee. The squatting squirrel peering nigh May list for thy reply; But only thou and I shall hear Thy murmur in my ear. The scarlet columbine And honied woodbine Invite the dewy kiss, 24 AEOLIC LYRICS And entertain with bliss. Thy ruby lips, thy smile demure, Thy shining eyes, allure Me to touch thy soul with mine And feel the fire from thine. As the broad-spreading mandrake Protects its gem, I'll take And shelter thee, fair flow'r, Against all storms that lour. Do not demur and hide And stay far from my side. Oh, come to me, sweet Love, And be my tender dove ! AEOLIC LYRICS 25 DREAMING Dreaming, dreaming, vainly dreaming: Dreams all still more dreamlike deeming; Hopes all almost hopeless seeming. Ends are farther from me gleaming. Vainly dreaming. Dreaming, dreaming, vainly dreaming Well the future will be meeding; Empty present by me speeding, Wasted past, but little heeding. Dreaming, dreaming. Dreaming, dreaming, sweetly dreaming: Soft eyes in my dreams are sheening; Confidently, raptly weening Trustful love upon me leaning. Sweetly dreaming. Dreaming, dreaming, sweetly dreaming: Coyish passion you are derning; Lush lips languidly for mine are yearning, Pulsing veins aflame like mine are burning. Dreaming, dreaming. Dreaming, dreaming, wildly dreaming: Direful images devising; Dubiously, daringly surmising Somber doom before me rising. Wildly dreaming. Dreaming, dreaming, wildly dreaming ; Fading pleasure with the fleshling dying ; 26 AEOLIC LYRICS Fire the spirit purifying; God the godlike glorifying. Dreaming, dreaming. Dreaming, dreaming, ever dreaming: Always brighter dreams conceiving ; Filigrees forever interweaving. Dimly, grimly, madly to them cleaving. Ever dreaming. Dreaming, dreaming, ever dreaming: Sometimes doubtful, oft confiding; Fearing evil is betiding. Still I'm hopefully abiding. Dreaming, dreaming. AEOLIG LYRICS 27 WHY WEEPEST THOU? Beside the bier why should we rue and rave With waiHng heathen grief In skeptic unbelief? Lament not over the sod-covered grave And the cold chiseled stone, — From these the soul is flown. Will we not meet in that mystic spaceful sphere where dwell The angels of soft flight And Jesus, Prince of Light? Ay, O Christian ! rather our farewell. Than sorrowful, be sweet, — "Good-bye until we meet." The beaming orb has pow'r to resurrect The numb bee and shriveled turf. The moon sways the waves of surf. — Has the Giver and the Master Architect Designed the image of his eye To breathe a trice and forlornly die? 28 AEO'LIC LYRICS LINES OF A YOUTHFUL PRINCE Why am I made to feel so discontented, — That the past is so ruefully lamented, That the present confronts me sore impatient, That the future again looms more repellent? 'Tis because the anemone is too fair To breathe other than woodland's wild free air. And a beauteous country lass too pure To be stolen from Mother Nature. Ah, fair maiden, I would that thou mightst know, — When thy eyes, dark and deep with soulful glow, And thy innocent glance first mirrored mine. My heart humbled, and rose entwined with thine. Then to hear thy sweet speech enrapt and filled My warm heart with seraphic joy and thrilled The soft chords in my breast with agitation. As thy swan-white throat's chords in fluctuation. Thy dark glossy hair shades a brow as queenly As the Summer sky arched serenely Far above the vile world ; and thy pure soul Doth contented wear meek woman's aureole. Thy fantastic steps grace thy modest carriage. Who would then your unpretending way disparage? She, who holding to her allotted sphere Is submissive, is man's bright angel peer. AEOLIC LYRICS 29 Of the gods there is one boon that I would ask, If in smiles of their favor I may bask : To enthrall thy leal virgin heart and kiss Thy chaste lips, — that indeed, for me full bliss ! 