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diff --git a/old/53404-0.txt b/old/53404-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ed37675..0000000 --- a/old/53404-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2858 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Album Writer's Friend, by J. S. Ogilvie - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Album Writer's Friend - Comprising More Than Three Hundred Choice Selections of - Poetry and Prose, Suitable for Writing in Autograph Albums, - Valentines, Birthday, Christmas and New Year Cards. - -Author: J. S. Ogilvie - -Release Date: October 30, 2016 [EBook #53404] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ALBUM WRITER'S FRIEND *** - - - - -Produced by MFR, ellinora and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - Transcriber Notes - - Obvious typos and punctuation errors corrected. Inconsistencies in - spelling and hyphenation left as in original. - - In the original Table of Contents, the Humorous and Birthday Verses - chapters were listed with the correct page number, but out of order. - They have been put in the correct order. - - The book advertisement at the end uses a right pointing hand character. - If the device font does not support this character, ☞, it may not - appear correctly. - - Use of small capitals at the beginning of verses made consistent. - - Small capitals have been converted to ALL CAPS. - - Italic text is represented by underscores surrounding the _italic - text_. - - Chapter headings in the original have a fancy font and decorative - characters. The decorative touches have been preserved in the text. - - A decorative bar at the end of the Dedication Verses chapter is noted - in the text as [Decorative bar]. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE - ALBUM WRITER’S - FRIEND. - - COMPRISING MORE THAN - - THREE HUNDRED CHOICE SELECTIONS OF - POETRY AND PROSE, - - SUITABLE FOR WRITING IN AUTOGRAPH ALBUMS, VALENTINES, - BIRTHDAY, CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR CARDS. - - ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. - - Our lives are albums, written through - With good or ill, with false or true, - And as the blessed angels turn the pages of our years, - God grant that they may read the good with smiles, - And blot the ill with tears. - - COMPILED BY J. S. OGILVIE. - - - NEW YORK: - J. S. OGILVIE AND COMPANY, - 25 Rose Street. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - COPYRIGHT - 1881. - BY J. S. OGILVIE. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PREFACE. - - -WHO among the readers of this preface has not been invited to write a -few words of sentiment in the Album of a friend? As an aid to the many -thousands who have received this invitation, and have not known what to -write, we offer this collection of choice verse and prose, as an aid to -them and all others, with the hope that our labor shall not have been -spent in vain, nor be altogether unappreciated. Great care has been -taken to procure as many _original pieces_ as possible. Many choice -verses suitable for Birthday, Christmas and New-Year celebrations, have -been added; which, with the collection of articles embracing sentiment, -affection, humor, and miscellany, is offered to a generous public by - - THE COMPILER. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - DEDICATION VERSES, 5 - SENTIMENT AND AFFECTION, 9 - MISCELLANEOUS, 27 - ESTEEM AND CONFIDENCE, 45 - BIRTHDAY VERSES, 49 - HUMOROUS, 53 - CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR, 57 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - >--DEDICATION VERSES--< - - SUITABLE FOR INSCRIPTION ON TITLE PAGES OF ALBUMS. - - - GO forth, thou little volume, - Like Noah’s faithful dove, - And bring to darling ---- - An olive leaf of love. - - * * * * * - - MY Album’s open! Come and see! - What! Won’t you waste a line on me? - Write but a thought, a word or two, - That Memory may revert to you. - - * * * * * - - TO MY FRIENDS:— - - MY Album is a garden spot - Where all my friends may sow, - Where thorns and thistles flourish not, - But flowers alone may grow. - With smiles for sunshine, tears for showers, - I’ll water, watch and guard these flowers. - - * * * * * - - GO forth, thou little volume, - I leave thee to thy fate; - To love and friendship truly - Thy leaves I dedicate. - - * * * * * - - GO, Album! range the gay parterre; - From gem to gem, from flower to flower, - Select with taste and cull with care, - And bring your offering, fresh and rare, - To this sweet maiden’s bower! - - * * * * * - - WHEN years elapse, - It may, perhaps, - Delight us to review these scraps, - And live again ’mid scenes so gay, - That Time’s rough hand has swept away; - For when the eye, bedimmed with age, - Shall rest upon each treasured page, - Those pleasant hours - That once were ours - Shall come again, like Autumn flowers, - To bloom and smile upon us here - When all things else seem sad and drear; - ’Twill tune our hearts and make them sing, - And turn our Autumn into Spring! - - * * * * * - - GO, little book, thy destined course pursue, - Collect memorials of the just and true, - And beg of every friend so near - Some token of remembrance dear. - - * * * * * - - AS life flows on from day to day, - And this, your book, soon fills, - How many may be far away - From treasured vales and hills? - - But there is joy in future time - To turn the pages o’er, - And see within a name or rhyme - From one you’ll see no more. - - * * * * * - - LIFE is a volume, - From youth to old age, - Each year forms a chapter, - Each day is a page. - May none be more charming, - More womanly (manly) true, - Than that, pure and noble, - Sketched yearly by you. - - * * * * * - - MANY kind wishes will be written here, - And none more sincere than mine. - But---- - Words are lighter than the cloud-foam - Of the restless ocean’s spray; - Vainer than the trembling shadow - That the next hour steals away. - By the fall of summer raindrops - Is the air as deeply stirred, - And the roseleaf that we tread on - Will outlive a word. - - * * * * * - - WE may write our names in Albums; - We may trace them in the sand; - We may chisel them in marble, - With a firm and skillful hand; - But the pages soon are sullied, - Soon each name will fade away; - Every monument will crumble, - Like all earthy hopes, decay. - But, dear friend, there is an Album, - Full of leaves of snowy white, - Where no name is ever tarnished, - But forever pure and bright. - In that Book of Life, God’s Album, - May your name be penned with care - And may all who here may write, - Have their names forever there. - - [Decorative Bar] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - SENTIMENT and AFFECTION. - - - PEACE be around thee, wherever thou rovest; - May life be for thee one summer’s day; - And all that thou wish, and all that thou lovest, - Come smiling around thy summer way. - If sorrow e’er this calm should break, - May even thy tears pass off so lightly, - Like spring showers, they will only make - The smiles that follow shine more brightly. - - * * * * * - -MAY the chain of friendship formed by the links which are dropped here, -serve to unite you more closely in spirit with the friends who have -worked it. - -May each link be brought to a white heat in the fires of Love; and, -forged on the anvils of Truth, may they be strong as iron, yet light as -air: keeping you bravely to the duties of Life. And when the chain of -human bondage shall be broken, may they become flowers of eternal -brightness in the gardens from whence cometh exceeding peace. - - * * * * * - - OUR lives are albums, written through - With good or ill—with false or true— - And, as