GIFT OF James Har court West v . POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS AND OTHER PIECES: INCLUDING ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN SONNETS BY JAMES HARCOURT WEST AUTHOR ^OF "UPLIFTS OF HEART AND WILL," "THE COMPLETE LIFE, "IN LOVE WITH LOVE," "THE NINTH PARADISE," ETC. KRttfj JFour Illustrations BOSTON THE TUFTS COLLEGE PRESS PUBLISHERS COPYRIGHT, 1914 BY JAMES H. WEST CONTENTS PAGE PROEM : Revolve, O Earth ! i THE SPIRIT OF SONG 2 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS MAN S TRIUMPH-ERA (Phi Beta Kappa poem] 3 THE EPIC OF MAN 27 MISCELLANEOUS Accelerant 37 To a Baby of the Twentieth Century 38 Alpha and Omega 39 Up to the Heights 41 What Are We Here For ? 42 The Great 43 No More 46 The Wail of Low Humanity 47 Justice ! Freedom ! 48 Courage, O Workers ! 49 Good Shall Conquer, Never Fear .- 51 SONNETS The Dayspring 53 Reciprocation 54 The New Creators 54 Dream-Prophecy 55 Lowell 56 In Admiration of World-Helpers 56 Children s Children 57 Detritus, I., II., III., IV 58-60 Meditation After the Passing of Ernest Crosby 60 O Story-Teller! Poet! 61 Residuum, I., II 62-63 Entombed 63 To Yield 64 V 5 6 7 -S i ,. vi CONTENTS POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS MISCELLANEOUS PACK Earth s Golden Prime Lies Infinitely On 65 " Signs and Wonders " 66 To Truth My God 69 " Prepared " 70 Deeper and Higher 71 God and Man 72 Man s Best Word God s True Word 73 The Liberty Wherewith We Are Made Free 74 The Age of Good . . 75 In the Name of God 76 Star and Cross 76 The New Evangel . . , x 77 Uplifts of Heart and Will 78 Transformation 79 In Secret 80 Whence the Glory ? 80 " Laborers Together " 82 SONNETS Search 83 Loftier Good 84 Worship 84 Revelation , 85 " Of One " 86 The Mother 86 Beacon-Lights 87 Religion as a Life .< 88 " I Will Lay Mine Hand Upon My Mouth " 89 Recognition of Oneness 90 Wings 91 " To Thine Own Self Be True " 92 POEMS OF LIVING MISCELLANEOUS Man s Opportunity 93 Ungrasped 95 Thyself Within 96 CONTENTS vii POEMS OF LIVING MISCELLANEOUS (continued] PAGB The Path of Sun 97 Life s Meaning 98 Futures 102 Coin in Any Realm 102 Soul s Paradise 103 Forever On 103 " In Thy Youth " 104 Soul and Sense 104 Life s Beauty 105 Work 106 Confessions of a Voluptuary 107 The Laughing Philosopher no Inward Fires 113 Sage and Clown 114 Three Quatrains: Self-Illumined 116 Words and Deeds 116 The Devil of Drink 116 Dream-Counsel 117 Cypress-Crowned 119 Forelooking 120 Zeal 122 Through the Sunset Sea 123 After a Week with a Woodchopper 125 At the Summit -127 SONNETS To Prize Life s Hardness 129 How Sing st Thou, Then ? 130 Joy in One s Work , . 130 The Man on the Mountain ~ 131 Hours of Insight -. 132 My Feathered Preacher 132 Ideal Beauty 133 The Path, L, II I34-I35 The Victor 135 Spirals 136 Heart s Treasures 136 viii CONTENTS POEMS OF LIVING SONNETS (continued} PAGE And Last of All I Learn It 137 Foils, I., II 13^-139 Platitudes 139 Noon in the Printing-Shop 140 True Life of Us , 140 The Nameless Record 141 A Radiant Youth I Knew, I., II 142-143 Self-Made Crosses 143 Causation 144 Heredity 144 Self-Gratulation 145 Across the Line: At Fifty .*..... 146 Ultima Thule 147 The Loveliest Angel 148 POEMS OF NATURE MISCELLANEOUS In Treetop Land , . . 149 "A Breath from the Fields" 150 Daffodils 152 Sonata of the Dragon-Fly 1 53 Body and Spirit 155 Mystic River 157 Sunshine 160 Pan ,63 SONNETS One with All . . . 165 In Suburban Woods 166 Sunrise in Codman Park 166 In Vacation 167 By Dark or Light 168 Enchanted Ground 168 So Like the Spring She Stands 169 The Earth at Play 170 Hills of Morning 170 Comrades 171 CONTENTS ix POEMS OF NATURE SONNETS {continued} PAGE To My Old Wheel 172 On Crossing the Charles at Its Mouth . . 172 A Spray of Hemlock 173 Gull and Wave 174 Exemplar 174 On Cape Ann 175 Dear Mother Earth 176 Two Wisps of Straw 176 Nature s Foundlings 177 The Secret 178 Spirit with Spirit 179 The Pendulum 180 SONNETS OF THE BLUE HILLS RESERVATION Indian Summer 181 In the Blue Hills in November, I., II 182-183 On Hancock Hill 183 In Wildcat Notch 184 In Wonder Every Hour 184 Winter Glory 185 On Board Ship in Sassamon Notch . . 186 Gain Still the Goal 186 Vine and Birches 187 "The Shanty" 188 The Silver Birch . 189 The Pine-Tree 190 To a Hemlock on Chickatawbut 191 December Hilltops 192 POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE MISCELLANEOUS The Transcendent Possibility 193 The Kiss of Death 194 The Loved and Gone 195 Who Knows? 196 The Passing 199 Gone 201 x CONTENTS POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE (continued) SONNETS PAGE At the Turn of the Road 203 By the Dark-Bright River 204 Eastward Windows 204 Known of Old 205 The Vanished 206 ADDITIONAL POEMS THE BELLS OF COMO . . . 207 HEART OF YOUTH 227 MISCELLANEOUS Day Unto Day .../.... 235 When Young Hearts Love 237 I Feel That I Know Her 238 Sweetest Songs Are Never Sung 240 The Schoolmaster s Dream 242 Old Timothy John 245 Midas and Musagetes 249 Moonlight on College Hill 251 College Hill 254 SONNETS In a Country Burial-Ground 256 Love s Predicament 257 Penalty 258 To the Muse, After Silence 258 "Good-Bye" 259 Rebirth 260 TIMES AND SEASONS For a Birthday 261 Merry Christmas 262 " Then Felt I Like Some Watcher of the Skies " . . . . 262 Bon Voyage 264 Death of My Friend : the Old Year 265 Easter 266 CONTENTS xi ADDITIONAL POEMS (continued) OCCASIONAL AND PERSONAL PAGH In Grateful Love 267 To My Children on Their Marriage Day 268 " Look Back at Times " 269 Out of the Distance 271 Up Higher 272 " Seventy " 274 SONNETS Mother and Child 276 To James Vila Blake 277 In Quest to Know 278 At Spruce-Tree 279 God s Mariners, I., II 280-281 The Loyal Traitor 282 Redeem Yourself, O Land ! 282 Five Times 283 Finished 284 IN MEMORIAM The Dead Student 285 Lewis G. Janes . . . 288 Adoniram Judson Patterson 290 EARLIER PIECES Concord River 291 Whither, Ye Stately Ships 295 The Sorrowing Wind 297 A Cane from Gethsemane 298 The Violet 301 All as One 304 L ENVOI : Meteors 305 INDEX OF TITLES 307 INDEX OF SONNETS 312 GENERAL INDEX 314-328 ILLUSTRATIONS " Fragrance of clover, coolness in the deeps Beneath low branches where the long grass creeps, And most of all, the high horizon s rim, Where cloudy summits, swathed in beauty, swim." Frontispiece How blest are they whose feet these slopes ascend, Where Thought and Brotherhood together blend ! " Facing page 4 " Come out and visit us ! the Blue Hills call : From Rattle Rock or Chickatawbut scaled See leagues of undulating glory spread ! " Facing page iSi " Full many a placid hour Beside your edge I ve strayed, And many a sylvan bower Has Fancy there displayed." Facing page 292 Xll PROEM PROEM Revolve, O EattJi ! You cannot whirl And in your pathway not unfurl Rare canvases of sky and sea And glowing faces, greeting me. You too revolve, my circling rhyme ! Not yours the art defying Time, Yet canvases of love you show, WJiere troubled hearts for rest may go. Flow on, thou Ocean at my door ! Not here alone your billows roar, But mid the ice of Arctic seas And round tJie shining Cyclades. Flow too, my verse, in mobile tide ! On Being s billows rise and ride. Not yours to tJiunder round the Poles, But haply you may freshen souls. In beauty bloom, O tasseled Corn And Wheat lands that the West adorn ! The sunlight s kisses crown your head And you, supply the world with bread. O soul s high uplands where I plant ! Life s simples are your harvest scant. Happy if seekers in your hills Find herbs for healing human ills. THE SPIRIT OF SONG Raptured by the Springtime Muse, Do the robins " will" to sing? Do the meadow-sparrows "choose" When their liquid notes shall ring , Nay, the lilt is in their heart, And the strains unbidden start. Song, thou soul s divine estate, Hold me ever at thy call ! Left in silence, glad I wait ; Used, I render thee my all. Humble is my homely lyre Thou the spirit, thou the fire. POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS MAN S TRIUMPH - ERA Read at Tufts College, June 18, 1906, at the meeting of the Delta Chapter of Massachusetts, PHI BETA KAPPA * * [The poem depicts a walk with college men, with discourse on human progress] a Btbu Kf/3ep ^77x779 " Philosophy ( Wisdom ) the guide of life POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS 7. MAN S TRIUMPH -ERA MAN S TRIUMPH -ERA i Hail, scenes and faces of my youth s delight ! And you no less, friends newer to my sight ; For all are one, in heart and wish and will, Who ever came in faith to College Hill. How blest are they whose feet these slopes ascend, Where Thought and Brotherhood together blend ! Where Knowledge lures the mind to highest reach, While Friendship binds the seekers each to each. Knowledge alone is but an Arctic dame ; She needs the ardor of Affection s flame, The fertile warmth which nurtures scope and plan, Ere she shall minister her wealth to man. Put well your knowledge to some frequent use, The Alpine blossom yields its saving juice ; Cherish your brothers in the daily stress, - The calculus uncovers a caress. T was thus I dreamed in years when life was young ; For this no less to-day I find a tongue. Required to sing on Learning s sacred ground, What higher strain could loyal minstrel sound ! 4 f CTQ rt f rt. <-f 3- 2 5T s,. ^ "P- I MAN S TRIUMPH -ERA ii I thank you, brothers, for this honor given ! Had I, ambitious, for distinction striven, A higher honor I had scarcely sought Than this which freely to my hand you brought. It is not now as in the days of old, When godlike Homer wove his cloth of gold, Or Pindar, for admiring throngs around, Made Nature vocal with alluring sound. The warrior and the senator found then Their rest and recreation in the pen, And highest honors of the hall and State Were his who had the genius to create. Swayed by the magic muse of Sophocles, Men hailed him messenger of Heaven s decrees. The ardor of a mind-exultant day Awoke in him a soul-exalting lay, In which, forever, Justice found a tongue, And gods from men their evil impulse wrung. No joy or rage he sang with tuneful art But found an echo in the human heart. Let ^Eschylus but offer to recite, A crowd hung breathless till the shades of night. O time-long tragedy ! the life of good, Which vainly struggled to be understood, Yet, baffled by the ignorance of man, So often held him under cruel ban ! But eager multitudes enraptured heard, And felt forgiven as by some Heavenly Word. 6 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS Simonides but raised his voice to sing, A score had laurels in their hands to fling, And all his audience arose as one To thunder plaudits when his verse was done. Happy the poet bringing rhymes to-day Whose hearers do not rise to run away ! in Yet not to Poesy to man s own heart The doom, if earnestness from earth depart ! For Song is Earnestness ! is Vital Force ! Its lightning flashes from the Primal Source ; And robed in phrase of beauty, sweet and high, It lifts man s spirit to its native sky. It dies when pettiness or thirst for power Usurps inglorious the spirit s dower ; Life s outward luxury divine as means Is sordid end, and to decadence leans. Time was, New England gloried in her choir Of poet-prophets of divinest fire ; America again shall burst to song When she again exalts the right o er wrong, The permanent o er transient, golden joys Of lasting greatness o er its poor alloys. No greatness gleams where verse in thought is bound And bards content themselves with form and sound. The singers who have held the world in awe Chose mighty themes ! They sought the secret law Which binds men to the highest, and their strife Revealed the oneness of that law with Life. MAN S TRIUMPH -ERA 7 The singers of the early Attic line Struck oft a chord less human than divine. The drama of man s tragic earthly fate, The love of love, an awful hate of hate, A yearning death s dark mystery to scan, The overbrooding of the gods with man, Life s deep despair, hope s strife magnanimous, The vulture and the chains on Caucasus, Love ever dragging stones up slippery hills, Yet good triumphant at the last o er ills, The groping soul in labyrinth of doubt, Yet faithful to the clue which leads it out, Thus sang and strove the giant poets then, And justified the ways of God to men. To-day no more we lift that heathen rod, But justify the ways of men to God ! IV The seer alone shall sing ! his word has worth In measure as it rarefies the earth. O Dante, Milton, Wordsworth, Tennyson ! By right divine your deathless fame ye won ! O Lowell, Whitman, Emerson ! your brows Were lofty with the truth ye did espouse ! Freedom and justice brotherhood your call ; No thought of self was yours, but thought of all ; And endless as the ages is their fame Who dare for truth the world s repulse and shame. This is the touch, the test the Muses bring To venturing spirit who aspires to sing : 8 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS What bliss wilt thou forego, what danger dare, What nakedness and ignominy share To give thee insight, wisdom, make thee ripe To blow upon Apollo s tuneful pipe ? That soul alone who shareth mortal woe Triumphant up Parnassus heights shall go ; That spirit only which hath felt the fire Can fail a flame to make the world aspire. No less our rare To-day than epochs gone May sound the poet s call, " Come up and on ! " The world from gloom of a material age Is sweeping to a sunlit heritage. O humble who would strike immortal lyre, Ascend Prometheus-like and seize your fire ! There is a spirit in the air to-day Which cries, " Return ! Resume the righteous way ! The broader universe which now men know Seemed bent at first men s faith to overthrow. With faith and fear went consciousness of right, But they have found false freedom but a blight. Though sundered from the dogmas of the past, They find the soul s high dignity holds fast. They learn that liberty is not despite, That freedom is but freedom in the right. Again they know that good has power to bless ; Integrity is still the one success. The mighty problem which confronts men now Is Knowledge with devotion to endow. MAN S TRIUMPH -ERA 9 High work has science ; this is harder, higher : New insight with old reverence to inspire ! The creeds of ignorance can ne er return ; Their imaged woes in their own torment burn ; But the high temper of their authors souls Must color and inflame our finer goals. A lofty lie may lofty fruitage bear If lofty spirits give it sun and air ; But truth itself shall fail of saving might If halting followers neglect its light. One sacred highway opens for man s feet : The path of Truth : through flowers through dust and heat. One deathless passion sanctifies his heart : To do the Right, and never from it part. VI The Truth ? the Right ? are these so hard to find ? Are men so godlike, yet forever blind ? A scholar sought to know where truth might lie, That he might follow it ere called to die. Through all the weary wilderness of books He wandered, as a child by running brooks. No ancient shrines or monuments he missed, Nor peaks Himalayan, all sunrise-kissed, Where Meditation dreamed and mystics dwelt. Whatever China taught or Egypt felt He made his own ; and Babylon and Greece Lent sculptured fantasy and golden fleece. io POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS Through all the French philosophers he sought, With German metaphysics patient wrought ; And Spencer, Darwin, Dolbear, Royce, and James In his long studies were familiar names. One summer twilight, still he delved and dreamed, Though far as ever from the truth he seemed ; And while, through open door, came insects hum, He wrote this sonnet of the Pendulum : THE PENDULUM Nature, in thy glad temple, to and fro, Ever the pendulum of beauty swings ; Summer or winter, spring or autumn, brings Rapture of eye where er we turn or go. Dawn-dew, the virtue of the sunrise-glow, The grasses strength, the spruces freshening rings, Fall s smokeless flame, white wreaths December flings, Largess of beauty gods might joy to know. Surely, O Nature, thine no mocking bloom ! Vibrates thy pendulum not aimlessly, An order meaningless, a dial-less clock ! Yet where revolve thy hands that point our doom ? And how through ages is rewound thy key ? No answer greets us though we knock and knock. Before him open on the table lay In Greek the volume wherein day by day MAN S TRIUMPH- ERA n He pondering read of one whose soul was set To raise the world above consuming fret ; A soul that found in lilies of the field A promise of the beauty life should yield To every seeker who with simple heart Embraced the good and bade the ill depart. The Greek he loved, and in it daily read ; It seemed a living language, not a dead. And yet its meaning did not live for him ; It oft seemed desultory, vague, and dim. He did not dig into its heart to find The secret hidden there, but read as blind. So read he now, perceiving not its grace, Nor knowing that it wore a seraph s face. " What meaning," cried he, " can this mystery bear ? " Then scanned again the wonder written there : " Tt ^rjrelre TOV ^wvra pera TCOV ve/cpwv ; " " T is of a piece," he said, " with all my search Through dim philosophy and dimmer Church, Through science, dogmas, ancient pagan lore, Old Eastern dream and Western logic s store ; It all resolves itself at last to haze, And leaves the seeker wandering in a maze." Poor foolish scholar ! asking still the same Old foolish questions without end or aim ! Happy, the drawing night approached in calm, And wrapped the earth and him in slumber s balm. 12 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS While now in dreams he wandered, worn with thought, A sudden glow descended, and he caught A vision of a bright angelic form, As mellow as the sunlight after storm. The apparition smiled, serene his look, And laid his angel finger on the book ; Then scanned with love the scholar and the page, And read aloud the dream of Syrian age, The very words at which the scholar stopped Ere wearily in sleep his head he dropped : " Ti Treire TOV //.era TV " Your search," the Angel said, " has here its end ! This heavenly trope becomes your guide and friend ! Upon this vine hang grapes in rich excess Which each new age for wine of life must press. The letter killeth," said the Angel bright ; " The spirit giveth unimagined light. Forget the time and scene that spake the word, As ye neglect the plumage of a bird When song ecstatic ripples on the air, Its melody a medicine for care. Ye strive for truth in dreams of ages fled : Why seek ye for the living mid tJie dead ! What if the secret in that phrase should be - Seek not for truth in old futility ! 1 Seek not the living where repose the dead - Seek not in crypts and catacombs for bread, MAN S TRIUMPH -ERA 13 Seek not the dawn in darkened sunset sky, Seek not for flame where only ashes lie. The living dwell not where the dead repose : Only the beetle to such feasting goes. Rest not thine eye on graves, but rather scan Some living world where waits some living man. Grind not forever the Past s mouldy bones ; The Present offers hot electric stones From out whose contact if his aid man lend Burst rays of energy earth s woes to end. Not by the starry reckonings of the Past The course of current destiny is cast. No act or thought of yesterday can say To present need, I am the truth, the way. Each sun that rises draws its heavenly rill, And adds to human insight, wish, and will. The truth comes nearest in each latest deed Where earth is helped, or they are raised who bleed." When morning, robed in iridescent light, Made hill and tree a rapture to the sight, The scholar rose and looked upon the earth, His soul exuberant with holy mirth. The blossom he had sought so far away He found a-bloom in his own heart that day : In the Present s need and beauty Find the Present s truth and good ; Only in its present duty Shall the Now be understood. 14 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS VII How beautiful is youth which sets its heart To know earth s needs and takes the righteous part ! O you once young with me ! and ever young ! How sweet those vanished seasons when we flung Our flag of eager search to truth s free sky, And vowed its ministry to magnify ! These slopes to which fond memory oft returns Were then our Horeb ! (Moses bush still burns !) And all the wide horizon round about Was Holy Ground, and we its priests devout. How oft, in dear dead days no more to be, Yon hills and waters lured us forth in glee To seek enchantment such as sailors find When up the streams of some new world they wind ! Columbus nor Vespucci ever knew More marvels than before our footsteps grew : Lakes, pathless forest-ways, the rocky dome Of crumbling hills where blue-bells had their home, And pines and hemlocks which in shady grove Implored us, " Rest, belov d ! no longer rove ! " Boughs which, when we departed, gave us bloom Freely to decorate our evening room ; Nor ever ours Macbeth s despairing thrill When Stoneham woods should come to College Hill, But rather, rare delight that in our arm We bore the leaves for every earthly harm. Yet ne er we journeyed on that frequent walk Simply to wander. Nay, we went to talk. MAN S TRIUMPH -ERA 15 Nor yet alone to talk, but also think, Determined not Thought s utmost isle to shrink. O mind of youth, how large thy thoughts and wide ! What though Tradition may thy dreams deride, Let no professor think he shall confine In four-walled class-room search for the divine ! Not in books only of the mouldering Past In living souls the melodies that last ! So forth we wandered youths on errands bent : The " Father s business " which is never spent. " Come, Frank ! come, Rufus ! let us walk to-day ! " That call, who heard and ever answered " Nay " ? I pause and ponder. Fain my eyes would look Again upon each face as on a book. Once more I mingle with that eager band ! In thought I greet them, take each friendly hand. O magic art that summons vanished joys, Through thee I hail again the old-time boys ! VIII THE OLD-TIME BOYS O brothers, give a moment s dream To sacred seasons gone ; Again catch evanescent gleam Of Joe and Will and John. How many are the years between, With hopes that rose and sank ! 16 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS But naught can our affection wean From Ez and Rob and Frank. Brave comrades ! some have tamed the air, Some spanned the mountain gorge ; We love to see the natives stare At deeds of Sam and George. Tread softly ! some are lying low Within their grassy bed ; All dewy are the flowers we throw To slumbering Dick and Ned. A thousand still earth s bubbles chase As years successive fall ; The prizes are they worth the race To Steve and Gus and Paul ? A score are wise professors now Who once seemed dull as we ! We doff our hats to Tom, and bow, He s now a PH.D. A host, with tireless pen and brain, Have wrought for truth and man. T is well ! for us they still remain Just Eb and Rube and Dan. To grow so great, upon what meat Hath this our Caesar fed ! MAN S TRIUMPH -ERA 17 Of old, who dreamed such lofty seat Would be attained by Fred ? A modest glow may likewise thrill Your bard of transient fame ; Upreared upon this honored Hili One Hall embalms his name ! 2 But, comrades, mainly t is the strength, The loyal works and lives, Of silent sons, by which at length A fostering mother thrives. Be sure, O who in quiet ways Still honor Tufts by deeds, That youths as endless as the days Shall still supply her needs. Still fresh, on Oval and in halls, As time its passage treads, Shall rise, when Alma Mater calls, Her answering Johns and Eds. IX But, brothers, now, in thought of other years, On one glad walk to-day be my compeers ! Those rovings of our youth-time come not back ; Nor, came they, could we take the selfsame track ! 1 At that time the President of Tufts College. 2 West Hall ! i8 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS The cherished groves which lured our youthful feet, The scenes where soul found contemplation sweet, Have vanished ; and through hillside, field, and fen Wind busy highways now, for busy men. With changing generations and new days Change also paths where men s ambition strays. The waking world learns riches cannot take The place of honor, nor its loss remake. Our boasted age its "golden standard" had, But holds its standard now but money-mad. If one had genius, that was very well If it enabled him to buy and sell. Worth still the man did make, and crowned the earth ; But it must be a million dollars worth. The wind blows east, and then the wind blows west ; The wind of virtue speeds man s shallop best. Come, Tom ! come, Harry ! walk a mile with me ! The earth has gold no sordid eye can see : It lies beside the common road the way Where buttercups flash open to the day And lily-lips reach up to drink the sky And daisy-fields in wind-swept furrows lie. It dwells in simple thought and simple heart, Forsaking care to find the better part. Why mumble dust before one s time, I say ! The dust will come full soon, and come to stay. MAN S TRIUMPH- ERA 19 The twilight falls ! the whip-poor-will His note is calling ; And all the air no moment still Is vibrant with the pulsing thrill Of crickets, spelling field and hill With sound incessant, rising, falling, Fit chorus for the whip-poor-will, Still calling, calling. O you who in these classic hives Find soul-exalting toil, Remember those whose dusty lives Are mured in thankless moil. Pierian spring for you ne er fails ! Their dream no culture decks Whose only knowledge comes in bales, Whose lore is drafts and checks. No time is theirs the clouds to scan Or hear the robin calling ; They ve only time for sifting bran And keeping stocks from falling. On nights so still that field and tree, And even breezes, listen, Oh, who will walk a mile with me To watch Orion glisten ? Forever must we ape the bee ? Forever seek but honey ? 20 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS Oh, who will walk a mile with me To lose a little money ! x With thought of earth as more than golden ball, Come dreams of sharing planet-wealth with all. The race for ages blind with mental lack, And bent with woes of brutehood on its back At length uplifted eyes to greet the stars, Spurned its low levels, burst all hindering bars, Stood upright, knew itself at last as Man, With godlike powers to hew and build and plan. When once he spoke, the victory was nigh ; Speech was his ladder leaning on the sky. Each now could work with others ; each could tell The thought, the dream, which lured him to excel. O magic word, " Together ! " -this the charm To speed the race beyond the power of harm ! Yet man still clung, still clings to-day, with rage, To one fierce instinct of the primal age. The tiger in the jungle tears his prey But warns his fellows from the feast away ! Self, self ! . . . O brother, what does " brother " mean ? Strength s ne er so strong as crying " Brother, lean ! " Is he the anarchist whose hopeful strife Affirms the State s decease Man s larger life ? Is he of law less baleful enemy Who law o er-rides for self-ascendency, Or law manipulates with scheme and plan To pluck and prostitute his brother-man ? MAN S TRIUMPH -ERA 21 Who is the baleful socialist ? the wight Who holds that social righteousness is right, And dreams earth s general product should provide A general sustenance, not slip aside ? The baleful socialist alone is he Who says " Society exists for Me ! " Let none believe he gains the spirit s goal Whose prayer is for his individual soul ; Nor that his earthly bread is more than stone Whose mill-wheels rumble for himself alone. Fie highest " prospers " whose intents are high, Not bounded by the bounds of "thou " and " I " ; He noblest joys who works with Nature s good, Evolving harmony where chaos stood ; Who holds the universe a Cosmos sound, And finds his freedom being nobly bound ; Who does his part to banish ill from earth, Transforming ignorance to art and mirth ; Who asks no cup at Nature s fruitful Fair Which others may not quaff in equal share ; Who dreams no heaven of arbitrary grace, But makes his fellowship the human race. T is he I hail as manly man and true ; His knowledge fits him for time s widest view ; Philosophy indeed instructs his life, He gains its blessing and avoids its strife. Come, Tom ! come, Reuben ! higher see Than this or next world s pelf : 22 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS Oh, who will walk a mile with me To banish dreams of self ? Come, Frank ! come, Will ! the jubilee Of ages sounds its call ! Oh, who will walk a mile with me To give himself for all ! XI Oh, June delight ! Oh, miracle each day Which points our path and signals us away ! The piled luxuriance of pink and white Where orchards lately bloomed, a holy sight, Is now transformed to bowers of densest green, Where swelling fruits expand each day unseen. This wealth unreckoned is our Mother s store, Who never paints " No Trespass " on her door. Who first called Nature " Mother " ? In his soul The partial vanished in the larger Whole ! A mother feeds her child with smiles and songs; No less her milk unto her babes belongs ! A lavish Mother has each son of Earth, And sky and flower and mountain make him mirth. No less her fruits, and every hidden wealth Which warms and nurtures him and brings him health, Belong to him by equal right divine With airs that circulate and suns that shine. A mother lifts not one, thrusts others down, For one a kiss, for one a niggard frown ; Each hungering child receives his needful share, MAN S TRIUMPH -ERA 23 And drinks her being as he drinks the air, While all her children she in turn would call To share with each as she herself with all. What son were he, by food maternal blest, Who turned and pushed his brother from the breast ! A single portion of our own fair land, The State where swings the Gulf s prolific strand, Tis said could furnish in its fertile space Abundant food for all the human race. Unfed ? Unsheltered ? Children pinched and white ? A million prattlers crying in the night ? Unnumbered women toiling beyond strength For just an unknown resting-place at length ? Redemptive genius fettered by the chains W T hich bind its energies to earthly planes ? Rare souls aspiring like prophetic stars, Yet cramped by poverty s unyielding bars ? Earth charged with force to fill all right desires, And men not daring to connect the wires ? Resolved : that Nature s bounty is for Man ! For all enough, for none neglect or ban. Resolved : for Mother s babes is Mother s breast ! A cupboard and a couch in one dear nest. There is a glory dawning for the race ! Each passing year adds beauty to its face, Each year adds richer lustre to its eye, Each year the heart can feel it drawing nigh. As yet, we fathom not its shape or hue, But it shall vivify mankind like dew, 24 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS And add transcendent grace and loftier worth To virtue, toil, and genius of the earth. Our Mother hails us ! Comrades, women, men ! All ye who honor her ! with voice and pen Do something loftily from day to day To bring the year for which the nations pray, When none of needed bounty shall go bare, But all in Nature s wealth have ample share. How shall we put our knowledge best to use ? By freeing earth from error and abuse. Cherish your brothers in the daily stress, The calculus uncovers a caress. The Mother sings sweet lullaby ; Her love would banish moan. Oh, who will walk a mile with me To bring to Man his own ? And not America alone is ours To lift to beauty and adorn with flowers. Love fails which circles land and kin alone ; Its lines must reach to farthest race and zone. Earth s wine must flow and pity s accents plead Not less for Congo s good than Belgium s need ; T The right must rule, love lisp its sweet " Bismillah," No surer in New England than Manila. 2 1 The date of this poem was the period of the Congo atrocities and ( 2 ) of the Philippine controversy. MAN S TRIUMPH -ERA 25 How shall our " love of wisdom" guide our lives ? x By nursing prostrate justice till it thrives. Put well your knowledge to some frequent use, The Alpine blossom yields its saving juice. The truth comes nearest in each latest deed Where earth is helped, or they are raised who bleed. Man s triumph-era calls, and we Should hasten it with song. Oh, who will walk a mile with me To free the earth of Wrong ! Of War, and Woe, and Wrong ! XII Day s lengthening shadows with the twilight blend ; Fraternal ramblings all at last have end. One inspiration let our journey give, By which our hearts in hopefulness shall live : The world grows better ! If the paths of wrong Seem many, and the road to virtue long, This only means that Man s ideals are high, And patience needed by who climbs the sky. Let knowledge grow ; let men discern their power To guide and curb the instincts which devour, Till all the mighty passion of the race Shall tend to helpfulness and health and grace. Here on this planet, Nature s offspring high, Called anthropos because he fronts the sky, 1 See significance of " Phi Beta Kappa," page 3. 26 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS Man s upward look has brought him on his way From life s deep valley shadows to the day. And upward, upward still, his feet shall climb, His eyes still lifted to the hills sublime. Be ours of all men claiming, as we do, Philosophy life s blissful avenue To stand with love s rebuke and stalwart arm Across each path which threatens human harm, Still lifting high, with faith that never halts, The flame which human destiny exalts ; Till hoping, longing nations, near and far, All rise and follow when they see the star. POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS II THE EPIC OF MAN Read at the Forty-first Annual Convention and Festival of the Free Religious Association of America, Boston, May 29, 1908 * * [The Free Religious Association of America was founded in 1867 as an affirmation of breadth in the interpretation of religion. Its first recorded member was Ralph Waldo Emerson. Among its Presidents, Vice-Presidents, and Directors have been Thomas Went- worth Higginson, Julia Ward Howe, George William Curtis, Lucretia Mott, Moncure D. Conway, Isaac M. Wise, Octavius Brooks Froth- ingham, Frederick Douglass, Frank Sanborn, Edwin D. Mead, Jenkin Lloyd Jones, and many others of America s leaders in thought, lovers of Freedom, and believers in Man.] POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS 77 THE EPIC OF MAN THE EPIC OF MAN i In these rare days just mellowing into June One theme alone could form a poet s rune ; The theme of growth, of springing life from death, Of Man each year inhaling holier breath. Of Man, then, let me sing, this festal hour, His might, his wisdom, and his glorious dower. ii When human soul first knew itself as soul, It did not feel its wondrous power its own ; Outreaching to embrace the mighty whole Men dreamed the air with gods and demons sown. " Our deeds and speech are not our own," said they ; " We speak and act as Jove or Brahm may sway. If Yahweh curse, we sink beneath his frown ; As gods approve, so go we up or down." But cycles wheeled, and as his vision grew Man found himself far greater than he knew. 28 THE EPIC OF MAN 29 He found that he himself, in human line, Partakes of, and expresses, the divine. " Yourselves are gods ! " was Nature s urging call, " Not wind-swept weeds upon a crumbling wall ! " Thus all things were transformed for those who saw ; For those who recognized deep Nature s law. The multitude might still for ages bend, As still to-day, and prayers with incense blend ; But as for those who caught the gleam divine, In freedom s birthright they would rise and shine ; The universe s forces they would ride, Life s evils they would learn to set aside, And as their might and wisdom gained in grace, So loftier should rise the human race. Their fellows might not see might fear to try To grasp the thunderbolts which shook the sky ; Might even crucify or strangle those Who for their brambles offered them a rose ; But for each upward step which man has taken, Some god or devil from his throne was shaken, Until at last as latest prophets see A natural world awaits man s husbandry, And Sinais now with this new " Table " shine : "THE NATURAL ALONE IS THE DIVINE." 30 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS in The beauty of the world still glows As when the eye first caught the rose. Nay ! fairer is the beauty now, Since human hands have held the plow. Across the heavens the spectral arch Beheld by Aryans on their march Is wonderful no less to-day Than in the primal epochs. Nay, A hundredfold its grace has grown Since man its cause has seen and shown The whip of fire which lashed the skies And scourged with terror ancient eyes, To-day is man s most helpful force His voice, his arm, his tireless horse. So magic of the human mind For man s behoof doth all things bind. The crab has burst to luscious fruit, The fangs are stricken from the brute, The cactus blossoms for his meat, The desert smiles a garden sweet. And soul unfathomed heights of soul Are yet to brighten, Pole to Pole ! The ignorance of man shall cease, The deeper things which bring him peace THE EPIC OF MAN 31 Shall spring from out the crudeness now, And bind sereneness on his brow. The things that perish shall no longer In his high purpose be the stronger, And all that makes for strength and beauty Shall be with him his happy duty. IV O patient, eager race ! still seeking out Through years through centuries the Way of Life! Vouchsafed no revelation but the pain Of error s consequence, no saviour but the joy Of strict conformity to Nature s scheme ; The deeds that mar, the forces that retard These learning to avoid ; the deeds that build And bring to beauty, and transform the brute To angel s guise these following as gleams That point the traveler to rest and peace. Existence, then, resolves at last to this : That men and nations sink to depths of woe, Or rise to blessing, in exact degree That Nature s boundless forces are ungrasped And disobeyed or loftily sought out And loftily pursued to finest ends. For at the heart of all is core of good, And only good can bless or bring to life, And following good is all the Way of Peace. 