30 AEOLIC LYRICS THERE'S A WILD MOSSY GLEN There's a wild'^mossy glen Hidden from sight of men. There me the beechwood stream Lulls in Elysian dream. Liver-leaves' curled pale tips, Wax-lushed arbutus lips. From the Spring's leaf-mould rise,- Glinting Youth's morning skies. Balmy winds waft sweet notes From the wild wood-birds' throats, Tingling the list'ning ear, Wakening mem'ries dear. Spring's soft green fairy opes Buds, and revives fond hopes, — Hopes that thrill far apart Deep in the secret heart ! When the spring sunshine's beam Dimples the murm'ring stream, Won't you come with me then To the wild mossy glen ? AEOLIC LYRICS 31 SOMEHOW, SOMEWHERE, SOME TIME, SOME ONE Somehow to us there seems to be A happier realm beyond the sea; Somehow for us a hopeful evening star Beams in resplendence from afar. Somewhere the flow'rs are blooming fair, Rapturous music fills the air; Somewhere the seraphs wing their flight Gleaming with iridescent light. Some time the struggling soul will rise Clasping in peace the cherished prize. Some time the golden bell will toll Telling that Some One reached the goal. 33 AEO'LIC LYRICS A FIRST SPRING DAY To-day reviving Nature sees The warbling bluecoat reflect The azure of the dome; the blackbirds tune the breeze With twanging dialect ; Meadow lark and song sparrow sing In raptured joyful strain The matins of returning Spring And herald Ceres' reign. Each clucking hen and lusty cock Resound the hopeful note ; The country maid in charming frock With music trills her throat. In rustic lanes the tint of green Is deep in springing blade. The farmer heeds the bidding queen And smooths his rusty spade. Full flowing brooks bear melted snow Thru meads from mountains' clutch, And put the willows into glow With water's magic touch. The March sun, ling'ring warm along The woodside, softly thrills The sheeny beech and chestnut throng, — Its mystic pow'r instills. E'en so I feel within my heart The spirit of the day : In happy vein, with modest art, I pen this vernal lay. AEOLIC LYRICS 33 THE LOVER'S REQUIEM Thou bloom'st no more, — soft blushing rose, Of lovely mien and queenly pose. Death blanched thy florid cheek and chilled Thy veins, thy magic voice is stilled. Sleep, Sweet Heart, sleep ! Beneath the willow and green sod Earth's beauty mingles with the clod ; But, as a star, there shines to me The Light of Life that gleamed in thee. Sleep, Sweet Heart, sleep ! Tho deep and bitter was my grief To find my sweetest bliss so brief. Thy peace in Paradise I hold above The throbs and throes of mortal love. Sleep, Sweet Heart, sleep I The full charm of thy woman's grace And sweetness of thy gentle face Will linger by the rugged way To thrill and soften life each day. Sleep, Sweet Heart, sleep ! The Pow'r that led thy chaste young soul Will guide me to the holy goal, And when life's subtile fibril parts Eternally rejoin our hearts. Sleep, Sweet Heart, sleep ! 34 AEOLIC LYRICS HER BIRTHDAY May God, who has made you gentle, beautiful, So amiable and so artless, Add sweeter years to life yet bright and youthful, And brim your chalice with love's largess. May your beloved be standing by your side On each recurring birthday, — ■ Guard you 'gainst ev'ry menace of the tide, Caress, cheer you, and smooth your way. And, Shipmate, when we've braved the weather May we drift into port together! AEOLIC LYRICS 35 THE CALL OF THE BLUEBIRD With ruddy breast and coat of blue, A bird, and yet, a prophet, too, — Of Spring a tuneful harbinger, Of joy a happy trumpeter ! Its voice is caUing from the trees, Its song is borne upon the breeze, — A song of hope to weary ones, A bugle call to moiling sons ! Wild nature's deep occulted note Wells from this warbling bluebird's throat, Falls upon a hapless list'ning ear, — Awakes a soul and prompts a tear ; Recalls the joyful, dreamlike days When nature's charm ful artless ways And the sweet freedom of the wild Were kindred to the simple child. Oh, list, thou of the burdened soul, Cease striving for a sordid goal ! Oh, come where life is all unbound. Where beauty, bliss, and peace are found 1 To feel no bond, to know no law, And own a joy no man e'er saw, — Ah, fettered heart, if thou couldst be, As this, as happy, wild, and free 1 36 AEOLIC LYRICS EASTERTIDE This recurring Eastertide, As arose the Qirist who died, So revive the sere strewn glades, So emerge the em'rald blades. Now again do I renew The chord twining me with you, — As a bird song sweetly welling, As a leaf-bud softly swelling. AEOLIC LYRICS THE LOVER'S LONGING The chimes of city Sabbath bells In distant lofty spires Float o'er the valley like a chant Of deep celestial lyres. Alone upon the wooded slope I dream and long for thee To sweeten and fulfil my joy And share my reverie. 