the blessed angels turn - The pages of our years, - God grant they read the good with smiles, - And blot the bad with tears. - - * * * * * - -THE gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without -adversity. - - * * * * * - -TIME advances like the slowest tide, but retreats like the swiftest -current. - - * * * * * - - WHAT’S the use of always fretting - At the trials we shall find - Ever strewn along our pathway— - Travel on, and never mind. - - * * * * * - - LIFE giveth unto each his space, - A span of earth, an arch of sky, - And unto each a several grace— - To each a separate destiny. - And some were born to win and spend, - And some to love unto the end. - - * * * * * - - THERE is another album - Filled with leaves of spotless white, - Where no name is ever tarnished, - But forever pure and bright. - In the Book of Life—God’s album— - May your name be penned with care, - And may all who here have written, - Write their names forever there. - - * * * * * - -DAILY we write our autographs on the minds and hearts of those around -us. - - * * * * * - -“POOR is the friendless master of a world. A world in purchase for a -friend, is gain.” - - * * * * * - - SO slight a favor ’tis you crave, - That I can scarce refuse compliance; - Nor shall I use the page you gave, - To set your champions at defiance. - - Dear lady, vainly awed, I praise - That dimpled hand I pressed at parting; - Or those dark eyes, beneath whose gaze - A cupid lurks equipped for darting. - - Nor can I hope to lightly touch - On charms so oft the theme of lovers; - To add another, while so much - That beautiful about thee hovers. - - I can but add one little pearl - To all the gems about thee scattered; - And say again, sweet, artless girl, - That all thy poets have not flattered. - - * * * * * - - I HAVE tried for a week, and vainly I seek - Words of wisdom to write to you here; - So, wishing you life free from sorrow and strife, - Nor wanting in friends and good cheer, - With health—perhaps wealth— - Love better than self, - And Truth, far the best, to the end; - Since content it maintains - While existence remains, - I subscribe myself, Truly, your friend. - - * * * * * - - STRENGTH for to-day, in house and home, - To practice forbearance sweetly; - To scatter kind words and loving deeds, - Still trusting in God completely. - - * * * * * - -A VOLUME of this kind, it is supposable, will be more or less frequently -referred to, in future years, to revive fading recollections and recall -pleasant associations; and, therefore, though it is so easy to moralize, -it seems eminently fitting that helpful suggestions should accompany -familiar autographs. - -Let me say, then, that while in your youth a favorable combination of -circumstances permits so much of happiness, the conditions of its -enjoyment cannot always remain as now. - -As the responsibilities, at present borne for you, shall come to rest on -your own shoulders, and the darker shades of life’s history are -unfolded, you will find the peace, which floweth like a river, only in -the degree in which you resolutely perform every known duty; and, -forgetting your own wants—whether fancied or real—devote your thoughts, -as well as your energies, to making the society in which you move, -happier for your being. - -That you may indulge in no selfish ease; but bestow, as well as enjoy, a -full share of the pleasures of time, and afterward receive a crown of -glory, is the earnest wish of your friend— - - * * * * * - - I WOULD that I could express my mind - To you, dear friend, in scribbling some rhyme; - But you know my failing as well as I, - And you’d better get another to try. - - * * * * * - -THAT one who can work right on, quietly waiting for recognition, if it -come: if not, yet right on, is the true nobleman. - - * * * * * - - DOST thou know, love, that thy smile - Makes the whole world bright for me? - Just as sunrise pours a sudden - Purple glory on the sea. - Ah! had I that power, ever - Should the world look bright to thee. - - * * * * * - - I KNOW not what to write about, - So many themes are pressing; - All good enough in very truth, - But quite unprepossessing: - Each moment of thy future life, - Live holy, whether maid or wife. - - And let it be thy constant care, - Midst earthly joy and sorrow, - By watchfulness and fervent prayer, - Each this day and to-morrow, - To be prepared when Christ shall come, - His heaven to make thy final home. - - * * * * * - - OH, those eyes! so calm, serene— - Sweetest eyes were ever seen. - Will the woes of coming years - Ever shadow them with tears? - Shall my life the sunshine own, - That last night upon me shone, - When, beneath the summer skies, - Beamed on me those brown, brown eyes? - - * * * * * - -THESE little souvenirs possess not their greatest value when first -written; but as time, with scythe in hand, passes along, and we are left -standing, we are not the same, but these lines remain. Some, to cheer -the saddened by awakening slumbering memories of better things; and -others serving as guide-boards on the road to eternity. - - * * * * * - - AND thou, too, whosoe’er thou art, - That readest this brief psalm, - As one by one thy hopes depart, - Be resolute and calm. - - O fear not in a world like this, - And thou shalt know e’re long— - Know how sublime a thing it is - To suffer and be strong. - - * * * * * - - PRESS on! our life is not a dream - Though often such its mazes seem. - We were not born to live at ease— - Ourselves alone to aid and please - To each a daily task is given; - A labor that shall fit for heaven, - When duty calls, let love grow warm, - Amid the sunshine or the storm; - With faith, life’s trials boldly breast - Then come a conqueror to thy rest. - - * * * * * - -AS you travel through life, scatter kind words and gentle deeds; in so -doing, you will enrich your soul. Withhold them, and it tends to -poverty. - - * * * * * - -MAY your life be like the day—more beautiful in the evening; like the -summer—aglow with promise; and, like the autumn, rich with the golden -sheaves, where good works and deeds have ripened on the field. - - * * * * * - - LET the road be rough and dreary, - And its end far out of sight; - Foot it bravely—strong or weary;— - Trust in God, and do the right. - - * * * * * - - LIFE is but a day, at best, - Sprung from night, in darkness lost; - Hope not sunshine every hour; - Fear not—clouds will always lower. - - * * * * * - - ALL the paths of faith, tho’ severed wide, - O’er which the feet of prayerful reverence pass - Meet at the gate of Paradise at last. - - * * * * * - - IF I wake, or if I sleep, - Still the memory I keep - Of the tender light that lies - In the depths of those brown eyes. - - * * * * * - - BE blessings scattered o’er thy way, - My gladsome, joyous, laughing sprite; - Be thy whole life one summer’s day - Without the night. - - * * * * * - - ON this leaf, in memory prest, - May my name forever rest. - - * * * * * - - ON this page I’ll write, simply to indite - My name as your friend. - - * * * * * - - MAY thy life happy be, - Is my dear wish for thee. - - * * * * * - - IT never pays to fret and growl - When fortune seems our foe, - The better bred will push ahead - And strike the braver blow; - For luck is work, - And those who shirk - Should not lament their doom, - But yield the play, - And clear the way, - That better men have room. - - * * * * * - - DESIRE not to live long, but well; - How long we live, not years, but actions, tell. - - * * * * * - - MEANNESS shun, and all its train; - Goodness seek, and life is gain. - - * * * * * - - A BEAUTIFUL life ends not in death. - - * * * * * - - ROUND went the autograph; hither it came, - For me to write in; so