32 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS O simple scheme ! to seek and know the way And walk in it which bringeth human good ! And this is man s chief end no tangled scheme Of brain-wrought fantasy, in ignorance born, Upspringing in the years when Nature s ways Were undiscerned, uncared for, or opposed ; But loving search and high obedience. What universal powers uplift man s life Work but through man himself ; no power outside, Without his high, co-operative zeal, Exalts him or brings larger loveliness, Or eases pain, or lessens any woe. High voice thus opes to man s interior ear, And bids him bring, himself, on earth, the joy For which through ages he in vain has sought Uplifting hands of prayer imploringly ! Still pray for peace and still rear battle-ships ? Nay, brothers, if ye long for beauteous peace, Beseech no more the seven-fold silent heavens While still up-piling armaments of death ; But you yourselves bring peace by brotherhood ! Since brothers dawn t is brotherhood which aye For brothers hath wrought magic loveliness And so shall be till all mankind are one. The blossoms which in Maytime flood the peach, Till it reveals a fragrant glory-zone Prophetic of the luscious fruit to be, THE EPIC OF MAN 33 Are not more beautiful than brothers love, Nor surer prophecy of sun-kissed fruit. But should the peach-tree, in its springtime glow, Make wanton with its marvel of delight Possessed it power to use its bursting bloom As missiles only, for companions woe What wreck of might ! what harvest unfulfilled ! Behold ! a coming harvest-time of good When man s sweet promise is not wantoned more ! What sting or grief, my brothers, would remain, What rare delight would languish unfulfilled, If men themselves should but arise supreme, In high co-operation each with each ? VI While Nature smiles on every vale and steep, Do children starve and willing workers weep ? Do women in their misery despair, And birth their babes where rabbits would not lair ? While Earth, with welcome of rich fruit and grain, Bids all to plenteous comfort to attain, Do some, by wrong of circumstance or greed, Make life a luxury through others need ? Rejoice ! the happy hour of clearer sight Is coming, when the rule shall be of Right ; When none shall eat unless he also work, And none shall wish his rightful task to shirk, And none shall toil until his soul is dull And shut from prospect of the beautiful, 34 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS But work and leisure in their proper part Shall bring, for all, rich happiness of heart. The weeds of selfish sloth and cramping need Shall wither in the growths from sweeter seed ; Then woman s equal worth shall be confessed, Her equal toils with equal prize be blest ; Disease shall vanish, and destroying lust To mouldering Caves of the Outgrown be thrust By simpler living and a loftier aim, Born of the might which soul may ever claim By drinking at the mighty springs of power Which throb around us as our natural dower. The mighty Presence which involves us all Each human soul, each whirling, skyey ball ; Which thrills through all, and lifts from crude to fair ; The Mystery unsolved, yet which doth bear In its deep bosom balm for all our strife, The Fountain, and the Ocean, of our life, We never nearer than to-day may reach To grasp its secret for our futile speech, But ever deeper, Man shall enter in To use it, and its grace of being win. Be this enough ! it is our heaven of hope, And Life Eternal is to climb its slope. No outer miracle shall bring it near, Though sought by man in love or sought in fear ; But Man himself must gain the sunlit height, And share with every soul its air and light. THE EPIC OF MAN 35 VII Is this the Church s work ? I do not know ! But t is the only way the world shall grow. If still the Church upon man s side would be, It needs but open clearer eyes and see. The Church may do it, or may fail to do, But Man shall do it helped by me and you. Oh, happy opportunity ! to share In making life thus beautiful and fair ! You men and women of this race divine, Your light amid dispersing gloom let shine ! Let not the Past s unwisdom shape To-day ! Rebuke the thought which in the gloom would stay ! Whatever gods may be beyond our ken Are highest served by serving fellow men ; Whatever demons people lowest hell Are fastest chained by human doing well. Be ours to smile, to sing, to work for good, To know that Justice cannot be withstood, To know that Right shall yet illume the earth IF WE OURSELVES BUT GIVE IT GLORIOUS BIRTH. VIII Sing, voices of all birds that trill in June ! Your dear delight Is symbol of the high ecstatic tune, 1 The general topic at the Convention at which this poem was read was The Work of the Church To-day. 36 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS The radiance bright, Which shall encompass Man full soon full soon Shine, rays of myriad suns that gleam on high ! Your glorious flame Is prophecy of lumined earthly sky, Known now in name, And shortly to be made sweet verity ! Rise, human hearts ! too long, too long opprest By forces crude ! The shackles spurn which leave you still unblest Though born to good, And after ages weeping, enter rest ! POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS ///. MIS CELL A NE O US ACCELERANT i For evil or for good we live each day ; Accelerant the good or ill speeds on. Brothers and sisters ! ere earth s hours be gone What will ye answer while the nations pray ? ii His dream was some high gift to Coming Time. But he was powerless what great deed could he ! Modest in name and mien, his mind was free And his heart willing. Was there aught sublime ? Temptation came to him. He did not lack The taint of blood from old heredity Urging him spelling him. Yet valiantly On the alluring ill he turned his back. Later came one he loved, and they were wed. His children had far less the taint abhorred, 37 38 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS While mind and will were trebly in them scored. They led the world on after he was dead. m Unto himself alone no man may live ; Accelerant his strength or weakness grows, In blessing or in curse, where er it flows. - To coming ages what wilt thou, friend, give ? TO A BABY OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Coming like the morning star From unfathomed realms afar ; Flower of mingled sowings vast In the generations past ; Promise of a strength and peace Which shall day by day increase, Baby ! heir of all the earth Art thou, by thy very birth ! Never in a happier day Came a child on earth to stay : All the comforts toil has wrought, All the beauty art has brought, Grace of every poet s song, All to thee by right belong ; MISCELLANEOUS 39 While each year now counts as ten In new benefits to men. Walking where the light allures, Wisdom, little one ! be yours To distill in coming years Further balm for human fears, Adding thy few hopeful grains To the harvest Love attains, Leaving earthly paths more sweet In the passing of thy feet. ALPHA AND OMEGA [1886] Dim in the dark ^Eonian caves, Deep in the Night of earliest Time, There trembled low beneath the waves A mimic protoplasmic sphere, A globule small, whose curve severe Bore in its heart a germ sublime. Naught else in all the universe Such germ possessed as glowed in this ; A germ whose warmth would soon disperse The gloom which bound earth s silent corse : The germ sublime of deathless Force ! - Earth s mystery of mysteries. 40 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS Lichens and moss now found a place Or whence or how, what tongue may tell ? And ferns and grasses filled the space Where erst dull clods and dust had been ; While rustling leaves, with lips unseen, Called to the Ages, " All is well." Lizards and dragons, monstrous forms, Sights that men s eyes would shrink to see Shrieks above elemental storms ! Ah ! through what pain was life evolved ! Only through death and conquest solved, Struggle and blood and agony. But see ! a kindlier hour should come ! Rapine and force sank, shrinking, low ; Thought, invention, showed fairer sum. Hither came Man ! yes, crude indeed, But climbing to heart and mind with speed. On him the gods their best bestow. Love, aspiration, powers sublime ! Sympathy, help, these Now have place. O for the years of Coming Time ! What shall they bring of better yet ? Courage ! not yet man s sun is set. Good is in store for all the race. MISCELLANEOUS 41 UP TO THE HEIGHTS I dreamed the statue of a god Stood high in every market-place, That all who thither toiling trod Might see the beauty of a face Noble, and freed in every trace From want, from selfishness, from sin. Yet seemed it of the human race, Nor wholly difficult to win. Indeed, thrice daily, morn, noon, night, To all the hurriers to and fro Each statue spake : " The Cosmos bright, Each gracious force, above, below, Earth s possibilities but show ! Man can attain whate er he feels ; Up to the heights t is yours to go ; Your gods are but your high ideals." Is this the Vision of the Race ? This its high nobleness of heart ? Be ours to win that finer grace, Ours to do valiantly our part ! Thus from the race s ranks shall start The sonship truly of the Best, And Love s divine and perfect art Henceforth be man s redeeming quest. 42 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS WHAT ARE WE HERE FOR? What are we here for, brothers mine, Upon this Road of Life ? What mean for us the stars that shine, The fields with beauty rife ? What power hath truth to stir our zeal ? What cry hath human need ? Mid earth s conflicting woe and weal, What voices should we heed ? What are we here for ? Here to grow In every grace divine ! The beauty of the world to know, And in its beauty shine ; To follow truth where er it lies, Through loneliness and scorn ; To hold earth s bounty equal prize Of every child that s born. What are we here for in this maze Which no man yet hath solved ? Here to achieve the noblest days Since first the sphere revolved ! Not ours to dull the soul with mirth, Outdrowning human groan, But ours to sublimate the earth And bring to Man his own. MISCELLANEOUS 43 THE GREAT Around me often, when the twilight fades, Come figures giant-brained, heroic-hearted ; In ghostly vigil rise the Great Departed, Of earth s most valiant-souled the deathless shades. They stand upon a background glory-walled, Returned a little from the fields Elysian. As saw the Tuscan in sublimest vision, So see I these, and stand enrapt, enthralled. They move before me with majestic tread, Alive again ! for me anew-created ; In mind and figure rehabilitated. Though gone from earth the Great are never dead. The Great ? Who are the Great ? From distant climes, From years that mould with age and torture s wailing, Within my ken a weary host come sailing, The grave gives up old " heroes " of old times. Eastward with pomp, from Macedonia s gate, Seeking what Asia to his lust might pander, I see the drunken glutton, Alexander, Cruel and vicious, gain his laurel, " Great." 44 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS Thin-visaged, thundering at earth s western door, I see great Julius in Transalpine valleys. How flee the Gauls at his majestic sallies ! How faint they at the fearless front he wore ! Men hail him as he heads his cavalcade, " O Caesar ! where the warrior that can match you ! " But, shivering at the base of Pompey s statue, I see the rent the envious Casca made. Fighter of battles, not in cause of Right, But to his kingdom to add lands and oceans, Peter of Russia fertile in high notions, Fertile in baseness ranges into sight. Near him, great Frederick, Prussia s lofty man, Great in his will-power great in his excesses ! Little in all that elevates and blesses ; Breaker of treaties, liar and charlatan. The slaughterer of hordes unveils his face Napoleon, the dazzling and tremendous ! What Power, what Progress, did his blood-reign lend us ? A ruined country, an impoverished race ! Thus sadly come they from years old and late A wan, deluded army, vulture-haunted, The host a world s mad dream has hero-vaunted, Playing their life-part out "the brave," "the Great." MISCELLANEOUS 45 Alas ! how little in them all we see Of what we call the gracious, the diviner ! Than all this brutehood is there nothing finer ? Oh, turn we where sublimity may be ! Yea, hither, hither come, O Persian Saint, O Buddha of Nepaul, O Syrian Jesus ! No longer deeds of blood and conflict please us ; For heights of soul for love our spirits faint : For those who from life s discords brought a tone Of richest truth and harmony to greet us ; Pythagoras, Isaiah, Epictetus, Saviours in every era, every zone ; For Seneca, Contentment s messenger ; For Socrates, of all souls lofty, breezy ; The Nature-lover, Francis of Assizi ; Aurelius, the inward ponderer ; The early scientists of Nile and Greece, Our own rare searchers, Humboldt, Darwin, Spencer ; Above them all there waves the golden censer Whose fragrance stills life s harshnesses to peace. Yea, those are mortal ; these, immortal ones, The world s unselfish, its true blessing-bringers, Its painters, sculptors, freedom-lovers, singers, Its Shakespeares, Burnses, Lowells, Emersons. 46 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS And so of all the myriad " nameless " men, The faithful women, lovers of self-giving, Who lived for something higher than mere living, And, losing, have yet doubly gained again ! These are the heroes men to-day adore, These are the valiant ones above all story ; This is the pathway to the modern glory Which down the years with added power shall pour : The Greatness that the world shall recognize In conquest over all its pain and sinning, The Love which was not at earth s far beginning, But now is here, and saves and sanctifies. NO MORE No more the world lifts laurel-leaves to crown The wielder of the battle-axe and spear. The trade that filled the earth with fear And robbed the mother of her hard-won prize Her baby with the golden hair and eyes Just grown to manhood, fit for fair renown The trade that wrecked with woe Wide fields all billowy with ripened grain, And turned the rivers healing flow To currents red with wrathful stain MISCELLANEOUS 47 That trade is passing from the earth. No longer entered on with mirth, War now is known As thing the most obscene Mong all the things terrene ; A shame to be outgrown, Unmasked in all its evil mien ; And conquerors are but butchers whose red hands No more triumphant wave through cheering lands, But nerveless fall at love s divine commands. THE WAIL OF LOW HUMANITY [1885] Ah, whither shall we look, and whither turn ? Life s road is bleak ! About us fiercely wrongs and passions burn : For fairer destiny our spirits yearn. Where shall we look ? ah, whither shall we seek ? For we are weak. Up to the silent heavens in vain we raise Our blinded sight. Men through the ages, through long years and days, Their supplications fond, in prayer and praise, Have raised with looks like ours, and faces white Yet sank in Night. 48 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS To You, then, who have fought with Fate like us, And gained a place ! Who by no aid or gift miraculous Have fled the Woe, the Vale Calamitous, But in Man s natural might alone, and grace, Have won life s race, To You, O Brothers higher up, we turn ! Our human kin ! Lendj/^ the means for us life s heights to earn. Uplift with love, where now your brows are stern. Do ye o erturn for us earth s wrong and sin, And let us in. JUSTICE ! FREEDOM ! How shall all mankind be lifted, Strength be brought to weakness lowly, Toil s oppression-clouds be rifted, Right be recognized as holy ? Many eras, many sages, Life s sublimer words have spoken : Flee your blood-stained heritages ! Justice ! Freedom ! these the token. MISCELLANEOUS 49 COURAGE, O WORKERS! Blithely the birds in the treetops are shouting their matins. Hark ! do you hear their glad notes their seraphic rejoicing? Nay, t is the winter s gray fields where we toil and endeavor ! Far in the Southland they warble, those orioles splen did : Give us their olive and palm, their rich tropical splendor, Give us their warmth and their ease then our praise theirs shall equal ! Softly the zephyr chants runes through the leaves of the laurel. Hush ! do you feel on your cheeks its caress as it passes ? Nay, t is a Boreal blast from the caves of the Arctic, Hurling its arrows of sleet, that we feel in our faces! Somewhere for others a few may blow cinnamon breezes ; Not for Man yet as a whole are life s sunny Bermudas. Up the wide beach curl the crests of the beckoning waters. 50 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS Softly they break and submerge the gay circles of bathers Stretched on the sands or pursuing each other with laughter. Join in their care-free delight, O my brothers, my comrades ! Nay, through the ice of the ages we strive and go stumbling ! Far from our reach trend the shores of Man s southern Pacific. Courage, O thinkers ! the systems of men are but transient. Only the system of Man is unique and forever ! Man is the one, the eternal, the mighty, triumphant ! All that is falsehood he spurns as the centuries hasten, All that is wrong he outgrows as his vision increases ; Man is himself of his future the master and builder. Courage, then, workers ! we strive not in vain in the conflict ! Upward he climbs the rude man-child his glory dis covers ! Truth shall be gained, and mankind through the truth shall be victor. Not for a few, but for all, are life s heights and life s splendors Summits of thought and of will ! of the soul ! of the spirit ! Hasten, O earth, to Equality, Brotherhood, Freedom ! MISCELLANEOUS 51 GOOD SHALL CONQUER, NEVER FEAR [ Tune, " Triumph By-and-by " ] Be we the courage-bringers ! Let laugh the bells, O ringers ! Earth s hero-hearts and singers Promise peace. Despair and grief why borrow Full long has man had sorrow ! Work, joyful, for the morrow, Wrong shall cease. Chorus. Never fear ! Light is growing ! Never fear ! Truth is flowing Where humanity shall share it, Never fear ! Never fear ! clouds are fleeing ; Never fear ! men are seeing That the Good at last shall conquer, Never fear ! With hope and high endeavor Earth s great have striven ever The bonds of ill to sever, We may trust ! 52 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS The Past s prophetic preaching, The Present s clearer teaching, The Future s forward-reaching, Win they must ! Chorus. Never fear ! Light is growing ! Never fear ! Truth is flowing, etc. Man yet is onward striving, All happy Art is thriving, The Age of Good arriving, Give it scope ! The heights of Being call us ; If doubt nor fear appall us Life s splendor shall befall us, Work and hope ! Chorus. Never fear ! Light is growing ! Never fear ! Truth is flowing Where humanity shall share it, Never fear ! Never fear ! clouds are fleeing ; Never fear ! men are seeing That the Good at last shall conquer, - Never fear ! POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS IV. SONNETS THE DAYSPRING Earth s night is waning ! Beautiful and fair The dayspring flashes gold across the deep. I see the wailing nations cease to weep, For War and Want lie wounded in their lair And know their end approacheth. Stricken, bare, Bewildered by the Day, the selfish heap Of woes that thrive in darkness take their leap To escape the sunbeams netting in their hair. O human race ! whose hope-illumined heart Greets light with light in answering ecstasy, Let Love and Wisdom flame to more and more ! Flame till there shines on every field and mart The longed-for, deathless day of Liberty, And every sea laps sunlit Plenty s shore. 53 54 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS RECIPROCATION Men in all ages have sowed seed for me, And I have plucked the ripened fruit and grain. Through toil of hand and weariness of brain They brought a wealth of luxury to be, And I inherit it. The good I see And thoughtless thrive in, comes by their long pain. Vassals of Nature, they threw off the chain And handed me their hard-won liberty. What then ? shall I but take ? Nay, also give, As eager to enhance the age-long charm, And Man still higher reach, still wider hope, With simpler, purer pleasures learn to live, Gainst wrongs still rampant lift redemptive arm, To Love s best energies give loftier scope. THE NEW CREATORS How blest am I, who number in my friends Rare souls whose labors glorify the earth ! - Who seek not honors, but with eager worth Urge human destiny to highest ends. They toil heart buoyant, though the world contends ; With mild persistence they transfigure dearth To fulness ; and they meet that higher birth Life " saved " by who alone life freely spends. SONNETS 55 As War is ended ; as Man s age-long blight Of Ignorance is vanquished, and his Will beguiled To tame earth s crudeness ; as to every child Who calls the Earth his Mother more shall flow Of her abundance so these friends may know They are "as gods," from Chaos wringing Light. DREAM -PROPHECY I dreamed last night of standing amid flowers That danced and nodded in the fragrant air. Charmed with their grace I called and called, till there Were eager throngs all plucking from the bowers, Each handing best to each. My dream seemed hours While young and gray, the haggard and the fair, Kept plucking yet the beds grew never bare, But faster blossomed. Human song, " Ours, ours ! Not mine or thine, but ours ! " outrang as sweet As glee of thrushes. His dear hands flung high, A child held roses for his sire to view ; A man wreathed poppies round his mother s feet : "For the first time, dear heart," I heard him cry, " Earth s gifts to all men are for me and you ! " 56 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS LOWELL What was thy Message, Poet, to our day ? What call of God, earth s meanness to retrieve ? . As when one stands upon a hill at eve, And sees rich valleys fade in growing gray, Till blooming field and forest-girdled bay Are lost in gloom, and man and Nature grieve ; Yet, glancing up, finds splendors that relieve, - Star-hosts that hold on high their glowing way : So, in an age with richest gainings fraught, Men have seen Greatness fade, and feared the worst ! Seen selfishness down-settle like a pall ! But lo ! Man s power divine to reach the OugJit This the glad light which on thy vision burst, Prophetic of Love lord at last o er all. IN ADMIRATION OF WORLD- HELPERS O earnest Fathers ! sweet-faced Sisterhood ! Martyrs and Saints of whate er faith or dress ! Self-spent through years so none be comfortless, In thought of others, self in self subdued ! Striving to make mankind more pure and good By warning word and all unused caress ; Earth s saviours ever from perfidiousness, SONNETS 57 Yet scourged and scorned ; oft lacking fire and food! Would that To-day this trebly fine To-day We your helped brothers mid the world s mad strife Might through your love and sacrifices rare Be led to walk your same strong, towering way : Calming the world that hungereth for life By breath of Brotherhood s supernal air. CHILDREN S CHILDREN 1 The Demon Deities of Air and Flood Still crumble cities and o ersurge men s fields ; Ambitious War still drenches lands with blood, And Avarice its weedy harvest yields. Man s conquest, Nature ! of thy forces vast Is but begun thy power still checks his pride; But wait : his skill thy crudeness shall recast, And calm thy winds, thy river-courses guide. His rein already is upon thy neck ; On thine too, Carnage ! slink into thy cage ! And be thou just, O Greed, ere might shall check; Man knows thee mortal as he comes of age. Ye weep, earth s creatures, in the present hour ; Sing too ! in forecast of your children s dower. 1 Written at the time of the Western cyclones and the Southern floods, and of the Turkish and Balkan massacres (1913). 58 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS DETRITUS Could they who till the Mississippi s vales Through thousand thousand leagues far-stretched and fair Know well what wealth of distant mountain stair Has crumbled to endow their verdant dales ; Could they but hear the pounding of old gales In lands of Seneca and Crow and Bear, Or count the centuries the sun and air Have filched from forest-lands with silent flails : Did they thus ken how came their rich black earth, By grain and grain from Gardens of the Gods, From skyey lines far yonder out of reach Where Allegheny, Yellowstone, have birth, What new luxuriance would star their sods, How costlier far would gleam each vine and peach ! ii O humankind ! From hills where darkness hides, From lands of old where lava-torrents hum, Down river-ways tumultuous thou hast come, With yet small lodgment found where grain abides. How slow the centuries ! how blind the guides ! The multitude how deaf and halt and dumb ! Yet steadily Love s wealth adds sum to sum, And age by age the flood of Wrong subsides. SONNETS 59 O smiling plains where yet the rose shall bloom, The rose of Health, the lilies white of Peace, And every golden grain and fruitful vine : For thy blest fields we labor to make room, Where bitterness of Dead Sea fruit shall cease And life grow rich on mingled oil and wine. in And thou Myself ! Thou, too, in hills unknown Hadst thy far rising, and thy lineage Lies dimly writ on equi-distant page With nebulae ere earth knew sea or zone. Dread mystery of Being ! epochs lone Onworking steadily with mete and gauge To urge old Chaos into Cosmic-stage And bring the Age of Man from Age of Stone ! Thine ancestry in body and in mind The fathers of thy healthfullness or pains, The mothers of thy victories and fears, Oh, who shall probe thy secret depths and find ! Small clue thou boldest whom to thank for gains, Or who it is that weepeth in thy tears. IV Did some progenitor who loved the lyre Chant to the sunrise in the ages gray ? Is that, O Self, whenever thou wouldst pray, Why songs ecstatic in thy soul aspire ? 6o POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS Wilful or blindly, did some other sire Cry to his passions, " Have thy fill to-day " ? Came thus thy torture when thou wouldst obey The law of virtue all thy frame on fire? The Past is gone : it is not dead, but past : Its good aggrandize Time will ease its wrong. The Present and the Future these thy quest ! Live that, when gaze of distant years is cast Back to thy time by those whose lives are strong, Their tribute be, " By him the world was blest ! " MEDITATION AFTER THE PASSING OF ERNEST CROSBY How many stalwart saviours of the race Dear friends of mine have taken sudden way Into the Cave of Silence, and there stay, Since first Love s selflessness I learned to trace ! Their fiery darts they hurled at earth s disgrace, Then sank to Darkness from the desperate fray ; While hordes great God! still bask on Hills of Day And turn on Wrong an unimpassioned face ! Oh, who shall dare to tread the earth for naught, SONNETS 61 His pulse still red, when even from dead dust Of Great Ones soars an influence of Might ! Oh, meagre men are we who yet have caught No soul s contagion from their reverent " Must ! " No self-renouncement for Man s larger right. O STORY-TELLER! POET! Shall he his trust betray in whom the spark Imperious, creative, urges " Write" ? Content with artful form and glow-worm light While dowered Prometheus-like to lume the Dark With godlike radiance ? Lift your vision ! hark, O Story-teller ! Poet ! ye whose sight Gives you to lessen Man s inglorious plight And lure his blindfold eyes to skyey mark ! Sound ye the Word which shall transform men s thought Till they, enfranchised, learn that lowliest deed For human brotherhood is loftier prize Than ocean contours for which kings have fought, Or gold, the pallid recompense of greed. Dimmed are Self s torches held gainst Love s clear skies. 62 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS RESIDUUM Of all who lived aforetime, hosts on hosts, Dear dark-eyed babes where reedy Nilus swings, Sweet Indian maids who danced to vina-strings, White souls who peered through Persia s sunrise- posts, Meek hordes who drooped on China s swarming coasts, Dread millions upon millions by the springs Of Niger, Danube, Volga, slaves and kings : Of all these now where even are the ghosts ! And yet they loved and worshiped, smiled and wept, Filled full, as we do, life s allotted page, Dreamed dreams of Good, and hoped to see its day. When myriad suns have round the planet crept, As we of others, so some curious age May seek our line, and wonder, " Where are they"! ii And lo ! should some indeed, when we have passed, Attempt to trace our footprints in earth s sands, Think not we shall have wholly fled the lands : What once hath been doth somehow ever last. SONNETS 63 Dead dreams of Ind and Egypt still hold fast And fetter Thought in more than iron bands ; The labor of the earliest artist hands Is with us yet and gives our toil its cast. O son of man ! Strong daughter of the race ! With you to-day the good or ill resides Of myriad souls who yet shall weep and pray. What tinge ye give of white or crimson trace To thought and deed, eternally abides : Ye still shall live in saint or castaway. ENTOMBED When base Domitian stained the Caesars throne, A Vestal Virgin dared rebuke his shame. Enraged, he clouded her with artful blame, Then buried her alive in crypt of stone. What solace later, though her truth was shown ! The mouldered ear responds to no acclaim : Her eyes with dust estopped despoiled in name She long had perished, woeful and alone. Alone ? O World, a host thou hast decried And scourged, and buried in their wishful prime, Whom later centuries in awe obeyed ! Some ev n to-day, perchance, are thrust aside, Entombed though living, who would lift their time : In dust of negligence all smothering laid. 6 4 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS TO YIELD Darius, when perhaps he might have won, In sudden fear forsook Arbela s plain. No vantage then his captains could maintain, And the great day was lost, to Philip s son. . . . Did some prevision, monarch, through thee run That, shouldst thou lose, the mighty world would gain ? That in the triumph-shock which knelled thy pain Asia, asleep, should hear her sunrise-gun ? Oft would earth s progress, for which some men strive With bitter tears, yea, pouring lavish blood, Be sooner summoned if they fled the field ! Outworn the methods which they pray may thrive ! Mankind sweeps past them with resistless flood. Oft highest victory is still to yield. POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS /. MISCELLANEOUS EARTH S GOLDEN PRIME LIES INFINITELY ON [1883] " If ye continue in my word," said he Who walked of old through flower-sprent Galilee, " The truth ye then shall know." Ah, teacher great ! Thy word the world s late years still illustrate. Thy gospel was of simplest thought and deed : Two words alone thy all embracing creed, To seek ! to love ! the utmost truth to seek ; In love for man that utmost truth to speak. "And ye have heard it said of olden time, Lo, this ! Lo, that ! But, nay ! earth s golden prime Lies infinitely on, where none can see. A new commandment, therefore, give I thee." New days require new thoughts, new words, new works. Blasphemer he who those new meanings shirks ! 65 66 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS Shall men forever only backward glance ? That were to serve but shame and ignorance. "The truth that is, I come not to destroy " ; Truth s service, rather, is divinest joy ! The Past did well it could but blindly see. To larger knowledge be as faithful we ! O lover wise on hills of Palestine ! If still the power to seek and love be thine, What joy thou hast, though Truth thyself o er-arch. That Man still hastens on his upward march ! "SIGNS AND WONDERS" [1882] I ask not " miracles " to guard my faith And keep it from the clutch of grim Despair ! To me a miracle is but a wraith, While Gracious Fact is mine in earth and air. In Nature s Constancy I find my joy ; I know that Good has been, will always be, And now in manhood, even as a boy, I ask but Natural Opportunity. I ask but still the rosy light of morn, The strength that after rest makes labor sweet ; To know the simpler deeds that life adorn, That I may follow with glad, willing feet. MISCELLANEOUS 67 Beauty doth everywhere paint sights for me, Raising the dead at heart to life divine ; I view the dawn-winds walking on the sea, Suns in rich vineyards making water wine. Concentric circles of earth, wave, and sky, Cut by the far horizon s purple rim, All come as miracle, as such go by, And all compel from me the grateful hymn. The laws Mind follows to Thought s farthest zone In conquest over Nature s secrets vast, These, too, I know who studieth makes his own, Gaining rare triumphs that his life outlast. The fossils in the rocks I count my prize, More eloquent by far than o er-writ " Text " ! They are God s own Epistle for man s eyes, Not records fifty scribbling monks have vext. And yonder Lights ! . . . O tireless-swinging Orbs ! Not in a trillion years one hair s-breadth free From paths the Energy which all absorbs Swung vastly for your whirling ecstasy ! A " Bible " ye indeed ! wherein I scan Forces which never tire, retrace, nor bend ; - From which I solve, or seem to solve, for Man, The law on-urging him to some fine end. Nor these alone, but thousand sounds and signs, Around, beneath, within, in soul and clod, 68 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS A child s sweet kisses, Summer s purpling vines, These all proclaim the animating God. So onward go I, silent in the crowd ; I hear the clamor, but I answer not. What harm to me their whisperings low or loud ! The Law Eternal can they change a jot ? And for the rest, our own small arc of Time, Though little know I, much I hope and trust. At any rate, mine now the Power Sublime, Not into cycles dead and distant thrust ! Yea, for the rest I am content to know For ages yet shall Spring nor Autumn cease ; While, east or west, where er I turn or go, A Voice in pines, in wheatlands, whispers " Peace Let others in dim child-world dreamings dwell, Still bolstering bravely up their marvelous tales, Roaming through Purgatories, Heavens, and Hell With faith that must have "miracles," or fails ! - Ample for me is Nature s hourly wealth, Her Present wonders, helpful, lavish, sure! With these, and open eyes, my soul finds health ; Through life and death my victories endure. MISCELLANEOUS 69 TO TRUTH MY GOD [1883] Till ages fail, And love receives its own ; Till ^Eons pale, And faith is wiser grown, Be Truth my God. I may not always live My high Ideal, But high resolve I give, Come woe or weal, To Truth my God. And thus, I feel, My soul shall never fail ! The buds that heal Pass not with frost or hail, They grow to more ! And though eye may be dim, And sense be weak, My heart still chants its hymn, Soul joy doth speak God more and more. 70 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS "PREPARED" [1888] I know not why good men should say That he who dreams a dream divine, And seeks it, soulful, does not " pray " ! That he who still sees Beauty shine Through all life s ill, and flowers entwine With solar glow to hide earth s gray, Is drunk with " irreligious " wine Because he does not " pray " ! Nor know I why good men should sigh, Deeming him far from good and God Who yet in darkness hears Love s cry ; In lambent orb and lowliest sod Progressive Order can descry, A Process broad and deep and high ; Finding alike in soul and clod A "very present" God! I know not why good men have sought To speak him " Christless " who yet goes In paths the Galilean taught, Seeking what he his neighbor owes, Striving poor lives with misery fraught To heal of something of their woes. . . . " But ah ! he cries not Lord and ought ! This man of Christless thought ! " MISCELLANEOUS 71 Still, o er him flushes golden sky ! Better than Night he loves the Day. In the divine he dwells, say I, So close he has no need to " pray " ; More than his want is the supply ! . . . So, "doing the Will," and " knowing the Way," He standeth needy world-souls nigh, " Prepared " to live or die. DEEPER AND HIGHER Oh, blest that as the centuries fly Man s soul doth deeper, higher roam ! Yet feels the more that earth and sky Are but a vaster temple home : Temple that needs no sun to thrill, So grand its inner, fadeless light, The godlike, in the human, still Redeeming it from evil plight. Above the clamors of our day, Which heedless drown the still small voice, We hear a mightier Presence say : Rejoice, O sons of men ! rejoice ! Be open still to prophets cry ; Go on to keener insight yet ! Much still remains of deep and high Ere suns and stars of God are set. 72 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS GOD AND MAN Where is beauty ? Where is grace ? What life their strength embodies ? Look within a human face : Where love and help are, God is. Seek this mystery to trace ! Heaven and earth its lines embrace, Souls, and suns, and stellar space. Wondrous is the mighty Power Wherein we have our being ! Every day and every hour Brings joy for hearing, seeing ; Joy of stream and star and flower, Joy of sky-flung spectrum-bower, Planet-haze and atom-shower. Love, no less, of human hearts, Which makes all life worth living, From the One, the Only, starts, Man s highest glory giving. This to know transcends all arts : From the Whole the partial darts ; Man s love God s love counterparts. MISCELLANEOUS 73 MAN S BEST WORD GOD S TRUE WORD [1891] The highest Truth is ever Word of God. " My doctrine is not mine," said he of old, " But His that sent me." And the fabled rod Which Moses wielded was not his, t was told, But " symbol " only, of a Vaster Power Which feebly he forthshadowed for an hour. Too much our human selves we separate From the Divine Effulgence which is All ! A Deity far off we paint, and prate Of God as hid behind dividing wall. Such dream as this is shadow drear and dun A glow-worm dimness, not the wondrous sun. No Word of Good was ever breathed not God s ! No stroke for Freedom but God held the arm ! Lo, then, to-day, these Creeds overturning sods They token Heaven s rejoicing, not alarm. Oh let us deem Man s own best Word of Hope Still God s true Word, and Man s best horoscope. 74 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS THE LIBERTY WHEREWITH WE ARE MADE FREE When thought of what the God may be Oft changes like the changing sea, Revealing that Man s needs profound To deeper depths of Being sound ; When saviours vanish in a cloud Attenuate as Enoch s shroud ; When Bibles shrink to myth and tale, And Church s magic Credos fail, Then glows the heart triumphantly : At last the soul of man is free ! Tradition binds no more his sight His searching meets Eternal Light ; Though gleam of cross and altar shrinks, His spirit at life s fountains drinks ; In place of signs and symbols weak He hears his own high conscience speak ; His soul the Beautiful and Good Embraces as its habitude ; In truth of self and toil for man He finds an all-sufficing Plan, And is content to know the Whole Embraces origin and goal. MISCELLANEOUS 75 THE AGE OF GOOD Mankind has waited long ; Still saved by hope it waits, Calming its eagerness with song While quelling fears and hates. No more the soul is bound By childhood s partial creeds : Love makes the earth all holy ground And fills all human needs. War s trumpet still may peal, And Greed with Greed may fight, But they who shape earth s future weal Urge Brotherhood and Right. The flashing sunlight clear On many a mountain s head Is symbol of earth s passing fear ; Wrong s shadowy hosts are fled. O happy Age to Be, When Ignorance lies prone ! When Love has perfect liberty, Nor meets for bread a stone ! Be ours to sing thy praise, Be ours to aid thy birth, And earlier bring the wished-for days Of Righteousness on earth. ;6 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS IN THE NAME OF GOD [1892] Ah, Conclaves, Councils ! " In the name of God " Ye judge your fellows, wielding creedal rod. "As servants of the Meek of Galilee" Ye smite and maim but not by his decree ! Up, and awake ! Ye strive in vain to stay With banning words the sunrise of To-day. Still "who is not against " is on Truth s side, And with him angels ever shall abide. STAR AND CROSS [1887] " The time has come when all men shall be free ! " Thus in my dream an Angel spake to me : An Angel on whose forehead gleamed a Star, Beneath whose feet reclined a shattered Spar. Bright was his countenance, though dread his word ! Raptured I gazed, but shuddered as I heard : " I am inspirer of the Modern Seer : Knowledge, Star-eyed/ men call me, and do well ! Secrets of Past and Coming Time I tell ; Earth s child-conceptions fade now I am here ! MISCELLANEOUS 77 In hope foundationless, enmixed with fear, Before the Central Scaffold of the years Full long a time a thoughtless world has bowed. Now see we clearer ! clearer still shall see ! Take hence the Cross ! here, wrap it in its shroud ! In reverence bear it wet with wasted tears Futile as sign of Immortality To Arimathean Joseph s rock-cut tomb (Where he for Greatness made in love fair room), And lay it where its Victim s ashes be ! The Star henceforth be symbol stars give light : The Cross s origin was Dreams and Night." The Vision smiled, and light upon me broke. But some " It thundered, not an Angel spoke ! " THE NEW EVANGEL [1889] Come to the cradle, and bow : Knowledge is Saviour now. And the airs that blow And the waters that flow The Forces of Nature Increasing Man s stature Are the modern Angels That murmur Evangels. Seize on them while you may ! Be blest in the life of To-day ! ;8 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS UPLIFTS OF HEART AND WILL Uplifts of eager heart and earnest will ! Pulsings of soul ! These, in their high, unintermittent surge, Make Being whole. . . . Surgings of Spirit tow rds the unknown Source Whence cometh all ; Surgings of Will to Duty, fair or hard, Whate er befall : Ambitions high, to follow nobly out The earthly Real ; Resolves no less to breathe Heaven s purer air The far Ideal ! Strugglings for self to win and nobly use Time s fairer good ; Strugglings sublime for others to make fact Man s brotherhood. Not surgings for an hour to rush and roar, And then subside ; MISCELLANEOUS 79 But higher, holier surgings, that shall pour In endless tide. . . . These are the Race, the Goal, the Home, the God, In all earth s strife ; These are, and shall be ever, soul of soul, And life of life. TRANSFORMATION Full long the years to Man were all unkind ; To what was highest in him he was blind. The Seer was born, and opened were men s eyes To visions splendid and celestial skies ! We are not clay alone mere sons of earth But born of highest in the universe. In soul nor matter is inherent curse. By noble striving we dispel life s dearth, And gaining selflessness we meet a birth To fairer good than fabled gods disburse. 