38 AEOLIC LYRICS TO THE IRISH Here's to the Irish blood of surging flood and flow That flush and mantle brow and cheek with blush and glow, To Irish beauty nourished under Irish skies, The Irish spirit burnished deep in Irish eyes, The vivid wit, the eloquence, the songs that start From fervid Irish tongue and tingling Irish heart ! AEOLIC LYRICS 39 IN THE WORLD OF MY DREAMS No nations and no creeds that passions fan For religious and for patriotic clan. Woman not man's mere lust-chattel. No stint on childhood's romp and prattle. 40 AEOLIC LYRICS TOLSTOY A Great-Heart, scarred and chafing under bond, Burst the manacles of Mammon's canting creed ; A Gentle-Noble lived the Golden Law ; and donned The peasant's smock, to bear, to plod, and bleed. Artist, Liberal, O man almost divine ! Bearer of the Christian cross, — ^that crown is thine ! AEOLIC LYRICS 41 DEATH : UNLEASHING THE SOUL Abroad the harrowed soul is now convoyed. The Soul! untrammeled and majestic, cast Awing across the verge of mortal void, Ascending into the celestial vast ! 43 AEOLIC LYRICS O MY SOUL! Where singing pleiad stars and spheres refulgent roll, Awing in ringing spaceful realms, — O my soul ! AEOLIC LYRICS 43 VICTOR HUGO Your tragic master mind impelled a magic pen, — Delineated in epopees of life The throes and blood-throbs of the hearts of men In lapse and flow of flesh and spirit strife. Grim knight of Liberty with glowing lance, Erect, defiant thunder-Thor of France, Despots shiver at the lightning of your ire! Poet of Light and Progress, twanging your majestic lyre For outcast poor and martyr young in fervent plea, — O eloquent Inspirer ! you enkindle me ! 44 AEOLIC LYRICS YE MINDS OF FRANCE! O ye immortal minds of tragic France ! Leading the daring van in man's advance ; Your quills, steeped in the heart's molt, swept with lucid grace Words pulsing labored throbs of the aspiring race. AEOLIC LYRICS 45 SCHILLER Not yours vain erudition's pedant lore, But yours the coursing fountain's silv'ry pour. Emotive thought exuberates with music's art And flows in noble numbers from your manly heart. In youth you grandly sung the revolution song Of the world's dispossessed, begrimed, and tragic throng ; Pondered History's coruscant horoscope, And voiced the madd'ning multitude's wild horrent hope. You fire the bounding bosom of aspiring youth, Infuse with astral gleams of ideal-truth; Exalt and stir his mind in sweet inspired unrest To disclose the godlike in his human breast. 46 AEOLIC LYRICS RUMJ, THE PERSIAN MYSTIC I salute and call to you, O seer of souls, Soaring in the void beyond the outmost poles! AEOLIC LYRICS 47 TO A BIRD'S-FOOT VIOLET IN DECEMBER Meek gemlet of the sparse-turfed open slope, Cerulean star of April's floral pleiades, Abloom amid bare earth and airs that freeze, When I espied thy blue-lobed envelope And stared and marveled that thine eye should ope As in day dreams of placid sky and balmy breeze, — So, imaged 'mid my mind's dim filmy filigrees I saw entwined the fresh flower of constant hope. When on my sight thou glean'st, O modest floweret ! I behold in thy serene, pellucid, sky-blue beam An emblem of a gentle bonny eyelet That enchants my mind, exalts my mounting dream With rapt inspiration glinting in its lucent gleam, — Soft, shining, blue like thee, O sweet star violet! 48 AEOLIC LYRICS WOMAN : MASTER OF MAN 'Tis not in woman's Heaven instituted sphere To command shrewishly, nor lowly to obey ; But tenderly to consecrate and nobly sway. Not as a thrall in meek abjection to adhere, But gentle angel guardian ever hov'ring near. Not merely ministering in the carnal clay ; But of afflatus fire the animating fay, — And, still, a placid pilot of his rash career. Not man's mere mistress thru the passions' tyranny. Mere mistress of desire, but queen in his esteem ; Not wielding in the flesh, but in the soul supreme. Her kindled eye the pole-star of his destiny. Her musing mind the matrix of his gestate dream, — Hers is the major chord in spirit symphony. SEP 4 1913