here’s my name. - - * * * * * - - PASSING through life’s field of action, - Lest we part before its end, - Take within your modest volume, - This memento from a friend. - - * * * * * - - WE meet and part—the world is wide; - We journey onward side by side - A little while, and then again - Our paths diverge. A little pain— - A silent yearning of the heart - For what has grown of life a part; - A shadow passing o’er the sun, - Then gone, and light again has come. - We meet and part, and then forget; - And life holds blessings for us yet. - - * * * * * - - WHEN things don’t go to suit you, - And the world seems upside down, - Don’t waste your time in fretting, - But drive away the frown. - - * * * * * - - Old friends and true friends! - Don’t talk to me of new friends; - The old are the best, - Who stand the test, - Who book their name as _through_ friends. - - * * * * * - -MAY your coffee and slanders against you be ever the same—without -grounds. - - * * * * * - - THE world is full of fools. - And he who would none view, - Must shut himself in a cave, - And break his mirror, too. - - * * * * * - - METHINKS long years have flown, - And, sitting in her old arm-chair, - ---- has older grown. - With silver sprinkled in her hair, - Her album thus she holds, - And turns its many pages o’er, - And wonders if it still contains - The memories of yore. - As o’er these pages thus she runs, - With many a sigh and kiss, - Then suddenly she stops and says, - “Who could have written this?” - - * * * * * - - IT never pays to wreck the health - In drudging after gain; - And he is sold who thinks that gold - The cheapest bought with pain. - An humble lot, - A cosey cot, - Have tempted even kings; - For station high, - That wealth will buy, - Not oft contentment brings. - - * * * * * - - REMEMBER me, is all I ask - And, if remembrance be a task, - Forget me. - - * * * * * - - ----, life is all before you, - Stretched out in its misty sheen - And the future, though now hidden - Holds much joy for thee, I ween. - Why, then, seek to know what’s coming? - It is forming day by day - But your heart, in blind out-reaching, - Makes to-morrow of to-day. - - “Life is real—life is earnest;” - And the heroine in the strife - Is the one who leaves the future— - Living but the present life;— - Lives it truly, nobly, grandly; - Thus prepares for coming fate; - Strives to make her living perfect;— - Learns to labor and to wait. - - * * * * * - - THE violet is for faithfulness, - Which in me shall abide: - Hoping, likewise, from your heart - You will not let it slide. - - * * * * * - - THIS is thine album. May it be - A source of happiness to thee. - And may each page that’s written o’er, - Be better than the one before. - - * * * * * - - ’TIS a terrible fate, my dear miss, - To be asked to write in a book like this; - For, scratch my head as hard as I may— - I’ve such a skull— - - And if I try to moralize, - Or vent my thoughts in sentiment, - Or attempt to laud you to the skies, - Or spread myself on compliment, - I’m so awful dull, - - That my efforts would prove futility; - For the sex of your kind, are of that turn of mind, - That morals, verse and flattery, - Have to you been so oft defined, - You are full. - - If rhyming I try, adorable Miss, - The first I think of, is dear little Kiss, - Or some such nonsense as connubial bliss, - Or changing your title “Mrs.” from “Miss;” - But that’s prosaical. - - To give you advice, I’d never presume;— - Incompetence may be the reason for that;— - To wish you long life and a blest happy home - Is aged and stale, exhausted and flat, - And excruciatingly formal. - - Now, what to do I do not know, - Or how to make my paragraph; - So I’ll doff my hat, and make my bow - And send this as my autograph. - - * * * * * - -MAY there be just clouds enough o’er your life to cause a glorious -sunset. - - * * * * * - - THAT every kindly wish and thought, - By friends expressed within these pages, - Be yours, and trials common to us all - May cross your path by “easy stages.” - - * * * * * - - REMEMBER me when far away, - And only half awake; - Remember me on your wedding-day, - And send a slice of cake. - - * * * * * - - WHEN worth and beauty prompt the line, - Perhaps a pen as poor as mine - May be forgiven - To try and write of things divine, - And think of heaven! - But pause, rash verse! and don’t abuse - A bashful maiden’s ear with news - Of her own beauty! - And yet no other theme I’ll choose, - Or think a duty! - So, then, for fear I might offend, - I’ll say, _God bless her!_—and thus end. - - * * * * * - - THE earth can boast no purer tie, - No brighter, richer gem, - No jewel of a lovelier dye, - Than Friendship’s diadem. - - Then may this ray of light divine - Ne’er from our bosoms fade; - But may it on our pathway shine, - Till death our hearts invade. - - * * * * * - - ---- is your name, - Single is your station; - Happy be the little man - That makes the alteration. - - * * * * * - - OH! love is such a strange affair; - So strange to all. - It cometh from above - And lighteth like a dove - On some. - But some it never hits - Unless it gives them fits. - Oh, hum. - - * * * * * - - THY cheerful, gentle ways, I do admire: - Thy future, to be happy, I greatly desire; - Thy trusting confidence, may I require; - Thy firm friend to be, will I aspire. - - * * * * * - - AS a slight token of esteem, - Accept these lines from me; - So plain and simple, they do seem - Unworthy such as thee. - But soon these traced lines will fade - And disappear—’tis their doom. - May you, unlike them, be arrayed - In a perpetual bloom. - - * * * * * - - IN memory’s wreath may one bud be entwined for me. - - * * * * * - -WE are all placed here to do something. It is for _us_, and not for -_others_, to find out what that something is, and then, with all the -energy of which we are capable, honestly and prayerfully to be about our -business. - - * * * * * - - OH! think of me some day - When I am far away; - I’ll pray thy days be long - And joyous as the song - Of sweet birds singing near, - Thy heart with love to cheer. - - * * * * * - - MAY joy thy spirit fill, - All care and sorrow cease; - Remember ’tis His will - Who hath spoken, “Peace!” - - * * * * * - - IN fair and sunny beauty, or gray ’neath evening skies, - The purple hills from misty vales, upward to heaven rise: - Their rugged side we scarce can see o’er-decked with fern and heather, - That rings its scented violet bells through fair and stormy weather; - So may thy life be clothed with flowers, and breathe a purer air, - Fresh from the “everlasting hills,” knowing no grief or care,— - And if the sunny sky must pale, as pales the setting sun, - May it only show the stars are near, peeping out, one by one! - - * * * * * - - THESE few lines to you are tendered, - By a friend sincere and true; - Hoping but to be remembered - When I’m far away from you. - - * * * * * - - WORK, while yet the daylight shines, - With a loving heart and true, - For golden years are fleeting by, - And we are passing, too. - - Wait not for to-morrow’s sun - To beam upon thy way, - For all that thou can’st call thine own, - Is in this _one to-day_. - - Then learn to make the most of life— - Make glad each passing day— - For time will never bring thee back - The chances swept away. - - Leave no tender word unsaid— - Do good while life shall last;— - You know the mill can never grind - With the _water that is past_. - - Let not the hours we’ve spent together, - Go past as nothing, by; - Forget me not, e’en though you must - Remember with a sigh. - - * * * * * - - THANKSGIVING-DAY again is here, - And turkey is the leading question; - I wish, with heartiness sincere, - That you may have a good