8o POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS IN SECRET "O ye gods, grant me to be beautiful in soul." Socrates. Mid quiet hills (the yearning spirit s quest ! ) This dear wild aster, in its lonely place In Wildcat Notch gainst rocky wall hard pressed Blossoms as freely, with as perfect grace, As if amid some hundred-poppied nook In parkways where the eager thousand look. O Power unknown, unknown for all my cry ; Forever in thy solveless mystery clad, Behold ! oft likewise lift I quiet face In regions lonely, with no passer by ! Would that some perfectness, transmuting bad, Might shine in me, though seen not by the race. WHENCE THE GLORY? From out this swaying tent of sunlit green, This fragrant pine-tree in whose shade I lie, What melody, accusing while serene, What whisper, answers my impatient cry ? " Thou little knowest of the far and high, And pain is present in the near and seen ? MISCELLANEOUS 81 Thou knowest not of bliss beyond the sky, But spurnest threats of an abysmal deep ? Thou art not reconciled that such as Man When falls the darkness should forever sleep ? O er virtue human waywardness holds ban ? Oppression hastes, while love and justice creep? . . . What if Life s Mystery thou canst not span ! Enough that day by day thy duty shows ! Enough that conscience sings of high estate, And, when thou sinkest, makes thy heart elate ! When out from primal Chaos love arose, It was the flashing of a faithful sun With promise of a fair and fruitful earth Where will and longing should meet radiant dower." " But love and will," I answered, "are of Man, Through weary centuries accumulate ! " " Yet was it not in Nature man had birth, As still through Nature he ascends to power ? Yet more and more to climb, as wisdom grows, Till haply love and God are seen as One ? Hath not my green its glory from the sun ? " Thus greenly sang my pine-tree all the day, Till blest I rose, and went my hopeful way. 82 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS "LABORERS TOGETHER" I live not far from Thee. I grasp Thee not Thy secret Being still unknown abideth ! But life s sweet good Thy good through mine is shot, And when I err, Thy silent mandate chideth. Thy mandate ? or my own ? Transcendent Thine ? - Or mine by human heritage through ages ? The faiths accumulate at human shrine At last have merged as one these two bright pages ! In Thee I live, and Thou no less in me : Through all eternities we wend together. In aught can I work answering help for Thee ? Yea, live to add to Love s white wing a feather. POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS II. SONNETS SEARCH What thought of God have hungering men to-day That they themselves have not sought out and found ? What spot of earth is christened holy ground But where high souls have walked their human way ? What laws and precepts by which sages say Life s good is best set free and evil bound, But came from fine endeavors proven sound By loves and agonies of young and gray ? All faith, all knowledge, springs in man s own heart, And from his partial sight he moulds his creed, Not thinking he shall wider know and see ! Henceforth mankind shall learn this wiser part : Who honors Truth, in thought and word and deed, He best, O mighty Marvel, worships Thee. 84 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS LOFTIER GOOD O hungering earth ! in these aspiring years Which build new faiths like blossoms from the sod, Still seeking higher heaven and higher God What mightier hopes are thine, transforming fears ! What vaster sight ! No cause for grief or tears, But loftier good than any when men trod With fixed stern faces fearing threatening rod, Since now a manlier onset charms our ears : High onset for the Truth whate er it be ! For only in the Truth can rest be found, Or Brotherhood, or knowledge of The Way. Rejoice, O world long drugged with fantasy ! Through Truth shall every ill at last be bound, And good increasingly hold life in sway. WORSHIP Must fear indeed accept what love denies, And faith receive what reason bids disdain ? Can priestly word wash out hate s caustic stain, Or cross or shambles purge a soul of lies ? O signs and symbols by which conscience buys An anaesthetic for its soul-birth pain, Too long ye charm a world which seeks to~gain A listless mansion in the dubious skies. SONNETS 85 Arouse, O child of mystery unguessed ! Put goodness in thy life and in thy creed ! To-day well lived best wins the day to be And finds it in undreamed-of beauty dressed. Tradition s staff is but a broken reed, While love and truth uphold the skies and sea. REVELATION What hast thou heard, O soul, with inward ear, That makes all written Word to thee seem naught ? . . . Upon the Shore Eternal I have caught The rhythmic murmur, "One are There and Here, And Life and Death ! All, all is void of fear ; The Power that out of lowliness hath brought The rose to beauty, and man s spirit fraught With godlike aims, still pulsates every sphere ! We live, we love, we vanish. Still we are, And in eternal round we live and grow, And love again, and rise to more and more. O ye who suffer ! all your grief unbar ! Ye suffer only while ye hug your woe. No tempest shatters on this deeper shore." 86 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS "OF ONE" Jesus, thy teachings oft have made me smart When I have failed in love for fellow men. Siddartha, grief has been my portion when Thy selflessness has taught my feverish heart Its vain ambitions. When some coward start Has seized me, thou, Mohammed, then Hast stirred to bravery. Thy moral ken, Confucius, spurs me when I fail life s better part. O saviours many, of time old and new ! Alike ye lead from darkness to the light. O words as high within my own calm breast ! No less ye summon Wisdom to pursue. Still sound, O clarions of love and right, Till I win Freedom serving your behest. THE MOTHER Why should we limit Power and Mystery To one poor pronoun of our human speech ? Has deity no higher, wider reach Than we can grasp when glibly we say " He ? " The fertile universe at least is " She," Fruitful in brain and pinion, flower and peach ; And ever dumb when we its face beseech, It seems but " It," it stands so silently. SONNETS 87 O mighty MOTHER ! foremost art thou this ! And we thine offspring, clinging to thy breast ! Thou givest us the stars and streams for toys ; In thy benignant smile alone is bliss. Though ignorant, in thy wise calm we rest, And when thou frownest, darkened are our joys. BEACON -LIGHTS The brilliant beacon-lights that bound the shore With hope to storm-tossed mariners are fraught : What matter, so their radiance be caught, They flash from rock, or bluff, or beach, or tower ? The sailor doubts not their propitious power, But heeds their warning with his every thought : He heeds their warning, and the ship is brought To home and harbor in a happy hour. Along the headlands of life s perilous sea Beam steadfast lights of human will and love ! What matter, Jew, Greek, Christian, if the light Be followed faithfully ? It then shall be A Guiding Light indeed, to Ports above : A pillar of cloud by day, of fire by night. POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS RELIGION AS A LIFE i Religion is to eat and drink for health ; Keep body sweet and clean, and breathe full deep ; Hold supple frame and mind the highest wealth ; Through honest toil each day earn soundest sleep. ii Religion is to seek the good of Man ; To give each child a welcome on earth s ball ; Put private avarice neath scornful ban ; Make every "good " a joy and strength for all. in Religion is to find a child s repose In Nature s beauty and Law s rhythmic beat ; To deem the wonder of an opening rose Symbolic of the Heart of Things as sweet. IV With soul entranced by the mysterious all, Be ardor mine to meet religion s call ! SONNETS 89 "I WILL LAY MINE HAND UPON MY MOUTH." Book of Job [Written after listening to extended theological speculations followed by heated eschatological discussion] O wondrous Power in which we live and move, As gods in greatness for our moment s space ! Not ours the mighty mystery to trace Of How and What, nor doth it us behoove To wail, despairing, that we cannot prove The very lines on some benignant Face, Or through ethereal mazes with Thee race To oil for Thee each planetary groove ! Enough if human brotherhood abounds ; Enough if earth to-day is fair and wide Nor crashes yet, a cinder, to its doom ! And as for problems of extended grounds, And as for place where myriad souls can bide, The " infinite " can scarcely lack for room ! 90 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS RECOGNITION OF ONENESS Pervasive Power ! all present and all free ! Within whose greatness I myself am great ! Since first I recognized myself in Thee Where are my burdens flown, my low estate ? Ye pains of earth, that held me in your power, Beclouding the divine I vainly sought, Say ! whither did ye vanish in that hour ? . . . Ah, pains, ye cannot answer ye are naught ! Within myself are the Eternal Springs, And rise they high as I myself rise high. What wonder that uncramped my spirit sings, And that I younger grow as seasons fly ! Since I am one with all the Good there is, No prayers I have, but only symphonies. SONNETS 91 WINGS When earth s first parents, in the legend old, Had tasted Knowledge and discerned it sweet, They gave their innocence for freedom bold, And, singing, to new pathways turned their feet. Methinks no flaming sword, with point of light, Now turning this way and now turning that, Was needed to preserve that gateway bright, - For who would linger where that angel sat ! No Eden past can equal Eden new ; Oh, renegade to God whose will is weak ! Forever overhead love s skies are blue, Forever doth the voice at evening speak. On Wisdom s pinions endless beauties wait ; And where are wings, what service is a gate ? 92 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS "TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE" These forward shocks still speak my course aright ! For me no port can ever lie astern. East, and still east, the Morning s signals burn, And I must follow where I see the light. On every hand fair ships take shoreward flight, - So help me Heaven my course I cannot turn ! Not once since early start did bosom yearn To lie at ease again on coasts of Night. And recompense ? Oh, much ! One closest friend, With whom for evermore I still must steer, Would spurn me if I veered to west or south ! But having him my lover to the end, No other paradise could be so dear, No tropic s kiss so sweet upon my mouth. POEMS OF LIVING /. MISCELLANEOUS MAN S OPPORTUNITY He does not think he does not know : A wave is breaking on the shore ; A wave surcharged with richest ore And tinged with deepest golden glow. He heeds it not he does not know : It scatters pearls athwart his path; It bathes as in a purple bath The boundaries where his feet must go. He heeds it not he passes by : It breaks, it bursts upon the strand, Its wealth is squandered on the sand, Its pearls in shattered fragments fly. ii He does not know he does not guess : A flower is blossoming at his feet ; A flower is offering incense sweet And fading in the wilderness. 93 94 POEMS OF LIVING He heeds it not he passes on : Its purple petals droop and die ; Its wealth is wasted on the sky : It might have bloomed by Helicon. in He does not know he does not dream : A star is flaming in the sky ; A star that passes swiftly by, A star of high, transcendent gleam ! He sees nor feels its cheering light : It glows and gleams indeed, to-day ; To-morrow, deepening into gray, Shall find it vanished in the Night. IV He does not seek he does not think : A fountain gushes at his hand : Its wealth he does not understand : He looks nor moves, nor stoops to drink. v He does not think he does not know : A song is trembling through the air ; A bird is warbling anthems rare And murmuring lyrics sweet and low. MISCELLANEOUS 95 He hears nor heeds he passes on : And wings are raised a birdling flies ; The trembling cadence fails and dies : The anthem and the bird are gone. VI He does not see he does not take. A wave, a flower, a star, a song, A fountain all to him belong. Oh, when shall he arise, awake ! UNGRASPED On many a marvel which Nature discloses Man s eye never looks, and the daintiest roses Bloom wild where his footsteps may never have stirred. Unseen by man s eye, and untouched by his hand, Lie treasures unnumbered awaiting command If only his heart and his will say the word. With noble realities life is replete ; But he who shall seek them with wandering feet Shall never earth s best benediction have heard. 96 POEMS OF LIVING THYSELF WITHIN Amid the ceaseless loss and change Of time and friends and all below, (O things we love ! how swift ye go ! O things that are ! how new and strange ! ) Ah, whither shall our spirits range A more eternal life to know ! In Syria, Ind, or Egypt sought, One answer only have the years Sent down to banish hopes and fears : Within thyself must heaven be caught And captive held, or all is tears ! For this saints died and martyrs fought. Thyself within ! Thyself within ! O soul, find here thy strength, thy peace. Pray not that loss and change may cease, Pray, rather, higher heights to win ! Thy spirit s loftier wings release, And soar thee where thou art akin ! MISCELLANEOUS 97 THE PATH OF SUN Across the harbor s placid wave The pathway of the sun is bright. The orb uprising from its grave Has pushed away the angry night, And now the beating sea is still, And lit from Heaven s hill. wings of white that flit across ! You sails that flash and fall and rear ! 1 know not what of pain or loss The souls you carry bear or fear ; I know this hour their eyes are bright With morn s exultant light. O heart of mine, O faith of mine, You have not sunk or wailed at loss ; You fathom not the far divine, But light with smiles each daily cross ; And still your path till life is run Shall be the path of sun. 98 POEMS OF LIVING LIFE S MEANING [1889] Oft, when I have walked at dawning by the margin of the sea, Of the hopefulness of Nature it has sung its song to me. With a soul tow rd light determined I have sought its secret word, And its accents have been music I have elsewhere never heard. True, the sea itself is " cruel "- never shrinks it back for pain. But its tide-falls cleanse the continents, its mists bring tender rain. So throughout the whole of Nature ; there is evi dence of good, Bringing order out of chaos, smiling fields where oceans stood. And t is thus a meaning finding even in its harsh est strife That I follow onward cheerly through this wondrous thing called life. MISCELLANEOUS 99 Life ! whose warp is ceaseless effort, while its woof is Progress still, As it was through countless epochs ere the world knew human will. Life ! the symphony whose harmony would languish into death If it never knew the discord which brings out its sweeter breath. Life ! the fair and boundless continent, amid whose sunlit ways We enact heroic dramas, living nobly-eager days. True, our petty "titles " vanish but we live not for a " name " ; To exist in added world-good were a thousand times the fame ! And we know we cannot act a deed of good or deed of ill But its ends, accruing ever, through eternities shall thrill. He who, aching, tills the cornfield, in whatever valley far- Nobler he in manhood s best than any war-left living scar. ioo POEMS OF LIVING Toiling scientist and poet, seeking Mother Nature s best- In the growing good of ages far outweigh they all the rest. Nobler he than lords of wealth, who in the smart of modern need Reaches lowly hand of help to bridge the stream of human greed. So on life s unmeasured rim we nobly act, nor seek return : While before us, steadfast ever, Hope s eternal torches burn. And t is worth the struggle ! . . . Faithless ! faithless of our Mother Nature s power To sit down with dull despairings, or to hopeless wail an hour ! Are not we a part of Nature ? Then to us the new-age call The long prayer of years to answer, and on earth bring peace for all. Here no room for " floating foam-wreaths wafted down from moonlit shores " ; Here the summons to work desperate while the hot sun deadly pours ! MISCELLANEOUS roi Brothers ! know you not men languish for the help that you can give ? Spend your years in action ! action ! that a dead world may new-live. What though selfish hordes pledge wine-cup at the banquet or the rout ? Here our place is to bring joyance to these hungry eyes without. Oh, the happiness of living, when we claim a lofty work ! T is in faithful future Doing that the good of man shall lurk. Life shall then have purpose for us we shall see it is divine ; And in fact, not dreamings longer, shall the flower- decked Eden shine. Not in vain we seek Life s meaning. If we lift our heedful eyes Voices everywhere enthrall us the whole universe replies. POEMS OF LIVING FUTURES Futures flash not into being, Futures are results of Presents. When the call of Duty beckons, Brother, be not thou the laggard. Justice waits thy strong endeavor. COIN IN ANY REALM With place, with gold, with power oh, ask me not With these my little hour of life to blot. A little hour indeed ! and I would fain Its moments spend in what is worth its pain. What traveler would faint through troublous lands To gather only what must leave his hands The moment that he takes his homeward ship ? Earth s goods and gauds give every man the slip ; But wealth of Thought, and richer wealth of Love, Must pass for coin in any world above. The good to others done while here I strive Is all at last that shall my dying shrive ; And setting sail, my slight self-conquest s store Is all my freight if I shall come to shore. MISCELLANEOUS 103 SOUL S PARADISE All zones I searched in pain in glee For Paradise, sweet Paradise. Its stately towers I ne er could see : Faint Paradise, far Paradise. Still on I toiled courageously Tow rd Paradise, dear Paradise. As I approached, its walls would flee : Sad Paradise, false Paradise. I ceased my quest ! It then found me ! Close Paradise, self- Paradise ! Now hourly, where I go or be Is Paradise, soul s Paradise. FOREVER ON I would not look at life s high aim aslant ! Life is for growth ! It is a mountain plant, Its roots descending, but its leaves upspread ; A shoot divine, whose seeds, when we are dead, Should spring immortally in other life, Potent in tendencies to nobler strife, Showing the soul s high lure, till Time be gone, To Be, to Do, and so forever on. 104 POEMS OF LIVING "IN THY YOUTH" What is true manliness ? With banner s sweep To flaunt abroad that powers have come full tide ? With scornful lawlessness to blazon wide The sacred fire each life should sacred keep ? To come full-orbed, yet mightily to know The Titan thrill of holding power in thrall This is true manliness ! and this the call For thee high flung which diamond trumpets blow. SOUL AND SENSE Who that perceives the mocking flare of sense, Or catches vision of the orb of love, Can doubt which glow shines sweetest recompense The valley murk, the unwavering star above ? Yet oh, the paradox ! that those in shame Should dream that they alone encompass bliss, When tis but fitful, phosphorescent flame To soul-exalting planet-ray like this ! O vision fair of oneness with the Whole ! In thee alone is blessedness and truth. MISCELLANEOUS 105 Insight and strength are thy sweet gifts, O Soul, And lofty promise of eternal youth. Give me to rove in the supremer air ! Give me the mountain-side to toil and climb ! I shall breathe easier and freer there, I shall die calmer on those heights sublime. LIFE S BEAUTY Oh, when often in my bosom Glows a longing for life s beauty, Something in me whispers, urging, - " T is incentive to life s duty ! T is high impetus to duty." And I know the voice speaks truly, For high peace finds never mortal Save in strong, sublime endeavor Worshipful at Duty s portal ; Steadfast, meek, at Duty s portal. Flame, then, in my bosom, Beauty ! Flame and glow with fire supernal. Thou shalt lead me willing go I ! To life s blessedness eternal, Unto joys ideal, eternal. io6 POEMS OF LIVING WORK To seek invent discover ! To create ! Mountains to carve, wild zones to subjugate, The seas to merge, rude metals to refine, Harsh sounds to mingle in mellifluous line, Disease to vanquish, famine to repel, World-thought to lift, and peal Wrong s passing- bell ; - The daily toil of common mill and mart, The humblest toil, if mixed with thought and heart, Lo, t is man s Angel ! t is the life of life ! Pain fails of power, and strife no more is strife. Swiftly flies doubt, and grieving follows fast, Blown on the wings of this supernal blast. What art thou, Labor ? Nay, what art thou not ! For world s unkindness, soul s sweet garden-spot ; Shade if detraction s scorching airs arise ; Sun to illume fear s direful fantasies ; Lover to give the spirit pure caress ; Friend to dispel bereavement s loneliness ; Quencher of wants if poverty befall ; Narcotic draft for pain tyrannical ; Disdained affection s Lethe; magic wand To waft us swiftly, soothingly, beyond Earth s every selfishness and meanness dire, And bathe the soul in Heaven s own blissful fire ! MISCELLANEOUS 107 Do Nature s forces ever idle lurk ? Doth she, the Mighty One, not ceaseless work To-day as when at her evolving call From chaos tow rd perfection sprang earth s ball ? So toil ye also, hands, heart, mind of me ! Till latest hour strive on in ecstasy ! Strive on ? Yea, love on ! toil and love are one To him who toils nor wishes toilings done. Did erst the morning stars with rapture sing ? Is t writ, with peace Heaven s echoing arches ring ? So human souls, through their most secret aisles, When Labor, baffling weakness, soars and smiles. CONFESSIONS OF A VOLUPTUARY [1903! Voluptuary, I ! At dawn s first flash, While wretched thousands are condemned to sleep, I rise and in luxurious coolness splash, Then on my silent courser joyous leap To seek the hilltop or the woodland stream, Or watch the lighthouse as it pales its beam. The robin and the bobolink and I Have kindred passion for the morning sky. io8 POEMS OF LIVING ii While others drudge at kitchen board or fire, Compelled for breakfast s needs to broil or brew, I talk with novelists who never tire, Or wing with poets the ethereal blue. I d rather bathe my soul than pots and plates, Would barter Wedgwood for a bag of dates : For I have learned that simplest fare is best, And nuts and fruits make mealtime-seasons blest. (Forgive me, flocks and herds, sweet-breath d as Ind,- That range the prairie and the pasture deep ! Forgive me that in ignorance I sinned : That you were once my sacrifice I weep. Besides, men learn that they find healthier blood In pulse than flesh, in figs than carnal flood. The soul sincere that seeks mind s regions fair Loves fragrant foods that bloom in sun and air.) in When toil begins, and comrades fret and shirk, I freshen labor with the spirit s test. Imagination never hindered work. In perfect product is completest rest. I take my pleasure as I go along, And try to make my daily toil my song. Through half a hemisphere or half a mile The load pulls easiest harnessed with a smile. MISCELLANEOUS 109 IV At evening s hour, when others haste to dress, Condemned to theatre or fashion s whirl, I sit and give my daughter a caress, Or in the wine of thought dissolve a pearl. The pearl is often art s or history s page, Which thought on-leading to a Golden Age Would fain transmute into such Path of Fate As blind might follow to Elysian Gate. A Golden Age ? I m in it even now ! For, wanting little, I have some for others. (If any, hungry, at my feast would bow, My morn or evening s richness is my brother s ! ) My fond desire is that the world may see Earth gives enough for all humanity. Men only need a willingness to share, And all the world would breathe ambrosial air. T is true I little have of what men prize, And often (like the saints) wear shining garb ; But having mirthfulness and open eyes I bind with velvet life s metallic barb, Holding contentment, though in wooden walls, Better than selfishness in tinseled halls. While earth s rich Saturnalia still is mine I shall not fail of spirit s oil and wine. no POEMS OF LIVING I would not change my modest daily lot For any wealth that brought with it a care : I love my ease too well to wish to blot My freedom of the sky and sea and air. I sink myself in soul and sense each day, And in voluptuous shamelessness grow gray. Nay ! sink myself in joy each hour that s rung, And grow each year voluptuously young. THE LAUGHING PHILOSOPHER [Read on a " Holmes night " 1891] Oh, not do saints and bards alone Who chant the high, the solemn verse, And counsel but in serious tone, Help on the better from the worse. Full oft the lighter, gayer song, The sparkle and the flash of wit, Which gurgle, gush, and float along And in and out and yonder flit, Not knowing quite what shore they reach, What capes they pass, what gleaming strand, Nor deem that they a gospel preach, May also guide to Happier Land. MISCELLANEOUS in Such song is his our Bard to-night ! His verses ripple, gurgle, gush, Yet bear us with a magic might, With here a lag, and there a rush, To where we see that lofty deed Doth Life of the Divine disburse, As every dewdrop on the mead Reveals the rounded universe. I saw him once this poet gay Beside a window in the street : What potent presence there that day Could hold so fine a poet s feet ? I saw his face one beaming smile Intense enjoyment gleamed and shone. Two mimic dogs, on wires, the while, Were tugging at a mimic bone ! He turned eyes met; he smiled the more. "Best thing I ve seen," said he (and bowed), " Since last I by the Common s door Heard Punch and Judy clamor loud." Ah, well ! As the odd scene we spurned, " Life s seldom harmed," said he, " by fun. I like the apples southward turned ; They ripen mellowest in the sun." ii2 POEMS OF LIVING Like Holmes, I too am still a child. I love my baby s simplest toys ; Can dance or blow the whistle wild With any dozen girls or boys. And deepest thought nor highest hope Is hindered by such moment s dash. I- m helped by sunshine, when I grope, Far more than by the lightning s flash. No less, the High we need to spell ! The loftiest shown is none too far ! Holmes yes ! but Emerson as well, To hitch our wagon to a star. We need to join the two in one, The happy and the serious air. Ah, what of good might not be done By progeny of such a pair ! The age demands a nobler race Than habits now this whirling Ball : Be ours the Problem Vast to face, Be ours to answer to the Call. MISCELLANEOUS 113 INWARD FIRES My heart would sing for joy ! A friendly hand is reached And lights earth s dull annoy ! Kindness is at me flung Better than song e er sung Or sermon ever preached. T is not the gift I prize : It is the heart behind. O men and women ! rise To understand how more Is love than golden ore ! Too long men s souls are blind, With nobleness meet all ! Thou hast undreamed return In lifting feet that fall, In rescuing the faint. No artist hand can paint The fires that inward burn. And inward fires alone Are those that warm us long. Nought outward can atone For sinking in the sea Love s opportunity ! . . . Thus sings my heart its song. ii4 POEMS OF LIVING SAGE AND CLOWN I saw two men as I walked up town : One a " sage," men said, and the other a " clown." The sage had just come from the halls of debate, Where his " wisdom and courage " had " saved the State." Yet I saw him just now, with self-confident grin, At doors where true wisdom and strength ne er go in. The crowd at his heels was surging thick, And he, in his pride, with a gold-headed stick, Was reviewing again, with much flourish in air, How well he had " captured the senators " there. "And they voted at last," said this keen politician, "Not according to theirs, but to my volition ! I ever can vanquish the men who think ! "- And then he moved inward to " take a drink "; And, stumbling in turning, he tripped o er a child, And greeted him harshly, with threatenings wild. This, one of the men whom I saw up town : With " the brain of a sage "- and the heart of a clown. MISCELLANEOUS 115 ii Quick struggling forward, with look of alarm, Then saw I the other, just come from his farm. That a man thus rude to a child could be, From his cheek drove his soul s calm ecstasy. His brow wore a frown such as one before Must have worn who the sorrows of many bore While helpless the harshness of men to retrieve : Yet his eyes -light was love, as when angels grieve. The babe he uplifted from where he lay crushed, And with words of endearment his sobbings hushed. In his strong arms tenderly bore he the child, And pointed where high, golden clouds were piled, And bade him hear bird-songs in yonder trees And list to the croon in the springtime breeze. This, the other of two whom these rhymings would gauge : With " the brain of a clown " and the heart of a sage. n6 POEMS OF LIVING THREE QUATRAINS i SELF-ILLUMINED What if the sun be darkened ? Eyes shall be hopeful still ! Souls in themselves are torches And light what realms they will. ii WORDS AND DEEDS Words ! ah, words ! Tis easy writing Of the ardor men should feel : But t is harder, Paris, smiting Armed Achilles in the heel. in THE DEVIL OF DRINK Of all the devils in time or space, The devil that has the smallest grace Is the devil that steals away man s wit And leaves him but shame in place of it. MISCELLANEOUS 117 DREAM -COUNSEL [1890] I dreamed of you, last night, Brother and friend, And all the sky was light And without end ! With wisdom you were fraught, Companion mine ; And, joyous, I was taught In things divine. I came to you in care, From wearying mart : We parted light as air, And glad of heart. Where disappointment s pain Had weighed me low, You changed the evening rain To sunrise-glow. Where I because my strife For Truth and Day Seemed fruitless, and my life But thrown away - Was downcast and in tears, With cheering voice You banished all my fears, And cried " Rejoice ! n8 POEMS OF LIVING " Rejoice ! it is the quest, T is not the art Of gaining ends that best Fulfils life s part. What though for thee the rain, The briar and burr ? Oh, surely not in vain Thy strugglings were. " Through years thy aim, thy call, Has been for things Exalted over all That * Comfort sings. Truth, Duty/ Good, thy words, And Boldness too, Beyond what common herds Yet ever knew. " In peace, then, sleep, this night, O troubled heart ! Though low, yet is thy plight The better part. And when at last immured In earth for rest, Thy soul shall be assured The strife was best." So spake you to me, friend, Within my dream, Showing the nobler end To be, not seem. MISCELLANEOUS 119 Content, then, I, to dare, Without success ! Though poverty my share, I ve blessedness. CYPRESS - CROWNED To-day the winds of March are wild. The swallows huddle neath the shore ; Their wings are still they cannot fly. But yonder, whirled about the sky, The gulls are circling, o er and o er : The gull is Ocean s passive child. The winds of Fate adversely blow. My friends and fellows do not sing ; They sing but when the waves are calm, I look not always for the palm, I take what laurels Fate may bring : With cypress crowned at times I go. 120 POEMS OF LIVING FORELOOKING [College Hill, Midsummer, 1879] I sit beside my window here And greet the breaking day. The air is calm, the sky is clear, And yonder shines the Bay ! Along the silvery rim of light Which marks the ocean s edge, Fair far-off slanting wings of white Sail slow beyond the ledge. Beyond the ledge of towering rocks Which mark the heights of Lynn, They sail to where the Equinox Shall howl with awful din ! Oh stay at home, ye stately ships ! Oh stay at home as I, Nor sail to meet but sure eclipse Beneath an angry sky ! The wandering thought, the impatient heart, The discontented soul, At best can know of life but part, And not the rounded whole. MISCELLANEOUS 121 But ah ! ye cannot stay ! e en now Your sails are seaward set : E en now above your burdened bow The fluttering sea-gulls fret. And soon I too must hence away, To skirt uncharted shores ! Already in my ears the spray Of ocean conflict roars. T is well ! t is well, ye stately ships ! Ye were not made for calm ! Your keels were laid to bear to lips That hunger, Eastern balm. Tis well no port of listless peace Enshields your slothful sail : The ship that gains the Golden Fleece Must dare the Euxine gale. T is well, O heart, no life of ease Before thee opens fair ! That perfect life would fail to please Which breathed but softer air. T is not when zephyrs kindly blow, And calmly, sweetly steal ; When waters musically flow, And laugh along the keel ; 122 POEMS OF LIVING T is in the dashing of life s wave, And in the sudden shock ; Tis when the soul, though stout and brave, Is ground as on the rock, That life s objective port is neared, Its noblest courses run, And souls of men the straightest steered To Isles of Inward Sun. ZEAL To Be ! To Do ! To have the zeal to climb O er all the shocks of Fate to zones sublime ! To know that Time s successes, praise and blame, Are transient fires however fierce they flame ; That soon and late are equal, death and birth, And love s sweet dominance alone of worth. That toil and struggle and pain s agony Are nothing if the inner eye but see ! To realize, though cumbered in earth s ooze, That there are heights with ever vaster views To which the soul is hasting, freed from strife ! This is the spirit s pole-star this is life. MISCELLANEOUS 123 THROUGH THE SUNSET SEA [From College Hill] The day is done : The imperial Sun Is sinking, now his course is run, Behind the hills of Arlington. Through purple mist I view the tryst The sunbeams keep with the clouds they kissed While descending the Vale of Amethyst. Through amber haze I view the blaze Forth streaming in red level rays Over hillside paths and forest ways. As Moses rod, In the Story of God, Was lifted where the Israelites trod, That through watery walls they might walk dry shod, So the Sun s last blaze, These autumn days, Its rod of lurid enchantment lays W T here the Mystic s crimson current plays ! . . . 124 POEMS OF LIVING O people of old ! Into Egypt sold, Ye there, as the Wonder Book has told, Were oppressed till your hearts in dust were rolled ! Yet ye did not despair, But from Pharaoh s snare Escaped by the Red Sea beach laid bare, Into Canaan s fertile, kindlier air. O sunset glow On the river below, Where I watch the shadows swerve and grow, Your secret message I seem to know ! As I gaze and dream, Your waters seem To part like that ancient fabled stream ; Life s hungers are ever the same and supreme ! Each heart like the Jews To be led would choose From a land where doubts and fears abuse, To a land where faith all fear subdues. The prizes are mean That intervene : Be sundered ! divided ! O vapory screen ! And give us to walk unscathed between. MISCELLANEOUS 125 AFTER A WEEK WITH A WOOD- CHOPPER [Winchendon, Massachusetts, August, 1890] Ah ! in this wilding solitude Tis easy to believe in good ! Brother, you better knew than I - Happy whose roof is but the sky ! Tis truth, what Homer, Bryant, sang- The groves to God with praise first rang. You call me from the city s din In pity for my fight with "sin," Asking if what to God I owe I can pay better than with hoe ! Bismillah ! have I so mistook ? Flee " platform " f or a pruning-hook ? Yet haply you re not far astray ! Here ! I will help you rake your hay, Watching, as from your stony walls The frisking chipmunk gayly calls ; Heark ning, delighted, as the breeze Chants through your oak and chestnut trees, 126 POEMS OF LIVING While off Monadnock s towering sides, Into my heart, deep calmness slides. T is truth, what ancient poets tell ; Moses and Jesus worshiped well : In rose-illumined bush the first, The other where the lily burst. And joyance in the fields, ev n yet, May better help man pay " God s debt " Than toiling in the city s waste With New Philosophy and paste, Patching mankind afresh each hour With Social Science s wet flour. In woodland deep, with axe or hoe, The breath of health and peace we know ; While only cark and thankless care Are found in the uneasy air Where metaphysics swells in dykes, Leaks endlessly, but seldom strikes Into the current fresh and real Suggested by man s New Ideal. Happy the man whose wants are few, And ever met, however new, By the deep, ample stores that hide In Nature s simple woodland-side. Wretched, alas ! who constant delve Only their souls to bind and shelve ; MISCELLANEOUS 127 While wealthy they, though low their rank, For whom sleep moonbeams on some bank. For them no surer " bank " can be, Nor richer with prosperity ; For, kneeling by the stream and sod, At least they may be sure of God. AT THE SUMMIT All wearied in the search for truth, Nor ever nearer to the goal, I turn the magnet from the Pole And laugh once more as loud as youth. O human heart ! insatiate To solve the secret of thy birth And know thou shalt survive the earth ! Though centuries still baffled wait ! Enfranchised from the vain pursuit I greet with joy each breaking day, And when the sunset fades in gray Make melody with voice and lute. At least I live and love, this hour ! And meadow, sea, and sky are fair, 28 I OKMS OK LIVING And fellow workers everywhere Are battling tor man s larger tlowei. Man s energies with Karth s keep time ; High human needs must still he met ; And simplest task, to duty set, Is evermore a deed sublime. So, hoping, singing, toiling on, 1 waive pursuit of skyey birth, To smooth rough pathways of the earth Where feet must tread when I am gone. POEMS OF LIVING TO PRIZE LIFE S HARDNESS To prize life s hardness ! find delight in ways That scale the hill-crest and the loftier air ; To rouse some bird-song in the desolate days When winter holds the forest frozen and bare ; To wear the cypress as though laurel-wreathed ; To lure a smile from brows that darkly frown ; To say to traits of evil, age-bequeathed, " Ye may be blotted out ! "and fight them down. To take what Heaven or Circumstance has sent And bend it to the making of a man ! This is the aim whereto my days are blent, My fond endeavor, waking vision, plan. O life ! O earth ! I prize you for your smart, And for your rudeness I am glad at heart. 