digestion. - - * * * * * - - THOUGH many flowers have faded from my life, - And clouds obscure the brightness of its sky; - This have I learned: we can do much to make - Our lives a blessing and our words a power, - If what we find to do, for Christ’s dear sake, - We do with faithfulness, from hour to hour. - - * * * * * - - IT may occur in after life - That you, I trust, a happy wife, - Will former happy hours retrace, - Recall each well-remembered face. - At such a moment I but ask— - I hope ’twill be a pleasant task— - That you’ll remember as a friend - One who’ll prove true e’en to the end. - - * * * * * - - I SAW two clouds at morning, - Tinged by the morning sun, - And in the dawn they floated on - And mingled into one; - I thought that morning cloud was blest, - It moved so sweetly to the west. - Such be your gentle motion, - Till life’s last pulse shall beat, - And you float on in joy to meet - A calmer sea, where storms shall cease— - A purer sky, where all is peace. - - * * * * * - - WHEN on this page you chance to look, - Just think of me and close the book. - - * * * * * - - BE a good girl, and you will be a true woman. - - * * * * * - -MAY thy darkest hours in life be well lighted with the sunshine of -contentment. - - * * * * * - - YOURS sincerely—although merely— - - * * * * * - - WHEN the golden sun is setting, - And your heart from care is free, - When o’er a thousand things you’re thinking, - Will you sometimes think of me? - - * * * * * - - HOW long we live, not years, but actions tell; - That man lives twice who lives the first life well. - Make then, while yet ye may, your God your friend. - Whom Christians worship, yet not comprehend. - The trust that’s given, guard; and to yourself be just; - For, live we how we can, yet die we must. - - * * * * * - - LIVE well; how long or short, permit to Heaven; - They who forgive most, shall be most forgiven. - - * * * * * - - SOAR not too high to fall, but stoop to rise; - We masters grow of all that we despise. - - * * * * * - - YOUR fate is but the common fate of all; - Unmingled joys here to no man befall. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - >--*MISCELLANEOUS.*--< - - - MAY e’en thy failings lean to virtue’s side. - - * * * * * - - HOURS are golden links—God’s token— - Reaching heaven, but one by one; - Take them, lest the chain be broken - Ere thy pilgrimage be done. - - * * * * * - - HOUSE beautiful—your book, from end to end, - And every page a room to lodge a friend; - Fain would I enter with a seemly grace, - Attired and mannered as befits the place; - But best endeavor falls below the aim - And rests at last, content to leave a name. - - * * * * * - - THE brave man is not he who feels no fear, - For that were stupid and irrational; - But, he whose noble soul its fear subdues. - And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from. - - * * * * * - - FLING wide the portals of your heart! - Make it a temple set apart - From earthly use, for Heaven’s employ— - Adorned with prayer and love and joy; - So shall your Sovereign enter in - And new and noble life begin. - - * * * * * - -WE could count time by heart-throbs; he most lives who thinks most, -speaks the noblest, acts the best. - - * * * * * - - WE ourselves shape the joys and fears - Of which the life to come is made, - And fill our future atmosphere - With sunshine or with shade. - - * * * * * - - WHEN the name that I write here is dim on the page, - And the leaves of your album are yellow with age, - Still think of me kindly, and do not forget - That, wherever I am, I remember you yet. - - * * * * * - - THE massive gates of circumstance - Are turned upon the slightest hinge, - And thus some seeming pettiest chance, - Oft gives to life its after tinge. - - * * * * * - - OH, for a home in Zululand, or Arctic regions cold, - A peasant’s cot or hermit’s hut, midst solitude untold, - With Kaffirs or with Hottentots, in Egypt or Leone— - ’Twere bliss to live in _any_ spot where albums are unknown. - - * * * * * - - IN times of prosperity our friends are many, - But the time of adversity tries and proves them. - - * * * * * - - GEMS of price are deeply hidden, - ’Neath the rugged rocks concealed; - What would ne’er come forth unbidden, - To thy search may be revealed. - - * * * * * - - WHILE the fading flowers of pleasure, - Spring spontaneous from the soil, - Thou wilt find the harvest’s treasure - Yields alone to patient toil. - - * * * * * - - IF recollections of friends brighten moments or sadness, - What a fund of delight is here treasured for thee! - If advice and kind wishes bring goodness and gladness, - How perfect and happy thy future must be. - - * * * * * - - THE tissues of the Life to be— - We weave with colors all our own, - And in the field of Destiny, - We reap as we have sown. - - * * * * * - -THERE is seldom a line of glory written upon earth’s face, but a line of -suffering runs parallel with it; and they that read the lustrous -syllables of the one, and stoop not to decipher the spotted and worn -inscription of the other, get the least half of the lesson that earth -has to give. - - * * * * * - - LEAF green on ground of white, - My name, I fain would write - That you remember still - In June or in December chill, - We two are friends. - - * * * * * - - OH, wayward mortal who these books invented, - Why was’t thou not by some kind hand prevented? - And thereby kept from many a luckless swain, - The direful knowledge that he lacked a brain— - Lacked it, at least, where poetry was needed, - Like the poor wight who here has not succeeded. - - * * * * * - - THROUGH days of doubt and darkness, - In fear and trembling breath, - Through mists of sin and sorrow, - In tears and grief and death; - - Through days of light and gladness, - Through days of love and life, - Through smiles and joy and sunshine, - Through days with beauty rife; - - The Lord of life and glory, - The King of earth and sea, - The Lord who guarded Israel; - Keep watch, sweet friend, o’er thee. - - * * * * * - - TRUTH—Freedom—Virtue—these have power; - If rightly cherished, to uphold, sustain, - And bless thy spirit, in its darkest hour. - - * * * * * - - THY own trim, modest form, - Is always neatly clad, - Thou surely will make the tidiest wife - That ever husband had. - - * * * * * - - AMONG the many friends who claim - A kind remembrance in thy heart, - I too, would add my simple name, - Among the rest. - - * * * * * - - MAY God’s mercy ever guide thee, - Safe o’er all thy thorny road; - And His grace what’er betide thee, - Lead thee home to His abode. - - * * * * * - - THE large are not the sweetest flowers; - The long are not the happiest hours; - Much talk doth not much friendship tell; - Few words are best—I wish you well. - - * * * * * - -LET your life be like a snowflake, which leaves a mark, but not a stain. - - * * * * * - - BEGIRT with roses of the royal June, - A resurrected day swings highest morn - In every year; and so through life I pray - Nay never failing changes, bring their day, - And flames of love in swinging censers rise - While all thy thoughts leads on toward the skies. - - * * * * * - - SMALL service is true service while it last; - Of friends, however humble, scorn not one: - The daisy, by the shadow that it cast, - Protects the lingering dew-drop from the sun. - - * * * * * - -MAKE good use of time, if thou lovest eternity; yesterday cannot be -recalled—to-morrow cannot be secured—to-day only is thine, which, if -once lost, is lost forever. - - * * * * * - -IN time we transact business for eternity; whatever, therefore, we do -now, should be done well. - - * * * * * - - MAY each thought be pure, and sincere, - Addressed upon these spotless pages; - Reflections