129 130 POEMS OF LIVING HOW SING ST THOU, THEN? The daily round of life man s broken faith, The shock of accident, pain s bitter smart, Love s hunger, disappointment s mocking wraith, Bereavement s anguish, sudden passion s dart O hopeful soul of mine ! the daily round Of life for thee is no less hard and black Than other mortals in their passage sound : How sing st thou, then, so often on the rack ! And soul makes answer : Would it help my state To hail Despair ? to curse ? or knock the breast ? Nay ! but a song will direst ill abate, And bring the burdened heart unbounded rest. Each threatening ill I boldly turn to greet, And drown its discord in my music sweet. JOY IN ONE S WORK If in thy daily toil thou hast not joy, Oh study to attain some happier way ! So few life s needs, why languish and grow gray At tasks which serve thee but for soul s annoy ! If work be play, no questioning alloy Of " high " or " low " need desecrate thy day ; The roof as grandly rear, the furrow lay, As carve a statue for a nation s toy ! SONNETS 131 But make thy moil a ministry of glee Of zeal, and mind s delight, and heart s repose, Obedient to the Voice that lures from sadness. No slave s mean service Nature asks of thee, But spirit s blossoming to leaf and rose, And fragrance making night and day a gladness. THE MAN ON THE MOUNTAIN When to the mountain of enfranchised soul I came at length, and scanned its sunlit way, No longer might I, like a child at play, Rove listless where life s garden foot-hills roll. Yet peak on peak so towered that pathless Whole, It seemed some loftier power must with me stray, And brace my heart, and be my strength and stay, If ever I should gain that longed-for goal. Then just above me I beheld a man Whose face was luminous as morning sky, Whose brow was freed from every earthly ban, Whose arms outstretched allured me wistful nigh. " Come up," he said, " and dare these heights with me ; I am the nobler man you yet shall be." 132 POEMS OF LIVING HOURS OF INSIGHT How blest am I that often in my dreams Come lofty thoughts to waking hours unknown ! Airs as of mountain-tops are round me blown, And soul upflames with more than sunrise-beams. Imagination circles ; insight gleams Unwontedly, with love and purpose sown ; And spirit s blossoms in Elysium grown Allure my heart along unfailing streams. O waking hours with pains and passions filled ; Poor human strivings for the things that pass ! Rise, soul, above them, to serener heights ; Thy dreams forthshadow life s high goal, if willed And followed ! Soon Night s visions fade, alas ! But Day s high conquests offer long delights. MY FEATHERED PREACHER All day my maples in the blast have bowed ; The sleet howls lustily through shivering limbs ; Yet e en though ice the creaking branches rims, There with high hardihood he hovereth proud Busy and bustling ! Full and sweet and loud His warbling cheer the wintry whistling dims. Earth s crystal bowl with song he overbrims, Making an altar of its snowy shroud. SONNETS 133 Soul of my soul ! for secret, sheltered nook Must thou forever pray when blasts are nigh And howling passions, seeking thee, stream by ? Nay, O my soul, in the gale s teeth dare look ! Still righting, sing ! lift undismayed thy din : Only undaunted hearts scale heaven and win. IDEAL BEAUTY Ideal Beauty ! seers exhaustless theme Which hath absorbed their eager spirits quite ! Not beauties merely of the lustrous night And iridescent day ; but loftier dream Beauty embracing beauties. Fair the gleam Of earliest dawn ; a purifying sight The heavens all diamonded : but more that Light The heavens Heaven of worlds and souls the Beam. O radiant hill-tops ! unto you mine eyes ! O budding violets ! all my sense ye thrall ! O human comrades ! heart of me ye thrill ! But Beauty uncreate in earth or skies, Eternal and divine, soul s ceaseless call, To thee my prayer, my passion, and my will ! 134 POEMS OF LIVING THE PATH Shall I not bear my portion of life s pain, Of mind, of body, and withhold all cry ? Life hath evolved through pain. The studious eye Finds here the path of Being s highest gain. Earth s agonies have been earth s bliss, not bane. Then spring the torture, if I grow thereby, Or so the hope of myriads doth not die And nobler blessedness on earth have reign ! Many have been whose flesh hath hailed the torch, Whose souls have welcomed contumely s ban, Devoutly chanting Freedom s songs the while, Making the gates of martyrdom a porch To highest Heaven the growing good of Man ! Shall I not also bear, and, bearing, smile ? ii The Path ! The Path ! It has been one of pain, But must it be so always ? Must the rise Of men and nations tow rds the spirit s skies Be ever only under Sorrow s reign ? Shall not Man s growing insight yet attain A thornless pathway up to Being s prize, And Soul s revealing airs anoint Man s eyes Till pangless harmony with Good lies plain ? SONNETS 135 O happy Age, when Ignorance lies dead, When Want and Greed have fled their noisome place, And Passion, thought-redeemed, seeks heights above ! In this sweet Path, O Earth, thy sons be led, Till pain s long rule shall pass, and strength and grace Be won through sight of Beauty and through Love. THE VICTOR 1 So calmly, quietly he walked, that men, Unless they knew the inward of his days, Might feel that he was born for naught but praise, And that the native sunlight tipt his pen. But in his path the lion had his den, And strangling serpents hissed along his ways ; Early and late the woodland was ablaze For him who loved the coolness of the fen. O Strongheart ! not in vain you bore the strife ! The lion and the serpent at your word Crouched harmless and the flames died impotent. We who know all are braver for your life, And daily, since your summons we have heard, Shall bear more nobly, walk more reverent. Written of Henry M. Simmons (18411905), author of "The Unending Genesis " and " New Tables of Stone." 1 36 POEMS OF LIVING SPIRALS Daily we mount them all, from Pit to Dome ! Not Dante s circling choirs, nor Raphael s, Nor all the inmates of all heavens and hells In fantasies of Asia, Egypt, Rome, Surpass the hordes that make each soul their home. The clank of chains, the chime of silvery bells Shame, Passion, Song in turn each sinks and swells : Now faith soars high, now all seems froth and foam. O fateful circle where I most part fare, Dim Middle Region, Purgatorial fog, Oppressed by equal hopefulness and doubt ! At times I fain would wing through clearer air, Yet joyful move I, mindless of each clog, On to what end Eternity works out. HEART S TREASURES On winter meadow once, a little child In digging neath the snow as fancy led Unroofed a tiny streamlet s frozen bed Then danced at treasures there, in joyance wild : Rare icy arabesques, rich gems up-piled Encrystaled wonders ! But his bosom bled, And sore he wept, as day grew Avarm o erhead, To see them vanish in the radiance mild ! SONNETS 137 That child of old long since he grew a man ; But ne er has season flown fall, winter, spring That magic streams have not heart s treasures dealt : Sweet friends, dear children ; power to dream and plan; The earth s fresh face ; and yea ! the faith to sing Instead of weep when life s dear joys swift melt. AND LAST OF ALL I LEARN IT And last of all I learn it ! Yea, O soul, Have patience not alone with those around Poor will-less beings sin and habit bound : With wealth that offers but a piteous dole Though earth s faint children pant for happier goal ; With statesmen paltering on patriot ground ; With churchmen silent though God s trumpets sound : With all who fail of nearer perfect whole ! Have patience also full, serene, and free, Lasting and deep, and with as gracious part As that thou showest every wayward elf When thou hast failed to grandly do and be, And failing, feelest sorrow at thy heart, Have patience, oh, have patience with thyself. 38 POEMS OF LIVING FOILS " I am the master of my fate," one says, And adds, " I am the captain of my soul." Bravely a man rehearsed these words, in days When he was young and fortunate and whole. From virtuous ancestry his blood was calm ; Sisters and brothers friends were his a store ; Thorns were afar from him, and pine and palm Fragrantly breathed for him on summer shore. Fate took his wealth ; a sister died in shame : Honor he scoffed at when his pride was bled. One loved him still, and would have borne his name, But while she donned the orange-blooms he fled. A new face shone while pealed his marriage-bell : It beckoned and he followed it to hell. ii Why should I strive ? What boon can I attain ! Fate had conditioned me ere I was born ! " Such were the manacles of damning pain Another life from earliest years had worn. His mother was a woman of the street, His " father " she nor he had ever known ; The alleys were his nursery ; and sweet To him, as to a dog, a wayside bone. SONNETS 139 His country called ah, here was chance to die! He flew on savage wings and met the foe. His victory gave him courage, and his eye Sparkled with hope the noble only know. Back to the world he came, and toiled elate, And died an honored Minister of State. PLATITUDES The froth of pleasure quickly sinks to lees, Its taste soon brackish on the dullest tongue. Only the highest strife brings highest ease ; From self alone is selfhood s victory wrung. In every prophet-path rude crosses lift, And nails are ready upon every hand ; Spear-heads and vinegar are all earth s gift, And quarreling the hooting rabble stand. Who seek for blessedness need only drink ; Want much, you thirst, however fast you pour. Seek peace, all heaven is yours before you think ; All that makes hell you knew full well before. Out on such cursed platitudes ! but, mark, The truth they hold makes Being bright or dark. 140 POEMS OF LIVING NOON IN THE PRINTING-SHOP T is noontide. For an hour the workers rest Amid the quiet where but now there rang The fugue of type and planer, presses clang, And all the concords of the printer s quest. Around me suddenly, in beauty drest, Rise forest aisles ! The notes of birds that sang Long past, again I hear ; the wild fruit s tang Again I taste, in dewy coverts blest. Imagination ! power hast thou to take From toil its sting, and unto age impart The vanished fire of youth s first morning-glow ! Happy who learn thy simple law, and slake Through charm of inner eye and loving heart Earth s direst griefs in mind s rich overflow. TRUE LIFE OF US True life of us, where art thou hid away ! This ceaseless moiling in the shop and mart, This thoughtless social mocking of the heart, Which all-absorb our waking, year and day, Cannot be life ! At times at evening-gray Faint symbol of night s solveless counterpart Which dimly waits from drowsiness we start, So fair the dream that comes, and cry, "Oh, stay ! " SONNETS 141 Perchance we first time really see a flower ! Some inward grandeur unsuspect makes cry ! Or others nobleness enchains our view ! In such informing and exalting hour Earth s old futilities pass downcast by, And life on sudden takes eternal hue. THE NAMELESS RECORD In Rome a chiseled marble told a tale Of noble deeds and high unselfish life Though from the tablet hammer-blows and knife Had all obliterated, as with hail, The great one s name ! Old centuries wan and pale Which met blood s Nemesis in awful strife Of Goths and Vandals years with horror rife Beheld it, and it weighed them in its scale And found them wanting. For not Pompey s name, Nor Caesar s, ever filled this space with fear, But hero s crowned with more than monarch s bays Some Greatheart s, blotting here his sculptured fame, As knowing lives of selflessness austere Are lived from love of love, not love of praise ! 142 POEMS OF LIVING A; RADIANT YOUTH I KNEW i A radiant youth I knew. His glowing face Was like a blushing rose of dawn s own tints ; It scarcely seemed he ought to dare life s race Where coarser feet plowed deep their heedless prints. I loved him for his nobleness, and tried To dream his coming great career for Man. "O Fate ! remove all obstacles," I cried, "And in his path uprear no evil ban." But tempters came one temptress most of all, Who kissed his lips and hung upon his neck, And lured him to her worship sweet to gall Till on life s shore he lay a battered wreck. On crags Caucasian, vultures no more spare A bound Prometheus than a blundering hare. ii Yet "all things work for good " ! O Knowledge bold, Tis thus to-day with no less cheering tone You speak than saint or prophet spake of old, Soft lustre flashing through our weeping zone. My noble one lies dead in godlike youth ! Such powers as his had rescued half a world ! And yet I must not doubt : t is surely truth That naught in Nature to the Void is hurled. SONNETS 143 Himself he could not save will he save others ? His sacrifice will it have aught of force ? While yet he lies unhearsed, among his brothers A myriad boldly venture the same course ! . . . A few beweeping self may pause an hour, And on his coffin fling like me a flower. SELF-MADE CROSSES After the palm and cheer the scoff and cross ! But his were love and innocence who bore. Ah ! what of those, the wilful, mid the roar Of pitiless ills that mark their pain and loss ! Sinning, transgressing, they seem to wear the crown ; Joyous they laugh, and dream " Tis victory." Ah ! but the awful sequence of their glee Drags them and strips them, fainting, shuddering, down. There the world s helper, pierced by scorners who With evil hands uplifted him, the pure : Here the maimed throng whose mangled lives endure Only the nails themselves drove thoughtless through. Ah, even than that Central Scaffold drear, Sadder the crosses for ourselves we rear ! 144 POEMS OF LIVING CAUSATION She played, an innocent darling, mid the flowers ; Hid ivy foully poisoned her. She sang, A child, on forest edge, till suddenly rang Her agony from bee-stings mid the bowers. Grown to fair maidhood, golden were her hours ! Love beatific, holy, filled her breast. No Angel warned her why reveal the rest ? Above her wave-lapt corse no marble towers. Happy and prosperous one, by Fortune crowned ! Thee doth thy " virtue " keep ? And was it " sin That wrecked her of her all ? Nay, world, begin More wisely Nature s secret depths to sound. Man needs a knowledge not yet taught in schools. Seek out yet more her laws. Causation rules. HEREDITY Avaunt, ye myriad ancestors of mine Whose olden deeds persist and hinder me ! No longer I accept your sovereignty ; In sole autocracy I rise and shine. If ye were buccaneers, I will incline To acts that shall redeem your perfidy ; If ye perchance were tyrants, I will be To all my fellows helpful and benign. SONNETS 145 In whatsoever ye were base or sad, I flout and overcome you one and all And rear henceforth a standard fair and high. . . . Yet whence, O Sires, received I good with bad ! To what staunch soul, I wonder, am I thrall In thus determining I will be I ! SELF- GRATULATION When I consider all my path of life The slight estate wherewith my years began ; The baffling but indomitable strife To mould from crumbling clay a lofty man ; When I recall the goblins of the soul Which hoary Credence fastened on my youth The Past s rude superstitions taking toll Of ardent years which else had served the Truth ; When still, in memory, I front the wall With which Convention blocked my hopeful way, And feel again, as at the earlier call, The smart of strokes in Freedom s holy fray I marvel at the unattained no more, But at the much, though little, of my store. 146 POEMS OF LIVING ACROSS THE LINE: AT FIFTY Into the river of my life still flow Streams of delight from youth s unfailing springs ; By every flower that blows and bird that sings My heart is thrilled as in the long ago. All aspirations youthful dreamers know For Man for self ! the joy that service brings ; Faith without folly ; honors void of stings : These quenchless orbs still keep my skies aglow. Mine also the amazement of the child At War s persistent shame earth s sorrow old ; And at men s strife to hoard, who need but bread. O rills of blessedness divinely mild, Into my being s tide perpetual rolled ! From your sweet founts no stain, no grief, I dread. SONNETS 147 ULTIMA THULE Now cease to toil ? Nay, this for me not yet, Thou youth who deemest growing age a bar That hinders sight of new-ascendant star And dulls heroic zeal to soft regret. High failure or high conquest doth but whet, For noble souls, the will to climb afar Where splendors of all fine endeavors are Transcendent orbs which, rising, never set ! Then pity not, dear youth, the growing gray Which threatens me no gray afflicts the soul No vision yet of Utmost Isle is mine Nor ever shall be ! for the sacred day Will come unomened when I reach the goal ; My last step only shall attain the shrine. 148 POEMS OF LIVING THE LOVELIEST ANGEL Time was Time is. Our choice when years were young Was Michael he of flaming sword and brow, Whose brandished blade, and high, imperious " Now ! " Submission s cry from recreant Error wrung. Then thralled was soul by songs high bards have sung, And Gabriel, God s courier to endow The earth with Knowledge, chose we, seeking how To lift mankind to Heaven with luring tongue. Now night advances : strife and teaching cease. Ascends the star of dreams when day is done ! Of all the Angels, choose we Azrael ! His name is symbol of a longed-for peace : Not hooded is his face, but like the sun, And in his hand the immortal asphodel. POEMS OF NATURE /. MISCELLANEOUS IN TREETOP LAND I see you, robin, on your perch High up amid the maple there. What hall of music, couch of ease, Not built by hands, soft rocked by breeze, Could earth show fairer to my search Than swaying hammock in the air, In Treetop Land ! Unmindful of the hoarding strife Which sums the sum of human life, Ten cherries are enough for you : You only ask a plum or two And Treetop Land. The sunshine streams at break of day And through your leafy lattice weaves. The liquid air invites your wing What wonder that you sing and sing ! Your busiest toil is busiest play ; No envy your existence grieves In Treetop Land. 149 150 POEMS OF NATURE A prayer I breathe an eager cry ! " O Mother Nature, till I die Dear hours and days vouchsafe to me Of simple, care-free liberty - Like Treetop Land ! " "A BREATH FROM THE FIELDS" [To , who sent to me, in the city, a box of spring blossoms as "a breath from the fields "J "A breath from the fields ! ". . . Ah me, Could I paint the vision I see ! For under the spell of these flowers The thoroughfare, busy and hot, And the office, and work, are forgot ; And these granite and marble towers Quick vanish away, and quick The whole desert of fiery brick. " A breath from the fields ! ". . . All day My spirit has languished to stray From the City of Turmoil. And now, On the magical carpet of Thought, On the pinions these blossoms have brought, MISCELLANEOUS 151 I am wandering where the bough Of the elm with the maple blends, And the song of the robin ascends. " A breath from the fields ! ". . . The sweets Of a myriad marguerites Are flooding with incense the air, And a dream my heart besets As I gaze on the violets A dream and a splendor rare Of a brook where the bloodroot drinks, And the laughter of bobolinks. " A breath from the fields ! ". . . I catch A view of the leafy thatch That waves on the meadow s marge. I roam in the shadows of trees Like those in Hesperides ! And I pluck from the branches the large, White, beautiful apple-sprays, Till the pain in my heart allays. "A breath from the fields ! ". . . Thank God For the friend who kneeled on the sod To gather such glory for me ! The blossoms will fade ; but depart Shall they never from out of my heart : 152 POEMS OF NATURE There, forever, their beauty shall be, Like the blossoms that gladden the eyes Of the dwellers in Paradise. DAFFODILS Within the winding woodland aisles Which stately crown our northward hills, A myriad wilding daffodils Bloom gladly where the sunbeam smiles. How they in such unwonted earth Found home and blossomed, none may know ; But buds of a more beauteous glow Ne er, out of poet s brain, had birth. Anigh their vernal, mossy bed The pine stands whispering to the spruce ; The striped squirrel gay recluse! Swings in the branches overhead. Around their prize the wondering bees, To such soft sweetness all unused, Buzzingly gather till infused With honey of Hesperides ! Thither the Naiads also come ; Thither the fairies fly in haste : MISCELLANEOUS 153 Never more humble courtiers graced A Beauty s court in Christendom. Even the lady-ferns and sedges, Turning in sweet surprise to greet The beauty nestling at their feet, Give the pale strangers welcome pledges. Thither I, too, my steps retrace, Seeking the inspiration there ; Meeting within that charmed air A benediction face to face. SONATA OF THE DRAGON-FLY [The dragon-fly flew in at my open office window in Boston one day in summer, a few moments after the receipt by me of a letter from a friend at Vineyard Haven. In the letter the writer of the same, by a strange coincidence, had playfully wished himself some winged creature in order that he might fly in at my city window and whisper in my ear the delights of his rural and seaside home !] I come, I come from distant shores ! From where the wide Atlantic roars Around my island home ; Where pebbly strands unbroken lie, Ringed round with spray-cloud mystery, Ringed round with silvery foam ! 154 POEMS OF NATURE I come from where the trembling pine Chants chorus to the heaving brine, Chants sonnets to the sea ; From where the myriad-leaved elm, On brink of wide Neptunian realm, Breathes soulful melody. I come from meadowy retreats, Where violets and marguerites The livelong day repose ; Where jauntily the golden-rod And tufted stalks of asters nod, Mingled with sweetbrier rose. I come from where the rippling brook Flows free through many a sylvan nook, Then leaps into the sun ; Where ferns and grasses guard the brink Where butterflies descend to drink, Their glad life just begun. I come from where the oriole s nest Hangs hidden beyond the eager quest Of hawk or schoolboy hand ; From where the yellow-bird s golden hue Flits by with a flash across the blue Of the high arch overspanned. I come from where at eventide The stars in majestic beauty glide, Outvying Arabia s days ; MISCELLANEOUS 155 Where nightly the firefly s delicate lamp Gleams bright on the background cold and damp Of the furry, tasseled maize. I come, I come from distant shores ; From where the wide Alantic roars Around my island home ; Where pebbly strands unbroken lie, Ringed round with spray-cloud mystery, Ringed round with silvery foam ! BODY AND SPIRIT The fair October sky is clear, The summer haze has fled ; The glory of the woods is near, The maple s leaves are red. The cloudless morning sun is mild, The fern its fragrance yields. " Come out into the woods, my child, Come out into the fields ! " T is thus I hear my Mother speak, My Mother, Nature dear ; And while her breezes fan my cheek I linger still to hear. 156 POEMS OF NATURE " These perfect days were never meant For toil of hand or brain,"- But made to roam the continent Or sail the misty main. " The world is too much with us." - Yea, For all men but a few Earth s toil and strain from day to day Are life s sole residue ! God ! for what the sun and sky ? For what the leafy wood ? Shall men forever live and die And call the worse the good ? But ah ! myself myself am bound Within the city s moil ! 1 cannot break, myself, the round Of endless daily toil ! In vain the beckoning sumach calls, In vain the rose is red ; While labor s mocking hour-hand crawls The aster s gold is dead ! Ah well ! my mind is still my own ; My heart no fetters gyve : My soul is monarch of a throne Which through all years shall thrive. MISCELLANEOUS 157 To toil my body Fate may urge, But unconfined and free My spirit roams the mountain s verge And sails the sunlit sea. MYSTIC RIVER [1881] O miniature river ! winding free Through widening meadows to wider sea, Beautiful, beautiful art thou to me ! Men look on thy narrow wave, and laugh ! . . . Little they know of the cup I quaff ! And what carest thou for their idle chaff ! Thou art narrow, and sluggish, and muddy oft, And thy margin is oozy, and low, and soft ; It is no wonder that men have scoffed : For men are thoughtless, through and through ; And men are idle and sluggish too, And they laugh at themselves when they laugh at you. Thou art wider at times when the upward tide Brings a torrent of brine from the ocean s side, And seaweed and kelp on thy current glide. 158 POEMS OF NATURE Then pleasure-barks on thy surface float, And fair lips wreathe into joyous note While fair hands hasten each onward boat. Thou art wider still when the tide comes in With a rush and a roar from the sea, and a din Like that on the beach when the storms begin. Then over thy wave the sea-gull dips, And screams to his fellows, while slowly drips The salt sea spray from his pinions tips ! And thou takest thy birth in lakes that are large, With villages fair on their prosperous marge, And yet almost as lone as when swept by the barge Of the Indian hunters now lying asleep Where the willow bends low and the larches weep On the westering slopes of Walnut steep ; In lakes that are quiet, and calm, and still, Where the bobolink s laugh and the thrush s trill Re-echo o er forest and meadow and hill. But, river ! if thou in thy breadth wert as great As the Stream of the South where it pours through the gate Of golden Brazil, and runs separate For leagues in the brine, ever fresh, ever pure ; If thou in precipitous depths didst endure Dark caverns and cliffs such as oceans immure ; MISCELLANEOUS 1 59 If thou in the circling embrace of thy banks Held gardens by hundreds, and castles in ranks, And vineyards like those in the land of the Franks ; If thou, with Euphrates and Gihon, didst run By the Garden of God, and didst mirror the sun As when first over Eden the dawn had begun ; Ev n then thou couldst never peace richer impart, Nor ever be dearer, O stream, in my heart, Than thou in thy slufnber and sluggishness art ! For oft when my bosom with conflict was torn, Thou, placid, hast crooned, " Child, for peace thou wast born ! "- Till thy calmness my strife of its passion has shorn. And sacred to me, doubly, trebly, thy tide, For the friends now far sundered and scattered world wide With whom in my youth I have walked by thy side. 1 1 Walnut Hill was the earlier name of the present College Hill (Tufts College). During the years since this poem was written the old Indian burial-ground has disappeared, its site being now occu pied by residences in some of which, if the belief of a number of the inhabitants of the neighborhood is well founded, the sorrowful spirits of the long-departed aborigines make themselves from time to time manifest in rebuke of the desecration by the white man of their eternal camping-ground ! The Mystic lakes, also, wear no longer so completely the aspect of solitude as in the /ears previous to 1880. The dam and lock in the river, at Medford, now holding the upper reaches of the stream at flood, are of recent date. 160 POEMS OF NATURE SUNSHINE " Wohlauf ! es ruft der Sonnenschein Hinaus in Gottes freie Welt ! " TlECK: Zuversicht. O sluggish slumberer, awake ! The sunlight calls thee ! Earth s sullen clods beneath thee quake ; The promised buds of springtide break ; The green sedge quivers by the lake. No longer winter s gloom appalls thee, But out where birds and blossoms wake, God s sunlight calls thee ! The bobolink beside the brook Sings, never weary ; The elms, that wings so long forsook, Again for nests and joyance look ; And where the snow-hung elder shook, And sighed through all the winter dreary, The robins, as in ^Esop s Book, Chant loud and cheery. Within the woodland green and wild, The fern is springing ; And near the maiden-hair so mild, MISCELLANEOUS 161 And golden mosses high up-piled, The violet, Nature s favorite child, Its fragrance on the air is flinging. How often hath its breath beguiled My heart to singing ! O weary soul, beset by toil From dawn till gloaming ! Like Bunyan s Pilgrim, flee the broil ! Forsake the city s ceaseless moil ; Come out, and tread the tender soil Of Beulah, where no footstep, roaming, Fails of the priceless wine and oil Of Nature s foaming. Pale students ! poring over books And musty Latin ! Shakespeare read sermons in the brooks ! Through far Ionian seas and nooks Old Homer, godlike in his looks, Roved singing of Earth s robe of satin ! And Virgil s shepherds timed their crooks To Nature s matin. O aching feet ! enforced to tread Hot urban places ! That fain would wander, fain would wed The velvet of some mossy bed ! Your pathway, as the Prophet said, 162 POEMS OF NATURE May sometime be through flowery spaces ; Through meadows with the happy dead, In heavenly places ! O sorrowing heart ! for him, for her, Who left thee weeping ! Canst thou not deem this wondrous stir Of springtide leaf and gossamer A mild angelic minister ? This wakefulness, where all was sleeping, Is it not Heaven s own messenger To stay thy weeping ? May not the clouds that roll afar On life s horizon Flee too, like winter s broken bar ? And in their stead a glittering star Arise, that aeons shall not mar ? This is the hope our heart relies on ; - And such may be, when rolls ajar Heaven s fair horizon. MISCELLANEOUS 163 PAN Did some one say that Pan is dead ? Then what was that sweet sound I heard Which first I thought was song of bird, But then perceived was far too sweet For robin with it to compete ? I know that Pan not yet is fled ! If still you think t was bird s refrain, Oh, stand with me beside this tree ; Oh, stand a moment silently, And when the strain again rings out There ! hark ! Who sways that vine about Is that not Pan with dryad train ? Persist you t is but sun and shade ? Why ! oaks and maples rustling limbs Ne er tuned such sweet outlandish hymns As these dear olden runes that seem The echo of some Attic dream. No pipe but Pan s such sounds e er made ! Nay, comrade, you are surely wrong. Rare tones like these no purling brook Made ev n in loveliest forest nook. Dear Pan himself is hidden there, Enshrined within that leafy lair ; T is he that ripples thus in song. 1 64 POEMS OF NATURE You say it is a little child With its companions playing there ! Red clover-blossoms in its hair, Its mother crooning melodies ! - Ah ! that s the gladdest thing there is, If Pan indeed no more runs wild ! Yet what are birds and trees and brooks, And what a child and mother fair, But Nature sublimate and rare Outbursting into sweetest strain, Compelling laughter, numbing pain ! - These all are Pan, as in the books ! POEMS OF NATURE II. SONNETS ONE WITH ALL I love all changes of the earth and air ! A day of sleety turmoil is to me A rare magnificence, and I could flee Eager and happy to the storm-wind s lair. When pounds the tempest through the hills all bare, Or thunder cannonades the beating sea, Spirit of Nature ! still I speed with thee, Clinging triumphant in thy streaming hair. Then comes a day amid the flowers and ferns, When breathing zephyrs and low-murmuring bees Speak Nature s mood a poppy-like repose. The flame is mine with which rhodora burns, The fragrance mine of scented herbs and trees, And I am drop in every brook that flows. 165 1 66 POEMS OF NATURE IN SUBURBAN WOODS How sifts the sunlight through these oaks outspread ! And through their boughs what flash of crimson wings ! Each cup and fern a fragrant censer swings. Earth s loveliness to me is daily bread. At this rich board I bow my grateful head, And eat and drink, the while my bosom sings, Forgetting for an hour the thousand stings Of yonder city Palace of the Dead ! At every living tomb, or south or north, The spirit, hearkening, heareth Nature chide : " O souls of men, to beauty why so slow ! Day s realm awaits you ! Lazarus, come forth ! " And then, to them that stand the grave beside : " Unbind their cerements ! Loose, and let them go." SUNRISE IN CODMAN PARK [Dorchester, Massachusetts] From hilltop circled by the sleeping town I seaward gaze where gleams the early day. The mists still clothe the valley-lands in gray, But harbor islands wear a gem-set crown. SONNETS 167 Southward, the Blue Hill summits doff their frown, Reflecting eagerly each new-born ray ; While through the elms the robin to the jay His gauntlet of ecstatic song throws down. For me alone is this exalting bliss ? For me alone these fugue-resounding walls Which flush with beryl and with sapphire blaze*? O sluggard souls, ye know not what ye miss Who bring not sorrow to these sunrise-halls To find it vanish in these notes of praise. IN VACATION Under my Bodhi-tree cross-legg d I sit, And meditate in silent, grateful glee. Between me and the sunset swallows flit, Swift-wing d across the gorgeous tapestry. Crimson and gold all wonderful to see The west is gateway to unfathomed calm ; Serenity from hill and rock and tree Bathes my freed spirit in unwonted balm. What wonder I respond with inward psalm ! What wonder earthly gauds seem poor and bare ! With marvels Nature meets my outstretched^palm, And smiles that I inhale this heavenly air. "Oh why so slow," she cries, "to seek my face, When peace, in all earth s quest, hath else no place ! " 1 68 POEMS OF NATURE BY DARK OR LIGHT Nature, by dark or light thy life I drink ! The midnight stars behold me as I gaze, And smile in answer, hinting that the days Are but Eternity s half-lumined brink. The night is opportunity to think ! And soul s own inner orbs expand and blaze When round the shepherd Pole the star-flocks graze And fires of boreal Vulcans glow and shrink. Yet when in eastern skies the steeds uprear Which Phoebus urges to celestial flight, The day brings eloquence night s lustre bars : The sheen of dewy meadows far and near, The opal hills, the ocean s purple might, And human faces lovelier than all stars. ENCHANTED GROUND I am a Parsee. Thee I praise, O Sun ! Squirrel nor thrush is earlier astir Than I when, bursting through the upland fir, I mount some steep to hail new Dawn begun. And when the showery west, all diamond-spun, Is pied with flame as dies Day s messenger, I gaze still rapt, Light s loyal worshiper, And hymn the hymns of priests in Babylon. SONNETS 169 Omar ! the earth was all enchanted ground To thee who sold thy rosary for wine The wine of Beauty, filling Nature s cup. Thy temple s arch the sky alone could bound. Scaling its walls, no narrower worship mine, To Heaven each day I climb exultant up. SO LIKE THE SPRING SHE STANDS [Written of my Daughter] Again we wander she, my soul s delight, And I, her dear companion, lover, friend To hilltops where the elms and maples send Their first faint greenness through the landscape bright. The flicker calls us to pursue his flight ; The robin welcomes us to join the trend Of lavish life upspringing, and to spend Improvidently on the ear and sight. Once more, as when she plunged her infant hands In wealth of Western prairies, years between, We search and sing and know life still is sweet. Yet now, dear girl ! so like the Spring she stands, To gaze upon her fairness of eighteen My eye forsakes the windflower at my feet. 1 70 POEMS OF NATURE THE EARTH AT PLAY Acres of daises, buttercups between, And over them the sunny Sunday sky ! Daisies as thick as stalks in fields of rye ; More buttercups than eyes before had seen Though love had measured tenfold ; spires of green The gowans gay uptossing, straight, awry, O erswung, upsoaring, endless to the eye ; The yellow crowfoot hordes enmeshed serene. I think if I could count those blooms afield, Which yesterday the wanton breeze o erswept In billows white, green, golden, I could say How many love-lights children s faces yield When kisses greet them after they have slept. And they go out to join the earth at play. HILLS OF MORNING I wake and gaze. Behold ! a mountain range Which never from my window showed before ! What magic reared those precipices strange, Adown whose depths vague avalanches pour ! The mighty mass dim distances away Heaves on and on, an Adirondack pile. My soul hangs worshipful, and fain would stay To gaze where soars such marvel mile on mile. SONNETS 171 But then I see, with heart that sudden sinks, Vast slaty clouds are all my heavenly view ! My continent of towering summits shrinks As streaming Day transmutes to gold the blue. Yet, eyes, repine not ! on your sight was cast Undreamed-of beauty, though so soon o erpast. COMRADES I hear him calling I must go awhile, For compact we have made most true and strict. When either hails, then ere the sun has nicked Ten seconds on the oak-top s soaring dial, The other faithful in the loyal style Of souls whose confidence was never tricked By comrades proving dull or derelict Must answer through the woodland s leafy aisle. Then shut, my Shakespeare, Plato, you may wait ; My cornfield, sun and rain may care for you ; Sad world, an hour I leave you to your plight ! Ceaseless the cark of Body, Mind, and State, While love s sweet fellowships are far and few. Recalls I answer. " Here s Bob White !" "Bob White ! " i/2 POEMS OF NATURE TO MY OLD WHEEL Thousands of miles of richness ! lofty joy Beyond what noblest verse might hope to swell ! Ungrateful, then, should I not strive to tell The benediction of thy rare employ. Through thee, Atlantic s edge hath been my toy ; Through thee, my heart hath danced in field and fell; Through thee, unnumbered draughts at Bethlehem s well Have sins assuaged and banished world s annoy. Through thee, the hills their purple haze have lent ; Voices of bobolinks have been the choir Which tuned the grottoes where I found a shrine ; Hemlock and larch have swung my studious tent ; Morning and eve have lit my sacred fire ; Paphos, the Muses, and God Pan were mine. ON CROSSING THE CHARLES AT ITS MOUTH O river, over which at morn and night To daily toil the lightning-harnessed car Swift hurries me in worn or thoughtful plight, Full many a dream thou bring st of happier star ! SONNETS 173 All thoughtless were the hours I spent on thee And rowed or drifted up or down thy tide, Winging with gulls into the upper free, Speeding with ships to lands of Eastern pride. Far back as dear those days of boyhood sweets, Where growth and health were won for later toil : No crash of pride or change which fortune meets Can mar old gains or darling memories spoil. To-day rude traffic on thy breast may roar, Still calm I float along an Eden shore. A SPRAY OF HEMLOCK You spray of hemlock on my city wall, I gaze at you remembering whence you came ! That thence I ravaged you, oh, bear no blame, For winter now enshrouds me in its pall. I listen, and I hear the squirrels call Which shot your living green with tawny flame ; Ay, listen, and I seem to hear the same Dear murmur of the gurgling brooklet s fall. I crush your fragrant fibres in my hand, And senses swim with spicy odors won ; Above me, wide cerulean depths expand, Where snowy shallops sail enriched with sun ; I need no more to dream of Beulah-land, Thyself art Beulah here and now begun. i/4 POEMS OF NATURE GULL AND WAVE When oft, a boy, I sought the lonely bay In winter, when the icy surges crashed, I hailed the waves companions as they dashed, And leaped from rock to rock as wild as they. Along the shore I flew, to meet the spray ; And when with brine the gulls and I were splashed, I joined their screams, as joyed and unabashed. The gulls and I were brothers in that day. O wider zones which years have called to sight, O thought and toil, O soul s exultant dream, O friendship of good women and good men Together ye have wrought for life s delight : Yet happy I when comes in sleep the gleam, The rapture, of the gull and wave again. EXEMPLAR How am I worthy that you thus should bring, Dear friend, to glorify my city room, Wild-primrose leaves and clustering strawberry- bloom, First marvels of cold April s blossoming ? These crimson maple-buds lift voice and sing ; And though my sunless casements look on gloom, And winds to-day from eastward wail and boom, I sit companioned by refulgent Spring. SONNETS 175 " How am I worthy ? " Nay, t was not my worth But thy beneficence that roamed the wood And brought these wonders to revive my heart ! Shall Syrian dreamer s dream come yet to birth, And all mankind know earth s abundant good, In Nature s richness sharing part and part ? ON CAPE ANN How wondrous were the breakers that rare day ! - A day in happy memory secure ! Not forty added years provide the lure To shroud the picture in forgetful gray : The summer sunrise flooding all the bay, The gray, ribbed sands which ceaseless shocks endure ; While, buoyant in youth s dauntless vestiture, Two boys were daring the tumultuous fray. Shot through with sun, the waves rolled mobile in, Great walls of gleaming topaz, liquid flame, Engulfing us in tides of heavenly fire. With awe we plunged amid the whirling din To rise refulgent ! for our forms became Like Hermes when he flashed in gods attire. 