fond, they’ll always prove, - Youthful friend, through many ages. - - * * * * * - -THEY who have light in themselves, will not revolve as satellites. - - * * * * * - - THROUGH time we’ll change, and then, - This little book will somewhat bind us; - You’ll take it up, and think of me - And all the joys we’ve left behind us. - - * * * * * - -AS the shadow of the sun is largest when his beams are lowest, so we are -always least when we make ourselves the greatest. - - * * * * * - - ACROSS the page of spotless white - Friends trail the pen, and in our sight - Grow precious all the lines they write. - - As for some white-sailed ship at sea, - So, little book, my watch for thee; - Return with freight of love to me. - - * * * * * - -EVERY hour comes to us charged with duty, and the moment it is past, -returns to Heaven to register itself how spent. - - * * * * * - - THERE’S a Divinity that shapes our ends, - Rough-hew them how we will. - - * * * * * - - OUR eyes see all around in gloom or glow, - Hues of their own, fresh borrowed from the heart. - - * * * * * - -WRITE your name by kindness, love and mercy upon the hearts of those you -come in contact with, and you will never be forgotten. - - * * * * * - - LET Fate do her worst; there are relics of joy, - Bright dreams of the past, she cannot destroy; - They come in the night-time of sorrow and care, - And bring back the features that joy used to wear. - Like the vase, in which roses have once been distilled, - You may break—you may shatter the vase, if you will; - But the scent of the roses will hang round it still. - - * * * * * - -IF you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, -experience your wise counsel, caution your elder brother, and hope your -guardian genius. - - * * * * * - - COUNT that day lost whose low descending sun - Views from thy hand no worthy action done. - - * * * * * - - ’TIS but a trifle that you ask, - But this you will admit, - That trifles, more than greater tasks, - Will sometimes strain our wit. - I wish thee health, and wealth, and joy, - As others have before: - And were I in poetic mood, - I’d surely wish thee more. - - * * * * * - -OUR greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every -time we fall. - - * * * * * - - HERE’S a sigh for those who love me, - And a smile for those who hate, - And whatever sky’s above me, - Here’s a heart for every fate. - - * * * * * - - IN all thy humors, whether grave or mellow, - Thou art such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow; - Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen, about thee, - There is no living with thee, nor without thee. - - * * * * * - - MAY you live in bliss, from sorrow away, - Having plenty laid up for a rainy day; - And when you are ready to settle in life, - May you find a good husband and make a good wife. - - * * * * * - - I WRITE here a name which I hope shall be known - To all of the ages which follow my own. - ‘How conceited!’ you say; but my lines shall remain; - ’Tis my hope, you’ll discover, not I, that is vain. - - * * * * * - - OUR lives are albums; each new day’s a page - As spotless as the leaf on which I write. - Whene’er those books of ours shall be read, - May few unwise inscriptions meet the sight. - - * * * * * - - ON the broad highway of action - Friends of worth are far and few; - But when one has proved her friendship, - Cling to her who clings to you. - - * * * * * - - WERE mine the power I’d twine for thee - A crown of jewels rare; - Each gem should be a kingdom, - Each pearl an humble prayer. - - * * * * * - - THERE are few friends in this wide world - That love is fond and true; - But ---- when you count them o’er - Place me among the few. - - * * * * * - - THERE is a small and simple flower - That twines around the humblest cot, - And in the sad and lonely hours - It whispers low: “Forget me not.” - - * * * * * - - WHEN asked in an album to write, - I feel quite inclined to refuse; - For what should I dare to indite - That would a young lady amuse? - Not wit, for I have none of that, - Nor romance—my fancy is tame; - And compliments sound so flat, - I’m forced to write merely my name. - - * * * * * - - MAY you always be happy, - And live at your ease; - Get a kind husband, - And do as you please. - - * * * * * - - TRUE friends, like ivy and the wall, - Both stand together or together fall. - - * * * * * - - BEAUTY is but a vain, a fleeting good, - A shining gloss that fadeth suddenly, - A flower that dies when almost in the bud, - A bright glass that breaketh suddenly; - A fleeting good, a glass, a gloss, a flower, - Lost, faded, broken, dead within the hour. - - * * * * * - - MAY happiness ever be thy lot, - Wherever thou shalt be; - And joy and pleasure light the spot - That may be home to thee. - - * * * * * - - HOW sweet to have a faithful friend, - In whom we can confide: - To bless us if we act aright, - And if we err to chide. - - * * * * * - -HOPE the best, get ready for the worst, and take what God sends. - - * * * * * - -BE content with the lot God has marked out for you. Love, honor and obey -Him in all things, and your last days will be peaceful and happy. - - * * * * * - -MAY the morn of thy life be bright and joyous, the noontide peaceful and -happy, and the sunset gloriously hopeful, is the wish of your friend. - - * * * * * - -LIFE, Death and Immortality—these three—the first, the Road—the second, -the Gate. May you walk safely the first, pass triumphantly the second, -and rest forever in the third. - - * * * * * - - MAY the Angels twine for thee - A wreath of immortality. - - * * * * * - - YES, ----, I will write my name - In here, as you request; - And, if to you its all the same, - I’ll add a line—though rather tame— - For Critics eyes, as my bequest. - - My wishes and my hopes for you, - Find glad expression here; - Although, indeed, it’s very true, - There is no room for all that’s due - To one we hold so dear. - - Good health—first wish of all— - Of all God’s gifts the best; - A happy heart, that loves to call - On Him who notes the sparrow’s fall - And promises sweet rest. - - Although beset by worldly care, - Fix all your hopes on Heaven, - And view by faith the glories fair, - Which, in that world beyond the air, - To faithful ones are given. - - * * * * * - - ALTHOUGH I am advised not to write fast, - I hope the thought I would express may last. - - * * * * * - - YOU ask for your Album a rhyme; - With pleasure I hear and obey; - Refusal were folly or crime— - For who could to ---- say “nay?” - - * * * * * - - MAY Heaven on you its choicest blessings shower— - Is the sincere wish of your friend. - - * * * * * - - BE kind to all; be intimate with few; - And may the few be well chosen. - - * * * * * - -EVILS in the journey of life are like the hills which alarm travelers -upon their road; they both appear great in the distance, but when we -approach them, we find them far less insurmountable than we had -conceived. - - * * * * * - - MISS ----! O Miss ----! - What can I write that’s new - Among so very many - Pretty compliments to you? - In poetry, I fear I’d fail— - I’m very sure I’d stammer— - You cannot drive the ponderous nail - With a small ten-cent tack hammer. - Since, then, so high I cannot soar, - Nor chirp notes like the lark, - Please cancel what I’ve said before, - I’ll simply make my mark. - - * * * * * - -IT has been beautifully said: The water that flows from a spring does -not congeal in winter; and those sentiments which flow from the heart -cannot be chilled by adversity. - - * * * * * - - ROSES, without thorns, for thee. - - * * * * * - - I’LL just write a few words here; so that when - You turn these and life’s pages o’er again, - Your memory back to the time will go, - When you and I were “O” and “Jo.”[1] - - How we worked together in ’79, - Wafting lightning over the W. U. Line - To W. M.—called “our quod,” you know— - When you and I were “O” and “Jo.” - - How Lu talked by the hour to us, - (And we stood it like martyr’s making no fuss), - How we used to get “snatched”—we hated that so— - When you and I signed “O” and “Jo.” - - I’LL not wish you all sunshine; for life is made - Up of installments of sunlight and shade. - May you never be worse off through life, as you go, - Than when on W. M. wire we signed “O” and “Jo.” - -Footnote 1: - - Initials used by telegraph operators. - - * * * * * - - MAY the hinges of our Friendship never rust. - - * * * * * - - MAY your days in joy be passed - With friends to bless and cheer, - And each year exceed the last - In all that earth holds dear. - - * * * * * - - THERE’S many a trouble - Would break like a bubble, - And into the waters of Lethe depart, - Did not we rehearse it - And tenderly nurse it, - And give it a permanent place in the heart. - Resolve to be merry, - All worry to ferry, - Across the famed waters that bid us forget. - And no longer fearful, - But happy and cheerful, - We feel life has much that’s worth living for yet. - - * * * * * - -MAY we always remain as good friends as we are neighbors. - - * * * * * - - THE night has a thousand eyes;— - The day but one; - Yet the light of the whole world dies - With the setting sun. - - The mind has a thousand eyes— - The day but one; - Yet the light of the whole world dies - When love is done. - - * * * * * - -ON this spotless page my pen essays to trace a record of affection; and, -as I write, a wish is in my heart that, for thee, every life-leaf will -be written with the golden pen of love. - - * * * * * - - THOUGH many friends have signed their names, - And some have left their mark, - I see a place for me remains - To add my small remark. - My wish for thee is: joy through life; - And bliss supreme, when some one’s wife. - - * * * * * - - I PRAY the prayer of Plato old: - God make thee beautiful within; - And let thine eye the good behold - In everything, save sin. - - * * * * * - - A FEW true friends to aid us and love us, - And cordial hands to warmly clasp our own; - O! surely God hath never made us - To live distrustingly, selfish, and alone. - - * * * * * - - A VERSE you ask this fine day: - Of course I’ll write you one. - The task of writing finds its pay - In joy that it is done. - - * * * * * - - WHY ask a name; - Small is the good it brings; - Names are but breath— - Deeds—deeds alone—are things. - - * * * * * - - WHEN years and months have glided by, - And on this page you cast your eye, - Remember ’twas a friend sincere - That left this kind remembrance here. - With best wishes for your future cheer. - - * * * * * - - DEAR ----, may your life be blest - With friendship, love and happiness; - May all your friends prove true, - And cheer you all the journey through. - - * * * * * - - MAY Future, with her kindest smile, - Wreath laurels for thy brow; - May loving angels guard and keep thee - Ever pure as thou art now. - - * * * * * - - IF writing in Albums remembrance insures, - With the greatest of pleasure I’ll scribble in yours. - - * * * * * - - IN after years when you recall - The days of pleasures past, - And think of joyous hours and all - Have flown away so fast, - When some forgotten air you hear - Brings back past scenes to thee, - And gently claims your listening ear - Keep one kind thought for me. - - * * * * * - - THE truest happiness is found in making others happy. - - * * * * * - - ACCEPT my friend these lines from me, - They show that I remember thee, - And hope some thought they will retain - Till you and I shall meet again. - - * * * * * - - FOR thee, my fair and gentle friend, - I ask not wealth or fame, - I only ask thy path may be - Free from life’s toil and care. - - * * * * * - - AMONG the many friends that claim - A kind remembrance in thy breast, - I too would add my simple name. - Among the rest. - - * * * * * - - NEVER grow weary doing good. - - * * * * * - - I WANT a warm and faithful friend, - To cheer the adverse hour; - Who ne’er to flatter will descend, - Nor bend the knee to power; - A friend to chide me when I’m wrong; - My inmost soul to see; - And that my friendship prove as strong - For him as his for me. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - >*ESTEEM and CONFIDENCE.*< - - - SOME little token of regard, - You wish from me to claim; - But as time is pressing hard, - I will but write my name. - - * * * * * - - EVERY joy that heaven can send; - Wealth, and every kind of treasure;— - Health and love to thee, my friend, - And happiness without measure. - - * * * * * - - IN future years, should trusted friends - Depart like summer birds; - And all the comfort memory lends, - Is false and honeyed words, - Turn then to me who fain would prove, - However thy lot be cast, - That naught his heart can ever move - From friendship of the past. - - * * * * * - - MAY your path be strewn with roses, - Fair and flowery to the end; - And when your body in death reposes, - May your Maker be your friend. - - * * * * * - - WELL, ----, I surely would like to please; - But can’t think what to say. - All your friends have wishes bright, - To cheer your life so gay. - - I will add: May all their words - Be symbols of love and truth; - That when you grow weary, and seek for rest, - You will rejoice in the friends of your youth. - - * * * * * - - TO write in your Album, dear friend you ask; - Ah, well! it is not such a difficult task. - All I can say is contained here in one line: - May the blessings of Heaven forever be thine. - - * * * * * - - LET not our friendship be like the rose, to sever; - But, like the evergreen, may it last forever. - - * * * * * - -HE who does good to another, does also good to himself—not only in the -act, but in the consciousness of well-doing is his reward. - - * * * * * - -IN the evening of life, cherish the remembrance of one who loved thee in -its morning. - - * * * * * - - SPEAK of me kindly when life’s dreams are o’er; - Speak of me gently when I am no more. - - * * * * * - - SAFELY down Life’s ebbing tide, - May our vessels smoothly glide, - And anchor side by side—in heaven. - - * * * * * - - THAT Hope and you, - Bright days will view. - - * * * * * - -GUARD well thy thoughts; our thoughts are heard in heaven. - - * * * * * - -MAY He who hath pencilled the leaves with beauty, given the flowers -their bloom, and lent music to the lay of the timid bird, graciously -remember thee in that day when He shall gather His jewels. - - * * * * * - - FROM memory’s leaves, - I fondly squeeze - Three little words— - Forget Me Not. - - * * * * * - - A LONG life, and a happy one; - A tall man, and a jolly one— - Like—well—you know who! - - * * * * * - - THE hills are shadows, and they flow - From form to form, and nothing stands; - They melt like mist, the solid lands, - Like clouds they shape themselves and go. - - But in my spirit will I dwell, - And dream my dream and hold it true; - For though my pen doth write adieu, - I cannot say for aye farewell. - - * * * * * - - GOD’S love and peace be with thee, when - Soe’r this soft Autumnal air - Lifts the dark tresses of thy hair. - - Thou lack’st not friendship’s spellword, nor - The half-unconscious power to draw - All hearts to thine by Love’s sweet law. - - With such a prayer, on this sweet day, - As thou mayest hear and I may say, - I greet thee, dearest, far away. - - * * * * * - - THIS Album’s a mansion which offers its best, - To the friends who have written their thoughts, - And the banquet is spread with festal fare, - Where guests mingle enjoyment with rest; - And they leave their memorials under thy roof, - Sometimes in sorrow, more oft in joy divine, - Nor think a single thought quite good enough, - To measure its faintest pulse with thine. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - >*BIRTHDAY VERSES.*< - - - I WISH thee every blessing - That can attend thee here; - And may each future birthday prove - My wish to be sincere. - - * * * * * - -YOUR Birthday will always be green in the memory of your friends. - - * * * * * - -MAY these flowers, presented on your birthday, be emblematical of the -purity of your life. - - * * * * * - - WAKE early this morning, - Nor miss the grey dawning; - Take this greeting from me - As it goes straight to thee: - May joy and gladness e’er be thine; - And endless brightness round thee shine. - - * * * * * - - THIS is thy Birthday, may it be, - A source of happiness to thee, - And may each Birthday yet in store, - Be brighter than the one before. - - * * * * * - - DEAR friend, on this thy natal day, - I send to thee a little lay, - And wishes tender - And only ask that thou’lt repay - My thoughts with thine, and fondly say, - “I thank the sender.” - - May Spring its blossoms round thee strew, - And Summer, deck’d in mantle new, - Come forth to greet thee; - May Autumn fruitage crown the year, - And Winter, with its jovial cheer, - Bring friends to meet thee. - - And if I still must absent be, - Do not forget to send to me - One kind word only, - By home birds passing by the door, - Who, flying towards this distant shore, - May greet me lonely. - - * * * * * - - LIKE sunbeams to the drooping flowers, - Good-will our lives doth bless; - It furthers every wish of ours, - And joys in our success. - So may its rays towards you flow, - That none but friends your heart may know. - - * * * * * - - IN these days of mirth and glee, - What shall my message be to thee? - What can I wish for one so blest? - Thou sunny bird in a sunny nest! - This I wish, and this I pray: - May the joys of life never pass away, - But only merge in a sigh of bliss— - Into a life far brighter than this! - - * * * * * - - IF words could all my wishes say, - Oh! how my tongue would talk away. - I wish this day and many more - Might on dear ---- blessings pour. - May health, wealth, love, and peace - With each succeeding year increase; - And oh! the last, come when it may, - Be unto thee a happy day. - - * * * * * - - ON this Birthday morn arise - From thy placid slumber! - Soon to meet love’s longing eyes - And greetings without number. - Heaven’s dearest gifts be thine - To crown all earthly treasure, - For gifts that God gives unto thee - Know neither stint or measure. - - * * * * * - - AS beauteous flowers in garlands intertwine, - May Peace and Love to cheer thy heart combine, - To give you a very happy Birthday. - - * * * * * - - LOVE in every bosom live, - And the truest pleasure give: - And happy smiles each lip adorn, - On this happy birthday morn. - - * * * * * - - LITTLE trouble and still less care, - With ever a faithful heart to share; - Birthdays many, and happy too, - This is the life I wish for you. - - * * * * * - - DEAR, happy birthdays, how fair ye seem, - Along the path of time: - Foot-prints whereon sweet-heart flowers blow, - By worldly storms unriven, - That we may mark them as they go, - And find our way to heaven. - BRIGHT as a flower may thy Birthday be. - - * * * * * - - TRUE love shall live thro’ sorrow’s wintry storm, - And bloom afresh on this glad Birthday morn. - - * * * * * - - LOVINGLY take this birthday souvenir, - And for my sake esteem it dear! - - * * * * * - -MAY the morning of thy birth break in gladness, and the day teem with -light-hearted mirth that shall last always! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - >*HUMOROUS.*< - - - I DIP my pen into the ink, - And grasp your album tight; - But for my life I cannot think - One single word to write. - - * * * * * - - IN the storms of life, - When you need an umbrella, - May you have to uphold it - A handsome young fellow. - - * * * * * - - MAY beauty and truth, - Keep you in youth; - Green tea and sage, - Preserve your old age. - - * * * * * - - SOME people can be very funny; - I never could be so. - So I’ll just inscribe my name; - It’s the funniest thing I know. - - * * * * * - - FEE SIMPLE and simple fee, - And all the fees entail - Are nothing when compared to thee— - Thou best of fees—fe-male. - - * * * * * - - WHAT! write in your album, for critics to spy, - For the learned to laugh at?—No, not I! - - * * * * * - - ACCEPT my valued friendship, - And roll it up in cotton, - And think it not illusion, - Because so easily gotten. - - * * * * * - - WITHSOEVER is this for why? - Wherefore. Ain’t it? - - * * * * * - - WHEN I, poor elf, shall have vanished in vapor, - May still my memory live—on paper. - - * * * * * - - ROUND went the book, and here it came, - In it for me to write my name; - I would write better, if I could, - But nature said I never should. - - * * * * * - - IF you wish to laugh; - Glance at my autograph. - - * * * * * - - WHEN on this page you chance to look, - Think of me and close the book. - - * * * * * - - SAILING down the stream of life, - In your little bark canoe, - May you have a pleasant trip, - With just room enough for two. - - * * * * * - - DEAR FRIEND:— - - DO not doubt me; - You know more about me - Than many whose names - Here appear. - But to tell them I’ll never— - What! never? Hardly ever— - What I’d like to write to you - Here. - - ’TIS nonsense I’ve written; - You’ll think I am smitten - With charms that I hold - Very dear. - Please excuse me from writing, - More lines so inviting, - Your time to be spent - Idly here. - - * * * * * - - I CARE not much for gold or land, - Give me a mortgage here and there, - Some good bank stock—some note of hand, - Or trifling railroad share. - I only ask that Fortune send - A little more than I can spend. - - * * * * * - - MAN’S love is like Scotch snuff— - You take a pinch and that’s enough. - Profit by this sage advice, - When you fall in love, think twice. - - * * * * * - - LONG may you live, - Happy may you be, - When you get married - Come and see me. - - * * * * * - - MAY you be happy, - Each day of your life, - Get a good husband - And make a good wife. - - * * * * * - - AS sure as comes your wedding day, - A broom to you I’ll send; - In _sunshine_, use the brushy part, - In _storm_, the other end. - - * * * * * - - I WRITE in your Album? - How very absurd! - My mind is at random— - - * * * * * - - MAY your cheeks retain their dimples, - May your heart be just as gay, - Until some manly voice shall whisper, - “Dearest, will you name the day?” - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - >*CHRISTMAS and NEW-YEAR*< - - VERSES. - - - JOY and plenty in the cottage, - Peace and feasting in the hall; - And the voices of the children - Ring out clear above it all: - A merry Christmas! - - * * * * * - - AS Christmas offerings meet your eyes, - Still closer be sweet friendship’s ties. - - * * * * * - - RING out, ye bells, o’er all the earth, - To tell with brazen voice, - The tidings of the Saviour’s birth - And bid mankind rejoice. - - * * * * * - - TRUE love shall live thro’ sorrow’s wintry storm, - And bloom afresh on this glad Christmas morn. - - * * * * * - - OH joyous be your Christmas-tide, - And bright your New Year, too; - To you may love ne’er be denied; - May all your friends be true. - - * * * * * - - OUR Saviour Christ was born - That we might have the Rose without the thorn. - All through His desert life - He felt the thorns of human sin and strife. - His blessed feet were bare - To every hurting brier. He did not spare - One