176 POEMS OF NATURE DEAR MOTHER EARTH Fair is the prisoned sunlight in a gem, But dreary doom were city in the sky Whose walls, foundations, gateways, low and high, Were " beryl," " jacinth," " chrysolite." To them Who dwell there, Allah s peace ! but I should stem The bright grim battlements, and crave to fly Down to dear Mother Earth again, where I Am healed if I but touch her garment s hem. These silver birches drenched with morning dew, These sumachs clambering from the jeweled grass, No realm of gold and chrysoprase could give. An Eden new each day I wander through, And pines and hemlocks, towering as I pass, Enwall the Heaven where I could love and live. TWO WISPS OF STRAW I have seen straw afield, what time the grain Of rich September rose in yellow shocks, And wondered at the wealth which brawn and brain Had tortured, tireless, from New England s rocks. And I have viewed rare galleries arrayed With tapestries of straw from Orient shrines, By patient artist fingers interlaid In storied scenes and arabesque designs. SONNETS 177 But these two tattered wisps which I beheld To-day as Winter is just loosening hold, Gave inward vision rarer joy than welled At human artifice or harvest gold : For these were woven to a bluebird s tune, And spoke of treetop joyance and of June. NATURE S FOUNDLINGS When lush Marsh-Marigolds their bloom unfold In moisty vales where April brooklets run, They lift their yellow radiance to the sun In joyance never dreamed by market gold. Near them, frail Bloodroot meek though sanguine stoled Her white plumes blossoming from juices dun Playfully trembles at the mocking fun Of Cranesbill shuddering as if ghostly old. I laughed with them to-day on sunny banks O erhung by hemlocks widely topping all, And raised my own glad song in quiet thanks That on this busy, phantom-chasing Ball One soul at least was free to join the ranks Of Nature s foundlings beyond city wall. 1 78 POEMS OF NATURE THE SECRET How blest am I, who blissfulness can find In commonest delights that greet my hand ! I cannot flee Earth s richness ; move or stand, Her treasure to my coffers is inclined. The clouds that seem the sky and earth to bind, The daisies dancing to the breezes band, The waves that roll to wedlock with the land, - My beggar s bowl runs over, glory-lined ! The meadow-sparrow s muse, the sun s caress, The challenge of the cliffside s beckoning call, The comradeship of brooks along my path, To some, a sighing in the wilderness ! Yet forum, theatre, nor banquet-hall, Nor gold, nor power, nor praise, such blessing hath. SONNETS 179 SPIRIT WITH SPIRIT The pall has fled which dulled the early east - The swift white wonder of the dawn is nigh. Refreshed, transfigured, by the night passed by, I leap participant to Nature s feast. Oh, marvelous, that I, who seem the least Of natural things beneath this roseate sky, Should thus exalted be that thus am I On hilltop chanting, worshiper and priest. O body of me, which fifty years hath sprung Up craggy heights and foraged in the dales, Still youth s elastic fibre thrills in thee ! O soul within, that ages old hath sung In skyey deeps where spirit Spirit hails, Thine still is youth thine, ageless ecstasy. i8o POEMS OF NATURE THE PENDULUM Nature, in thy glad temple, to and fro, Ever the pendulum of beauty swings ; Summer or winter, spring or autumn, brings Rapture of eye where er we turn or go. Dawn-dew, the virtue of the sunrise-glow, The grasses strength, the spruces freshening rings, Fall s smokeless flame, white wreaths December flings, - Largess of beauty gods might joy to know. Surely, O Nature, thine no mocking bloom ! Vibrates thy pendulum not aimlessly, An order meaningless, a dial-less clock ! Yet where revolve thy hands that point our doom ? And how through ages is rewound thy key ? No answer greets us though we knock and knock. ki POEMS OF NATURE ///. SONNETS Of THE BLUE HILLS RESERVATION, MASS A CHUSE TTS INDIAN SUMMER Back for a day or two are come the glow And warmth of August, as October wanes. The air is languorous glory. The proud stains Of ripened verdure signal high and low O er hill and dale. Soft showers come and go. Forgetting yesterday s sharp frosts and pains, Earth laughs at losses, rich with sudden gains As magic lights and shadows sink and show. " Come out and visit us ! " the Blue Hills call : " From Rattle Rock or Chickatawbut scaled See leagues of undulating glory spread ! Hourly my crimson curtains rise and fall ; Oh come, nor let my pageant pass unhailed, No footfall sounding but the fox s tread ! " 181 182 POEMS OF NATURE IN THE BLUE HILLS IN NOVEMBER i In the Storm of Sunday, November 13 Where Kitch-a-makin s rocky front upheaves O er Sassamon s fair notch in rugged lines, The clinging fern-growth full as bravely shines This dreary day as when the Spring unweaves The first rare fronds that venture. The wind grieves And sleet whirls wild ; but hazels wave me signs That tempests daunt them not, and blackberry-vines, Still green and red, run riot through dead leaves. In Sassamon, through all the Winter s snows, Those ferns from their bleak crevices peep out And hail the hardy wanderer through the hills. They never fail him. Happy he who knows, Amid the city s lonely-populous rout, Where welcome waits which soothes all earthly ills. ii In the Sunshine of Sunday, November 20 November fickle monarch jocund rules : For what a morning ! air the air of May, In Sassamon the chickadees at play, And zephyrs dancing over ice-clad pools ! Nahanton s frosty forehead steams and cools, And on his shriveled breast, so lately gay, BLUE HILL SONNETS 183 Dead stalks of golden-rod and asters sway In ghostly caps and bells poor Nature-fools ! Alas ! t is but an hour or two of sun, And then the freezing night shall lull again To dreamless sleep this dull half-wakened bee ! Yet flaunt, O sumach-plumes, till day is done ! Your faith, surviving keenest joy and pain Which life can blend, is eke the faith of me. ON HANCOCK HILL On Hancock Hill are joys all lovers know Whose loves are birds and flowers, and tinkling brooks That run unseen though heard, neath rocky nooks, Mysterious streams as those of storied flow. O ferny dells ! O chestnuts bending low ! I hail you and return the tender looks You give admirers, while your leafy hooks Reach out to hinder them what time they go. For me, I go not hastily, too sweet The prospect distant and the riches near ; And oft I witness, as I pass a-thrill, The violet and the cranesbill touch and greet, Each whispering, " No harm from him we fear ; He loves us all too well, on Hancock Hill." 1 84 POEMS OF NATURE IN WILDCAT NOTCH No more the wildcat snarls in these stern aisles ; Gray frisking squirrels in his haunts have home, And hither, thither, bright-hued insects roam, Gay gleams of color gainst dim rocky piles. No wolf now lurks with predatory wiles ; But from their coverts in the forest dome Veery and ovenbird flash amid the gloam, Their clarions ringing through these rude defiles. For me, here throned on mossy granite ledge, Neath pines serene that utter Orient balm, Earth s brute contentions fade and are forgot. Anew to simpleness my soul I pledge. Nirvana conscious unison with Calm Expands within me. Strife henceforth is not. IN WONDER EVERY HOUR [At "The Crags"] I gaze anew in wonder every hour At all the strange sweet beauty of the world - The marvel of the nearest budding flower ; Dark cloud-rack flying ; waves in frolic curled. Yon harbor s edge a realm of mystery glows Each circling beach a lure of sands and shells. BLUE HILL SONNETS 185 The secret of these hills my spirit knows And drinks refreshed at Meditation s wells. Last night the darkness caught me on The Crags High hung above the alder-shaded spring ; October maples waved their radiant flags And showed my feet each crevice where to cling. Earth s grief and toil ! how futile is your fuming When thus for me each hour some rose springs blooming. WINTER GLORY A few gay snow-birds with their brave " Cheep, cheep ! " Allured my feet this morning to the hills. The earth is snow-clad, but melodious rills Neath icy crust refuse to lie asleep. No step till mine has crunched the vale or steep Since came the snow ; but trails the partridge drills Are plain to wondering sight, and vision thrills At tracks where foxes lurk and rabbits leap. Up gleaming Chickatawbut s slippery cone I climb to view far Cheshire s flower of white. 1 Below me calls the hardy chickadee ; The keen breeze through the pines has bravest tone ; With sun the frost-fringed oak-leaves are alight. One are brook, bird, and leaf, and heart of me. The peak of Monadnock, sixty-eight miles distant. 1 86 POEMS OF NATURE ON BOARD SHIP IN SASSAMON NOTCH To-day the pines on Kitch-a-makin roar. Far up, their snowy topsails thrash and sway Like reeling ships in Ocean s Titan play, While through this granite notch such currents pour Of biting blasts unleashed from Winter s store, That I can hear and feel the hurtling spray Of tempests thundering in Baffin s Bay, Where I am shipwrecked on that Arctic shore ! You sailors on the February main, To-day your jovial sea-songs are you chanting, As in the tales which fireside readers please ? Or are you clinging ice-clad, numb with pain, In desolate despair and horror panting To frozen shrouds in pitiless swashing seas ! GAIN STILL THE GOAL [On Doe Hollow Path] On wide-spread wing, O hawk, thou sailest high, While I, good lack ! toil plodding through the snow ! If I, like thee, might too on pinions go Should I be happier in that trackless sky ? On wings should I be free from cause to sigh ? Would strifes be absent, life no bafflings know ? BLUE HILL SONNETS 187 No grief thou hast in any winds that blow ! Should I be thou or should I still be I ! Silent, thou wingest from my ken. No less, O denizen of untried altitudes, In my brief sight of thee is food for thought. I will content me with what power to bless These snowdrifts offer, and by patient roods Gain still the goal thy flight had swifter brought ! VINE AND BIRCHES A Fable of Pine- Tree Brook To-day the vine and birches held commune. (I know their language, for I listen much And love their speech, their sanity is such. They sometimes even bid me join their rune ! ) To-day love s friendliness was all their tune, Indignant that December s boisterous touch Had striven remorselessly the grapevine s clutch To rive from branches where it dreamed of June : " Hold brave, O Vine, against our breasts of snow The springtime sun arrives again apace ! While speeds the earth, opposing winds shall blow ; Resolve ! thy battling brings unlooked-for grace ! The bliss of summer eves thou yet shalt know, October s purple clusters crown thy face ! " 1 88 POEMS OF NATURE "THE SHANTY [ It is said that the opening sentence of " The Pilgrim s Progress," appropriated here, refers to the cramped cell in Bedford Gaol where Part I. of the famous allegory was written. ..." The Shanty" is a little, old house on an abandoned farm on the edge of the Blue Hills Reservation, hired by a group of a dozen or fifteen Nature-lovers who know the secret of its entrance, wood being always stored at hand for the roaring fireplaces in winter, and a spring bubbling near for the thirsty in summer.] "As through the wilderness " of that dear world Where Care eludes and Rest and Worship meet, " I walked " to-day with ever freshening feet, " I lighted," while the beating snowstorm whirled, " Upon a certain place," in calmness furled, " Where was a Den." Not Bunyan s shamed re treat, Which genius glorified with visions sweet, But just "The Shanty," by the roadside curled. Within the dooryard, skis and snowshoes propped Gave sign afar that Brothers of the Free Had come an hour to read or feast or play. What wonder that expectantly I stopped, For howling winds, red logs, full minds, and glee Still widen walls as in rare Bunyan s day ! BLUE HILL SONNETS 189 THE SILVER BIRCH [Near Indian Camp Pool] I asked the silver birch how came its bark So passing fair, so wondrous to the sight. " Behold ! " I said, "your cheeks how smooth and white, While all your woodsy kin are bossed and dark ! At eve, as I went singing through the park, Though Venus and Arcturus veiled their light, Your beckoning moonshafts, gleaming through the night, Drew eyes swift archery, a shining mark ! " Then spake the tree : " We, too, were dull when earth First knew us ; but when winter s shroud of snow Enwrapped us, and our brothers wailed, we laughed ! A god quick cried, O birches, Man needs mirth : For all time in this snowy splendor glow ! Who solves your secret, life s best wine has quaffed ! " 190 POEMS OF NATURE THE PINE-TREE [At Wissahissick Pond] pine-tree, thou art Circe of the wood ! My path thou hast entangled and betrayed ! I saw thee, and thy smile betokened aid, Thy balm seemed greater than all earthly good. Alas ! once lured beneath thy fragrant hood, Thy ruthless needles through my bosom played. Thy base enchantment now is open laid, But I am chained beyond all will and should. 1 pray thee, pine-tree, loose thy fragrant trap ! At home my loved-ones for my coming stay, Unwitting of thy necromantic art. . . . Ah ! limbs at last have power thy charm to snap ! But as my body drags itself away, Thou, sorceress still, dost snatch and keep my heart ! BLUE HILL SONNETS 191 TO A HEMLOCK ON CHICKA- TAWBUT Again I flee the city s arid stress To greet thee, forest brother dear and tried ! Recumbent in the heaven thy arms provide I thrill with ecstasy at thy caress. Against thy sun-warm sides my cheek I press, And know thee still my kin, as when in pride Our far-off ancestors towered side by side. Thou still art tree ! I human more or less. When I have solved the secret of this flesh, My flame-freed ashes I in love decree Where some near sapling s roots may pierce my clay. I then shall flourish by thy side afresh, Once more upon the earth a glorious tree, While raptured others in my shade shall stray ! 192 POEMS OF NATURE DECEMBER HILLTOPS The snow up-piled holds all the hills in calm. Their heights and hollows greet untracked the eye Of such rare voyagers as speed the sky Belated from the pinelands to the palm. And yet, O hills, to-day I sang your psalm Perched high on Hancock s summit, though my cry Made music for no eager passer-by Who craved as I your healing piny balm. No less speak well the bards and seers who say That to himself the singer s song returns, Though other ear may hear not or may scorn ; Eor, toiling up your heights, the drift -filled way And lofty view became as fire that burns My song a chant at Heaven s high gate at morn. POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE 7. MISCELLANEOUS THE TRANSCENDENT POSSIBILITY Amid a treeless prairie vast A horseman stayed at set of sun : With eyes far strained o er shadows dun He swept the waste his steed had passed, And onward, o er the path to be, And there and here, on every side. But naught in Nature s round replied ; His gaze met blank obscurity. Yet, lo ! the man was Nature s child ! He trusted Her who gave him birth : He laid him on the flower-spread earth, Amid the grewsome vastness wild. He knew not he should wake again : To wake or sleep he knew was good. 193 194 POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE In love with air and sea and wood His eyes he shut with sweet Amen. His arm for pillow this was all ; Uncovered lay he on earth s breast : But rested he with gracious rest, And o er him gleamed the star-set wall. THE KISS OF DEATH My little child lay moaning as she slept. What dream of evil through her slumbers crept I knew not but her forehead I caressed, And to her trembling lips my own I pressed. Smiling, she woke. Her grief had taken wing. The kiss had power to make her sorrow sing. Is here a parable ? Is life a dream ? Doth all our anguish not exist, but seem ? Daily not sleeping, but awake we moan ! Yes ! but the guest-room it is Nature s own ; And may it be that she, when ends our breath, Wakes us to Peace with that sweet kiss of Death ? MISCELLANEOUS 195 THE LOVED AND GONE Glad thought we give, proved true by tears, To those, the loved and gone, Who at our side in other years Inspired and helped us on. Their presence lingers with us still, As stars amid the night, The while they roam the dreamland hill Beyond our earthly sight. Oh, more than these who greet our eyes Are ye with silent feet ! And gratefully we recognize Your benediction sweet. We may not whisper loud each name, Too sacred is our thought ; But humbly take, of praise or blame, The good ye to us brought. Be near us still to aid and bless, Ye friends of other days ! Soul yet doth feel your fond caress, Your olden likeness raise. Thus heart doth still respond to heart, And ye, though gone from sight, Are never dead, but still are part Of all our love and light. 196 POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE WHO KNOWS? What sailor knows, beneath the wave he lies on, The secrets of the sea ? Who fathoms Time beyond the dim horizon Which bounds Eternity ? Who knows the endless deeps of skyey spaces ? The course the comets run ? Who knows what light illuminates men s faces Beyond the moon and sun ? As children dream, so men have gazed in vision And seen a city blest. If such there be, what insight, grace, decision May glorify its rest ! We wonder daily what they may be doing In that fair realm afar : Nor deem we that their steps are but pursuing The space from star to star. Love, labor, progress ! this the constant story Ascending Nature speaks ; Love, labor, progress ! this were highest glory Of beatific weeks. MISCELLANEOUS 197 " There will be Light ! " The Voice is Voice Eternal, And still the Light will be. New stars, new suns, new satellites supernal Blaze forth continually. Whose hands, it may be, clothe the high Sierras Of those new worlds with white ? Whose kindly fingers dissipate the terrors Of their Antarctic night ? Invention fails ; imagination falters ; We may not read the sky : But this we know : If there are heavenly altars, Affection stands thereby ! If thought and will go on to larger being, And do not stop with death, Then, surely, weak is all our earthly seeing, To that diviner breath. We still may hope still magnify our dreaming Nor fear the Future blank ; If Nature s law is steadfast, and not seeming, Life rises rank on rank. And if those souls still are, who bore our sorrows, Their fondness still must glow, 198 POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE The same devotion fill their fine to-morrows That cherished us below. They love us still ! the beautiful and tender, Who early, one by one, Have fled earth s darkness for supernal splendor, Earth s shadows for the sun ! O Angel-Sisters ! have us in your keeping ! We cannot dream you dead ! We feel our hearts might hear, were they not sleeping, Your pinions overhead ! O Angel-Mothers ! beautiful as Morning, And brighter than the Day ! Our earthly doubts with heavenly grace adorning, Ye steal our hearts away ! MISCELLANEOUS 199 THE PASSING How came these words I may not note. I walked beneath the tranquil stars ; A Voice > as from their golden bars, Said " Write / " to me : I therefore wrote. Ev n yet I feel the tremulous thrill ! I tread again the pine-clad hill. A mystery ? true ; yet I fear not to go. Nothing harsh can be. Indeed, when I know We walk not alone ; that within us and out Throbs ever the Might that engirds us about ; That the Power which developed us reigns through all, A limitless Sea not a vertical Wall ; When I learn how the forces of death and life I ntercircle forever, yet never at strife ; When I know that the order and beauty around With the life of the All-Life ever abound ; That every bird on every tree Is thrilled a-through with God s own glee ; 200 POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE That every gleam from human eye Is a gleam of the All-Soul s Mystery, Eain would I leave this house of clay, To travel with God on his endless way ; To whirl with the atom and dance with the light, Or glow in a star to illumine earth s night. Things fail not. Though earth-life has passage like dreams The Order Eternal still pulses and streams. We know not " soul " passes ! We only can know That pass if it must, t is to else it will go. It cannot be lost : it is bound up with All ; And, while anything lasts, shall the Soul of Things fall ? Come, Death ! You for him lack all terrors and pains Who deems, though he vanish, he deathless yet reigns. MISCELLANEOUS 201 GONE From my sleep I start, and gaze without. What is this load this load of doubt This weight that presses so hard and deep Upon my heart that I cannot sleep ? That presses so hard with such a heat That my burning heart will scarcely beat ? Sunk is the star that beckoned me on ! She whom I loved is gone, is gone ! I gaze from my window I gaze on high : Coldly the moon slants down the sky Cold as the cold and icy weight That lies in the Valley Desolate That lies in the valley of death and gloom Where earth for its beautiful bride made room. Sunk is the star that beckoned me on ! She whom I loved is gone, is gone. Faint on my bed falls the light of stars : Red at the door of his tent stands Mars Red as the lurid light that throws Vesuvius shade on Italian snows. Faintly it falls on her lowly mound, And reddens the landscape all around. Sunk is the star that beckoned me on ! She whom I loved is gone, is gone ! 202 POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE Oh, what to my heart remains of good ! . . . I know that when last by her side I stood, She pointed her finger she pointed high : " I die," she whispered, " yet shall not die ! " That finger uplifted I still can see ; And it beckons, eternally beckons to me. She whom I loved ah no ! not gone ! The star that once beckoned still beckons me on ! POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE II. SONNETS AT THE TURN OF THE ROAD When comes at last my destined hour to die ; When here entranced I may no longer stay To mingle in the wonders of the day - To wander hill and sea and watch the sky I know my dust will most serenely lie : For confidence is mine in Nature s way ; I know her summons never can betray ; Her magic touch holds naught to terrify. If it were good to come, to learn of life, No less it must be good to go, to learn What strength and mystery reside in death. I here have known the full of joy and strife, And smiled throughout ; and at the highway s turn No whit less royally I yield my breath. 203 204 POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE BY THE DARK- BRIGHT RIVER This is the dark-bright river, at whose side I stand in wonder while its waters moan, Seeming to hear a music all my own In the calm rote with which its currents glide. I stoop and dip my hand within its tide, Perchance to still the human doubt and groan Which round me rise from those who dread its tone, And prove it friend, not enemy, when tried. These sounds familiar which I seem to hear These harmonies of constant birth and death Are but the World-Soul s alternating play. As harmless as the sunset is this sheer Slow welling of the waters, and the breath Already circles of a breaking day. EASTWARD WINDOWS No more I see them at the accustomed pane, - Two glowing faces, fair and full of glee, That always smiled and signaled friendlily As I went daily down the morning lane. Each night when I returned, I looked in vain ; The sash was dark, nor could I ever see Or boy or girl to wave or welcome me : Yet with the morrow they were there again ! SONNETS 205 The morning now is but another night : But all the lane now rings with songs not sad, Down flung from skies with this new bliss increased ; And oft I think, since they have taken flight, Of two bright morning faces making glad Some casement fronting the Eternal East. KNOWN OF OLD Where walks he my companion 1 known of old, Star-bright, with whom I wandered arm in arm ? Each shielded each from the approach of harm, Each counseled each with loving wisdom bold. He vanished, and the summer path grew cold. For him nor me had life or death alarm ; No less, on hill and by the river farm I walk alone, while he the Way of Gold. Where now he treads, what sunrise-glories burn ? I dream in vain his pathway through the blue, Yet feel t is on and on, through endless mile. And doth he wait for me at some fair turn, With eager eye expecting me in view ? Be mine to make the meeting worth the while ! 1 Edward Foster Temple (1854-1899) ; Tufts, 81. \ 206 POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE THE VANISHED The moon s bright sickle shines above the larch, A golden arc on shield of silvery blue. Eastward the dawn s white splendor, bursting through, Strives swiftly yonder westering stars to parch. But ah ! for us alone Day s lustrous arch, Around them quivering, outshines their hue : Glad eyes far distant, hailing Night anew, See them just mounting for their heavenly march ! O radiant loves and powers, and all fine graces Which daily, human shaped, around us sink, Far fleeing from our strained and questioning gaze ! Somewhere, it may be, gleam your shining faces Climbing to sight above Oblivion s brink, Somewhere anew your healing splendors blaze. ADDITIONAL POEMS /. THE BELLS OF COMO THE BELLS OF COMO [ Read to the Zetagathean Society 1 of Tufts College Theological School, at its seventh public literary anniversary, May 26, 1881] In Italy beyond the sea Dim, mediaeval Italy When she whose ancient power and pride Had been for centuries thrown aside Was slowly waking from her sleep, And with the inspiration deep And ardor of a second birth, Among the nations of the earth Was striving for a nobler place ; When all the Caesar-line was dust, And nothing but decay and rust Remained of the Imperial race ; And a new line of kings had come, Immortal throughout Christendom, Dante and Michaelangelo And Petrarch and Boccaccio ; When she, so long the nations scoff, 1 Zetagathean Society The Society Seeking Good. 207 208 ADDITIONAL POEMS Had risen and flung her languor off, And, waking, had disclosed her skill In marble, and her power to thrill And captivate with harmony A waiting, rapt humanity ; In Italy beyond the sea, Dim, early modern Italy, Was born one day a little child, A little weakling ! as if he, For whom was meant a destiny Amazing, luring, mocking, wild, Blissful at times, at times severe, Humble, exalted, mild, austere, Had been by Nature sent to be Even in birth an epitome Of all the dread, magnificent, Vain-glorious accomplishment Of his own native monarchy. He was a marvel of a child, His mother thought the neighbors knew ; For often, as he lay, he smiled ; And closing his clear eyes of blue, Would bend his ear as if he caught Some echo of angelic thought, The murmur of rhythmic melody, A strain of heavenly harmony. When out of babyhood he passed, And grew in stature, and at last THE BELLS OF COMO 209 Had come to boyhood, all his art, Untried, imperfect, yet in part Revealing what was in his heart, Was raptly exercised to bring From brass, from iron, from everything That answered with melodious ring When he should touch it, such a tone As always, when he was alone, Seemed ringing in the air around The song still present, and the sound, Which once, when he a baby lay, The angels sang to him each day. And as he labored still, apart, And leaned to listen, and on wings Of eager wishes would ascend Where yonder anthems seemed to blend, Echoing without hush or end, His mother wondered at these things And pondered them within her heart. " What is it, Michael ? " she one day Entreated. " Tell me your desire ! Your eyes are radiant with a fire Like that on Como when the sun Is setting and the day is done. What is it ! Tell it me, I pray ! " But Michael only turned away. He had no words, no heart, to say, Unto his mother even, as yet, The longing that was in his soul, The wish not yet in his control. 210 ADDITIONAL POEMS But as he turned, his eyes were wet ! For even then there seemed to rise The ever-swelling harmony, The far-off angel melody, Filling the blue, ethereal skies With sweetest notes, as if to wound His spirit with ideal sound. Swiftly the months and seasons ran, The youth still musing, till one day, With something of a wild dismay, He woke and found himself a man. His thought, his toil, his frequent prayer Had brought no laurel to his side ; His soul was still unsatisfied, His chimes were still but in the air. His chimes ! For it was Michael s aim, In manhood as in youth the same, His one endeavor, to create So marvelous a chime of bells, So fair and void of parallels, That they the soul would captivate, And a delighted world would own The music of their silver tone. " Some brotherhood of friars," said he, " Some convent here in Italy, Will gladly purchase them of me. Through all the world their fame will flow, THE BELLS OF COMO 211 And pilgrims here will come and go, And honor will be mine, and I Will build me here a cottage fair, And on the morn and evening air, Ascending thither, fleeing there, Will hear their music till I die." No jangling chimes like those that rung Throughout the vale where Como lay When knelt the brotherhood to pray, Would Michael make ! but on the day When first his silvery bells were swung, The monks and friars should all confess Not sins alone and idleness, But that their prayers before had known No inspiration like the tone That echoed from the belfry-throne Where Michael s chimes rang ecstasy. Surpassed their music should not be By any flute of Arcady, Or any Hebrew timbrel old, Or any fabled harp of gold, Or any violin whose fame Had given to its maker s name A lustre more than marvelous A halo such as still adheres To him who wrote upon his work A name which through the deathless years In Music s memory will lurk Antonio Stradivarius. 212 ADDITIONAL POEMS For years, in secret, Michael strove, Untiring, in a little grove, Casting and tuning still, anew, The metal cups from which he drew His hope of honor, wealth, and fame. Alike to him were praise and blame, Coming from those who nothing knew Of his high vision or his aim. Baffled a myriad times, again Untiringly he toiled, and when With fleeing years his faith grew dim, Again the angels came to him. And so he strove nor strove in vain For in the end his patient pain Accomplished all his heart s desire. He labored with his soul on fire ; And catching from the angels song The melody he missed so long, He tuned in ecstasy sublime The clanging bells to perfect chime, Until they rang a silver tone, The echo of the angels own. A week now hardly passed away When on the artist, pleased and proud, There called, with offer rich and rare, A neighboring friar of orders gray ; Who, having blest himself, and bowed, And laid his hand on Michael s hair, THE BELLS OF COMO 213 "I come, my brother," so he spake, " For this your masterpiece to make With earnest prayer the prior s request. We offer you a price, and take With eager thankfulness confessed, And many a benediction rich, The wondrous metal marvels which, By holy Mother Mary blest, Aided by tireless prayer and thought, The cunning of your hands has wrought." This the beginning was. The rest, Just as he long had dreamed it all, Now came to Michael with such speed That in a month his cottage wall Was rising on the margin wide Of beautiful blue Como s side ; And he from toil and want was freed. At morning now, at noon and night, In rapture at his cottage door, Sheltered from summer heat and light By clustering vine and sycamore, Entranced did Michael daily sit, Waiting to hear the joyful peal, The anthem glad and glorious, Which from the convent on the height That rose his homestead opposite Announced the inmates hour to kneel Betrayed, with sudden and loud appeal, 214 ADDITIONAL POEMS Of pious intent their overplus, Or sounded the holy Angelus. Diviner melodies than these No chimes in all the world could ring. To all who hearkened, heavenly ease, The ecstasies that angels know Where founts of living waters flow, Their notes seraphic seemed to bring. To Michael s thought the blest retreat Of Eden had no music higher. Not fabled Orpheus golden lyre Had ever sounded half so sweet. And if at favored Michael s feet Nor rock nor forest bowed and sang, His soul was often glorified With a triumphant, joyful pride Which Orpheus never knew or dreamed : For when at morn or eventide His chimes their silver music rang, To him, ah ! then to him it seemed The waiting angels circled low, And caught and raised the echo high, And flung it over hill and glen ; And when the anthem ceased to flow, Upbore it with them to the sky And closed it with a sweet Amen. But now throughout the peaceful vale, Along the placid lakelet s marge, THE BELLS OF COMO 215 The storm of war, its iron hail, The beat of angry foreign flail, The din of clashing spear and targe, Came suddenly and awfully. As when from out a summer sky, Where flakes of fairest amber hue Against a ground of gold and blue All day have floated gorgeously, There leaps a sudden awful flash, The lightning s angry augury ; And with a quick, tumultuous crash The thunder follows, and the pale Blue zenith thickens with the charge Of cloudy cohorts ; and the large And sturdy oak which hitherto, Whatever stormy tempest blew, Had towered unsmitten when the hail And whirlwind and the furious blow Have ceased, lies shattered, rootless, low, All lifeless ; so throughout the vale Of Como, and through all the land, There came the storm of war ; and so, When turmoil met its overthrow, And the red, desolating brand Had fallen from the invading hand, And Michael again reached his home From fighting in the ranks of Rome, No stone above another lay Where he in love, in happier day, 216 ADDITIONAL POEMS Had reared his modest tower and dome. The grove where he for years had toiled The torch had ruthlessly despoiled, And more calamitous than all, Gone was the monkish brotherhood ! And erst where cell and cloister stood, And prayer re-echoed wall to wall, Now wrapped in winding-sheet and pall The convent in a ruined heap Of ashes lay upon the steep. And Michael s bells ! his masterpiece ! His peerless, his unrivaled bells, Whose chimes were never more to cease ! The mocking mob of infidels Had stolen them away, and left Their maker mournful and bereft. The light was taken from his eyes ; The gate was shut on Paradise. " Alas ! " he murmured. " Woe is me ! My cup for all futurity Is filled with misery to the brim ! " What now indeed remained for him ! His home, his family, his health For labor, and his little wealth, These all were gone ! And even the sound That once had echoed in the air, Luring him upward from the ground With melody beyond compare THE BELLS OF COMO 217 Sounding from heavenly citadels : This too had vanished with his bells. Or so it seemed to him at first ; For afterwards, as he one day Was kneeling on the ground to pray The ruined ground where he of yore Had sat beside his cottage door, Upon his ear a sudden burst Of the old melody on high Rang rapturously ; and from the sky A voice angelic, clear and loud, Came searchingly. " Why here delay ? Up, Michael ! up ! " it seemed to say. "Why linger thus, with forehead bowed And footsteps idle ? Follow on ! Somewhere your bells their joyful tone Are ringing even now ! Be gone ! Seek them afar, and claim your own ! " So Michael rose, nor stayed an hour. New hope was in his heart ; and power To journey, did the need require, From the blue skies and silver seas Of his own Temperate Italy, To where the Tropic s flaming sky Unrolled its canopy of fire, Or where the desolate Arctic breeze Blew cold above the mountains drear Of the waste northern hemisphere. 218 ADDITIONAL POEMS So seized he in that selfsame day His cloak and staff and shallow purse, Intent in many a city way, And many a hamlet, to rehearse The history of his stolen bells, The fair and void of parallels ! Steadfast he wandered here and there, Seeking his darlings everywhere. And not alone in Italy, Beneath his native skies of blue, But where the Jura mountains threw Their shadow on Geneva s sea. Not up and down the Alps alone, And through and through the Apennine, But where the Danube and the Rhine Upreared their convent-towers of stone. Who knew but here, perchance, his bells Rang out in grief their stolen tone ! "Who knows," he cried, " but here there dwells A respite for my grief and pain, And here my ears, so weary grown, Shall ring with harmony again ! " But when he heard the clang and roar That echoed up and down the slopes, Sounding from many a convent-shrine, Vanished again were all his hopes. " Alack ! " he sighed, "they are not mine ! " His bells revealed their secret lore In heavenly harmony ! but these, THE BELLS OF COMO 219 What ear could deem their notes divine, Or call their anthems melodies ! The seasons went and came ; and went And came again : and still his way Across and through the continent, Untiringly, from day to day, Michael pursued, through cold and heat. Through ten, through twenty years, his feet Onward unceasingly were bent. Far to the East his steps were turned To where on priest-fed altars burned Unfading fire ; and to the shrine Of Bethlehem in Palestine. Even through India and Cathay His search unfaltering he made. No distance could his zeal evade. His chimes seemed never far away : On mountain, o er the desert sand, On lake, on river, on the land, Ever they sounded loud and clear, Ringing triumphant in his ear. His form was bent, his beard was gray, His wrinkled face was bronzed and burned ; But as a traveler in the night, Groping, and waiting for the light, Yet walking still, so Michael turned, And waited for the coming day. It was in Greece at last that news Was given the wanderer of his bells ; 220 ADDITIONAL POEMS Amid the towers and citadels Of Athens, where, to pray and muse, And stray an hour, and lean upon The ruins of the Parthenon, Had come at length his weary feet. A traveler here he met, replete With stories wonderful, who said : " Somewhere in yonder Western seas I heard their marvelous melodies ! " But where, he could not say ; for dead Now in his memory the ground Where he had listened to their sound. But Michael had at least a clue ; And hurrying to Italy His way he purposed to pursue Along the borders of the sea Through all the countries of the West, And there, God willing, end his quest. In a few days his feet had come To buried Herculaneum ; And when he saw the mountain s brim Piercing the cloudrack over him Gazing as with defiant air Upon the buried cities there On Michael s burning heart the tears Fell thick and fast for wasted years ; As on Vesuvius burning height The rain fell hissing in the night. THE BELLS OF COMO 221 Then north, to the unblest estate Where ancient Rome sat desolate Discrowned, like Lear, by daughters she Had pampered in prosperity. And there, in Rome, at last ! he heard The story he so long had sought. He met a mariner, who brought The happy, long-expected word, That yonder, on the sun-lit shore Of Erin there were silver bells, So fair and void of parallels That he who heard would fain implore That he might hear them evermore. A month went by. A little bark Was moored on Shannon s placid tide. A boat was pushing from her side ; And o er the silver wave the dark Fantastic turret of Saint Mary s lay, Far shadowed by the dropping day. Kneeling within the little boat, His streaming eyes upon the tower, Was Michael. Happy, happy hour ! "O bells ! " he cried, "one marvelous note ! Long have I sought your sacred glee ! Ring out ! ring out, and welcome me ! Ring, at the setting of the sun : Ring ! and my pilgrimage is done I " 222 ADDITIONAL POEMS The answer came. A silvery shower Burst from the old cathedral tower. A smile illumed the wanderer s face : His heart sang inward jubilee. The bells were his ! and time nor place Had marred or dulled their melody. But Michael ! when the rowers sought To take in theirs his withered hand, And rouse him, as they neared the land, They did his guardian angels wrong. His soul the seraph-hosts had caught, And borne it upward with the song. The melody was Michael s knell : The anthem was his passing-bell. My comrades ! at whose prized command I come again a little while To greet you, and to take your hand, And meet your well remembered smile, And read to you, in simple phrase, In memory of other days, This verse of mine ! your kindly word Of welcoming I gladly heard ; And pondering what land, what date, What freak of Fortune or of Fate, THE BELLS OF COMO 223 What winter gloom or summer light I best might open to your sight, I chose this Legend Beautiful, Of patience under painful rule, Of high response to inward gleam, Of consecration to a dream, Of eager wandering to find A Paradise for heart and mind ! To you the legend I relate, To you the tale I dedicate. You are the Seekers after Good ! You stand where Greathearts oft have stood ! Your lives you dedicate in youth To painful joyful endless search, And in the portals of the Church Seek Knowledge and Eternal Truth ! To-day, of Truth perchance the prize You think you hold before your eyes. Through care, and toil, and anxious thought, The melody you long have sought Seems ringing in the sun-lit air ; And you are confident, forsooth, And " Thus and so," you say, " is Truth ! " What shall I say to you ? Beware ? Clasp not with fervor to your soul 1 See note, page 207. 