bleeding footstep on the way - He came to trace for us, until the day - The cruel crown was pressed upon the Brow - That smiles upon us from His glory now. - - And so He won for us - Sweet, thornless, everlasting flowers thus. - He bids our desert way - Rejoice and blossom as the Rose to-day. - There is no hidden thorn - In His good gifts of grace. He would adorn - The lives that now are His alone, - With brightness and beauty all his own. - Then praise the Lord who came on Christmas day - To give the Rose and take the thorns away. - - * * * * * - - AGAIN the festive season’s here, - With all that can delight and cheer; - Oh! may you nothing lack each day, - But find fresh blessings strew your way. - - * * * * * - - RING in, ring in the revelries, - And let the feast be one - Where not a single guest there is - But Innocence and Fun! - Let Christmas warmth keep winter out, - And joy unbroken reign— - From floor to roof-tree send the shout - Till Christmas comes again! - - * * * * * - - A LITTLE bird comes singing, - Singing a song to you; - He sings of sun-tipped flowers, - Bathed in a diamond dew. - “The days are coming,” he warbles, - “When the frost has flown away, - When the earth will be sweet with flowers - And the breath of new-mown hay.” - - Oh bird so softly singing - Your song of pleasant days, - Go sing to her I fondly love, - Through the wintry cold and bare. - When the heart is light, the days are bright, - And the sun seems ever near; - So sing her your lay this Christmas Day, - And through all the bright New Year. - - * * * * * - - OH! may thy Christmas happy be, - And naught but joy appear, - Is now the wish I send to thee, - And all I love most dear. - - * * * * * - - NOW Christmas comes with hearty cheer - May kindly thoughts go round, - And bring to you a glad New Year, - With peace and plenty crowned. - - * * * * * - - CHRISTMAS is coming, and what will it bring? - Many a pleasant and gladdening thing! - Meetings and greetings, and innocent mirth: - All that is brightest and best on the earth. - - * * * * * - - CHRISTMAS comes, let every heart - In Christmas customs bear its part: - The “old” be “young,” the sad be gay, - And smiles chase every care away. - - * * * * * - - SURE, Christmas is a happy time - In spite of wintry weather, - For laugh, and song, and jest go round - When dear friends meet together: - And hearts are warm, and eyes beam bright. - In the ruddy glow of Christmas night! - - * * * * * - - FOR friends we strive to pierce - The future, dense and dark, - But not a ray of light - We see, nor faintest spark; - But yet while we have faith to cheer, - We trusting wish “A bright New Year.” - - * * * * * - - HARK, the pearly air is trembling, - Liquid music floats along; - Angels, in sweet joy assembling, - Thrill the skies with heavenly song. - “Peace on Earth,” is their refrain, - Oh, be it yours this peace to gain. - - * * * * * - - MAY piety with wishes placed above, - And steady loyalty and faithful love, - Be thy blessings this Christmas-tide. - - * * * * * - - O LIFE is but a river - And in our childhood we, - But a fair and running streamlet - Adorned with flowers, see. - - But as we grow more earnest, - The river grows more deep, - And where we laughed in childhood, - We, older, pause to weep. - - Each Christmas as it passes, - Some change to us doth bring, - Yet to our friends the closer, - As time creeps on, we cling. - - * * * * * - - MAY health and joy, and peace be thine - Upon this Christmas day, - And happy faces round thee shine - As plenteous as the flowers in May. - - * * * * * - - O BRIGHT be the day - Sweet echoes resounding, - Love lighting the way - And warm hearts surrounding. - May the breath of His peace - In thy spirit remain, - Till Christmas revisits - The round world again! - - * * * * * - - LET the New Tear be to you - As a childish playmate new, - Stealing suddenly among - Apple-boughs that overhung. - - Greet him half in confidence, - Half as ready for defence! - Is he come to tease or play? - Will he give or take away? - - Let him come as friend or foe! - No New Year can overthrow - This our friendship that has grown - From the years that now are flown. - - * * * * * - - O CHILDHOOD is a golden time, - When all the world is bright, - When sunshine comes with every morn, - Sweet dreams with every night. - Were I a fairy, I would give - To thee a magic kiss, - That should ensure for the New Year, - As fair a time as this. - - * * * * * - - TAKE, my friend, this heartfelt greeting, - Happy be thy Christmas day, - Faith, and hope, and love here meeting, - Speed thee on thy New Year’s way! - - * * * * * - - I CANNOT tell what thou wilt bring to me, - O strange New Year, - But tho’ thick darkness shrouds thy days and months - I will not fear. - Why should I fret my heart to know before - What may befall? - With this one thought content—I ask no more— - God knows it all. - - * * * * * - - HEALTH and prosperity - Your life to cheer, - With every blessing - For the bright New Year. - - * * * * * - - ON this New Year’s morning - My wishes take their flight, - And wing to thee a greeting - That would make all things bright. - - * * * * * - - GLADLY now it is my pleasure, - Joys to wish you, without measure, - Happiness and peace attending, - With pure heavenly blessings blending. - - * * * * * - - MAY the blessings of the old year follow in the new. - - * * * * * - - WE cannot look into the future, - We cannot tell if the New Year, - Will bring us fresh sorrows to mourn o’er, - Or bring us new blessings to cheer. - - But an all-seeing God is above us, - Who knows-what for each one is best, - Who in this world will care for and love us, - And bring us at last to our rest. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - A BAD BOY’S DIARY. - - -This is the most humorous book ever issued from the Press. _The One -Hundredth Thousand_ has just been issued, and the demand for it is still -increasing. One editor says of it: “It made us laugh till our sides -ached and the tears came.” Another says: “It will drive the blues out of -a bag of indigo. It is worth a dollar, but costs only ten cents.” One -reader says of it: “I received the Bad Boy’s Diary you sent me, and as -most of my family are killed by laughing over it, you may send another -copy, so I can dispose of the rest of them in the same happy manner.” - -It contains 48 pages and is handsomely illustrated. Sent by mail on -receipt of Ten Cents. - - - DIARY OF A MINISTER’S WIFE. - -“It excels Mark Twain for genuine humor.” - -This is one of the most humourous books of the present day, showing in a -manner pleasing to all readers the trials, tribulations, expectations, -and actual experiences of a “minister’s wife” in a country parish. The -characters represented are true to life, and will doubtless bring to the -mind of the reader remembrances of events and individuals within their -own knowledge. It contains 64 pages, with handsome engraved cover. Price -Ten Cents. - - - “A BUSHEL OF FUN,” - -gathered from the writings of authors of “A Bad Boy’s Diary.” Josh -Billings, Mark Twain, Detroit Free Press Man, Burlington Hawkeye Man, -Max Adeler, and other funny men and women. - -This is, indeed, a whole bushel of funny things, well shaken down, and -running over with fun and good humor. It contains 64 pages, and is -handsomely illustrated. Price Ten Cents. - -☞ The above books are for sale by Newsdealers and Booksellers. Either of -them will be mailed on receipt of price by the Publishers. - -Address, - - J. S. OGILVIE & CO., Publishers, - 25 Rose Street, New York. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Album Writer's Friend, by J. S. 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