224 ADDITIONAL POEMS A dream so flattering, so unreal ? I would not mock your glad appeal ! Far rather would my hand unroll, If such were possible, a scroll On which were written, " Yea ! your search Has led you to the one true Church ! Your dream it is indeed The Truth, And you are conquerors ev n in youth ! " Alas ! we know not where it lies. It is not ours with seraph s eyes To pierce to hidden destinies ! We seek, we knock, we vainly call, Like Pilate in the council-hall ; And still the Christ no answer makes And still the rabble comes and takes And carries him without the wall. As " Truth " we rear to-day our schemes ; To-morrow shows us they are dreams. The world s advancing Wisdom creeps On strongholds where Tradition sleeps ; And walls where Worship thought to rest Are rent in twain in Reason s quest. The chimes religious awe has reared, To alien isles have disappeared ; And every solace of the heart At times seems summoned to depart. THE BELLS OF COMO 225 What then ! Shall we forbear our toil ? Blow out our lamp ? neglect the oil ? Repose on some Calypso beach, Or to the hall of Circe flee ? Good lies not far beyond our reach ! We daily hear its melody ; It echoes round us, as we go Our wondrous pilgrimage ; and though Philosophy s high soarings fail, And Reason s humbler gropings pale, Our souls are born anew each day, Still dreaming that beyond the gray And distant bound of changing skies, Our journey s object waiting lies ! We feel a meaning in the hope That lures us up the spirit s slope ! Somewhere our chimes are ringing still, Responsive to our search and will ! Before us rise the Hills of Day And call us to pursue our way ; Love s loftier ranges, Wisdom s seas, Forbid our souls to lie at ease. We know that Love is Heaven s breath ; That Hate and Wilfulness are death ; That Aspiration for the Right Rewards the eager soul with light. So still we follow on To Know ! And though indeed no Final Word 226 ADDITIONAL POEMS Is ever by the spirit heard, Enough is ours of Being s glow To tinge the clouds of life below With a serene, refulgent ray Betokening a Higher Day. A glimmer of the truth we seek Life s growing revelations speak, And music sweet as Michael s bells Man s coming blessedness foretells. Happy if even as we die We hear, like him, its harmony ! ADDITIONAL POEMS II. HEART OF YOUTH HEART OF YOUTH [1881] I A noontide sun, in early summer-time ; Low, billowy summits, in their verdant prime, Bounding a valley wide and fair and still : And in the midst, the slopes of Walnut Hill. 1 On all the northern hand, far-reaching, gray, The heights of Winchester, in rude array ; And trending east, where lakes like sapphires burn, The Fells of Middlesex, embowered in fern. Still east, the sea ! a silvery line and thin, Hedged by the rocky heights of distant Lynn ; And circling nearer placid as the dead Along whose banks once Paul Revere sped The Mystic s narrow tide, expanding soon Into a crystal mere, a broad lagoon, Reflecting far, from morn till evening hour, Gray Bunker s lofty, sun-illumined tower. 1 The former name of College Hill (Tufts College). 227 228 ADDITIONAL POEMS Southward, the city dreary desert vast ! . . . Haste thee, my verse ! beware the woe ! fly fast ! Far, far beyond, see Milton s purple hills, The blue-domed range which every bosom thrills ; And nearer where the marbles hide from view The ashes of a Sumner and Ballou Fair Auburn, circled by a hundred farms, And clasped in sluggish Charles s sinuous arms. Westward, the fertile fields of Alewife Brook, Laughing with harvests ripening for the hook Flecked by the shadows of vast clouds that float Aimless as shipwrecked sails on seas remote Edged by low mountains shimmering in the sun, The emerald Heights, far-famed, of Arlington ; Enchanted hills, which, when the day is past, Are tipt with glory such as Nebo cast When angels hastened o er its darkening crest Bearing the Hebrew prophet to his rest ! ii Northward and eastward from this favored scene, This Walnut Hill, this college-crowned demesne, Beyond the river flowing at its feet, Beyond the stir of village pier and street, There winds a road through rarest sylvan ways, The ever new delight of summer days. Here darkling thickets, densely green, abide, Hazel, and oak, and birch, on either side, Where the brown partridge unseen whirrs, and where Gray squirrels lurk, and rabbits have their lair. HEART OF YOUTH 229 Here blooms the barberry, in yellow sprays, Miles long ! and here, through all the summer days, The sweet wild rose and fragrant wilding phlox Vie with the garden pinks and hollyhocks Which shall be crowned the fairer ! And the prize No single wanderer, passing with pleased eyes, Withholds from Nature s wilding ones, here strowed Luxuriantly. . . . Along this sunny road Two friends were walking at the noon of day ; And both were thoughtful, though they both were gay. They both were thoughtful ; but the summer air, The sunshine through the branches here and there, The laughing bobolink, the cawing crow, The blue above, the emerald below, Made life that hour so beautiful a dream That rustling leaf nor onward murmuring stream Could less of sorrow feel, or wild despair, Than these companions idly wandering there. For both were young ! and in the soul of each Were aspirations deeper than all speech : Ambitions for the honor which the world Stands ready to inscribe on flags unfurled In noble causes ; aspirations, too, That honor granted should be honor due. They dreamed of sacred fire withheld by Gods : They knew of Caucasus, and of the odds Prometheus wrestled with, and all his pain ; And yet they dared it all, and more, again ; 230 ADDITIONAL POEMS And with the vultures whirr still sounding nigh They dared to rest their ladder on the sky. Upon the shore of Time they would not sit. The Ocean was before ! and they were knit Unto a firm resolve, by faith upheld To walk the waters ! If they boiled and welled, The way would be more difficult ; if calm, The port were sooner reached the Isles of Palm. Nor did they hesitate to point their feet To where life s ocean and horizon meet. They knew yet were not daunted wild with spray The vengeful tempest would assail their way. They knew men s bones lay bleaching on the sand ; They saw the carcasses tossed high on land Of earnest voyagers who yesterday Had left the beach as buoyantly as they. But these (they said) had sailed without a chart : Or failed to use it : and the human heart, By impulse ballasted, to escape the brine A special port must own, and chart divine. in The hemlock crooned for them its friendly strain ; And now they turned into a narrow lane Half hidden in the leafy underbrush : A fragrant avenue, whose sacred hush Was broken by the rumble of no wheel, No whirl of dust, no echo but the peal Of sporting bobolinks ; and where the moss A soft rich tapestry spread wide across ; HEART OF YOUTH 231 And all along, as far as eye could reach, The birch and hazel boughs and silver beech Threw grateful shade. "This winding road," said one, "Will guide us to the summit ; and the sun, Which hitherto hath flamed upon our way With scorching heat, will here its fury stay, While cooling breezes now will fan our cheek. The way is sure : I heard my father speak But yesterday of climbing this same path." The other lingered. " Greater beauty hath The wilding thicket for my mood," said he. A dozen rods beyond this sumach-tree Sharply the rocky cliff begins to rise. Why toil we on ! Reward of high emprise Is here at hand ! Behold ! the forest floor Is thick with violets ! and here a door Between the maple-trunks seems opening wide, Inviting us to enter. In ! " he cried, And caught his comrade s arm, and sought To lure him. But his zeal availed him naught. " One moment, brother mine ! " his comrade said. " We started out the Overlook s tall head Intent to reach. Shall we be baffled here By violets ? And yonder buds, I fear, Are not the violets your haste has thought. Those purple petals, delicately wrought, With subtle juices, poisonous, are filled. The deadly nightshade, if your eyes were skilled, 232 ADDITIONAL POEMS You would declare them ! And your open door Is blocked with weed and briar. The forest floor To which with thoughtless ardor you would haste, Look you, is marshy ground a miry waste." " Enough ! " perversely here the other cried. " Give over ! Climb your mimic mountain-side ! Keep to your rugged pathway if you will : The easiest road is soonest up the hill ! I shall stop here awhile, among the flowers, And rest beneath the trees. In after hours I 11 join you on the hilltop s lofty height. I know not how I shall ascend, but night Will not have fallen ere I join you. Go ! " He waited not for answer : but the low And sympathetic voice which oft had held Him humbled with its music, rose and swelled, And broke upon his ear in sweetest tone Of friendship, begging, " Venture not alone ! " In notes of warning, crying, " Do not go ! " He waited not for answer : but the low Wind murmured in his ear, and seemed to say : " T were better, better, thoughtless youth, to stay ! To stay were better ! " And as on he passed, Still heedless, with a deeper, warning blast, " Regret is long," it sighed, " and short the day ! " It shouted ! and the woodland echoed, " Stay ! " He waited not for answer : but a brood Of white-winged doves flew over where he stood, Their whirring pinions, as they sped their way, Seeming to plead in chorus, " Stay, oh stay ! " HEART OF YOUTH 233 He waited not for answer : in he strode, At once his friend forsaking and the road. Mindless of all of pain or torn attire - He scrambled through the tangled weed and briar. His soul was innocent of thought of ill ; His heart, untried, was buoyant ; and his will Was steadfast (so he thought) to do the right. What matter where he wandered, if the night Should not have fallen ere he gained the peak ! But surely, so it seemed, across his cheek, The winds, which kissed him in the sun-lit way Where he before had wandered ; which in play Had sported with his hair and fanned his brow, Were blowing searchingly and damply now. And when he looked, and saw upon his hand The stain of crimson drops a purple brand Where briars had punctured ; when he felt the pain, At first forgot, now doubly felt again ; And glancing down beheld the floss, the burrs Thick fastened on him shaken from the furze : Backward he cast a lingering glance, and stood As one irresolute. The ground was strewed With stubble, crumbling stones, with last year s leaves, A vision desolate. As one who grieves For pleasures vanished, and would fain return, So stood he now, and felt his pulses burn With shame that he had wandered from the way. Again he heard the wind. It seemed to say, " Return ! return ! you have not wandered far ! " Above his head, from out his golden car, 234 ADDITIONAL POEMS Apollo, smiling, shone with quickening beam. Back wheeled the brood of irised doves, a-gleam In every pinion with a golden glow ; And circling in the air, above, below, " You have not wandered far," they seemed to cry, " Return ! return ! " then vanished in the sky. Again he heard a voice or seemed to hear. Inward Or outward, sounding in his ear It startled him, as if before his eye His friend deserted had come suddenly. He listened turned had fled the dull abode, And in a moment would have gained the road When yonder field again his eye besets, The purple field to him still violets ! " I will not go," he cried, and on his knees Down flung himself, "till I have gathered these ! " A stagnant pool was there. It did not flow, But moved to right or left as wind might blow ; And on its surface curling leaves careered And severed lily-pads. Dim, withered, weird, A ghostly hemlock-tree and ghastly larch Above the margin reared a rugged arch, Throwing a slanting shadow on the rank Wet deadly nightshade growing on the bank. And here the seeker after purple flowers Stooped fondly down to while away the hours. O hours O days ! O rapid months and years ! O heights ungained ! O unavailing tears ! ADDITIONAL POEMS ///. MISCELLANEOUS DAY UNTO DAY Half the worth of man s existence Is in life s unlooked-for gain. Stirs the blood the most in steering For the open unknown main. Not to solve too soon all knowledge Is the child s protective art ; To attain new vision daily Is eternal youth of heart. Oh the beauty of the sunrise ! All my being, in its glow, Rises, dances, wonders, worships ; Yet to-morrow s sunrise-show All my spirit is as eager Till to-morrow to forego. There s a path on Grand Monadnock I have left all unexplored. I have scaled the cliffs around it ; That its depths with bloom are stored I am certain from the fragrance Rising free when zephyrs blow ; 235 236 ADDITIONAL POEMS And in springtime, up its arches, I have seen its maples glow. But as yet I leave its secret Undiscovered to my tread, Like a chapter rare and golden In a volume still unread ; For I know when once I probe it All its mystery will have fled. There are secret paths of being On the spirit s upward way, Where, however much the marvel, I still hesitate to stray. Through life s daily vista gazing I at times may catch a gleam Of a more than earthly splendor ; - And the sound as of a stream Flowing calmly, grandly, purely For the healing of my pain May at intervals float downwards To my dust-encumbered plain ; - But to solve in full the secret I m not certain would be gain. MISCELLANEOUS 237 WHEN YOUNG HEARTS LOVE Bright are earth s days, and glad earth s years, When young hearts love ! Many are joys, and few are fears, When young hearts love ! Nor aught the wide earth round, Unto its farthest bound, May equal the intense Unswerving vehemence Of faith, of truth, of innocence, of tears, When young hearts love ! Glad are the songs the angels sing, In realms above ! Merry the mock-bird s caroling In southern grove ! But ne er may seraph chant The Song of Covenant That bindeth twain in one, Or bird of southern sun Repeat the soul s glad triumphing, When young hearts love ! 238 ADDITIONAL POEMS I FEEL THAT I KNOW HER [1876] I feel that I know her we smile as we meet ; We pass every day in the very same street, She hurrying on Heaven only knows where, And I in pursuit of ambitions of air. But who she may be, or the place of her home, Or why through the city forced daily to roam, Or married or single, a maiden or mother, I m sure I don t know, any more than another. Her eyes are a tender and beautiful blue ; Her hair is the glossiest, goldenest hue ; Her cheeks are as red as the roses in blow, And her heart is the garden, I feel, where they grow. We never have spoken we smile and go by ; No greeting we utter, except with the eye : Thank God she is modest, retiring, and true ! And I am as modest and innocent too. Full often I wonder her name and her station ; I ve known from the first she is foreign by nation. Her language ah me ! would that language were mine ! The land of her birth is the land of the Rhine. MISCELLANEOUS 239 O Germany ! home of sweet music and song ! My feet for thy vine-covered terraces long. With Her for a guide through thy sun-purpled air, How gladly my heart would go wandering there ! Some castle enthroned in thy hills there must be That shelter would furnish for her and for me ; Some crag overhanging some vine-embowered vale, Where beauty might bloom and where love would not fail. Ah me ! such a spot it were pleasant to see, And pleasanter far in its secret to be ! . . . Stay, stay, O ye castles and day-dreams so fair ! Ye solace the heart, though but castles in air. To-morrow I 11 meet her again ; and her smile Will lighten life s roadway for many a mile. That face in my dream, were life s journeying done, Would lumine the pathway that leads to the sun. The end of the roadway will come at the last. Our eyes will be dull, and our smiles will have passed ; And never, perhaps, will our voices be heard, Nor ever our souls by those accents be stirred. If true that we Somewhere attain to our own A realm of the heart, though the tongue be unknown We each will discern who the other may be : I better know her and she better know me. 240 ADDITIONAL POEMS SWEETEST SONGS ARE NEVER SUNG [1879] The sweetest songs are never sung So the Poets say. The tenderest chords are never strung ; The merriest bells are never rung. Well-a-day ! Well-a-day ! Let the Poets have their way Let them have their way ! All that sighing Minstrels sing can never me dismay. / can hear sweet bells go pealing pealing joyously to-day ! / can hear their silvery pealing, hear their merry roundelay ! ii The fairest pearls are never found So Professors say. The cheeriest trumpets never sound ; The jauntiest vessels go aground. Well-a-day ! Well-a-day ! Let Professors have their way MISCELLANEOUS 241 Let them have their way ! All that dull Professors dream can never me dismay. 7 can see staunch ships come sailing sailing proudly up the bay ! / can see their masts all sun-lit on a sky of gold and gray ! in The saintliest prayer is never said So the Preachers say. The daintiest board is never spread ; The loveliest maid is never wed. Well-a-day ! Well-a-day ! Let the Preachers have their way Let them have their way ! All that dullard Parsons dream can never me dismay. I know fate of lovely maidens maidens fair and sweet as day ! / the loveliest maid in thousands am to bear full soon away ! 242 ADDITIONAL POEMS THE SCHOOLMASTER S DREAM Weary with toil at desk and board and book, Gladly he dropped the crayon in its nook ; But forcing to his lips a kindly smile, And touching with soft hand his bell the while, Said cheerfully, " The hour to close is nigh : The setting sun drops down the western sky. To-morrow, with new rest, will come new strength ; We reach, perchance, untiring days at length 1 " Then rang again, and noting the sweet grace And eagerness that lit each fair young face, Dismissed them all into the evening air With fervent blessing and an inward prayer. The master s soul was sorrowful with doubt He whose triumphant faith should be so stout. His pupils were so sluggish in the arts ! They had such feverish and impatient hearts ! " O soul ! " he said, " thy toil meets no return. Life s cheeriest fires to blackened embers burn. No adequate return," again he said, And on the desk before him leaned his head. The western windows opened to the blue ; The sinking sun sent slanting shadows through : He saw it not, nor heard the droning flies, But, lulled by Nature s opiate, closed his eyes. MISCELLANEOUS 243 He sees nor hears his soul s tired pinions sweep The shadowy vale of Death s twin-brother, Sleep. All day, sad voices, sounding in his ear, Had filled his spirit with a nameless fear. Surely no followers, in this sunless land, Would jeer and beckon him on every hand ! But ah ! ev n here though with no taunt or shout A myriad spirits thronged him round about ; And with a soothing sound, as of a wind Low breathing through the fragrant groves of Ind, A single Angel not of gloom, but light Said tenderly, " O King, thy wrongs recite ! " "Alas, no King," the master said, "am I ! Even the crown of laurel-leaves is dry Which in my younger years my sister wove, Because at college eagerly I strove And in the contests bore away the prize ! " " Nay," said the Angel, " principalities, States, empires, kingdoms, these all pass away, Forgotten even in an earthly day. The crown immortal, the enduring throne, These, to be steadfast, must be like thine own ! He who the light to one dark soul shall bring, Among the sons of men is more than King. " No word thou utterest, or good or ill, But sounds forever, wild or soft or shrill, Fast held within the vibrant air s embrace. If words of thine shall brighten one sad face, 244 ADDITIONAL POEMS Thine accents ease a brother s heavy load, Thy daily task reveal where truth is strowed, Then rest content ! for there shall come a year, In Time s rich flood, when back into thine ear With ten-fold power thy words, or ill or good, Shall speed with force that may not be withstood. Then happy thou, if in thine ear shall ring Words that shall crown thee servant, helper, king 1 " The master smiled. His face with peace was lit Where lately pain had overshadowed it. " But sympathy ! " he cried. " Sweet spirit, stay ! Fain would I have some token by the way. Daily I toil, nor meet a single smile To ease the burden of one lonely mile." "Awake! " the Angel answered, "thou art blind." He raised his head. " Please, sir, we stayed behind, You fell asleep, you would not wake for us ! " (Two little-ones beside his knee spoke thus.) " You love us, and try hard, we know you do ; And we have brought this little flower for you." MISCELLANEOUS 245 OLD TIMOTHY JOHN AND HIS FREQUENT REFRAIN, " POTATOES ! OH, POTATOES ! " Not all the heroes of the earth Have gained their victory with the sword . Not every child of noble birth Has borne the escutcheon of a lord. Full oft by gray and crumbling tomb, By darkling waters whirling flow, May radiant asters beauteous bloom, And fragrant-everlasting grow. Old Timothy John was a marvelous man, And always a happy one, too, as he ran With load upon load of potatoes. " Six dollars, and health, and a hand-cart ! " said he ; " Oh, who in the city can wealthier be ! Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " The hush of the morning was stirred by his voice, And ever till evening he offered a choice Of several kinds of potatoes. 246 ADDITIONAL POEMS " I warrant them sound as a drum ! " cried John "Though this is <a hollow comparison ! Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " Nor ever a wife or a child had he. Poor fellow ! no weight ever lay on his knee But a bushel or so of potatoes. " My cart is my wife, and my child, and my friend. To a family carriage" said he, " I pretend ! Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " Full certainly Tim was a marvelous man, And quite a philosopher, too, as he ran Dispensing his stock of potatoes. "A pox o your logic ! " cried moralist John : " Men soon would decease if they didn t live on Potatoes ! Oh, potatoes ! " " An talk o your Nature and Physics ! " said Tim, While, staring, his audience looked at him And then at his load of potatoes. " Ho, ho ! " he said, shoving his cart in the pause, " Is n t here an effect that s ahead o the cause ? Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " Not much of religion, perhaps, had Tim ; But often his measure ran over the brim As he sold to the poor their potatoes. " Don t mind the odd nickel," he also would say, If he saw they were really ill able to pay. " Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " MISCELLANEOUS 247 The boys loved his coming ; and often they cried, " Oh, please, dear old Tim ! " so he gave them a ride On the top of his load of potatoes. The girls loved his coming ; and one, I know, Once threw him a kiss though he called it " a blow!" " Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " Not much of a scholar, perhaps, was he, Though seldom he passed in an "X" for a "V" As he paid for a load of potatoes. "What grammar!" he cried, when the adding was done ; " Two tens and a cypher do n t make twenty-one ! Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " No loud politician was honest old Tim, Yet no one could purchase a vote of him Though they bought his whole load of potatoes. " I vote for the man the best fitted," said he, "And he wouldn t offer a bribe to me. Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " " My choice is the man," cried Timothy John, " Who 11 help push the world s great hand-cart on, And none o your small potatoes. The man who could purchase my vote when he would, Would purchase my liberty, too, if he could. Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " 248 ADDITIONAL POEMS Full certainly Tim was a marvelous man, And always a happy one, too, as he ran With his lessening load of potatoes. He sang from a heart overflowing and free, And never mistrusted the universe he. " Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " But Timothy John, a few harvests ago, Was noticed as steering unwontedly slow With his cargo of new potatoes. " Next planting," said he, " I may go under ground The biggest potato the hemisphere round ! Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " Be sure that if Tim has indeed since found The Garden where fruits are supposed to abound (Though never, perhaps, potatoes), His resonant voice will be heard on high, And in loftier strains than his own old cry, " Potatoes oh, potatoes ! " MISCELLANEOUS 249 MIDAS AND MUSAGETES Up and down the world he goes, Poor old fellow, lacking love ! Thinking his Parisian glove And the pattern of his hose All-sufficient to compel Man and maid to speak him well. Yes, he owns uncounted cash, And his rents accrue him much. He has had the Midas-touch, Getting gold where others trash ; Getting everything but play Even getting thin and gray. And he really is n t bad Father much the same, you know, Mother loving dross and show, Ancestors half-ill, half-mad. What could best Psychologist Hope to grind from such a grist ? Well I knew him as a boy : Quick to see where he could get Half a dime in youthful bet ; Slow alone in finding joy 250 ADDITIONAL POEMS Slow in action of the heart : Ossified from very start. Not till forty-five he wed. Each felt each a lucky strike : Terms, " Deposit cash alike " ! And at fifty she was dead Like their child that came between, Crushed in soulless wealth s machine. Met we on the street to-day ; Dry his smile as long ago. "Ah," he said ; "does fount still flow ? Has your Muse begun to pay ? Million each, for Muses Nine, I can cash with single line ! " Said I, as he strode along, " Dine with me to-night and see ; Meet my rosy children three, And peruse my latest song. It and they will sing away All the fever of your day." Up and down the world he goes, Visits Egypt and Japan, Yet is not a happy man. Lands of sun or lands of snows Immaterial would be, Could he sing my songs with me. MISCELLANEOUS 251 MOONLIGHT ON COLLEGE HILL [ Midsummer, 1879 1 The hour is late : Borne up by the weight Of the sun as it sank through its western gate, The moon has uprisen full-orbed sedate ; Has uprisen in glee, From the eastern sea ; And now with the stars holds jubilee On the high wide floor of Immensity. As the zephyrs soar, Now higher, now lower, " Come hither," they call to me o er and o er, "And wander with us on the reservoir ! " I wander and gaze ; And the light wind plays With the level waters, and shivers the rays That whirl on the surface like fugitive fays. The undulant ground, For miles around, Rock, river, and valley, and meadow, and mound, Is lit by the moon with light profound. 252 ADDITIONAL POEMS White radiance stains Roofs, towers, and vanes, And the moonlight gleams on the college panes Like dew on the grass after summer rains. The river below Drifts pale as snow, And over its current, as airs soft blow, Broad ripples of silvery frost-work go. Down miles of stream, A faint, far gleam, The harbor glows, till its waters seem A jasper haze in a Patmian dream. There bridges four, Time-shaken and hoar, Stand trembling in constant Traffic s roar, And fade in the gloom of the farther shore. There, too, on their trips Twixt the ferry-slips, Go dragons with flame that flares and dips, Black shuttles in Trade s Apocalypse. On the neighboring hill, Dim, lonely, and still, The powder-house echoes, with babblings shrill, The wail of the plaintive whip-poor-will ; MISCELLANEOUS 253 Still proudly it stands, O erlooking the lands Where Washington toiled with his patriot bands And threw up redoubts with his own white hands. And here is the road Where the steed once strode The moon still gleaming as then it glowed, Though the tide of a hundred years has flowed On which Paul Revere, In hope and fear, Rode sounding aloud in the nation s ear The knell of the British grenadier. In my walk I stay, And the scene survey W 7 ith a startled eye ! for I hear a sway As of hurrying hoof-beats far away ! But I listen again : And my ears attain No sound but the sudden and sad refrain, And the patter and splash, of summer rain, - As up from the west, At the storm s behest, Dark shadows rise wild o er the landscape s breast, Blotting moon, river, harbor, and all the rest. 254 ADDITIONAL POEMS COLLEGE HILL One thought to-day, and one alone, Has filled the circle of my mind : And fairer sunbeam never shone On eyes that long had wandered blind. My heart to-day, with happy thrill, Has been with thee, O College Hill ! With thee, with thee, O College Hill ! The thunder of far Alpine Hills, The storm-cloud of the Southern Seas, The murmur of Spain s murmuring rills, Of these I ve dreamed, nor dreamed of ease. But happiest thoughts my bosom fill Whene er I turn, O College Hill, To thee, to thee, O College Hill ! The room grows wide wherein I sit : These narrow city walls expand : I see again thy robin flit, I see thy lawns on every hand, As green, as vocal, as the rill That danced adown the sacred hill Of Helicon, O College Hill ! MISCELLANEOUS 255 I see thy rising slopes, thy halls. O Mother Earth, thou rt greener there ! And gentler be the rain that falls, And sweeter, balmier be the air, Forever, and forever still, Upon thy breast, O College Hill ! On thy loved breast, O College Hill ! Again I seem to see thy trees Thy silver-maple, mountain-ash ; And dearer to my heart are these Than Eastern vine or calabash ! I would not part with these, to till By fair Euphrates, College Hill ! Or Gihon s edge, O College Hill ! Again I see more blest than all Full many a dear, remembered face ; Again I hear the laugh, the call, The cheer that rang from place to place : The laugh and cheer that echo still About thy halls, O College Hill, Could I but hear, O College Hill ! Again, in thought, I grasp the hand Of comrades north and southward gone. 256 ADDITIONAL POEMS I follow them ! and in the land Of Danube, Rhine, and Amazon Again I feel the electric thrill I knew on thee, O College Hill, When hand clasped hand On College Hill ! SONNETS IN A COUNTRY BURIAL-GROUND I lingered in the wayside home of rest, Enchanted by the dream of peace it wore. " G. L. Eighteen " : the marble told no more Which marked the turf-mound where I stood a guest. A hundred times, perchance, the robin s nest Has swung above his dust, while, o er and o er, The timothy and sorrel locked the door Which shuts him safe within his chamber blest. MISCELLANEOUS SONNETS 257 Dear sleeper ! was it ruthless War s alarm Its demon sacrifice which in thine hour Of blithesome strength compelled thee to the tomb ? Or deed of love to save another s harm ? Thou answerest not ! contented with thy bower And ever wearing youth s transcendent bloom. LOVE S PREDICAMENT In loving I do find such sweet employ That more of love I make each hour my quest. Yet presently I find this puzzling joy : Am I Love s servitor or Love s dear guest ! For while in strowing of my love I live, No less of love remains to quench love s thirst ; In truth, to strow is gain, for though I give, Beseems more love is mine than mine at first. Shall I then cease to love, and so give more ? Deny myself, and let the world have all ? So be it ! Self I 11 hide behind Love s door, Enswathe me fondly in Love s blindfold pall. Oh, reckless venture ! for thus love I most, And Love, thrice over, beams my smiling host. 258 ADDITIONAL POEMS PENALTY What, little Golden-hair ! upon my knee Hast thou thus clambered and purloined a kiss ? Must I from noonday s transient slumber-bliss Be wakened by such artful villainy ? And now thou smilest, hinting I should be Joyed at thy stealing, and accept submiss This theft of riches from fond love s abyss, I all-unconscious ! Nay, a penalty ! Meet justice as transgressor ever heard Do I impose on thee, thus flagrant caught. Lift up, red lips ! receive this judgment-lore : Lo ! for thy guilt I sound the ancient Word, " If from thy neighbor thou hast taken aught, Fourfold in similar thou shalt restore." TO THE MUSE, AFTER SILENCE Is yet my penance ended ? Will the Muse, Against whom I offended, come once more And dwell with me, and bless me as of yore ? Fondly, as erst, caress me ? radiant hues Of gracious dawn throw o er me ? magic dews Of heavenly peace outpour me ? Oh, the store Of loftiest soul-uplifting, when heart s door Lies open, and Song s gifting lore ensues ! MISCELLANEOUS SONNETS 259 Then come to me, Divine One ! Lo, I kneel Humbly where knelt I oft to know thy kiss. How have I lived, not having touch of thee ! Even as sinking swimmers when they feel Shore s sands beneath them, welcome I this bliss. Thy strength supports exalts makes much of me. " GOOD -BYE" I love the early meaning of the phrase It takes all sting of sadness from the word, Leaving it blithe as carol of a bird When golden twilight shuts the summer days. Not "lost," not "severed"- nay, not these the rays, Like dying planet s, when " Good-bye " is heard ; But " Good -be -with -ye ! "- as when heavens are stirred To rosy tints invoking hearts of praise. O love, dear love ! I bid you not farewell ! O friend departing, still we are akin ! O parent, wheresoe er your pathway fares ! The night descends, but like a silver bell, Reverberant eternal depths within, Your sweet " Good-bye " unmeasured blessing bears. 260 ADDITIONAL POEMS REBIRTH No recollection have I that I asked To join this human caravan s sad toiling ! Yet erst I may have lived ; neath sky as broiling As this to-day, I may have wept or basked. If so it were, and I were oft o ertasked, As now and here, and weary with earth s moiling, Love s loftiest works oft finding naught but foiling, Could I my dread of birth renewed have masked ? Yea, truly I believe I should have cried : " Dear Mother Nature, thee I still will trust ! If thou hast need of me, still let me serve ! ". . . So, being here, my heart I have applied To give Man s hopes and aims an upward thrust, And charm dull Chaos into Beauty s curve. ADDITIONAL POEMS IV. TIMES AND SEASONS FOR A BIRTHDAY I keep no reckoning of the Years As they pass by. Life s seasons, with their smiles and tears, Unnumbered fly. So whether twenty be the score Or twenties two or three or four Still young am I ! But ah ! the Days are mine to hold In loving fee, And all their richness I am bold To feel and see. I hail each morn the added round, And in their wealth to-day is found This thought of thee ! Couldst thou but gain the good I pray, My prayers might cease : Thy Birthday would become a day Of heart s release. Not wealth nor honors wish I thee But loftier wish : that thou mayst be With self at peace ! 261 262 ADDITIONAL POEMS MERRY CHRISTMAS In the roar of the world s busy hive There is better for some than to " thrive." There are songs in the chill winter air ; They summon to do and to dare : " Peace on earth unto men of good will ! " Above all the pain and the ill, Merry Christmas ! O prophet who voiced the high dream That had birth beside Galilee s stream ! The cross was not far from the song, And the thorns to high dreams still belong ! But the peace, the exuberant thrill In the soul of all men of good will This makes Christmas ! "THEN FELT I LIKE SOME WATCHER OF THE SKIES" [Christmas, 1905] A star, you say ? Oh, yea ! A star of love and light That rose in Nazareth that far-off time ! And, piercing earth s dull night, Lured selfishness away, made brotherhood sublime. TIMES AND SEASONS 263 Before that day ? Oh, yea ! Rare souls of inward flame From age to age resplendent rose and gleamed, Uplifting human aim, Illumining with gold man s skies that grewsome seemed. Earth still is gray ? Oh, yea ! But stars of love and life Still rise wherever noble souls aspire, Transfiguring hate and strife, Redeeming sordid earth with their exalting fire. Strive we as they ? Oh, yea ! Be each a luring orb, With rays outflashing for poor human eyes, Till love all wrong absorb, And round the illumined earth Good Will indeed arise. 264 ADDITIONAL POEMS BON VOYAGE Over the Ocean ! The waters are blue ; Joy to the ship, friend, and blessing to you ! Days of deep calm on the wave are before you ; Here is our hope that with health they may store you ! Over the Ocean to wonderful shores ! Voyager, voyager, marvelous doors Swiftly shall open their lures to your sight, Dawnings of Italy, Syrian night ; And never a door but our wishes pass through, That good, as each swings, may be waiting for you ! Over the Ocean to wonderful lands ! Blessing, O friend, from these stay-at-home hands Follows you all the mysterious track, Wishing you peace till you turn to come back. Then with your vision adance with the glow Of Germany s vineyards and Switzerland s snow, Dear to our hearts shall again be your homing, Rich with your harvest of rest and of roaming. Voyager ! is there a voyage mysterious Waiting ahead for us all more imperious, Vaster in might than all voyages here ? Up with the anchor ! Forth valiantly steer ! TIMES AND SEASONS 265 DEATH OF MY FRIEND: THE OLD YEAR [December 31, 1878] What ! is that good Year dying ? The Year that has done so much for me ? That so often has had a kind touch for me ? Out in the cold there, dying ? Poor Year ! what a sorrowful end for thee ! But the host thou hast blest will stand friend for thee ! What ! is never a mourner wailing ? Is the whole wide hemisphere rollicking? The world with a foundling frolicking ? Old Year, there surely is wailing ! My heart in its gratitude sings for thee ! My tongue this high requiem rings for thee ! 266 ADDITIONAL POEMS EASTER Beauty for ashes forever the planet puts on ! Blossoms and birdlings and brooks when the winter is gone ! Rise, O my soul, to the Easter without and within ; Flee from life s bareness and weakness and selfhood and sin. Live with the lavish forthspending of Nature at play ; Fling on the path of thy fellows some luminous ray. Sleep not while War and Oppression hold nations in woe ; Wide in the furrows of Man seed regenerate sow. Listen ! the song of Humanity s springtime is near ! Join in the chorus sublime which the race yet shall hear. Laugh like the sun, sound the bobolink s jubilant cry : This shall be Easter full-bloom, fit for earth or for sky. ADDITIONAL POEMS V. OCCASIONAL AND PERSONAL IN GRATEFUL LOVE [Dedication of a volume of poems, 1880] To her whose sympathetic heart hath been my stay ; Whose gentle hand hath guided me in all my way ; Whose teachings in my childhood s hours were love alone ; Whose arms of counsel now in youth are round me thrown ; To her whose bright example is my guiding star ; Whose love and faith are firmer than the hills afar ; Whose presence hovers o er me like some holy dove To HER these little songs are given, in grateful love. 267 268 ADDITIONAL POEMS TO MY CHILDREN ON THEIR MARRIAGE DAY An old Italian story tells Of strife of town with town, Where men of valor, for their homes, Laid life in honor down. One morn a youth with head unclad, In scorn of helmet s guard, Went forth to fiercest fight, and yet At night returned unscarred. " How dar dst thou, youth, without thy mail, Adventure on the field ! "- " My parent kissed me on the brow : That kiss was helm and shield ! " My children ! starting forth this hour On life s untraveled ways, Receive a parent s kiss, as guard Against all evil days. T is magic on the field of right, A shield in all you do. OCCASIONAL AND PERSONAL 269 Accept it, you remain unscath d ! It means, " I trust in you ! " T is mighty too on plains of grief, If burdens you endure. Recall it, sorrows lose their sting ; It means, " My love is sure ! " A kiss ? a helmet and a shield ! I give it as we part ; Oh, wear it as a charm and balm Gainst every earthly dart. "LOOK BACK AT TIMES" Each morn, along the dewy street, As cityward I went, "Part way " with me her eager feet My little daughter bent. Then, as I hastened from her side, And fast the distance grew, " Look back, look back at times ! " she cried, " I 11 wave my hand to you ! " Look back ? Ah, little did we think Her phrase of childhood love In after years my food and drink My soul s delight would prove. 2/o ADDITIONAL POEMS Unmeasuredly I now rejoice In that blest earlier day ; Nor need I now to hear her voice Her summons to obey. Yea, oft, my child, I backward look, Again those years are mine ; Their pages are my Golden Book With legends all divine. Within its leaves, as in a dream, Dear visions come and go. Like walks in Fairyland they seem, And ever sweeter grow. Your baby hand still clasps my own, Your kiss is on my cheek. Though more than twenty years have flown Their blessing grows not weak. O vanished darling ! still my pride ! Where roam your feet to-day ? Forever young your years abide, Though mine are flecked with gray. Forever young abide her years Yea, all immortal she ! And still the balm for all my fears She waves her hand to me. OCCASIONAL AND PERSONAL 27 OUT OF THE DISTANCE [To one who sent me spring blossoms from the banks of the Fox River, Illinois. 1890] A hand from out of the distance reached, And practiced what I had often preached. That hand ? It was the hand of one Who often fair deeds of good hath done, Though always with sweet unconscious grace, Like violets in some greenwood place. That distance ? T were thousand miles if I ran But heart can o erleap it in moment s span ! That distance ? The soul is unmindful of space : I dream I am there, and I see face to face. That preaching ? High word of Man s greatness it taught ; And " Scatter fair blossoms ! " this bidding it brought. And she the high message with fervor received, Then showed by her life she its Gospel believed ! Fair blossoms, I bless you ! You bring to me peace. Your fragrance, deep hid in my heart, shall not cease. You bear me on wings to loved river and dell, And the Voice of the ^Eons you whisper : " T is well ! " O hand that out of the distance reached, To me and my soul you have more than " preached." 272 ADDITIONAL POEMS UP HIGHER [Acceptance of an invitation. July, 1890] Brother and Lover ! whom I soon shall see : Whose call I follow to learn liberty ! The noon-day terror calleth me on wings To where the pine upon Monadnock sings. I toil and sweat, as thou amid the hay, But lack what gives the beauty to thy day Fragrance of clover, coolness in the deeps Beneath low branches where the long grass creeps, And most of all, the high horizon s rim, Where cloudy summits, swathed in beauty, swim. Spirit of Nature ! who to me art peace ! Happy when thou for me dost speak release, And with the call from lowlands by the sea, " Child, come up higher ! " mak st me once more tree ! Yea, come up higher ! where the mountain s crown Is kissed by coolness as the night sweeps down ; Where darting dragon-fly and cawing crow Alike the wholesome life of Nature know, Unbound by sorrow, and unstained by wrongs Which in the human world drown angels songs. OCCASIONAL AND PERSONAL 273 Ah, is it not a wretched daily plight That with our scheming we hide heavenly light ! We deem our petty plans shall scale the skies ; We know not we are blinding our own eyes To sights and sounds and spiritual worth A myriad times surpassing those of earth. Up higher, then, indeed ! And as my feet Shall shake from them the dust of city street, May mind and soul both likewise open fair To hints of spirit s intellectual air. Up higher not alone from sea to hill, But higher to the highest heights of Will ; Up higher to the peace beyond all strife, Up higher to the true eternal life. 274 ADDITIONAL POEMS " SEVENTY [ Written of JAMES VILA BLAKE, and printed and sent by friends to many other friends, on his birthday. 1912 ] Did some one say " Seventy " ? there s surely mis counting ! Some joker with match sent the mercury mounting ! Hang Vila s thermometer free from caloric, Then fifty degrees would show all that s historic. Observe his spry gait, and his labors incessant : A boy is thus active old age is quiescent. His ease of production shames motors and horses Four dramas a year and full forty discourses ! Young fellows of thirty, and even of twenty, Are slow when compared with his swiftness and plenty. Those lines are not wrinkles they re records of laughter And symbols of friendships that came trooping after. That crown is not snow which at times paints him sober ; It s blossoming clematis best in October. The "old " stop at home, and complain if in motion : He leaps o er the Rockies and swims o er the ocean. And just grasp his hand does it feel at all icy ? His greeting, health, wit, are alike warm and spicy. OCCASIONAL AND PERSONAL 275 In fact, we must " play " he no longer is youthful If now, while we celebrate, we would be truthful ! So why, after all, should we go through the motion Of trying to magnetize only a notion ? To me it seems wiser to wish him some shirking, With will to decrease his obsession for working. Alas ! such discretion comes only with aging, And Vila each month starts afresh, with new paging ! The worst of it is, he will never be older ; Each added ten years sees him younger and bolder. We simply "accept " him, his wisdom and folly, To hang in our hearts as we hang Christmas holly : The green is for gladness though earth is in bleak ness, The berries for blessings bestowed on our weakness. Tis thus we enshrine him a blessing of bringing And vision him ever as childlike and singing. Rare spirits like Vila from youthtime don t sever ! A sweet-hearted boy, he 11 stay youthful forever. 2/6 ADDITIONAL POEMS SONNETS MOTHER AND CHILD Beneath the arbored grapevine s golden shade We upward gazed together she and I ! The clustered fruit seemed hung as on the sky ; Beyond my utmost reach it glowed and swayed. But she was tall as lovely, and her aid Upbore me to the triumph. Lifted high, I plucked the purple globes with gladsome cry, And in her arms a feast of Eden made. Perpetual o er me since that childhood rare, Dear gracious spirit vanished now afar, Have swayed high fruits you showed to be desired ; And if, ascending through celestial air, My soul perchance at times has grasped a star, Twas still by you my upward aim was fired. PERSONAL SONNETS 277 TO JAMES VILA BLAKE [ Printed, and sent by certain friends to many other friends, on his birthday. 1905 ] Poet of lofty thought and artist sight, Musician keen, whose ears catch dulcet notes, Wise essayist, whose dullest page is bright, Sane critic seeing suns, ignoring motes ; Preacher whose finest texts are writ in deeds, Impelling nobleness in young and gray ; Teacher whose art allures from listless meads To heights where Song and Masque hold purest sway; More than all these, rich lover and rare friend, A thousand times sweet friend and lover true ! Small weight a world s admiring praise could lend Of worth or grace to helper such as you. Bays are not theirs alone whose deeds men laud ; Wreaths greenest are still theirs whom few applaud. 278 ADDITIONAL POEMS IN QUEST TO KNOW [Dedication of "The Complete Life," a small volume of moral essays, " To my friend and fellow-explorer, HAROLD EDDOWES, in grateful memory of many happy afternoon rambles, in summer and in winter (1884-1887), about Fox River valley, Illinois, during which exploring Nature both outwardly and inwardly we talked not seldom of matters such as those treated of " in the book named. 1888] Oh, who shall say, my brother and my friend, Shall e er again our feet together hie ? Oh, blest the woodlands, blest the peaceful sky Where oft we two, light-hearted without end, Our eager way, as children might, would wend ! The first spring flowers were those which met our eye; The hurrying, road-edged river running by Ne er failed us once its every nook and bend Fresh corners offered for our search and growth. But years are flying though they still are grand ! Be ready, friend ! Ere long, perchance, we go A farther road than any, where we both May solve the mystery of some other land, And wander joyous still, in quest To Know. PERSONAL SONNETS 279 AT SPRUCE -TREE 1 [June, 1912] How often, in my dreams of Treetop Land, It rose an Eldorado Land of Gold ! How often did my eager wish expand To what the hearts that loved it had foretold ! And now within its woodlands I have roamed, Its grassy, cloistered fields my feet have pressed ; And while its wind-swept greenness round me foamed, Its giant spruce-tree has been made my nest. What Eldorado of the passing years E er kept so well its promise to the soul ! How oft they brought but disappointing tears In place of riches as the longed-for goal ! But here are beauty, freshness, life, and friends, The richer ownership the more one spends. 1 The name given by Colonel Daniel Crosby Pearson to his summer home in Candia, New Hampshire. The great, wide-spreading spruce-tree, with its hammock "nest," in front of the house, towers to a height of sixty feet or more. 280 ADDITIONAL POEMS GOD S MARINERS [Printed in Unity, Chicago, in celebration of its Twentieth Birthday, March 3, 1898] TWENTY YEARS PAST A voyage such as vessel never knew, Forth-starting on a cruise but dimly planned, Provisioned meagrely, though ably manned, And steadfast, as each heavenly beacon grew Revealing whither through horizons new ! A course with rocks and shoals on every hand, And leading, some have feared, to No-Man s- Land ! Though ever overhead the heavens were blue ! Yea, and God s winds have kissed the prow through all, Till crew and steersman feel the chilly air Grow warm at last, and thus have strength to cope With what may yet remain of tidal wall. Far in the wake has faded Point Despair ; Yonder, ahead, looms up the cape, Good Hope. OCCASIONAL SONNETS 281 ii TWENTY YEARS TO COME On shore oh, hungry eyes with yearning gaze ! On shore oh, eager and beseeching cries ! "Sail on, you sailors, where high dreams arise," They call, " and bring us to the better days ! We droop amid these sordid works and ways, Where social greed, and hungering for the skies, Becloud men s sight to Being s loftiest prize ! Sail on, till entered are God s palm-fringed bays ! " Yea, gallant barque ! though twenty years you sail, Add twenty more, and twenty more to that, And hungry eyes on shore shall follow still ! For yet shall spirits faint, and faces pale, And many a human dream fall prone and flat, Ere we have fathomed truly God s high will. 282 ADDITIONAL POEMS THE LOYAL TRAITOR [ To RAYMOND L. BRIDGMAN, author of the novel with the title, "Loyal Traitors." 1903] " He means it well," with smile (or frown) they say, " But, lack ! he carries his reform too far. One fails of wisdom who o erleaps the bar Which prudent hands have stretched athwart the way. A yard or two if you would run, you may : But if you race to lengths unpopular Your zeal offends. Who would his cause not jar, In reason s middle vantage-ground must stay." Oh, weak, who make a " middle ground " for Right ! And doubly weak who, seeing valor wield The axe to topple Wrong, would dull the blade ! Who loves his land, against that land must fight If she be tyrant ; traitor if he yield While prostrate Liberty is bound and flayed. REDEEM YOURSELF, O LAND! [1903] " For what avail the plow or sail, Or land or life, if freedom fail ? " Emerson. America, you need fraternal sight ! The man or State that lives to self alone Acquires no record on enduring stone Enwreathed with amaranth, with laurel dight. OCCASIONAL SONNETS 283 Redeem yourself, O Land ! Remove the blight You fasten on the brave, whose valiant tone Through tyrant years has made their passion known For liberty and larger love and right. Alas, how meagre just to offer bread ! And yet their wounds we still must strive to heal, Must recompense with good their fearful ill. Nor is it yet too late to crown their dead To snatch their banner from our chariot -wheel And raise it upon Freedom s holy hill. FIVE TIMES [1898-1903] Five times the sun his all-forgiving course Has rounded since the strife and tears began. It never entered darkest dream of man That Liberty s sweet fountain at its source So long should sullied be ; that Greed and Force Should march victorious in Mercy s van, Eclipse the strength the world rejoiced to scan, And face us back to Russian and to Norse. Alas ! we cannot raise the countless dead : The mango moans above them. Yet take heart Their dream may yet irradiate their shore ! Or shall we still, with Freedom s spirit fled, Refuse to recognize our holy part, And in Repentance face still shut the door ? 284 ADDITIONAL POEMS FINISHED [Epilogue to a collection of poems. December, 1880] The year is finished finished is the book. The year was full of days, for good or ill. It summoned us the fleeting hours to fill With noble deeds. Long hours in dale and nook, Where haunted pines their odorous needles shook, Where fern and flower their dewy fragrance spill, It gave for our delight. T is dying ! Still, New years remain ! With fervor let us look To make them really ours. And you, my page ! As years are full with hours, so you with songs ! Oh, happy I if on your friendly way You give, perchance, to eager youth and age Some sight of largeness that to life belongs, Some vision luring to a better day. ADDITIONAL POEMS VI. IN ME MORI AM THE DEAD STUDENT 1 [1882] i With hearts enchained, and grateful, keen delight, We gazed into the mid-September sky ; - A new star, then im-named, intense and bright, Rising, had met our eye. Nightly we watched the fair, ascending orb, More beautiful, more luminous each hour. Never did other sun our souls absorb With more supernal power. Six fleeting months it gleamed until its rise Was looked for, and we grew to love its beams. And then as suddenly as the swift lightning flies, As break the mountain streams 1 Wentworth Brooks Robbins, aged 19 : a student at Tufts College. 285 286 ADDITIONAL POEMS There loomed a cloud above the horizon s bar, Which, while we groaning gazed into the night, Enshrouded all the scene, and hid the star Forever from our sight. And hid the star ? Yea, hid to outward gaze, Though still in dreams it in full beauty glows, Gleaming with richer, more refulgent rays Than when it first arose. ii Upon the surface only, wild with glee, The white waves dance with all the winds that blow ; They only learn the secrets of the sea Who fathom far below. To those who knew him least, he may have seemed That comrade whom with many tears we mourn Like one who lived for sport ; who never dreamed He for aught else was born. You never knew him as you should have known, You who would judge him with a judgment thus : A tenderer heart throbbed never than his own, Nor more magnanimous. And not in vain he lived, though brief his day. His blithesome heart oft stole away our care ; Long in our lives his influence will stay, Blessing us unaware. IN MEMORIAM 287 in The April morning wore a cloudy veil ; Across the mountain-tops gray vapors passed. Weeping for him who prostrate lay and pale, The sleet and rain fell fast. But with the noon the sky no longer grieved, The sunlit earth grew luminous and bright ; Even the upheaved sod for him upheaved Grew golden in the light. With slow sad steps we bore him to the grave, While on his pall the flowers and smilax lay ; And wept we that a soul like his should have No longer life than they. But beautiful it was, if he must die, To reach his rest in such a time and scene, Mourned by such tender love, and brought to lie Beneath such sky serene. And there we left him where he oft had roved To greet at morn each mountain s purple dome ; In constant sight of the dear hills he loved, His happy summer home. 1 1 Keene, New Hampshire ; Grand Monadnock and other summits rising a few miles away. 288 ADDITIONAL POEMS LEWIS G. JANES 1 [ Read at the Memorial Service at the Ole Bull Studio House, Cambridge, September 8, 1901 ] Not waiting for the evening s shades to swell, Sometimes at noon she rings her curfew-bell The solveless Mother of whose " hours " we prate, Though in her years is neither soon nor late. But though his dust lies now amid the flowers, His thought persists his living words are ours. His living words are ours, and show the way To Freedom and to earth s more glorious day ; His potent words with manly impulse fraught, And pointing to the ever-widening Ought ! His solvent words with Nature s meaning rife, And throbbing with the true eternal life. He asked the universe for what it had, And held its tenure to be good, not bad. In ferns and fauna he read things To Be ; The stars held strains of secret minstrelsy. He loved her much, and Nature did not mock, But fed him manna even from the rock. But higher yet he sought his loftier theme, And roved in earth s best groves of Academe. 1 1844-1901. President of various scientific, ethical, and literary societies ; author, lecturer, philosopher. IN MEMORIAM 289 The wisdom of the Past he made his own Whatever man had dreamed, or guessed, or known, And with the scholar s grace and sage s art Laid bare its promise for the human heart. Around his board he gathered with delight The dusky face with Eastern radiance bright, The traveled seer from Europe s groaning lands, The Islander outstretching hopeful hands ; And from the lips of each and all he heard The world s one searching, all-embracing Word. That Word was Freedom ! and he sought to trace How freedom might be won for all the race. For him no freedom was while some were bound ; Freedom meant Freedom all the world around. So, foremost still, his Word to us comes down : Freedom for all men, white or black or brown. And not alone his living word was high : His word was lofty when he came to die. He spoke of beauty, whispered of the light, And full of courage entered on the Night, Content to know whatever lay before Would be in line with Nature s finest store. His dying word " Still beauty reigns on earth : Let beauty also in the soul have birth ! " His dying word, so like his own rich life, That sought the noble, shunned the needless strife, And by his public voice and private pen Brought strength and beauty to the lives of men. 290 ADDITIONAL POEMS O steadfast soul ! in whatsoever star Or realm of ether thou to-day afar Dost wander, or unseen beside us stand, The world still hears thine accents of command ; And as a ripple widens o er the sea, So yet shall spread thy faithful ministry. ADONIRAM JUDSON PATTERSON 1827-1909 Faithful follower of good, Freeman when the world was slave ; Modest where self-seekers stood, Only first in strife to save ! Luminous, to seeing eye, Soars thy spirit to the sky. Weep we not that thou hast won Rest at last from body s thrall ; Thus serenely sinks the sun, Answering to Nature s call. Soul and sun ! what warmth and light Wrought ye both, ere came the night ! Feeble to thy sight and hand Were the prizes men might show ; Only proud wast thou to stand Where Truth s summons called to go. Humbly one of kindred pride Lays this laurel at thy side. ADDITIONAL POEMS VII. EARLIER PIECES CONCORD RIVER My soul to-day, O river, wandering seaward, Is with thee ! From out the gray Of Memory hurrying leeward Radiantly, As in a dream Of friends dead or at a distance, I behold Your fair, faint gleam ; And for your glad existence, - Gay with gold As where there waits Eternal sunrise Yonder At the gates Of sapphire, I A grateful prayer do ponder, Tremblingly. 291 292 ADDITIONAL POEMS O strange, O mystic stream ! Slow winding to the sea : Oft in my nightly dream Your vision comes to me ! Within my slumber I behold your placid wave, And look with joy on your unruffled sweep ; And with the answering smile I crave You smile within my sleep. Oft in my light-keeled boat, Your tremulous wave afloat, Your bosom me has borne, Your strength my weakness known, Till wearying care, and scorn, And every fear, were flown ; Until, with spell most magical, You in my bosom quelled All phantoms tragical, And pain and doubt dispelled, As when a cloud upon your breast removes, And down the sun shines on the wave it loves. Full many a placid hour Beside your edge I ve strayed, And many a sylvan bower Has Fancy there displayed. Below your historic Battle-Bridge you wander through a plain, There mid your wide lone meadow-lands to turn and turn again ; Full many a placid hour Beside your edge I ve strayed, And many a sylvan bower Has Fancy there displayed." Facing page 292 EARLIER PIECES 293 But in your narrower, shadier course, where trees your waves o erhang And dewy verdure thickly lies as where the Sirens sang, Here many a grateful leafy dell My feet of yore have found, Nor deemed you had a parallel The wide earth round. Full oft beside your vernal banks, What time might come Spring s jocund charioteer, Have I been mute observer of the thanks With which you knew earth s natal glories near Rippling in gratitude when you should learn Had come the blushing violet and fern. Plashing your emerald edge With joyous dew, You kissed with welcoming pledge Earth s offerings new. And I have seen your greeting to the stars, As one by one they flecked your tranquil floor Venus, and red-browed Mars, And countless myriads more, Gleaming amid the eternal height, The golden diadem of Night. And when unto her full might grow The round red harvest moon, The one above and one below Made midnight mimic noon : 294 ADDITIONAL POEMS For mirrored wondrously upon your tide, Limned by a brush unseen your bosom o er, Stood every spark amid heaven s arches wide, And every moonlit marvel of the shore : Each tree and twig, each fluttering leaf, was there, As truly represented as in air : And scarce the line the wave and land between, So perfect was the juncture, could by eye be seen. Amid the verdant foliage at your side, Unknown to all the world but you and me, A countless classic host have lived and died, And linger now not e en in memory. My books indeed have taught Of many a fruitful land and holy age ; Yet to my soul with wisdom full as fraught Has been your springtime foliage ! For I have looked through you as through a portal, And dreamed I met the gaze of the Immortal ! EARLIER PIECES 295 WHITHER, YE STATELY SHIPS Whither, ye stately ships, In grandeur do ye ride ? Oh, do ye never tremble, dreading dire eclipse, As silently ye glide Athwart the Ocean s lips ? Far o er the widening seas Ye sail to beauteous lands : Alike mid Behring s ice and Sunda s odorous ease Obedient to the hands Which bend you to the breeze. Proudly your course ye take Where ne er before went keel, Or follow in the track where thirsty myriads slake The intense desire they feel For far-off loved-ones sake. Gibraltar s frowning rocks May shadow you in gloom ; But when ye have outridden the vengeful Equinox, Ye find deep harbor-room Where ne er come tempest-shocks. Outward indeed ye fly, And farthest oceans trace ; 296 ADDITIONAL POEMS But if ye once shall gain the sought Sicilian sky, Homeward ye then may race In gladdest ecstasy. Never a cargo bear Of shame or crime, O ships ! Better that whirlwind rend, or treacherous waves insnare, Than that Contagion s lips Should taint your heaven-free air. But far as oceans stretch, Or Austral islands rise, Wing ye love s message to the wild despairing wretch Who, fainting, seeks the prize Unfound unless ye fetch. Scorched amid Central Zone, Crushed by Antarctic ice, Ever, O stately ships, your nobler birthright own, Nor plunge, a sacrifice, With but a gurgling groan ! Back ! bring our sons safe back ! Our brothers, lovers, friends ! We had not let them sail with you your venturous track, But that our faith extends Beyond a drifting wrack ! EARLIER PIECES 297 Our faith in you, O ships, Uphold and justify ! And firm as boatman builds, and staunch as he equips, Sail ye an Argosy That meets nor dreads eclipse ! THE SORROWING WIND I sat awaiting one who did not come. Against my window the November rain Pattered a weird and pitiful refrain : Never dear Mother Nature s voice is dumb. Drearily, as in penitence, the wind Murmured a Miserere had it sinned ? Had it been boisterous upon the deep ? Had it been cruel tossing ships about, And sending sailors to their watery sleep ? With aimless fury and disastrous rout Had it been leveling dim forest aisles, And devastating fields for miles and miles ? 298 ADDITIONAL POEMS A CANE FROM GETHSEMANE A simple cane is here a pilgrim staff : Yet on its polished face, In quaintly graven Hebrew paragraph, A sacred name I trace. " Gethsemane : Mount Olivet." The phrase Bespeaks the favored earth Where, ages since, in unremembered days, Its sacred tree had birth. A traveler brought it fragrant with the air Of that clear Syrian sky. " Here, friend," he said, " the staff is yours ; you care For such things more than I." I hold it in my hand, as here I sit, And musing close my eye ; And far and fast doth subtle Fancy flit, Imagination fly. In shorn Gethsemane, to this far day, Is shown the grotto wild Where Abraham prepared the wood to slay Isaac his first-born child. Here David, harp in hand, from yonder hills His native Bethlehem nigh, Oft wandered with his sheep, the rippling rills And quiet waters by, EARLIER PIECES 299 And rested, sweeping with his hand the strings Melodious with praise, Laying his head upon these rootlets rings, Lit by the sun s last rays. Here Solomon had come, with timbrels, flutes, And cymbals clashing loud ; With solemn sackbuts, fifes, and silvery lutes, In royal garments proud ; With damsels rich in dyes from Tyrian shore ; Playing at games of chance ; Laughing to see upon the leafy floor The Jewish maidens dance. Here Philip s son, great Alexander, came, His hands with slaughter wet, And bowed himself before the jeweled flame Of priestly coronet. The god of Macedon was Mars the Red, His empire on increase : The God of Shiloh s olives overhead Here gently whispered, " Peace ! " Here Jesus, Joseph s son, a mightier king, Weighed down with woes of men, Came praying he perchance their lives might bring To God and Heaven again. Here too, while his disciples slept, he sweat As it were drops of blood 300 ADDITIONAL POEMS His brow, in agony, already wet With Friday s crimson flood. And here the Angel came, in raiment white, To strengthen him and bless, Making a Bethel of the darksome night, And joy of his distress. Here Judas, jeering, brought the priestly crowd With lanterns, swords, and staves His thirty silver pieces jingling loud And murmuring " Paupers graves ! " Here Titus came, and with his army vast Uprooted every tree. Thy glory then, Jerusalem, was past ! And thine, Gethsemane ! But ere that fatal hour, the cane I hold Was plucked from off its tree, And down through monkish cloisters dim and old At last has come to me. This very bough, perhaps, its portion gave For Abraham s altar fire, When sadly building deeming naught could save His first-born s funeral-pyre. This very bough who knows ? the bough may be That sheltered David s lambs ; Beneath which Solomon, the Wise, in glee Made proverb-epigrams ; EARLIER PIECES 301 That Alexander bowed beneath ; that he Of Nazareth sought for prayer ; That worn disciples brushed ; that treachery. Sought out and made a snare. . . . O sacred bough ! from thy long history Some lesson I would learn ! Would that from thee some heavenly mystery Within my soul might burn I THE VIOLET I met within the wilding wood A violet nodding in a dell : Its bud was blue, its stalk was green ; And now when I would tell The story of that simple flower There rises to my view A perfect picture of the scene The nodding violet s stalk of green, Its flower of lovely blue. In all the world was never seen A bluer blue, a greener green. I met within the city street A darling little blue-eyed girl : Her eye was bright, her step was light, And on her brow a curl Of fairest, purest gold hung free. 302 ADDITIONAL POEMS With smiles she looked at me ! Her heart, dear child ! was light as air, As free as air from sorrow. There Could never, surely, be A step more light, an eye more blue, A soul more innocent or true. A few short days alas ! alas ! I met her in the street no more. I know not how it came to pass, But knocking at my door One evening as I writing sat, Approached a little boy Her brother who beside my knee Bewailed and wept so piteously That it would needs employ A power beyond my tenderest art To hush the turbulence of his heart. I clasped him in my close embrace : His burning cheeks with tears were wet. To mine he raised his mournful face Ah ! ne er shall I forget The hope, the doubt, the keen despair That mantled in his eye. I still can hear him importune : " Oh, say she will be better soon ! Tell me she will not die ! " My heart could not deny the boon : " Ah, yes ! " I said " be better soon." EARLIER PIECES 303 I hastened to the wilding wood, And sought the violet in the dell, Whose bud was blue, whose stalk was green. I surely need not tell Upon whose breast, within whose hand, The flower was shortly seen. She on itspetals looked, and smiled ; Upon the bud of blue, poor child ! And on the stalk of green. And then she closed her bright blue eyes, And flew afar to Paradise. Upon her breast, within her hand, The violet still was seen The violet with its bud of blue, Its stalk of brilliant green When robed for Fairyland she lay. I doubt not when in love The angels met her, and her eyes Beheld the blooms of Paradise, Were none more fair above ! Nor there in heaven might angels view A soul than hers more pure and true. 304 ADDITIONAL POEMS ALL AS ONE [ Early fragment ] Not greatly distant from the sounding sea Beside whose edge I frequent wend my way, An ancient forest, deep and silent, lies Reputed home of nymph and woodland fay. Verdant primeval arches rise o erhead, And hide the earth from sunlight and the sky ; And drooping mosses hang from every limb Gauze curtains swaying in the east wind s sigh. The hemlock and the pine are brothers here ; Their branches they in mutual friendship wield, And when the winter blasts and snows appear, Each strives the other from the storms to shield. Oh, would that men might here a lesson learn, And all as one their strength and faith compare, That when were nigh the fitful storms of life The strong the burdens of the weak might bear. L ENVOI: METEORS I sit in the gloom Of my evening room On the hilltop high, and gaze on the tomb Of darkness which covers earth s beauty and bloom. O er the river s gray track Rise the hillslopes black Like peddlers, each holding a house for a pack, Or like Atlas of old, with the town on their back. In the northern sky, From their throne on high, Fair meteors flash on the wondering eye, And fall into darkness, and fail, and die : Fall suddenly down, With the gleam of a crown, To fade in the mists and the shadows brown Which hazily hang over meadow and town. The villagers sleep : Over valley and steep Not a household light breaks the darkness deep : The pale stars only their vigils keep. 305 306 L ENVOI: METEORS But look ! through the night (Where a meteor bright Just vanishing seemed to fall in its flight) There shines in a window a welcoming light ! A scintillant glare, Rich, luminous, rare, As if when the meteor vanished in air It charmed a new star into radiance there ! O soul of mine ! When the Angel Divine Shall summon thee swift to a region benign, Shall summon thee swift, and thou follow his sign, Thou wouldst not ask more Than some heart on life s shore Grow bright with a gleam of thy vanishing lore Grow bright with a lustre undreamed of before. INDEX OF TITLES Accelerant, 37 Across the Line: At Fifty, 146 Admiration of World-Helpers, In, 56 After a Week with a Wood- chopper, 125 Age of Good, The, 75 All as One, 304 Alpha and Omega, 39 And Last of All I Learn It, 137 Angel, The Loveliest, 148 At Spruce-Tree, 279 At the Summit, 127 At the Turn of the Road, 203 Baby of the Twentieth Century, To a, 38 Beacon-Lights, 87 Beauty, Ideal, 133 Beauty, Life s, 105 BELLS OF COMO, THE, 207 Birch, The Silver, 189 Birches, Vine and, 187 Birthday, For a, 261 Blake, James Vila, To, 277. (See also, " Seventy," 274) Blue Hills in November, In the, I., II., 182-183 BLUE HILLS RESERVATION, SONNETS OF THE, 181-192 Body and Spirit, 155 Bon Voyage, 264 " Breath from the Fields, A," 150 Bridgman, Raymond L. ( " The Loyal Traitor"), 282 Burial-Ground, In a Country, 256 By Dark or Light, 168 By the Dark-Bright River, 204 Cane from Gethsemane, A, 298 Cape Ann, On, 175 Causation, 144 Charles, On Crossing the, at Its Mouth, 172 Chickatawbut, To a Hemlock on, 191 Children, To My, on Their Marriage Day, 268 Children s Children, 57 Christmas, Merry, 262 Christmas ("Then Felt I Like Some Watcher of the Skies," 262) Clown, Sage and, 114 Coin in Any Realm, 102 College Hill, 254 College Hill, Moonlight on, 251 (See also, Tufts College) COMO, THE BELLS OF, 207 Comrades, 171 Concord River, 291 Confessions of a Voluptuary, 107 Courage, O Workers I 49 Creators, The New, 54 Crosby, Ernest, Meditation After the Passing of, 60 Cross, Star and, 76 Crosses, Self-Made, 143 Cypress-Crowned, 119 Daffodils, 152 Dark-Bright River, By the, 204 Dayspring, The, 53 Day Unto Day, 235 Dead Student, The, 285 Dear Mother Earth, 176 Death of My Friend : The Old Year, 265 Death, The Kiss of, 194 (See also, POEMS OF THE IM MORTAL HOPE, 193-206) December Hilltops, 192 Deeds, Words and, 116 Deeper and Higher, 71 Detritus, I.-IV., 58-60 Devil of Drink, The, 116 Dragon-Fly, Sonata of the, 153 Dream, The Schoolmaster s, 242 307 308 INDEX OF TITLES Dream-Counsel, 117 Dream-Prophecy, 55 Drink, The Devil of, 116 EARLIER PIECES, 291-304 Earth at Play, The, 170 Earth, Dear Mother, 176 Earth s Golden Prime Lies In finitely On, 65 Easter, 266 Eastward Windows, 204 Eddowes, Harold (" In Quest to Know")* 278 Enchanted Ground, 168 Entombed, 63 EPIC OF MAN, THE, 27 Evangel, The New, 77 Exemplar, 174 " Fields, A Breath from the," 150 Finished, 284 Five Times, 283 Foils, I., II., 138-139 For a Birthday, 261 Forelooking, 120 Forever On, 103 Free Religion ( " The Liberty Wherewith We are Made Free"), 74 Future Life (see POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE, 193-206) Futures, 102 Gain Still the Goal, 186 Gethsemane, A Cane from, 298 God and Man, 72 God, In the name of, 76 God, My, To Truth, 69 God s Mariners, I, II., 280-281 God s True Word, Man s Best Word, 73 Good, Loftier, 84 Good Shall Conquer, Never Fear, 51 Good, The Age of, 75 " Good-Bye," 259 Gone, 201 Great, The, 43 Gull and Wave, 174 Hancock Hill, On, 183 Hardness, To Prize Life s, 129 HEART OF YOUTH, 227 Heart s Treasures, 136 Hemlock, A Spray of, 173 Hemlock on Chickatawbut, To a, 191 Heredity, 144 Hills of Morning, 170 Hilltops, December, 192 Holmes, Oliver Wendell (" The Laughing Philosopher"), no Hours of Insight, 132 How Sing st Thou, Then? 130 HUMAN PROGRESS, POEMS OF, 3-64 . Humanity, The Wail of Low, 47 Ideal Beauty, 133 I Feel that I Know Her, 238 IMMORTAL HOPE, POEMSJ;OF THE, 193-206 In a Country Burial-Ground, 256 In Admiration of World-Helpers, 56 In Grateful Love, 267 In Quest to Know, 278 In Secret, 80 In Suburban Woods, 166 In the Blue Hills in November, I., II., 182-183 In the Name of God, 76 "In Thy Youth," 104 In Treetop Land, 149 In Vacation, 167 In Wildcat Notch, 184 In Wonder Ever} Hour, 184 Indian Summer, 181 Insight, Hours of, 132 Inward Fires, 113 "I Will Lay Mine Hand Upon My Mouth," 89 Janes, Lewis G., 288 Joy in One s Work, 130 Justice! Freedom! 48 Kiss of Death, The, 194 Known of Old, 205 INDEX OF TITLES 309 " Laborers Together," 82 Last of all I Learn It, And, 137 Laughing Philosopher, The, no L ENVOI : Meteors, 305 Liberty Wherewith We Are Made Free, The, 74 Life, Religion as a, 88 Life s Beauty, 105 Life s Hardness, To Prize, 129 Life s Meaning, 98 LIVING, POEMS OF, 93-148 Loftier Good, 84 " Look Back at Times," 269 Love, When Young Hearts, 237 Love s Predicament, 257 Loved and Gone, The, 195 Loveliest Angel, The, 148 Lowell, James Russell, 56 Loyal Traitor, The, 282 Man, God and, 72 MAN, THE EPIC OF, 27 Man on the Mountain, The, 131 Man s Best Word God s True Word, 73 Man s Opportunity, 93 MAN S TRIUMPH-ERA, 3 Marriage Day, To My Children on Their, 268 Meditation After the Passing of Ernest Crosby, 60 Merry Christmas, 262 Meteors (L ENVOI), 305 Midas and Musagetes, 249 Moonlight on College Hill, 251 Mother, The, 86 Mother and Child, 276 Mother Earth, Dear, 176 Muse, To the, After Silence, 258 My Feathered Preacher, 132 Mystic River, 157 Nameless Record, The, 141 NATURE, POEMS OF, 149-192 Nature s Foundlings, 177 New Creators, The, 54 New Evangel, The, 77 No More, 46 Noon in the Printing-Shop, 140 " Of One," 86 Old-Time Boys, The, 15 Old Timothy John, 245 Old Year, Death of My Friend : The, 265 On Board Ship in Sassamon Notch, 1 86 On Cape Ann, 175 On Crossing the Charles at Its Mouth, 172 On Hancock Hill, 183 One with All, 165 Oneness, Recognition of, 90 Opportunity, Man s, 93 O Story-Teller! Poet! 61 Out of the Distance, 271 Pan, 163 Paradise, Soul s, 103 Passing, The, 199 Path, The, L, II., 134-135 Path of Sun, The, 97 Patterson, A. J., 290 Penalty, 258 Pendulum, The, 180 Philippines, The Five Times, 283 Loyal Traitor, The, 282 Redeem Yourself, O Land, 282 Pine-Tree, The, 190 Platitudes, 139 POEMS OF HUMAN PROGRESS, 3-64 POEMS OF LIVING, 93-148 POEMS OF NATURE, 149-192 POEMS OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS, 65-92 POEMS OF THE IMMORTAL HOPE, 193-206 " Prepared," 70 Printing-Shop, Noon in the, 140 PROEM ("Revolve, O Earth"), i Prophecy, Dream-, 55 Quatrains, Three, 116 Radiant Youth I Knew, A, L, II., 142-143 Rebirth, 260 3io INDEX OF TITLES Reciprocation, 54 Recognition of Oneness, 90 Redeem Yourself, O Land, 282 Religion as a Life, 88 Religion, Free (" The Liberty Wherewith We are Made Free"), 74 RELIGIOUS PROGRESS, POEMS OF, 65-92 Residuum, 1., II., 62-63 Revelation, 85 Revolve, O Earth (PROEM), i Robbins, Wentworth Brooks (" The Dead Student "), 285 Sage and Clown, 114 Sassamon Notch, On Board Ship in, 1 86 Schoolmaster s Dream, The, 242 Search, 83 Secret, The, 178 Self, To Thine Own, Be True, 92 Self-Gratulation, 145 Self-Illumined, 116 Self -Made Crosses, 143 Sense, Soul and, 104 " Seventy," 274 " Shanty, The," 188 Ships, Whither, Ye Stately, 295 " Signs and Wonders," 66 Silver Birch, The, 189 Simmons, H. M. ("The Victor"), J 35 So Like the Spring She Stands, 169 Sonata of the Dragon-Fly, 153 Song, The Spirit of, 2 Songs, Sweetest, are Never Sung, 240 Sorrowing Wind, The, 297 Soul and Sense, 104 Soul s Paradise, 103 Spirals, 136 Spirit, Body and, 155 Spirit of Song, The, 2 Spirit with Spirit, 179 Spray of Hemlock, A, 173 Spruce-Tree, At, 279 Star and Cross, 76 Straw, TW T O Wisps of, 176 Student, The Dead, 285 Suburban Woods, In, 166 Summit, At the, 127 Sunrise in Codman Park, 166 Sunset Sea, Through the, 123 Sunshine, 160 Sweetest Songs are Never Sung, 240 Temple, Edward F. (" Known of Old "), 205 " Then Felt I Like SomeWatcher of the Skies," 262 Three Quatrains, 116 Devil of Drink, The Self-Illumined Words and Deeds Through the Sunset Sea, 123 Thyself Within, 96 Timothy John, Old, 245 To a Baby of the Twentieth Century, 38 To a Hemlock on Chickatawbut, 191 To James Vila Blake, 277 To My Children on Their Marriage Day, 268 To My Old Wheel, 172 To Prize Life s Hardness, 129 To the Muse, After Silence, 258 " To Thine Own Self Be True," 92 To Truth My God, 69 To Yield, 64 Traitor, The Loyal, 282 Transcendent Possibility, The, !93 Transformation, 79 Treasures, Heart s, 136 Treetop Land, In, 149 True Life of Us, 140 Truth, To, My God, 69 Tufts College, Poems describing, delivered at, or having relation to : Bells of Como, The, 207 College Hill, 254 Dead Student, The, 285 INDEX OF TITLES Tufts College (continued} Forelooking, 120 Heart of Youth, I., 227 Known of Old, 205 note Man s Triumph-Era, 3 Moonlight on College Hill, 251 Mystic River, 159 note Old-Time Boys, The, 15 Through the Sunset Sea, 123 Turn of the Road, At the, 203 Twentieth Century, To a Baby of the, 38 Two Wisps of Straw, 176 Ultima Thule, 147 Ungrasped, 95 Up Higher, 272 Up to the Heights, 41 Uplifts of Heart and Will, 78 Vacation, In, 167 Vanished, The, 206 Victor, The, 135 Vine and Birches, 187 Violet, The, 301 Voluptuary, Confessions of a, 107 Wail of Low Humanity, The, 47 War ("No More"), 46. (See also General Index) What Are We Here For? 42 Wheel, To My Old, 172 When Young Hearts Love, 237 Whence the Glory ? 80 Whither, Ye Stately Ships, 295 Who Knows ? 196 Wildcat Notch, In, 184 Wind, The Sorrowing, 297 Wings, 91 Winter Glory, 185 Wonder Every Hour, In, 184 Woodchopper, After a Week with a, 125 Woods, In Suburban, 166 Words and Deeds, 116 Work, 106 Work, Joy in One s, 130 Workers, Courage, O, 49 World- Helpers, In Admiration of, 56 Worship, 84 Yield, To, 64 YOUTH, HEART OF, 227 Youth I Knew, A Radiant, I., II., 142-143 "Youth, In Thy," 104 Zeal, 122 INDEX OF SONNETS Across the Line : At Fifty, 146 And Last of All I Learn It, *37 At Spruce-Tree, 279 At the Turn of the Road, 203 Beacon-Lights, 87 By Dark or Light, 168 By the Dark-Bright River, 204 Causation, 144 Children s Children, 57 Comrades, 171 Dayspring, The, 53 Dear Mother Earth, 176 December Hilltops, 192 Detritus, I., 58 II., 58 III., 59 IV., 59 Dream-Prophecy, 55 Earth at Play, The, 1 70 Eastward Windows, 204 Enchanted Ground, 168 Entombed, 63 Exemplar, 174 P inished, 284 Five Times, 283 Foils, I., 138 II., 138 Gain Still the Goal, 186 God s Mariners, I., 280 II., 280 " Good-Bye," 259 Gull and Wave, 174 Heart s Treasures, 136 Heredity, 144 Hills of Morning, 170 Hours of Insight, 132 How Sing st Thou, Then ? 130 Ideal Beauty, 133 In a Country Burial - Ground, 256 In Admiration of World-Helpers, 56 In Quest to Know, 278 In Suburban Woods, 166 In the Blue Hills in November, I., 182 II., 182 In Vacation, 167 In Wildcat Notch, 184 In Wonder Every Hour, 184 Indian Summer, 181 " I Will Lay Mine Hand Upon My Mouth," 89 Joy in One s Work, 130 Known of Old, 205 Loftier Good, 84 Loveliest Angel, The, 148 Love s Predicament, 257 Lowell, James Russell, 56 Loyal Traitor, The, 282 Man on the Mountain, The, Meditation After the Passing of Ernest Crosby, 60 Mother, The, 86 Mother and Child, 276 My Feathered Preacher, 132 Nameless Record, The, 141 Nature s Foundlings, 177 New Creators, The, 54 Noon in the Printing- Shop, 140 3 I2 INDEX OF SONNETS 313 " Of One," 86 On Board Ship in Sassamon Notch, 1 86 On Cape Ann, 175 On Crossing the Charles at Its Mouth, 172 On Hancock Hill, 183 One with All, 165 O Story-Teller! Poet! 61 Path, The, I., 134 II., 134 Penalty, 258 Pendulum, The, 180 Pine-Tree, The, 190 Platitudes, 139 Radiant Youth I Knew, A, I., 142 II., 142 Rebirth, 260 Reciprocation, 54 Recognition of Oneness, 90 Redeem Yourself, O Land, 282 Religion as a Life, 88 Residuum, I., 62 II., 62 Revelation, 85 Search, 83 Secret, The, 178 Self-Gratulation, 145 Self-Made Crosses, 143 "Shanty, The," 188 Silver Birch, The, 189 So Like the Spring She Stands, 169 Spirals, 136 Spirit with Spirit, 1 79 Spray of Hemlock, A, 173 Sunrise in Codman Park, 166 To a Hemlock on Chickatawbut, 191 To James Vila Blake, 277 To My Old Wheel, 172 To Prize Life s Hardness, 129 To the Muse, After Silence, 258 " To Thine Own Self be True," 92 To Yield, 64 True Life of Us, 140 Two Wisps of Straw, 176 Ultima Thule, 147 Vanished, The, 206 Victor, The, 135 Vine and Birches, 187 Wings, 91 Winter Glory, 185 Worship, 84 GENERAL INDEX References to birds, flowers, trees, stars, mountains, rivers, and to a few other topics, are grouped ] Abraham, 298, 300 Academe, 16, 19, 288 Achilles, 1 16 Act vs. good intention, 116 Adam and Eve, 91 Adventure, 91, 92, 121, 235, 280- 281 (see discovery) yEschylus, 5 ^sop, 1 60 Affection, 4, 16, 169, 274, 277 (see love, friendship, brotherhood, good will to men) Age, golden (see golden age) Age of good (see good on earth) Age, old (see old age) Agriculture, i, 23, 30, 58, 99, 125 130, 176 Alexander the great, 43, 64, 299 Alma Mater, 17 Alps, 4, 25, 44, 218, 254 Ambition, 6, 16, 18, 78, 86, 273 America, I, 6, 24, 27, 282 Anarchist, the, 20 Anarchy (see individualism) Angels, 12, 76, 76-77, 91, 1 06, 115 144, 148, 198, 208 ff, 222, 237 243, 300, 303, 306 Angelus, 214 Animals chipmunk, 125, 152 dog, 1 1 1 flocks and herds, 108 fox, 181, 185 lion, 135 lizard, 40 rabbit, hare, 33, 142, 185, 228 serpent, 135 sheep, 1 08, 298, 300 squirrel, 125, 152, 173, 184, 228 tiger, 20 wildcat, 184 wolf, 184 Antarctic, 197, 296 Anthropos, 20, 25 Anti-imperialism, 24, 282-3, 2 ^9 Apocalypse, 252 Apollo (Phoebus), 168, 234 Apollo s pipe, 8 Appreciation, 242-244, 277 (see praise and blame) April, 174, 177, 287 Arabia, 154 Arbela, 64 A ready, 211 Arctic, i, 4, 49, 186, 217 Ariadne s clue, 7 Arimathea, Joseph of, 77 Arlington Heights, 123, 228 Art, i, 21, 38, 45, 63, 109, 113 130, 176, 208 (see sculpture) Aryans, 30 Asia, 43, 64, 136 Asphodel, 148 (see flowers) Aspiration, 8, 20, 23, 26, 34, 40 41, 80, 84, 90, 112, 131, 132 133, 146, 209, 225, 229, 276, 281 284 (see moral ideal ; beauty) Assizi, Francis of, 45 Aster, 80, 154, 156, 183, 245 Astrology, 13 Athens, 220 Atlantic ocean, 153, 172 Atlas, 305 Attica, 7, 163 August, 181 Aurelius, Marcus, 45 Austral islands, 296 Autumn, 10, 68, 123, 180 Avarice, 20, 57, 88, 146, 149, 249- 250, 281 (see greed, selfishness, wealth, money) Avocation and vocation, 5 Azrael, 148, 306 GENERAL INDEX 315 Babylon, 9, 168 Baffin s bay, 186 Balkan massacres, 57 Ballou, Hosea, 228 Bank, a sure, 127 Beach, 49-50, 87, 93, 124, 153- 155, 158, 172, 174, 175, 184(866 harbors, lighthouses, sea, ships, shore, sailors, waves, ocean) Bear Indian tribe, 58 Beauty, ideal, 105, 133, 289 of life (see life ; moral ideal) of Nature (see Nature) Bedford gaol, 188 Bee, 19, 144, 152, 165, 183 Beggar s bowl, 167, 178 Behring s straits, 295 Belgium and Congo, 24 Bermudas, 49 Bethel, 300 Bethlehem, 172, 219, 298 Beulah, 161, 173 Bible, 10, 67, 74, 85, 123, 124 (see revelation) of Nature, 67, 85, 288 (see Nature) Bibles, origin of, 83, 85 Bicycling, 107, 172 Birch-tree (see trees) Birds (unspecified), 12, 35, 49, 86 94-95, 115, 129, 132, 140 146, 1 60, 163-164, 1 66, 183 192, 199, 259, 266 bluebird, 177 bluejay, 167 bobolink, 107, 151, 158, 160 172, 229, 230, 266 bobwhite (quail), 171 chickadee, 182, 185 crow, 229, 272 dove, 232, 234 flicker, 169 gull, 119, 121, 158, 173, 174 hawk, 154, 1 86 mockingbird, 237 meadow (song) sparrow, 2, 178 oriole, 49, 154 ovenbird, 184 partridge, 185, 228 160 Birds (continued) robin, 2, 19, 107, 149, 1^1 163, 167, 169, 254, 256 snowbird, 185 swallow, 119, 167 thrush, 55, 158 veery, 184 vulture, 7, 44, 142, 230 whip-poor-will, 19, 252 wild geese, 192 yellowbird, 154 Bird -songs, 2, 12, 19, 49, 55, 94 95, 115, 129, 132, 140, 146, 149 151, 158, 1 60, 163-164, 167, 171 172, 177, 178, 184, 185, 199, 229 230, 237,252,259,266 Birthdays, 261, 274, 277, 280 Blake, James Vila, 274, 277 Blue Hills, Mass., 167, 181-192 228 "Bob White," 171 Boccaccio, 207 Bodhi-tree, 167 Body and spirit, 79, 155-157 (see soul) Bon voyage, 264 Books, 9, 15, 108, 124, 161, 172 270, 294 Boreal, 49, 168 Boston Common, 1 1 1 Boston harbor, 166, 184, 252 Boyhood, 136, 154, 172-173, 174 175, 209, 247, 267 Brahm, 28 Brazil, 158, 256 Breeze, 19, 49, 115, 125, 155, 178 185, 217, 231, 235 (see wind) Bridgman, Raymond L., 282 British grenadier, 253 Brooks, 9, 94, 154, 163, 165, 173 178, 183, 185, 187, 266; Ale- wife brook, 228 (see rivers, streams) Brotherhood, 4, 7, 8, 20, 21, 22, 23 24, 26, 32-34, 39, 46, 47-48, 50 54, 55 5 6 -57, 5 8 > 6l > 6 5>7o-7i 75, 78, 84, 87, 88, 89, 101, 102 109,128, 175,243-244,262,304 (see good will, friendship) GENERAL INDEX Bryant, 125 Buddha, Siddartha, 45, 86, 167 Buddhism. 219 Bull, Ole, Studio House, 288 Bunker Hill, 227 Bunyan, 161, 188 Burial-ground, country, 256 Buried alive, 63 Burns, Robert, 45 Caesar, Julius, 16, 44, 141 Caesars, the, 63, 207 Calculus, 4, 24 Calypso, 225 Canaan, 124 Cape Ann, 175 Casca s dagger-rent, 44 Castles in air, 239 Cathay, 219 (see China) Caucasus, 7, 142, 229 Causation, 29, 30, 31-34, 102 144 " Cause and effect," 246 Change and loss, 96, 97, 130 Chaos, 21, 55, 59, 81, 98, 107 260 Charles river, 172, 228 Cheerfulness, 97, 132, 189 (see contentment, serenity, mirth) Chickatawbut, 181, 185, 191 Children, 9, 22, 23, 33, 37, 38, 42 46, 55, 57, 62, 68, 88, 109, 112 114-115, 131, 136-137, 146, 164 169, 170, 204, 208, 235, 242- 244, 247, 250, 258, 269, 276 278, 301-303 Children of Mother Nature, 22 87 (see Nature) China, 9, 62, 219 Christian science (see mental) Christianity, 87 " Christless," 70 (see Jesus) Christmas, 262, 262-263, 275 Church, n, 35, 74, 76, 137, 223- 224 Church councils, 76, 137 Circe, 190, 225 Circumstance, 33, 129, 130, 157 (see fate) City vs. country, 125-126, 140 150, 156, 161, 166, 174, 177 182, 191, 228, 254, 272-273 Cliffs, crags, 178, 179, 184-185 231, 235, 239 Clouds, 19, 115, 162, 173, 178 184, 220, 228, 292 (see sky) College class-room vs. individu ality, 1 5 (see individuality) College friendships 4, 15-17, 222 228-230, 255-256, 286 College Hill (Tufts College), 4 14, 17, 120, 123, 158-159, 227- 228, 251-253, 254-256 Columbus, 14 Comets, 196 Como, 207 ff Commandment, New, 65 Concord battle-bridge, 292 Concord river, 291-294 Conflict, life s, 121-122, 136, 185 (see life, hardness, serenity) Confucius, 86 Congo, Belgian atrocities in, 24 Conquest, 6, 40, 43-44, 47, 57, 61 147 (see war) Conscience, 74, 81, 82, 84 (see moral ideal) Consequences (see causation) Contentment, 45, 109, 120, 139 (see cheerfulness, serenity) Convention, social, 145, 282 Conway, Moncure D., 27 Co-operation, 20, 33 (see brother hood) Cornfields, I, 99, 155, 171 Cosmopolitanism, 21, 24, 26, 32 56-57 (see brotherhood) Cosmos, 21, 41, 59 (see order) Country vs. city (see city) Cragfoot spring, 185 Creative faculty, 5, 16, 20, 40, 54 1 06, 137, 196 (see inspiration) Creeds, 8, 9, 1 1, 32, 65, 70, 73, 74 75, 83-85, 224 (see dogmas, tradition, revelation) origin of, 83, 84, 224 Cremation, 191 Criticism, the true, 277 GENERAL INDEX 317 Crosby, Ernest, 60 Cross, 74, 76-77, 84, 143, 262 in daily life, 97, 143, 262 Crow Indian tribe, 58 Culture, 19, 38 Curfew-bell, Nature s, 288 Curtis, George William, 27 Cyclades, I Cyclones, 57 Dancing, 62, 299 Dante, 7, 43, 136, 207 Danube, 62, 218, 256 (see rivers) Darius, 64 Darwin, 10, 45 Daughters, 169, 194, 268, 269 David, 298, 300 Dead sea, 59 Death, 7, 16, 40, 60, 85, 102, 105 122, 148, 162, 193-206, 222 239, 243, 256, 264, 285-287 288-290, 306 (see immortal hope) preparation for, 70 December, 180, 187, 192, 265, 284 Defeat in victory, 104, 143 (see victory in defeat) Deity, 86 (see God, gods) Delight in life (see life) Democracy (see brotherhood) Despair, 7, 51, 89, 100, 130 Devils, 28, 29, 35, 57, 116 Devotion, reverence, 8, 9, 31 Diet, 88, 1 08 (see food) Disciples of Jesus, 299-300 Discord, harmony from, 99, 130 (see life, conflict) Discovery, 14, 106, 278, 280-281 (see adventure) Disease, 34, 106 (see health) Dogma and interpretation, 12 Dogmas, 8, 1 1, 66-68 (see creeds, tradition) Doing things, 1 6 Dolbear, Amos Emerson, 10 Domitian, 63 Doubt, 7, 106, 124, 136 Douglass, Frederick, 27 Dragon-fly, 153, 272 Drama, in, 178, 274, 277 Dreams, in sleep, 12, 55, 117 132, 242, 292 metaphysical, 9, 10, 1 1, 12, 32 63, 76, 89, 148, 224, 281 of the ideal good, 12, 18, 19 20, 37, 41, 50, 62, 70, 129 131, 132, 174, 281, 294 Dress, 109, 299 Drink, 43, 88, 114, 116 Drudgery, 33-34, 47-4$, 49> !o8 122, 130 (see work, toil) Duty, 13, 31, 56, 78, 81, 101, 102 105, 118, 128 Earnestness, 6, 8, 9, 88, 99 (see zeal, will) Earth (planet), i, 20, 39, 42, 54 57, 59, 62, 67, 71, 88, 89, 91 107, 109, 129, 135, 137, 160, 165 168, 169, 177, 178, 187, 266, 287 Earth, Mother (see mother) Earth s abundance (see Nature) Earth s resources, right of all men to, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 38 42, 50, 55, 88, 109 Ease, 49, 92, 1 10, 1 2 1 (see leisure) East (Orient) n, 121, 173, 176 184, 219, 255, 289 East Indies, 289 Easter, 266 Eddowes, Harold, 278 Eden, 91, 101, 159, 173, 176, 214 276 Egypt, 9, 62, 63, 96, 124, 136, 250 Eldorado, 279 Electricity, 13, 23, 29, 30, 172 Elysium, 43, 109, 132 Emerson, 7, 27, 45, 112 (quoted, 282) Enoch, 74 Environment, 80, 138-139 Envy, 149 Epictetus, 45 Equal opportunity, 21, 22, 50, 88 Equinox, 120, 295 Erin, 221 Error, 12-13, 2 4 3 1 T 4^ Eschatology, 89 GENERAL INDEX Eternal life, quality, 34, 74, 85 90, 96, 103, 104, 105, 132 273, 288 (see soul, spirit) quantity (see otherworldliness) Eternity, 85, 136, 168, 196, 200 Eugenics, 37 (see heredity) Europe s old dynastic slaughter house, 289 Euxine, 121 Evil, 5, 7, 11, 13, 21, 29, 48 51, 71, 83, 84, 130 (see life s tragedy) Evil impulse (see impulse) Evolution, doctrine of, 8, 28, 39- 40, 129 (see man) Example (see influence) Faces, i, 4, 15, 168 Failure, high, 118-119, 147 (see victory ; see defeat) Fairyland, 270, 303 Faith, 8, 83, 84, 124, 136, 145 146 (see trust) in good, 97, 137, 183 (see good) Fame, 7, 43-46, 102, 229, 261 (see honors) Farming, intensive, 23 (see agri culture) Fate, 5, 7, 28, 48, 109, 119, 122 129, 138, 142, 157, 222 master of, 138 Fear, 8, 29, 34, 59, 75, 84, 85, 86 96, 106, 124, 200 February, 186 Fields, 19, 42, 46, 56, 98, 126, 155 172, 279 (see meadows) Filipinos, 24, 282-283, 289 Firefly, 155 Flesh-eating, 108 Floods, 57 Flowers (unspecified), 4,9, 13, 16 22, 25, 55, 70, 72, 93-95, 95 101, 103, 132, 143, 144, 146 150, 1 60, 165, 1 66, 183, 184 235, 266, 271, 278, 284, 287 asphodel, 148 aster, 80, 154, 156, 183, 245 barberry, 229 blackberry -vines, 182 Flowers (continued} bloodroot, 151, 177 bluebell, 14 burning-bush, 14, 126 buttercup, 18, 170 cactus, 30 clematis, 274 clover, 164, 272 corn-tassels, i, 155 (99, 171) cranesbill, 177, 183 daffodil, 152 daisy, 18, 151, 154, 170, 178 everlasting, 245 fern, 40, 153, 154, 155, 160, 165 166, 182, 183, 284, 288, 293 golden-rod, 154, 183 gowan, 170 (see daisy) grapevine, 12, 58, 187, 239, 264 276 grass, 10, 16, 40, 154, 161, 176 180, 229, 254-255, 272, 279 timothy and sorrel, 256 herbs, i, 165 holly, 275 hollyhock, 229 ivy, 144 laurel, 46, 49, 129 lichens, 40 lily, n, 18, 59, 126 maize, 155 (see corn) marguerite, 151, 154 (see daisy) marsh-marigold, 177 moss, 40, 161, 184, 230, 304 nightshade, 231, 234 orchard-bloom, 22, 32, 151 phlox, 229 pink, 229 PPPy> 55. 8o > l6 5 primrose (wild), 174 rhodora, 165 rose, 29, 30, 55, 59, 85, 88, 95 126, 131, 142, 156, 185, 229 238; sweetbrier, 154 seaweed, 157 sedge, 153, 1 60 simples, i smilax, 287 strawberry-blossom (wild), 174 sumach, 156, 176, 183, 231 GENERAL INDEX 319 Flowers (continued} violet, 133, 151, 154, 161, 183 231, 234, 271, 293, 301-303 water-lily, 234 windflower, 169 witch-hazel, 182 Food for the world, 23 Forest (see woods, trees) Forgiveness, 5, 283 Fossils, 67, 288 Francis of Assizi, 45 Frederick the great, 44 Free religion, 74, 75, 92, 131 Free Religious Association, 27 Freedom, 7, 8, 21, 29, 45, 48, 50 73, 86, 91, 134, 145, 282-283 289 (see liberty) the false, 8 the noble, 8, 21 French philosophers, 10 Friendship, 1,4, 15, 15-16, 17, 96 113, 117,133, 137, 151, 159, 168 169, 171, 174, 187, 198, 205, 222 229, 238-239, 264, 265, 271, 274 277, 278, 279, 286 (see brother hood, affection) Frost-work, 136, 182, 185 Frothingham, O. B., 27 Fruits (unspecified), 22, 30, 33 54, 59, 1 08, 140 apple, 30, in, 151 cherry, 149 date, 1 08 fig, 1 08 grape, 12, 58, 187, 276 peach, 32, 58, 86 plum, 149 Future good on earth (see good) Future life (see immortal hope) Gabriel, 148 Galilee, 65, 70, 76, 262 Gauls, 44 Genius, 5, 16, 23, 24 (see creative faculty) German metaphysics, 10 Germany, 239, 256, 264 Gethsemane, 298-300 Gibraltar, 295 Glory, the modern, 45-46 God, 7, 68, 79, 82, 83, 127 as the Great Mystery, the Un known, 28, 34, 39, 78, 80, 82 83,85,86,88,89,97,199,281 (see Nature) as order and beauty, 10, 67, 70 85, 88, 199-200 (see order, beauty) as truth, 69, 73, 83 (see truth) as love, 72, 8 1, 88, 91 (see love) as glee, 199 (see mirth) as an ideal, 6, 79, 84, 133 (see ideal, ideals) revelation of in Nature, 67, 8 1 87, 88, 127, 288 (see revela tion) in man, 7, 9, 20, 29, 32, 34, 68 71, 72, 73, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86 89, 90, 100, in, 200 (see man) varying thought concerning, 74 83, 281 persecution in the name of, 76 best service of, 35, 79, 82, 83 85,88 co-operation w r ith, 82, 88, 100 Gods, the, 5, 7, 10, 28, 29, 35, 40 41, 58, 79, 80, 89. 175, 229 as ideals, 41 (see ideal, ideals) Godlike, the, in the human, 7, 9 20, 29, 32, 41, 70, 71, 85, 90 (see God in man) Gold standard, 18, 20, 61 Golden Age, 22, 23, 24, 65, 75 109, 135, 266 (see good on earth) Golden fleece, 9, 121 Golden mean, 282 Good, search for, 5, 7, n, 13, 31 32, 223ff Good on earth, the growing, 7, 8 13, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 31, 32 34, 35 3 6 37 3 8 ~39 40, 41,42 45-46, 46-47, 50, 51-52, 53, 54 54-55 55 5 6 < 57 59 60, 62, 64 65-66, 71, 73, 74, 75, 77, 79, Si 84, 100, 109, 112, 128, 134-135 175, 266, 284, 288 3 20 GENERAL INDEX Good will to men, 1,4, 7, 13, 14 21, 25, 26, 33, 37, 39, 41, 74, 88 IOO-IOI, IO2, 109, I 13, 141, 144 146, 243, 257, 260, 262, 263, 266 271 (see brotherhood, love) Good universe, 21, 31, 34, 85, 288 Gospel, the New, 65, 77, 79 Goths and Vandals, 141 Grain, i, 33, 46, 54, 58, 59, 68 99, 170, 171, 176 Grass (see flowers) Great ones, neglect of, 29, 63 Greatness, the true, 6, 7, 45-46 51, 56, 60-61, 63, 77, 115, 141 243-244, 245-248 Greece, 5, 7, 8, 9, 219; language of, 10, ii ; religion of, 87 Greed, 20, 33, 57, 75, 100, 135 283 (see avarice) national, 283 Gulf of Mexico, 23 Gull, 119, 121, 158, 173, 174 Hancock Hill, 183, 192 Happiness (see serenity) Happy daily work, 130-131 Happy man, the, 108-110, 126 245-248, 250 Harbors, bays, 87, 97, 120, 166 174, 175, 184, 230, 241, 252, 281 295 (see ocean, ships, beach) Hardness, life s, 5, 13, 20, 23, 31 40,47,48, 50, 97, 121-122, 129 130, 132-133, 135, 185 (see se renity, life, Nature s destruct ive forces) Hate, 7, 75, 225 Health, 22, 25, 59, 88, 108, 126 264, 274 (see disease) Heaven, overruling power, 5, 129 162 (see fate) abode of the blest, 21, 68, 73 84, 89, 102, 136, 176, 196, 239 266 ideal good, 73, 78, 84, 96, 139 169, 192 (see ideal) Hebrew inscription, 298 Helicon, 94, 254 Hell, 9, 35, 68, 8 1, 136, 139 Helpers, the, 16, 37, 39, 45, 48, 51 54, 56, 60, 63, 70, 83, 100, 128 Henley (quoted), 138 Herculaneum, 220 Heredity, 37-38, 38-39, 59, 62-63 129, 138-139, 144, 249 Hermes, 175 Hero-worship, 44-45, 46-47, 245 Hesperides, 151, 152 Higginson, Thomas W., 27 Hilltops, i, 4, 13, 14, 25, 56, 107 123, 129, 133, 167, 168, 169, 170 172, 178, 179, 181-192, 203, 227 231, 272-273, 287, 305 (see mountains) Holmes, O. W., 110-112 Holy ground, 14, 75, 83 Homer, 5, 125, 161 Honors, 5, 6, 16, 46-47, 54, 99 146, 261, 277, 290 (see fame) Hope, 7, 15, 34, 68, 73, 75, 77, 96 100, 139 (see trust) Horeb, 14 Howe, Julia Ward, 27 Human progress, 1306 (see life, man, good on earth, progress) Humanitarianism (see good will) Humboldt, 45 Ideal Beauty, 105, 133, 289 Ideal man, the, 25, 34, 41 Ideal, Man s New, 126 Ideal, Moral (see moral ideal) Ideals, 25, 112, 131, 132 (see aspiration, heaven iii) Ignorance, 5, 21, 30, 32, 55, 66, 75 79. 87, 135 Illinois, 169, 271, 278 Imagination, 43, 108, 132, 140 150, 197, 279, 292 Immortal hope, the, 66, 77, 81 102, 103, 127, 162, 193-206, 264 278, 289, 298 (see otherworldli- ness, heaven ii) Immortality, earthly, 37-38, 38- 39, 45, 128 (see influence) Impulse, evil, 5, 60, 129, 130, 132 135, 136, 142-143 H3. 2 3*- 2 34 (see temptation, self-control) GENERAL INDEX 321 India, 9, 62, 63, 96, 108, 243 Indian Camp Pool, 189 Indian summer, 181 Indian tribes, 58, 158, 159 , 189 Individualism, the baneful, 20, 21 Individuality, sacredness of, 15 86, 92, 96 (see self) Influence, permanence of, 37-38 46, 58-60, 61, 62-63, 99> IO 3 135, 242-244, 276, 286, 288, 290 306 (see good on earth ; pos terity ; immortality, earthly) Initiative (see creative faculty) Innocence, 91, 144 Insects, 10, 184 bee, 19, 144, 152, 165, 183 beetle, 13 butterfly, 154 cricket, 19 dragon-fly, 153, 272 firefly, 155 Inspiration, insight, 2, 8, 9, 13, 15 132, 199 (see genius) Integrity, 8, 18 (see right) Intemperance, 116 Intensive farming, 23, 30 (see agriculture) Internationalism, 21, 24, 26, 32 33, 54, 75, 109, 289 Invention (see creative faculty) Ionia, 161 Isaac, 298-300 Isaiah, 45 Italy, 201, 207 ff, 264, 268 James, Prof. William, 10 Janes, Dr. Lewis G., 288-290 Japan, 250 Jerusalem, 300 Jesus, n, 45, 65-66, 70, 73, 76 86, 115, 126, 143, 175, 224, 262 299-301 Jews, 87, 123-124, 211, 298-301 Job, Book of, quoted in title, 89 Jones, Jenkin Lloyd, 27 Joseph of Arimathea, 77 Joseph of Nazareth, 299 Jove, 28 Judas, 300 July, 272 June, 22, 28, 35, 177, 187 Justice, 5, 7, 13, 25, 35, 48, 102 Keats, quoted in title, 262 Kitch-a-makin hill, 182, 186 Knowledge, 4, 8, 19, 21, 24, 25, 67 76, 77, 83, 91, 148, 223, 278 (see wisdom, philosophy, science) Labor, 33, 47-48, 49-50, 106, 156 196 (see work, toil, leisure) Laughter, 50, 109, no, 157, 164 266, 274 (see mirth) Law, civil, disregard of, 20 Law, Natural, 29-32, 34, 66-68 88, 144 (see- life) Lazarus, 166 Lear, 221 Learning, 4, 16, 19 (see wisdom, knowledge) Leisure, 34, 50 (see recreation) Lethe, 106 Liberty, 50, 53, 54, 282 (see free dom) Liberty not license, 8 Liberty of thought, 74 " Life, The Complete," dedication of, 278 Life, delight in, 13, 21, 31, 42, 50 66-68, 107-110, 112, 146, 149 165-192, 286, 289 (see serenity) Life, the good, 5, 6, 7, n, 31, 32 34, 37,46, 85, 135, 271 Life, the law of, 6, 13, 25, 26, 29 32, 34, 96, 103 Life, the mingled beauty, tragedy, mystery, and opportunity of, 5-9, 10, 13-15, 20-26, 28-36 39-40, 41, 42, 47, 62, 72, 81, 85 9 93 95 9 6 97, 9 8 ~ I0 i i3 IO5, I l8, I2O-I22, 129, 130, 134 136-148, 149-192, I99-2OO, 260 284, 289 (see hardness, Nature) Life, the simple, n, 18, 34, 54, 66 107-110, 114-115, 126-127, 130 139, 140, 146, 178, 184 Life, the Way of, 5, 7, 25-26, 29 31, 41, 42, 84, 87, 134, 231 322 GENERAL INDEX Lighthouses, 87, 107 Lightning, 6, 29, 30, 112, 172, 215 285 Living, the art of, 93-148 (1-306) Loss and change, 96, 97, 130, 195 197-198, 201-202, 204-206 Love, affection, i, 62, 70, 72, 113 127, 130, 197-198, 201, 237 241, 257 (see friendship ; see affection) good will to men, i, 7, 24, 39 40, 41, 46, 54, 56, 58, 70, 72 75, 81, 82, 83, 87, 102, 113 115, 122, 127, 135, 225, 257 289 (see good on earth, good will to men, brotherhood) of the ideal, 7, 40, 81, 87, 104 122, 135 (see moral ideal; beauty, ideal ; aspiration) Lowell, James Russell, 7, 45, 56 Luxury, 6, 18, 33, 54 (see wealth) Macbeth, 14 Macedonia, 43, 299 Man, chief end of, 32 dignity of, 20, 25 28, 29, 34, 41 48, 50, 54, 59, 74, 82, 89, 90 9i I 3 l evolution of, 5, 7, 20, 24-26, 28 29, 31, 34, 40, 42, 47, 50, 54 58, 61, 66, 67, 93, 128, 131 134, 271 (see progress, life) the ideal, 21, 34, 41, 131 Man his own saviour, 32, 34, 35 41, 48, 50, 74, 87, 100, 112, 128 129, 131 Man s right to the earth (see earth s resources) Manliness, 21, 37, 99, 104 Manila, 24 (see Philippines) March, 119 Marriage, 37, 241, 250, 268 Mars, war-god, 299 Martyrs, 29, 56-57, 63, 96, 134 (see prophets, saviours, saints) Materialism, 8, 18, 56, 273 Matter vs. soul, 79 May, 27, 32, 182 (see spring) Mead, Edwin D., 27 Meadows, 127, 136, 154, 157, 168 292 (see fields) Meditation, 9, 18, 132, 148, 185 298 (see memories) Memories, 15, 15-16, 140, 173 254-256, 269-270, 271, 276, 278 291-294 Mental science, 34, 85, 90, 96 56- 1 57 Metaphysics, 10, n, 32, 89, 126 (see philosophy, dreams ii ) Meteors, 305-306 Michael (angel), 148 Michaelangelo, 207 Middle ground, the, 282 Middlesex Fells, 14, 227-234 Milton, John, 7 Ministers of truth and good, 14 16, 223, 290 Miracle, 22, 34, 66-68, 123-124 (see signs and symbols) as symbol : Moses rod, 73, 123 Mirth, rapture, 13, 21, 22, 107- 110 (see life, delight in; se renity ; laughter) frivolity, 42, 47 (see social) Moderation, wise, 235-236 time-serving, 282 Mohammed, 86, 161 Monadnock, 126, 185, 235, 272 287 Money, invitation to lose a little, 19-20 Moon, 201, 206, 251-253, 293 Moonlight, 127, 251-253 Moral ideal, 9, 25, 26, 41, 74, 78 So, 81, 82, 83, 86, 104, 105, 133 135 (see aspiration, ought) Moral law, origin of, 81,82, 83, 86 Morning, 13, 53, 66, 92, 97, 107 131, 133, 176, 198 (see sunrise) Moses, 14, 73, 123, 126, 228 Mother Nature, 22-24, 55> 86, 100 155, 176, 255; the solveless Mother, 288 (see Nature) Mother s breast, 23 Mothers, 22, 23, 33, 46, 55, 59, 164 198, 208-209, 267, 276 Mott, Lucretia, 27 GENERAL INDEX 323 Mountains (unspecified) 16, 22 75, 103, 105, 106, 131, 132 157, 217, 220, 272, 285, 287 (see hilltops) Adirondacks, 170 Alps, 4, 25, 44, 218, 254 Apennines, 218 Caucasus, 7, 142, 229 Helicon, 94, 254 Himalayas, 9 Juras, 218 Monadnock, 126, 185, 235, 272 287 Nebo, 228 Olivet, 298 Parnassus, 8 Rockies, 274 Sierras, 197 Sinai, 29 Vesuvius, 201, 220 Mount Auburn cemetery, 228 Muses, 2, 7, 8, 172, 250, 258 (see poets and poesy) Music, 107, 163, 208-210, 2ii 213-214, 239, 240, 277 Apollo s pipe, 8 bells, 51, 136, 210-226, 240 cymbals, 299 drum, 246 fife, 299 flute, 211, 299 harp, lyre, 2, 8, 211, 298 lute, 127, 299 sackbut, 299 timbrel, 211, 299 trumpet, 104, 240 vi na, 62 violin, 211 Mystery, 7, 10, 11, 34, 39, 42, 80 89, 235-236, 278 (see God) Mystic lakes, 14, 158, 159 note Mystic river, 123-124, 157-159 227,^228, 252, 253, 305 Mysticism, 9 Napoleon, 44 National honor, 6, 24, 137, 282 f Nature, beauty and bounty of, i 5, 10, 14, 18-19, 21-24, 30, 33 Nature, etc. (continued] 34,41, 55, 66-68, 70, 77, 80- 81, 86, 88, 89, 93-95, 95, 98- 101, 107, 109, 125, 164, 166 167, 169, 171-175, 178-180 184-192, 199, 203, 266, 288 291-294 destructive forces in, 5, 28-31 39-40, 54, 57, 60, 89, 142, 144 secrecy of, 5, 10, 28, 42, 79, 86 193 ; solveless Mother, 288 conquest of, by man, 29, 30-31 36, 37, 40, 41, 42, 50, 54, 54- 55 57 67, 91, 100, 106 confidence in, 80-8 1, 203 Nature at play, 170, 266 Nature, Mother (see mother) Nature s resources, right of all men to (see earth s resources) Nazareth, 262 Nemesis, 141 Neptune, 154 New England, 6, 24, 176 ; poets, 6 New ideal, new philosophy, 126 Night, 11, 94, 97, 168, 206, 264 272, 293, 305-306 Nirvana, 184 No-Man s-Land, 280 " No Trespass," 22 Novelists, 61, 108 November, 182, 297 Nut and fruit diet, 108 Obedience to the highest, 32 Ocean, i, 34, 50, 92, 93, 98, 102 119, 120-122, 153, 156, 157, 158 168, 172, 174, 175, 186, 230, 235 264, 274, 280-281, 286, 295-297 (see ships, sailors, sea, etc.) October, 155, 181, 185, 187, 274 Old age, youthful, 90, no, 140 146, 147, 179, 235, 274 Old year, 265, 284 Omar Khayyam, 169 Opportunity, 93-95, 95, 113, 284 Order in Nature, 10, 98, 180, 199 203 (see Nature) Orpheus, 214 Otherworldliness, 84, 89, 128, 281 324 GENERAL INDEX Ought, the, 56, 61, 288 (see moral ideal) Overcoming, 129, 132, 138, 144 Pacific ocean, 50 Paganism, 7, 1 1 Pain, 5, 7, 31, 32, 40, 46, 59, 80 85, 90, 97, 102, 103, 106, 122 130, 134-135 l6 4 Palestine, 66, 219 Pan, 163-164, 172 Paphos, 172 Paradise, 92, 103, 152, 214, 216 223, 303 (see Eden) Parnassus, 8 Parsees, sun-worship, 62, 168 Parthenon, 220 Past, the, 8, 12, 13, 15, 18, 35, 52 60, 62, 66, 76, 145, 224 debt to the, 52, 54, 65, 289 Path of life (see life) Patience, 25, 137, 212, 223 Patmos, 252 Patriotism, 6, 24, 137, 282-283 Patterson, A. J., 290 Peace, 25, 32-33, 45, 51, 59, 100 (see war) Pearson, Col. D. C., 279 Persia, 45, 62 Peter the great, 44 Petrarch, 207 Pharaoh, 124 Phi Beta Kappa, 3, 25 Philip of Macedon, 64, 299 Philippines, 24, 282-283, 2 $9 Philosophy, 3, 10, n, 21, 26, 225 246 (see wisdom) the New, 126 (see metaphysics) Ph.D., 16 Phoebus Apollo, 168, 234 Physics, 246 Pierian spring, 19 Pilate, 224 Pilgrim, Bunyan s, 161, 188 Pindar, 5 Plato, 171 Poesy, the conditions of high, 6 7-8, 8, 61 (see song) Poetic form, sound vs. sense, 6, 61 Poets and poesy, I, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 28 38, 45, 51, 56, 61, 100, 106, 108 no, 192, 250, 277 (see prophets, seers, song) Poles, earth s, i, 30, 127, 168 Pompey, 44, 141 Posterity, 37, 54, 55, 60, 62-63, 12 & Poverty, 23, 33, 34, 41, 47, 53, 101 H9 135 Powder-house, old, 252-253 Power and place, 6, 18, 102 Praise and blame, 122, 212, 277 Prayer, 29, 32, 47, 59, 70, 90, 96 100, 133, 213, 241, 242 Preaching, 113, 125-126, 241, 271 Pre-existence, 260 Present, the, 8, 12, 13, 52, 60, 68 76,85 Priests, 14, 84, 168, 179, 299 Progress, 8, 13, 18, 20, 23-26, 28 29,31,40,42, 51, 53-55, 58 66,67,71,79, 81, 85, 87, 98- 99, 103, 107, 112, 128, 134 (see good on earth) through defeat, 64, 91 eternal, 70, 85, 107 Prometheus, 7, 8, 61, 142, 229 Prophets, 7, 16, 23, 29, 51, 63, 71 139,263,280-281 (see saviours) Punch and Judy, in Purgatory, 68, 136 Pythagoras, 45 Rain, 98, 117, 168, 171, 253, 287, 297 Rainbow, 30, 72 Raphael, 136 Recreation, 5, 34, 50, 108, 264 (see leisure) Red sea, 123-124 Reform, opposition to, 7, 29 54, 56-57, 76, 143, 282 the noble and the needless, Religion, as a life, 70-71, 88 Free, 74, 86, 87, 88 reason in, 84, 224, 225 Revelation, 31, 67, 71, 73, 79 85,86,87,91,101,226,281, Revere, Paul, 227, 253 158 32 289 GENERAL INDEX 325 Right, the, 6, 8, 9, 14, 24, 25, 33, 35 44, 48, 75, 282, 283 (see wrong) Rivers, 46, 58, 146, 204, 278 (see brooks, streams) Allegheny, 58 Amazon, 158, 256 Charles, 172, 228 Concord, 291-294 Danube, 62, 218, 256 Euphrates, 159, 255 Fox, 271, 278 Gihon, 159, 255 Jordan, 262 Mississippi, 58 Mystic, 123-124, 157-159, 227 228, 252, 253, 305 Niger, 62 Nile, 45^62 Rhine, 218, 238, 256 Shannon, 221 Styx, 204 Volga, 62 Yellowstone, 58 Robbins, Wentworth B., 285-287 Rome, 136, 141, 215, 221 Royce, Prof, josiah, 10 Russia, 44, 283 Sailors, 14, 87, 186, 196, 280-281 297 (see ships, shore, ocean) Saints, 45, 56, 96, 109, no (see prophets, saviours) Sanborn, Frank, 27 Sassamon Notch, 182, 186 Saturnalia, 109 Saviour, man his own (see man) Saviours, 7, 29, 31, 45, 51, 54, 56 60, 63, 74, 83, 86, 87 (see mar tyrs, saints, prophets) Science and scientists, 4, 8, 9, ro n, 21, 25-26, 45, 67, 100, 142 (see philosophy) Sculpture, 9, 45, 130, 141, 208 (see art, music) Sea, 53, 67, 74, 87, 97, 98, 106,110 113,123-124,127,154, 157,158 165, 186, 196, 199, 203, 227, 228 251, 272-273, 286, 290, 295-297 (see ocean, ships, beach, waves) Sea-bathing, 50, 175, 259 Seers, 7, 45, 48, 76, 79, 133, 289 (see poets, prophets) Self, the, 74, 78, 86, 90, 92, 96, 102 103, 136, 139 (see individuality) Self-control, 25, 37, 102, 104, 129 139 (see temptation) Self-forgiveness, 137 Self-sufficiency, 28-29, 74, 90, 96 103, 116, 122, 131 Selfishness, self-seeking, 6, 20-22 25, 34, 41,44,46-47, 53, 56, 60 61, 88, 101, 106, 109, 141, 266 282 (see avarice, greed) Selflessness, self-sacrifice, 7, 8, 45 46, 54, 56, 61, 70-71, 79> 86 > MI Seneca, 45 Seneca Indians, 58 Sense and soul, 104, no, 139 September, 176, 285 Serenity, 31,84, 85,90,97,98, 103 106, 108-110, 119, 122, 126, 127 129, 130, 131, 132, 136, 137, 146 159, 167, 185, 203, 245-248, 261 273 (see cheerfulness ; life, de light in ; mirth i) Shakespeare, 45, 161, 171 (quoted in title, 92) " Shanty, the," 188 Shells, 184 (see beach) Shiloh, 299 Ships, 18, 87, 92, 97, 102, 120-121 173, 186, 228, 240-241, 252, 264 280-281, 295-297,297(866 light houses, sailors, ocean, sea) Shore, 53,87,92,93, 102, no, 119 121, 153, 172, 173, 174, 186, 230 264, 281 (see ocean, harbors) Sicily, 296 Signs and symbols, 73, 74, 84 (see miracle) Simmons, Henry M., 135 Simonides, 6 Simple life (see life, the simple) "Sin," 41, 46, 125, 143, 144, 172 266 Sinai, 29 Sirens, 293 Sisyphus, toil of, 7 326 GENERAL INDEX Sky, i, 22,25,67,71,72,89,91,94 107, 1 1 o, 119, 1 20, 127, 131, 154 156, 170, 173, 179, 186, 196, 203 215, 229, 241, 251, 278, 280, 287 290 (see clouds) Sleep, 1 1-12,88, 107, 174,194,242 Sleet, 49, 132, 165, 287 (see snow) Snow, 10, 136, 160, 182, 185, 186 187, iSS, 189, 192, 264, 304 (see sleet, rain) Social frivolity, 6, 42, 46-47, 50 100-101, 109, 126, 132, 140-141 157, 250, 281 Social reorganization, 20-22, 24 26, 29, 33, 35, 42, 47-50, 53-57 75, 88, 100, 109, 126, 128, 146 266 (see justice ; earth s re sources, right of all men to) Socialism, 20, 21, 50, 53 (see brotherhood) Socialist, the, 21 Socrates, 45 (quoted, So) Solomon, 299, 300 Song, 1,2,6,7-8,12,15,22, 59, 75 90, 106, 108, 113, 127, 130, 133 136, 137, 163, 177, 192, 239, 240 250, 258, 266, 275, 277 (see poets and poesy ; bird-songs) Sophocles, 5 Soul, i, 5, 7, 8, 15, 18, 21, 28, 30 33 34. 45 5 59 68, 69, 70, 71 74, 75, 78-79, 84, 88, 96, 103 105, no, 116, 122, 126, 130, 131 134,156-157,174,179,273 Soul dulled by drudgery, 33-34 47-48, 49-50, 1 26, 1 30-1 3 1 , 1 56 Spain, 254 Speculation, theological, 89 (see metaphysics) Speech, the beginning of, 20 Spencer, Herbert, 10, 45 Spirit, spiritual life, 6, 12, 21, 52 131, 179, 236, 273, 281 (see soul, eternal life) Spiritism, 1 59 note Spring, 2, 10, 68, 115, 160, 169 174, 177, 180, 182, 187, 236, 266 271, 278, 293 (see April, May, June) Springs, fountains, 94-95, 185 Squirrels, 125, 152, 173, 184, 228 Star, the, as a symbol, 26, 76-77 Stars, 13, 19, 20, 23, 36, 38, 42, 56 67, 70, 71, 72, 76,87, 89, 94 95, 104, 107, 112, 133, 154 168, 194, 196-197, 200, 201 206, 251, 262-263, 276, 285 288, 290, 305 (see earth, sun, moon, meteors) A returns, 189 Mars, 201, 293 Orion, 19 Venus, 189, 293 State, the, 5, 20, 114, 282 Stone Age, 59 Storm, 12, 57, 85, 97, 121, 132- 133, 158, 165, 182, 186, 215 254 34 Stradivarius, 211 Streams, 14, 87, 107, 124, 127, 132 136, 146, 236, 285, 298 (see brooks, rivers) Success, 8, 119, 122, 126-127 Summer, 10, 68, 125, 155, 180 187, 215, 227, 272, 278, 287 Sumner, Charles, 228 Sun, 13, 22, 62, 116, 156, 168, 171 *73 X 75 J 77> i?8, 187, 283, 290 Sunshine, i, 12, 70, 75, 97, in 112, 160, 166, 183, 185, 231, 287 Sunrise, 9, 10, 13, 53, 59, 62, 66 97,107, 117, 120, 127, 132, 133 166-167, 168, 170-171, 172, 175 179, 180, 206, 235, 264, 287 (see morning) Sunset, 13, 123, 127, 167, 168, 172 204, 228, 242, 251, 290, 299 (see twilight) Sun-worship, 62, 168 Sunda islands, 295 Superstitions, 9, 28, 74, 145 Switzerland, 264 Sympathy, 8, 24, 42, 244 Syria, 12, 45, 96, 175, 264, 298 Temple, Edward F., 16, 205 Temptation, 37, 142, 144 (see self-control) GENERAL INDEX 327 Tennyson, 7 Texas, 23 Theatre, 109, 178 Theology, speculation, 89 (see metaphysics) Theseus (allusion to), 7 Thought, 4, 1 5, 20, 40, 50, 63, 67 102, 106, 108-109, 174 Thunder, 29, 165, 215 (see light ning) Tieck (quoted), 160 Titan, 104, 186 " Titles," 99 (see fame) Titus, 300 " Together," 20 (see brotherhood) Toil, 24, 88, 106, 1 08, 122, 130 147, 156-157, 161, 172, 174 185 (see work, labor) Trade, 18, 19, 41, 46, 106, 252 Tradition, 9, 12, 15, 74, 85, 224 (see creeds, dogmas) Tragedy, life s, 6, 7 (see life) Traitor, a loyal, 282 Travel, 264 Trees, 13, 19, 40, 49, 115, 149 163-164, 165, 167, 177, 279 293 (see woods) apple, 151 alder, 185 beech, 231 birch, 176, 187, 189, 228, 231 Bodhi-tree, 167 calabash, 255 chestnut, 125, 183 cypress, 119, 129 elder, 160 elm, 151, 154, 160, 167, 169 fir, 1 68 hazel, 182, 228, 231 hemlock, 14, 172, 173, 176, 177 191, 230, 234, 304 larch, 158, 172, 206, 234 mango, 283 maple, 132, 149, 151, 155, 163 169, 174, 185, 231, 236, 255 mountain-ash, 255 oak, 125, 163, 166, 171, 185 215, 228 olive, 298-300 Trees (continued} palm, 119, 138, 143, 192, 281 pine, 14, 68, 80-81, 138, 152 154, 176, 180, 184, 185, 186 190, 192, 199, 284, 304 spruce, 10, 152, 180, 279 sumach, 156, 176, 183, 231 sycamore, 213 willow, 158 witch-hazel, 182 Treetop land, 149, 279 Tropics, 49, 92, 217, 296 Trust, 84, 85, 87, 88, 91, 97, 137 183 (see faith, hope, serenity) Truth, 7, 9, 12, 13, 25, 42, 50, 51 66, 69, 73, 74, 76, 83, 84, 118 127, 223, 290 faithfulness to, 7, 9, 42, 66, 69 84, 91, 92, 117-118, 223, 290 letter vs. spirit of, 12 neglected, vs. lofty lies, 9 search for, 5, 9, 9-13, 14, 15, 29 42, 84, 92, 127, 223 ff, 280- 281, 290 vs. tradition, 15 (see tradition) Tufts College, 3, 14, 17, 120 1 59 note, 205 note, 207, 227- 228, 251, 254, 285 note; Prof. Dolbear, 10 ; The Old -Time Boys, 15 Turkish massacres, 57 Twilight, 10, 19, 25, 56, 140, 185 259 (see sunset) Tyrian dyes, 299 Unity (Chicago), 280-281 Universe, the, good (see good universe) Unselfishness (see selflessness) Vespucci, 14 Vestal virgin, 63 Vesuvius, 201, 220 Victory in defeat, 46, 64, 118- 119, 135, 138-139, 145 (see defeat in victory) Vineyard Haven, Mass., 153 Vineyards, 58, 67, 239, 264 Virgil, 161 328 GENERAL INDEX Virtue, 18, 24, 25, 54, 60, 104 144 (see integrity; see right) Voluptuousness, the rational, 107 (see life, the simple) Vulcan, 1 68 Vulture, 7, 44, 142, 230 Walking, 3, 14, 15, 17, 18, 22-25 278 War, 25, 32-33, 43-46, 46-47, 53 55 57. 61, 75, 99, 139, 141,146 215-21-6, 257, 266, 268, 283, 299 (see peace) War and literature, 5 Washington, George, 253 Waves, 67, 93, 95, 97, 119, 157 158, 174, 178, 184, 196, 264, 280 286, 296 (see ocean, sea, ships, harbors, lighthouses, beach) Way of life (see life) Wealth, riches, luxury, 18, 20, 102 no, 249-250 (see riches, lux ury) niggard, miserly, 101, 137, 177 249-250 (see avarice) of the simple life, 18, 127, 178 245, 261 (see life, the simple) Wedgwood, 108 West, the (United States), i, 169 West Hall, Tufts College, 17 Western Europe, 44, 220 Western logic, n Whip-poor-will, 19, 252 (see birds) Whitman, Walt, 7 Wildcat Notch, 80, 184 Will-lessness, 60, 138, 142-143 232-234 Will-power, 13, 31, 32, 37-38, 41 44, 50, 55, 78, 81,87,91,95,99 129,131,132,133, 135, 137, 138 139, 147, 273 Wind, 18, 57, 67, 119, 165, 174 182, 186, 187, 188, 232, 233, 251 279, 280, 286, 297 (see breeze) Winter, 10, 49, 129, 132, 136, 160 173, 174, 177, 180, 185, 186, 189 278, 304 Wisdom, 8, 25 (4-26), 29, 39, 50 53, 86, 91, 102, 224, 225, 289 (see knowledge) Wise, Isaac M., 27 Wit, no, 116 Woman, 23, 33, 34, 46 (see mothers) Woods, 14, 18, 58, 107, 123, 125 129,155,156,163, 1 66, 171, 175 184, 278, 279, 304 ; in autumn, 155, 181 (see trees) Wordsworth, 7 Work, 33, 106, 108, 130, 140, 150 171, 274-275 (see labor, toil) Work or starve, 33, 88 Work as play, 19, 66, 130-131 World-helpers (see helpers) Worship, 29, 62, 78, 80, 83, 84, 85 88, 105, 125-126, 179, 224 Worth makes the man, 18 Wrong, 6, 25, 47, 50, 51, 54, 58, 60 75, 266, 282 (see right) Yahweh, 28 Year, old (see old year) Youth, 4, 14, 15, 17, 104, 127, 142 145, 146, 147, 158, 175, 179 227-234, 237, 256-257, 268, 284 Youthful old age (see age) Zeal, 32, 93-95, 95, 122, 131, 147 (see earnestness, will, devotion) Zetagathean Society, 207, 223 Zoroaster, 45; fire-worship, 62 1 68 " Zuversicht " (quoted), 160 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE, SEP 261932 l?Jun 54LMS UN 91954LU MOV 934 MAR 17 , 934 FEB 16 MAY 7 1937 16 19*1 M LD l!l-50/H-8 f -32 v/518 Foens of h and- oth r 56761, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY