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diff --git a/old/55105-0.txt b/old/55105-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b974cf6..0000000 --- a/old/55105-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3631 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Niagara, and Other Poems, by Benjamin Copeland - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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/license - - -Title: Niagara, and Other Poems - -Author: Benjamin Copeland - -Release Date: July 12, 2017 [EBook #55105] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NIAGARA, AND OTHER POEMS *** - - - - -Produced by Larry B. Harrison, Elizabeth Oscanyan and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - NIAGARA, AND OTHER POEMS - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Niagara, and Other Poems - - - By - - Benjamin Copeland - - - - - _Buffalo and New York:_ - _The Matthews-Northrup Works_ - _1904_ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - _Copyright, 1904,_ - - _By_ - - _Benjamin Copeland_ - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - NIAGARA 11 - - THE MEADOW AIR IS SWEET 13 - - WHEN LIFE WAS LIKE A SUNNY STREAM 15 - - THE FIRST ROBIN 18 - - THE GOAL 20 - - THE REWARD 21 - - STRENGTH AND BEAUTY 22 - - VIOLET, ROSE, AND GOLDEN ROD 23 - - OCTOBER 25 - - THE WINDOW OVER THE STABLE-DOOR 27 - - “HAIL TO THE CHIEF!” (PRESIDENT MCKINLEY) 30 - - CUBA LIBRE 32 - - THE GREATER REPUBLIC 34 - - EMERSON 36 - - DANIEL WEBSTER 39 - - LINCOLN 40 - - AGASSIZ—EMERSON 40 - - WELCOME 41 - - FAME 43 - - DEFEATED 44 - - FIDELITY 45 - - TRANSFIGURED! 46 - - BETRAYED 47 - - SUNSET 48 - - FULFILLMENT 49 - - CONTENTMENT 49 - - COMPANIONSHIP 50 - - ASPIRATION AND ATTAINMENT 51 - - A QUESTION OR TWO 53 - - OTHER SHEEP 55 - - BY MANY PATHS 57 - - POOR LITTLE JOE! 58 - - DARK, AND DAYS 59 - - EXPERIENCE 59 - - A SURE FOUNDATION 60 - - THE VOYAGE 60 - - THE STONECROFT 61 - - PROGRESS 62 - - A BENEDICTION 62 - - LOVE AND TRUTH 63 - - BEAUTY 64 - - HEART OF LOVE 64 - - THE CORONATION 65 - - DISCIPLESHIP 65 - - THE GREATER DEEP 66 - - FAITH 66 - - THE GIFT 66 - - SONSHIP 67 - - REALITY 67 - - INFINITY 67 - - UNANSWERED 68 - - SELF-SENTENCED 69 - - A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD 70 - - INSPIRATION 70 - - UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE 71 - - HOLD FAST THIS TRUTH 71 - - GLORIA IN EXCELSIS! 72 - - A CONTRAST 72 - - CROWNED! 73 - - THE MEASURE 73 - - HUMILITY 74 - - ENTREATY 74 - - AT LAST! 75 - - FORGIVE US, LORD! 75 - - ASSURANCE 76 - - THE LITTLE ONES 77 - - LITTLE RUTH 79 - - LITTLE THEODORE 81 - - WHERE THERE IS NO MORE PAIN 83 - - THE EASTER ANSWER 85 - - COMMUNION 87 - - ST. AUGUSTINE 88 - - BETHEL 90 - - AN IDYL OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE 94 - - OPPORTUNITY 95 - - LET IN THE LIGHT! 96 - - THE LAW OF LOVE 98 - - SUPPLICATION 99 - - OUR LIFE IS LENT 100 - - LENTEN LESSONS 102 - - REMEMBER! 103 - - THE RECKONING 104 - - THE FONT, THE ALTER, AND THE TOMB 105 - - THE EVENTIDE 107 - - THE LARGER LIFE 108 - - A PRAYER 109 - - THE MESSAGE 110 - - AS THOU WILT 111 - - WE WOULD SING THE STORY! 112 - - CHRISTMAS 115 - - “AS HE IS.” 117 - - PASSION-TIDE 118 - - IN BROTHERHOOD WITH ALL 119 - - CODE AND CREED 120 - - EASTER-TIDE 121 - - EASTER LILIES 123 - - EASTER-TIDE ADORATION 124 - - THE KING 125 - - AN EASTER-TIDE LYRIC 126 - - AN EASTER IDYL 127 - - ASCENSION-TIDE 128 - - HOMEWARD 130 - - CHRISTUS CONSOLATOR 131 - - COMPENSATION 132 - - FROM MORNING TO MORNING! 133 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - NIAGARA. - - - Majestic symbol of eternal power! - Dread oracle of eons all unknown! - Before thy presence Pomp and Passion cower,— - All men are equal at thy awful throne. - - Abashed, the eager babble of the mart,— - To silence shamed, the vulgar greed for gain; - No more ambition goads the weary heart, - And Toil forgets its unrequited pain. - - Stern type of Truth’s inexorable law! - No room remains for envy or for pride; - Here prince and pauper stand in common awe, - Swayed by the spell of thy resistless tide. - - A rushing, seething Sinai,—thou dost pour - On sluggish consciences the solemn sense - Of justice infinite:—thy thunder’s roar - Declares to Wrong relentless recompense. - - Against our arrogance thy strength doth plead; - Deep unto deep imperiously calls; - Impartial annalist! the nations read - Their transient glory on thy ageless walls. - - Yet dost thou deign to dower the moment’s need,— - Our dreams exceeding by thy bounteous sway; - With power unrivaled thy proud flood shall speed - The New World’s progress toward Time’s perfect day. - - O mighty monitor! O seer sublime! - The soul’s surpassing grandeur thou dost show;— - The fountains of thy immemorial prime - Through man’s immortal being freely flow. - - - - - THE MEADOW AIR IS SWEET. - - - The meadow air is sweet;— - The cowslip’s cup of gold - Is full of fresh and fragrant dew,— - More full than it can hold. - - The meadow air is sweet;— - The blackbird’s mellow note, - Like water in a little brook, - Flows gurgling from his throat. - - The meadow air is sweet;— - The stream that cheers the lea - Will feel the willow’s tender kiss, - E’en to the distant sea. - - The meadow air is sweet;— - Hark! from the old elm tree:— - Ah! only lovers understand - The oriole’s ecstasy. - - The meadow air is sweet;— - The clover, handsome-white, - With dainty odors woos the bee, - And fills her with delight. - - The meadow air is sweet;— - The bobolink is there! - When he is mute a faery flute - Seems echoing in the air. - - The meadow air is sweet;— - The daisy in the grass - Looks up to see the clouds, and feel - Their shadow as they pass. - - The meadow air is sweet;— - The swallow flashes by, - Too merry for a moment’s rest - Between the earth and sky. - - The meadow air is sweet;— - The day wanes in the west, - And twilight’s soothing shadows lull - A weary world to rest. - - The meadow air is sweet;— - Like altar incense rare, - It blends the robin’s even-song - With the little children’s prayer. - - - - - WHEN LIFE WAS LIKE A SUNNY STREAM. - - - Alas! it seemeth but a dream,— - My childhood’s bright, bright day, - When life was like a sunny stream - Left to its own glad way. - - How wonderful the radiant Spring, - In garden, glade, and wood! - Fresh from God’s hand seemed everything, - "And everything was good!" - - Close by the door, the apple tree, - From many a fruitful bough, - Its richest blossoms spread for me;— - I feel their fragrance now! - - The robin and the oriole, - (I loved them both the same), - Their sweetest songs to me did troll,— - I think they knew my name! - - A little brook, from hidden spring, - Ran babbling down the hill; - It seemed to me a living thing,— - I hear its laughter still! - - Ah! ours was bliss without alloy, - And friendship fondly leal;— - I brought it human love and joy,— - It turned my water-wheel! - - And, tired of play, what peace I found, - As the bright clouds sailed by, - Just to lie down upon the ground - And look into the sky! - - Deep, deep, that look of calm delight, - So free from care and pain;— - Would God I might its holy height, - Its sweet repose, regain! - - The meadow, and the old elm tree, - The woods, the waterfall,— - Once more they all come back to me; - I see and hear them, all. - - I see and hear them, and rejoice; - For forms and faces dear, - Lost long, long since to sight and voice, - Once more to me appear. - - And hark! a little child again,— - I hear, with heart abrim, - That tender, ravishing refrain,— - The redbreast’s evening hymn! - - So God be praised for that sweet dream, - My childhood’s bright, bright day,— - When life was like a sunny stream - Left to its own glad way. - - - - - THE FIRST ROBIN. - - - Herald of the happy year, - Robin redbreast, art thou here? - Welcome to thy destined goal; - Welcome, songster of the soul! - - Age and Childhood find, in thee, - Kindred bond of sympathy; - Hope and memory are one, - In thy song’s sweet unison. - - Common freehold all hearts claim - In thy nature’s artless aim; - Best of priests and poets, thou, - Singing on the leafless bough. - - Mead and mountain, wood and wold, - Wait the rapture manifold, - Which shall prove thee saint and seer,— - Dearest minstrel of the year! - - Every note like April rain,— - Thou transmutest, in thy strain, - With the season’s subtle power, - Winter’s dearth to summer’s dower. - - Glows the mold with vernal fire - Kindled by thy love’s desire; - Nature wakens, at thy call, - To her Easter festival. - - Mateless messenger divine! - Peerless privilege is thine:— - Thou interpretest to Faith - The deep mystery of death. - - - - - THE GOAL. - - - Sweet scents, sweet sounds, sweet scenes! - With all that intervenes - In sweeter solemn silences profound,— - Whereinto overflows, - In forest, river, rose, - Passionless being, beauty without bound. - - How deep the mind’s repose! - The vagrant sea-breeze blows - With kindred pulses through the fragrant shade; - And sod and soul are blent - In blest enfranchisement,— - Prefiguring the end for all things made. - - For life and love, supreme - Beyond the poet’s dream, - Shall bear all being to its blissful goal; - The wondrous word is true— - "Lo! I make all things new;" - The universe is ransomed with the soul! - - - - - THE REWARD. - - - From green to gold - The year grows old, - With beautiful increase; - The seasons wane - To ripened grain - And Nature’s deepest peace. - - The same sure plan - Is thine, O man! - Alike for sod and soul, - The law of love,— - Enthroned above— - That guides thee to thy goal. - - Have faith in God:— - Who gives the clod - Its meed of fruit or flower, - Shall crown thy cares, - Thy tears, thy prayers, - With an immortal dower. - - - - - STRENGTH AND BEAUTY. - - - The Useful and the Beautiful, - Indissolubly blent, - One law reveal, one Will and weal, - In sod and firmament. - - The earth below, the sky above, - With flowers and stars are sprent;— - The child to cheer, the saint, the seer, - Their love and light are lent. - - For Strength and Beauty equal are, - In Nature’s kind intent,— - The hawthorn hedge, and granite ledge - That binds the continent. - - Were wish and will more dutiful, - And life more nobly spent, - Would we not know, with souls aglow, - What such high vision meant? - - Ah, yes! our lowliest tasks would then - In heaven’s own glory shine, - And time be told on harps of gold, - In dream and deed divine. - - - - - VIOLET, ROSE, AND GOLDEN-ROD. - - - Violet, rose, and golden-rod! - Blossoms of the self-same sod, - Springing from the breathing mold - Into beauty manifold. - - Each its season knoweth well, - Without sign or syllable,— - Faithful to the law benign - Potent over palm and pine. - - Excellent in their degree, - Rivals they can never be; - Fashioned with divinest grace, - Each is perfect in its place. - - Dear to Childhood and to Age, - Each hath ample heritage - In these human hearts of ours, - Kindred with the leaves and flowers. - - Children of the shower and sun, - Soon, like theirs, our day is done;— - We are fading e’en as they,— - We with them must pass away. - - But the flowers shall bloom again; - Ends, at last, the winter’s reign;— - Life is larger than a breath,— - Love is master over death! - - Precious, in the sight of God, - Violet, rose, and golden-rod;— - Dearer far to Heaven are we, - Children of eternity! - - - - - OCTOBER. - - - Crimson-and-gold, October’s boughs proclaim - The approaching Passion of the waning year; - By sacramental signs, for aye the same, - Pathetic portents show the end is near. - - The landscape lessens in the shimmering haze; - The songless silence chants the season’s grief;— - Too soon shall follow, with the darkening days, - The fading field-flower and the falling leaf. - - No more allures the lovely glade or glen; - A nameless sorrow haunts the lonely shore; - The frosts have fallen on the hearts of men; - The little children seek the woods no more. - - For Nature holds us surely as her own, - In sleet and snow, or under skies of blue; - From birth to death we share her mirth or moan,— - Forever to our faithful mother true. - - Yet, in our loneliest hours, alike we feel - The comfort Heaven to wood and wold supplies,— - A hope that doth the season’s sadness heal - And binds us closer still, in tenderest ties. - - A kindred impulse stirs our common dust - To look beyond the winter’s dearth and dole, - And find in God, our Life, our Strength, our Trust, - The everlasting summer of the soul. - - - - - THE WINDOW OVER THE STABLE-DOOR. - - An Idyl of the Common Life. - - - From the window over the stable-door, - Hark! how the notes of gladness pour! - Like playful brook, their free, clear flow,— - But why such joy I do not know; - For ’tis the coachman’s humble cot;— - The horses share his lowly lot:— - The same roof shelters beast and man;— - So prudently doth Dives plan! - - Who here would look to see enshrin’d - A happy heart, a peaceful mind? - The fact exceeds my fancy’s range,— - Yet ’tis as true as it is strange;— - For hark! how the notes of gladness pour - Through the window over the stable-door! - - In such secluded spot, I fear - ’T were sacrilege to venture near;— - Half guiltily I close the book, - And turn, unseen, an eager look - To the window over the stable-door, - Whence still those notes of gladness pour. - - Ah! now the meaning plain I see - Of that sweet-throated mystery;— - For, rocking softly to and fro, - With fair, fine forehead bending low, - A mother lulls to slumber blest - Her first-born babe upon her breast. - A lovelier sight, through leafy screen, - By faun or fairy ne’er was seen; - And never more melodious word - The sylvan silence ever stirred. - - Not hers to see the grace she wears,— - Nor hers to dream the peace she bears, - By such a blessed minstrelsy, - Into the world’s wide misery;— - But all unconsciously each thought - Is into melting music wrought. - She does not hear the song she sings,— - Nor can she know the bliss it brings, - Far, far beyond her babe, to me,— - A life’s space from a mother’s knee! - It tells me of a heart at rest, - A quiet mind, contented, blest,— - A little paradise, shut in - From envy, vanity, and sin. - - She meekly shares her husband’s lot, - And sanctifies this humble spot - With trustful, sweet simplicity, - In all her girlhood’s purity,— - With word and look from murmuring free, - And love’s unmeasured ministry. - - Hark! how the notes of gladness pour - From the window over the stable door! - - And now as soft as vesper bells, - The soul’s deep song more faintly swells. - Is it because, the while she sings, - Like Mary, pondering “these things,” - She thinks of angels far away, - And Him who in a manger lay?— - The Blessed Babe the Virgin press’d - Adoringly to her pure breast? - The Holy Child, forever dear,— - The Son of God, forever near,— - The loving Christ, whose kingdom, sure, - Is in the bosoms of the poor;— - Who passed from out the stable-door - All souls to serve, on sea or shore, - And rule all worlds forevermore. - - - - - “HAIL TO THE CHIEF!” - - (William McKinley.) - - - Niagara-like the welcome which awaits - The Nation’s Chief, approaching now our gates; - From depths sincere the People’s joy shall pour - Like many waters thundering on the shore, - As to her heart her honored Guest she takes,— - The Town we love,—the Empress of the Lakes! - Nor ours alone the President to greet;— - The North, the South, the East, the West, here meet,— - Each Commonwealth contributing its share - Of honor due, beneath one banner fair:— - Brothers forevermore, from sea to sea,— - One country dear, one hope, one destiny! - Nor even here shall the wide welcome end;— - Beyond our bounds its ardour shall extend; - For neighboring Nations, each American, - Admire with us the President, the man! - And, sharing with delight the common feast, - Shall feel anew their noblest aims increased. - - City of Light! Crown-jewel of our fame! - Throw wide your gates to him of blameless name;— - With peerless pageant swell the rising tide - Of grateful joy and patriotic pride. - Rehearse the thrilling history once more:— - Manila’s bay and Santiago’s shore! - Let glowing dome and pennoned turret tell, - To God’s sole praise, the matchless miracle. - Nor fail to voice the Present’s mighty plan, - And justify the name American! - Saxon, or Latin-born,—we’re all one blood:— - The Exposition stands for brotherhood. - - So may the morrow dawn,—so pass away, - In cheer prophetic of our widening sway;— - And when the evening’s deepening shadows fall, - And heaven’s sweet silence broodeth over all, - May the blest memories of the day be blent - In that fair Vision in mid-firmament, - The Tower of Light! Niagara’s flood in flame! - The radiant symbol of our Future’s fame:— - Pledge of an age whose light shall never cease,— - The boundless empire of the Prince of Peace! - - The above lines were written September 3, 1901, and printed - the following afternoon in the Buffalo Commercial, an hour or - two before President McKinley’s arrival in the city the - evening before “President’s Day” at the Pan-American - Exposition. - - B. C. - - - - - CUBA LIBRE. - - (Tune: Maryland, My Maryland.) - - - The work is wrought; the cannon’s roar - On sea or land is heard no more; - The battle’s rage and tumult cease - In songs of victory and peace. - The Heaven-appointed task is done; - The cause for which we fought is won; - And Cuba Libre, fairest gem, - Is set in Freedom’s diadem! - - Havana’s waters, blue and broad, - Reflect the righteousness of God; - And Santiago’s wreck-strewn shore - Resounds His praise for evermore. - The islands of the sea rejoice; - The floods lift up their mighty voice; - From shore to shore the anthems rise,— - A nation’s grateful sacrifice. - - Long as the stars shall shine o’erhead, - In deathless fame shall live the dead; - Their country’s glory and renown - Their fadeless, everlasting crown. - The morning breaks! the shadows flee! - Christ’s kingdom comes on land and sea:— - The rule of love, the reign of good,— - The whole round world one brotherhood! - - - - - THE GREATER REPUBLIC. - - - Our destiny was cast in an imperial mold,— - Our mission drawn on an immenser plan - Than marked, in deathless lines, our sires’ high faith of old,— - Earth’s broadest-visioned prophecy of man. - - From ancient feuds removed, and favoring seas between, - In isolation enviable, supreme, - We dwelt apart content,—self-center’d and serene,— - The Old World’s wonder and the Ages’ dream. - - When suddenly a cry from out the surging deep - We fondly deemed the guardian of our peace:— - A wail of anguish sore from breaking hearts that weep - Sweet Freedom’s doom and savage Wrong’s release. - - Deep calling unto deep! the Island’s bitter cry - Awakes the Continent to sleep no more:— - Heart ever answers heart:—America’s reply - Is Santiago’s world-resounding shore. - - Nor here, alone, the Hand mysterious and divine;— - Manila’s equal miracle foreshowed - The Providential path, with yet unsealèd sign, - Where first our arms to scathless triumph rode. - - True to the unsought task we could not comprehend,— - By foes maligned, by friends misunderstood, - This faith sustained us still, to the appointed end:— - Heaven serves the Sword unsheath’d for human good. - - Clear, now, the purpose of the Highest,—plain His plan:— - To mould the Nation after His own mind, - And give, in common emprise with the Son of Man, - The moral leadership of all mankind. - - - - - EMERSON. - - - Bard of the soaring soul, - Of thought sublime, serene,— - Lord of the Pleiades - And all the stars between! - - And further still thy sway:— - Thy realm, that vaster deep - Where galaxies unseen - Their radiant courses keep. - - With measure masterful - Thou raisest our desire, - Till to thy boldest flight - Our eager souls aspire. - - But not alone thy thought - In star-sprent spaces strown; - Thy largess manifold - Hath nearer harvests sown. - - Ah! yes;—a richer crop - We gather, in thy song, - Than ever homeward brought - The Wain with “oxen strong.” - - The Snow Storm, and Wood Notes, - Forerunners, and May-Days, - To the dear earth belong, - And grace our lowliest ways. - - Concord, and Boston “Hymn,”— - They stir our pulses still, - And hold, for Freedom’s need, - The patriot heart and will. - - The Problem,—Each and All, - Thy kind theology! - And like the Lord Christ’s heart, - Thy sweet Apology. - - The Dirge,—the Threnody, - Our tenderest tears unseal;— - We know their loneliness, - And all their sorrow feel. - - To Virtue’s holiest heights - Leads, still, thy dauntless strain, - And on our follies falls - “Its beautiful disdain.” - - Between Rhodora’s bloom - And Merlin’s mighty rhyme, - Our largest thoughts find room, - O World-Soul seer sublime! - - But little need hast thou - Of tribute we may bring;— - Thy fame hath Eastertide - With each returning Spring. - - The centuries shall guard - The glory of thy verse, - And worthier song than ours - Its golden notes rehearse. - - Thou buildest thy renown - With ageless masonry:— - Monadnock’s granite walls - Thy monument shall be! - - - - - DANIEL WEBSTER. - - - The grandeur of the mountains - Is in his deep tones heard;— - Atlantic’s mighty fountains - Inundate every word. - - Torrential thought and feeling - In tides of passion pour,— - To patriot hearts appealing, - As sea to storm-swept shore. - - Columbia’s star-crown’d daughters - Own his majestic will;— - Like voice of many waters, - His name is potent still. - - In loftiest communion - With seer and sage of yore, - For Liberty and Union - He pleads for evermore! - - - - - LINCOLN. - - - Like monarch of the forest - He looms out of the Past:— - Our strength when need was sorest,— - Our pride while Time shall last. - - To God, the gracious Giver, - All praise and glory be, - While flows each free-born river - Unfettered to the sea. - - - - - AGASSIZ—EMERSON. - - - Far different the task assigned, - Yet were they one in loftiest aim; - True mirror, each, of the Eternal Mind, - They share a common fadeless fame. - - One Will they owned, with rapturous awe, - One sway supreme from man to Mars,— - Chanting the chorus of the moral law - With Seraphim and Morning Stars! - - - - - WELCOME! - - - With love no words may measure, - Deep as life’s hidden wells,— - With sweetest, purest pleasure, - Chautauqua’s bosom swells. - - A memory true and tender, - At which the warm tears start,— - Her Founder and Defender— - His home is in her heart! - - O gratefully she meets him, - Restored to her once more; - And rapturously greets him, - With welcomes o’er and o’er. - - Her joy untold confessing, - (Now be God’s goodness prais’d!) - As for a father’s blessing, - Her eyes to his are raised. - - Full well she knows attend her - His prayers on sea and shore— - His spotless fame her splendor, - Her pride for evermore! - - St. Vincent, we would name him, - Ere yet his crown is won,— - Before the skies shall claim him - For Christ’s dear word, “Well done!” - Chautauqua, 1902. - - - - - FAME. - - - In empty rumor sown to woful ruth, - How many reputations pass like chaff, - Before Time’s judgment winnowing for Truth - Immortal morrow and eternal youth. - Recalled for mirth,—remembered with a laugh! - Poor fames! that flower and wither with the grass,— - Once fondly deemed more durable than brass. - Heed well the clarion sounding through the sky, - Impartial herald of the Voice of God! - Proclaiming to the ages wide abroad - The mighty names that were not born to die. - Hark! ’tis the centuries’ roll-call, calm and clear,— - From thrones of fadeless glory answered, “Here!” - By souls supreme whose record is on high. - - - - - DEFEATED? - - - I raise a pillar, fine and fair,— - The monument of my despair; - No fame of conqueror or king - E’er won a nobler offering:— - Behold, where strength and beauty meet - To celebrate a life’s defeat! - - From hearts of stone to heart of stone, - The soul appeals, as to her own;— - The stainless granite, stately, strong, - Shall chant my failure’s deathless song; - Severe as Truth, this shaft shall shame - The poor world’s pitiable blame. - - - - - FIDELITY. - - - The sunbeam in the hovel, - And in the Hall, are one,— - Each in his station faithful, - Until his task is done. - - In soul and service, brothers, - To one blest birth-right born, - Nor chance nor change can sever - The children of the Morn. - - Co-workers in one purpose, - Co-partners of one plan, - Each bears on stainless pinions, - The love of Heaven to man. - - If true to God, what matters, - Where’er our work is done? - The sunbeam in the hovel, - And in the Hall, are one. - - - - - TRANSFIGURED! - - (“The Word was made flesh.”) - - - Garment of Flesh, to thee was given - The virgin glow of sun and sod:— - Dawn-woven in the loom of Heaven,— - The last, the tenderest touch of God! - - With human passion dear, divine, - Thou dost the deathless soul supply; - Altar and hearth alike are thine, - Sweet bridal of the earth and sky! - - The glory of Eternity - Rests like a crown upon thy brow; - Celestial light o’ershadows thee:— - Blest mother of my Lord art thou! - - - - - BETRAYED. - - - Deceived, deflowered, despoiled! - O drooping lily, late with light aglow! - Around thy root is coiled - The hidden horror of a nameless woe. - - Deceived, defiled, despoiled! - Is there no healing for a broken heart? - O God! hadst Thou but foiled - The fatal spell of the betrayer’s art. - - Deceived, despised, despoiled! - The blight has fallen on thy peerless bloom; - To bless thy bridal eager ages toiled;— - A moment’s glamour leaves thee endless gloom. - - - - - SUNSET. - - - Crimson and cloth-of-gold, - His cloud-couch, rarely wrought;— - To bower so beautiful - No bride was ever brought. - - Save his,—of tender grace,— - Dear Twilight, faithful, fair, - On whose sweet lips he seeks - Surcease of toil and care. - - O light ineffable! - Wonder of wood and wold;— - The vision and the pledge - Of rapture manifold. - - - - - FULFILLMENT. - - - Lips to lips in rapture pressed,— - Dearest secret of the breast - In a moment all confessed;— - Love is best; love is best! - - Worn with care, by pain oppressed,— - Empty arms and aching breast,— - Longing for release and rest;— - Death is best; death is best! - - Home at last! O welcome blest! - Heart to heart our loved ones pressed,— - Of eternal life possessed;— - Heaven is best! heaven is best! - - - - - CONTENTMENT. - - - Content with life’s allotted hours, - Or brook or river,—may mine be - Forever cheered by its unfailing Source,— - A happy stream unhasting to the Sea,— - With little children, birds and flowers, - The dear companions of its tranquil course. - - - - - COMPANIONSHIP. - - - Lured by no lower goal between, - From light to light still upward move, - Aspiring to the heights serene - Of magnanimity and love. - - Thou shalt not take thy way alone;— - The Beautiful, the True, the Good, - Shall draw to thee, undream’d, unknown, - Heaven’s fairest First-Born Brotherhood! - - And with them, steadfast to the end, - The sons of God of like degree, - Earth’s noblest souls shall thee attend - With kingliest, kindliest company. - - - - - ASPIRATION AND ATTAINMENT. - - - Two natures, ours,—two lives - Attest our heavenly birth;— - In “the third heaven,” one,— - The other, on the earth. - - One soars to realms above, - Where saints and angels dwell; - The other strives alone - With all the powers of hell. - - The soul’s clear vision, one, - And ecstacy untold; - The other, darkness, doubt, - And sorrow manifold. - - The one is triumph, rest; - The other, struggle, pain:— - A fearful fight, wherein - Both prayers and tears seem vain. - - And yet they are but one, - Though worlds between them roll; - One, also, their reward - In God, their glorious goal. - - For duty, in the dust, - Is equally divine - With victor wreath and crown - Which in His presence shine. - - - - - A QUESTION OR TWO. - - - If, as you say, like dogs we die, - Why, then, like angels live? - Let faithless Reason make reply, - And honest answer give. - - What power shall check the downward trend - Of wilful hearts of men, - If in eternal nothing end - Their three score years and ten? - - That Virtue is its own reward— - Think you sufficient cause - To move men to the due regard - Of Heaven’s holiest laws? - - While blood is blood, and gold is gold, - Alas, you vainly try, - With fine-spun calculations cold, - To lure us to the sky. - - Be naught beyond to hold in awe - The beast in every breast, - Then tooth and claw shall be our law;— - Why need to paint the rest? - - Grant us for our protection here, - This boon, Philosophy, - If not the hope, the wholesome fear, - Of immortality. - - And, meanwhile, in our memory keep - That earnest word of old:— - Whate’er thou sowest thou shalt reap, - In measure manifold. - - - - - OTHER SHEEP. - - - Pagan, Papist, Protestant! - What is that to thee or me? - Make not Heaven’s mercy scant - With thy pampered bigotry. - - Who made thee the judge to be - Of thy brother’s destiny? - Deem not that thy shibboleth - Holds the keys of life and death. - - Ah, that secret, sullen sign! - Call it not decree divine; - For a letter, more, or less, - Measures not God’s tenderness. - - “Other sheep I have,” said One - Who was more than Mary’s son;— - Eyes as blind as thine shall see - His amazing charity. - - When it claims the judgment-throne, - What is creed but craft and cant? - God will surely know His own:— - Pagan, Papist, Protestant. - - - - - BY MANY PATHS. - - - By many names the one true God is known; - By many shrines man’s faith in Him is shown;— - Varuna, Vishnu, Agni, Indra,—One! - As stars confess the all-sustaining sun. - By many paths true, humble hearts are brought - At last to Him whom they in darkness sought. - - All lands alike the Father’s mercies share; - No age was ever orphaned of His care;— - For souls sincere, forever has sufficed - The boundless merit of the blessed Christ; - And over all forever shall extend - The love that knows no measure and no end. - - - - - [A]POOR LITTLE JOE! - - - “Poor little Joe!” the poet said, - When it was told him she was dead;— - “Poor little Joe!” the warm tears start - From the deep fountains of his heart;— - “Poor little Joe!” he loved her so. - - “Poor little Joe!” he knows too well - What darkness on his darling fell, - When, in her loneliness and pain, - “Papa!” she called,—but called in vain;— - “Poor little Joe!” she missed him so. - - “Poor little Joe!” she loved him so, - And wished to stay, yet longed to go;— - One fond caress, one sweet “Good-night,” - Had made the way to heaven so bright! - “Poor little Joe!” she loved him so. - - “Poor little Joe!” was all he said, - When it was told him she was dead; - But everywhere the warm tears start - Responsive to his breaking heart;— - “Poor little Joe!” we loved her so. - -Footnote A: - - Josephine Kipling—eldest child of Rudyard Kipling. - - - - - DARK, AND DAYS. - - - The same old problems vex mankind; - In meager beams the light is given; - Nor may the race e’er hope to find - The rest for which each age has striven. - - The same old problems vex mankind; - But to our fears this faith is given:— - Broods over all the Eternal Mind, - And night on earth is day in heaven. - - - - - EXPERIENCE. - - - Slowly is life revealed, and slowlier still - The mystic scroll of the Eternal Will; - But, calming our impatience, Hope replies,— - “The days are ignorant,—the years are wise.” - - - - - A SURE FOUNDATION. - - - Hold firmly, for thy soul’s behoof, - This holy faith, divinely broad:— - The good in us is blessed proof - Of goodness infinite in God! - - - - - THE VOYAGE. - - - Embarked upon an unknown sea, - And borne by tide which ne’er returns,— - Awed by the deepening mystery, - The stoutest heart for comfort yearns. - - Fear not;—we are not left alone; - To wiser hands the helm is given;— - A guidance better than our own - Directs our way from earth to heaven. - - - - - THE STONECROFT. - - - Dauntless in drouth and dearth, - Its pure, bright bloom is given - Not by the damps of earth, - But by the dews of heaven. - - O soul shut in with pain,— - By want and woe oppressed, - Look up,—take heart again; - In God’s sure keeping rest. - - The bounty of thy birth - Remains, whate’er be given; - Denied the damps of earth, - Thine, still, the dews of heaven! - - - - - PROGRESS. - - - Onward and upward moves the world,— - As toward the sun the seasons roll;— - Aspiring, striving, struggling, still,— - Onward and upward toward the goal. - - Onward and upward moves the world! - The night is spent; and, clear and broad, - The dawn predicts the perfect day:— - Onward and upward still toward God! - - - - - A BENEDICTION. - - - The Christ of Cana brighten - The bliss thy heart may share;— - The Christ of Calvary lighten - The cross thy soul must bear. - - - - - LOVE AND TRUTH. - - - Like shy arbutus’ bloom, - Half hidden, half revealed, - Her heart for love makes sweetest room,— - Disclosed, and yet concealed. - - Ah! it was ever so,— - Disclosed, and yet concealed: - As to her eyes her breasts of snow, - Half hidden, half revealed! - - And darkly truth is known,— - Half hidden, half revealed; - And dimly, still, Christ’s dear face shown,— - Disclosed, and yet concealed. - - Will it be ever so,— - Disclosed, and yet concealed? - All that we most desire to know, - Half hidden, half revealed? - - - - - BEAUTY. - - - What is it, but the point where meet - The finite and the infinite? - The light on childhood’s brow that hovers,— - The all-revealing glance of lovers; - The troth of flowers and stars on high,— - The bridal of the earth and sky; - The sheen of heaven on soul and sod,— - The glory and the grace of God;— - The gleam of Sun beyond the sun,— - The mortal and immortal, one! - - - - - HEART OF LOVE. - - - Out of the heart of Love all beauty blows, - Of star-sprent sky or flower-sweet sod;— - One Source all being owns, one sure repose,— - The bosom of the life of God! - - - - - THE CORONATION. - - - ’Tis not enough to hold the faith - To saints and sages given; - Truth asks of thee a fealty - Like her fair throne in heaven. - - Transmute it into character,— - Translate it into life; - And crown thy creed with golden deed - And love that conquers strife. - - - - - DISCIPLESHIP. - - - Be thine thy Master’s portion, - Who found, where all seemed loss, - His Kinghood in His serving, - His kingdom in His cross. - - - - - THE GREATER DEEP. - - - O vast and variable Sea! - Image alike of peace and strife,— - Like that immenser mystery - Which shrouds our little life. - - - - - FAITH. - - - Dim mirrors are our mortal minds, - In which all truth is darkly seen; - Our only wisdom is to love, - And leave to God what death may mean. - - - - - THE GIFT. - - - Unhasting, yet advancing evermore, - The morning breaks, at last, on every shore; - And through the gloom, until the day-star beam, - To us Heaven grants the vision and the dream. - - - - - SONSHIP. - - - Adapted to infinity, - Our souls, O God, aspire to Thee;— - Created in Thy likeness blest, - In Thee alone our hearts find rest. - - - - - REALITY. - - - Truth is the soul’s eternal quest,— - Reality its only rest;— - Shadow for substance ne’er sufficed,— - Symbol nor sacrament,—but Christ! - - - - - INFINITY. - - - To confines infinitely lonely, - Extends, unknown, Creation’s shoreless sea:— - The sun itself a porch-light, only, - To the fair palace of Eternity. - - - - - UNANSWERED. - - - Whither away, ye argosies of Heaven, - In solemn state advancing from afar? - What mission marshals you? What chivalrous emprise - Darkens the glory of the sapphire skies? - Say, was your empire’s ancient quiet riven - With rumor ominous of distant wrong and war? - Or speed ye forth with snowy sails unfurled, - And radiant pennons shimmering in the haze, - To bring with proper pomp, to his empyreal throne, - Your monarch with his bride? he loveth her alone, - Dear daughter of the Sun, the peerless virgin world, - Long cloistered in his bosom’s brightest rays. - * * * * * * * - No answer but a deeper shadow cast,— - And lo! the splendid mystery is passed. - - - - - SELF-SENTENCED. - - - Though born a man, he lives a mole; - In vain for him the seasons roll; - Poor earth-worm; in a world of light, - Still deeper digging into night. - - Indifferent to life and law, - He knoweth neither love nor awe;— - Askance he eyes the daisied sod, - And turns a Ghetto face on God. - - With servile mind and sordid soul, - He shall not miss the chosen goal; - Though all the path with gold be paved, - He cannot from himself be saved. - - - - - A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD. - - - To lift and lighten the heart of man, - Was ever the Poet’s lofty plan;— - Confederate with stars and sun, - His songs their radiant courses run. - - - - - INSPIRATION. - - - Genius is only common dust, - Unkindled by the Breath of Heaven;— - Except God be their light and life, - Vainly the richest gifts are given. - - Dark as a row of silver lamps, - Fair, all, as fancy’s fine desire, - And furnished, each, with rarest oil, - But all untouched with fire. - - For noblest service, man’s first need - Is inspiration from on high; - The finite needs the Infinite, - As flower and forest need the sky. - - - - - UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE. - - - Faint not, though fruitless still the labor seems - Wherewith love serves the Master dear, divine; - You do not know how far it throws its beams, - The lamp which you keep burning at His shrine. - - - - - HOLD FAST THIS TRUTH. - - - Hold fast this truth, whoe’er thou art, - And through all sorrow take it:— - God did not make the human heart - Simply that He might break it. - - For not in vain love yearns for love;— - Beyond the grave’s dark portal, - In everlasting bliss above, - Awaits the life immortal! - - - - - GLORIA IN EXCELSIS! - - - The infinitely High - Is the infinitely Near,— - And the infinitely Holy - Is the infinitely Dear. - - A single ray from heaven— - And all is understood,— - For the infinitely Great - Is the infinitely Good. - - - - - A CONTRAST. - - - Stone by stone the palace grows, - Haughtily, mid dust and din; - On the garden wall the rose - Drinks the quiet sunshine in. - - Stone by stone the prison rears, - Frowningly, its bars of night;— - Like a bride with love’s sweet fears, - Leans the lily to the light. - - - - - CROWNED! - - - With peaceful brow, and eyes beneath - Disclosing memories, tender, dear, - And hopes secure from earthly strife, - She stands—good angels know how near - To heaven,—crown’d with the harvest-wreath - Of a fair, fruitful life:— - A lovelier diadem, I ween, - On seraph brow was never seen. - - - - - THE MEASURE. - - - From what a depth within the poet’s heart, - The sorrow Dante weds to deathless Art! - From what a height within the poet’s brain, - The immortal notes of Shakespeare’s star-bright strain! - - - - - HUMILITY. - - - Naught is new beneath the sun: - Ages since the deed was done;— - Ay! a thousand wrought like one,— - And a thousand thought like one. - Greatest souls are first to own - None is wise or strong alone. - - - - - ENTREATY. - - - O Lord of life and death! - To whom all souls belong, - Let not the thread be cut, - While yet I weave my song. - - Let not the workman’s form - Be broken ere the time;— - Oh shatter not, with “Dust to Dust,” - The marble’s dream sublime! - - - - - AT LAST! - - - Faint not because so far away - Seems, still, the world’s redemption day; - Though deepest night the sky o’ercast, - The glorious morn shall break at last. - - For strife shall close in fadeless peace, - And wrong and woe forever cease,— - And end, in rapturous notes sublime, - The whole long requiem of Time. - - - - - FORGIVE US, LORD! - - - Forgive us, Lord, our foolish fears; - For, to Thy patient sway, - A day is as a thousand years, - And a thousand years as a day. - - Thy will, O God, is sure alway;— - This faith our darkness cheers:— - Thine, equally, the flying day, - And the march of a thousand years! - - - - - ASSURANCE. - - - Not where the Martyrs knelt, but where _we_ kneel, - Is holy ground for us and ours;— - Not what the Saints have felt, but what _we_ feel, - With strength divine the fainting soul empowers. - - Not what the Apostles held, but what _we_ hold, - Makes radiant death’s dread mystery;— - From _living_ faith, deep-welled, has onward rolled - The widening stream of Christian history. - - - - - THE LITTLE ONES. - - - Heaven bless the little children! - Their lives to earth are lent - From some dear clime serener - Than star-sown firmament. - - The sunshine of God’s glory, - Their happy spirits are;— - Each soul, in His pure likeness, - Refulgent as a star! - - Their free, abundant beauty, - (Love’s largess, manifold), - They shed with lavish splendor - On all that they behold. - - Their joy the morning brightens,— - And loveliest flowers are fair - With radiance strangely tender, - Which their sweet rapture share. - - And holier still their mission,— - And sweeter still their charm; - Like angels they attend us, - To guard our hearts from harm. - - Their looks, so kind, confiding, - Our fevered pulses calm,— - And on the wounded spirit - They pour their love like balm. - - And ever they remind us - Of our dear home on high, - Beyond all sin and sorrow,— - Eternal in the sky! - - God bless the little children, - Or here, or there above, - The sunshine of His glory, - The sweetness of His love. - - - - - LITTLE RUTH. - - - I cannot feel that she is gone - So far, so far away; - Her little heart close to my own - Is beating day by day. - - Ah! tender are these human ties;— - May heaven at last reveal - Why on her eyes a slumber lies - E’en tears cannot unseal. - - A look this darkness would displace - With a divine delight; - The soul’s rare grace in her fair face,— - It was a blessed sight! - - Her hair a happy halo wore, - That lit the hearth and hall; - Alas! no more my study door - Heeds her confiding call. - - Dear lips! where mirth and music wrote - The lore in Eden sung; - Seemed every note from her sweet throat - By elf or angel strung. - - The robin, hark! is here again, - To woo the wondrous child; - But all in vain his ardent strain,— - Death may not be beguiled. - - Sleep, Darling, sleep; we will not weep, - Nor moan or murmur make; - But oh! how deep the dreamless sleep,— - Would God she might awake! - - Asleep? awake! the Shepherd takes - His little lamb above; - And where she wakes the morning breaks - In everlasting love. - - But I cannot feel that she is gone - So far, so far away; - For her little heart close to my own - Keeps beating day by day. - - - - - LITTLE THEODORE. - - - Lay them in his little hand;— - He will know,—and understand. - - --------------------- - - Darling, shall we meet again, - In a world that knows no sorrow? - Where there shall be no more pain, - And no parting comes to-morrow? - - Precious gift! love’s priceless dower— - Still our yearning hearts deplore thee, - Marking many a lonely hour, - Still, with tears, till Heaven restore thee. - - Bright thy little life’s brief day, - With the rose and lily number’d;— - Waken, darling; rise and play;— - Those sweet eyes too long have slumber’d. - - Falling flower and fading spray, - Tenderly thy kind look noted;— - Did they beckon thee away, - Dear, dear child, to death devoted? - - Flowers will bloom where snow-flakes fall; - Birds return;—but thou, oh, never! - Comes no answer to my call;— - Have I lost thee, Love, forever? - - Hush, my heart,—it cannot be;— - Lo! beyond the grave’s dark portal, - Where thy dearest wait for thee, - Breaks the morning, blest, immortal! - - --------------------- - - Darling _we shall meet again_, - In the home that knows no sorrow,— - Where there shall be no more pain, - And no parting comes to-morrow. - - - - - WHERE THERE IS NO MORE PAIN. - - - The sharpest pang, the tenderest tear, - Not yet are known to thee, - Unless thy heart has learned how dear - A little grave can be. - - A little grave—but oh, how wide - The room it left for grief! - A grief which, like the ebbing tide, - Returns without relief. - - Dear child! by death made doubly dear,— - God grant it may not be - That thou in heaven should’st ever hear - How much we mourn for thee. - - One after one the seasons wane,— - Our loss, it grows not less; - Time’s balm is vain to heal the pain - Of such a loneliness. - - O little grave, that darkened so - The path by Sorrow trod, - Sometimes the sunset’s golden glow - Rests on thy daisied sod;— - - And then we feel that God is good, - And we take heart again,— - Assured 'twill all be understood - Where there is no more pain. - - Where there is no more pain—’tis there, - ’Tis there we long to be! - O Thou, who didst our sorrows bear, - Bring us to dwell with Thee. - - Where there is no more pain—how blest - Love’s kingdom, fadeless, fair! - That blissful rest naught shall molest,— - _Death cannot enter there_. - - - - - THE EASTER ANSWER. - - - There is no light in sun or star, - Nor any voice in wind or wave, - To tell us where our loved ones are, - And cheer our journey to the grave. - - The wedding garment and the shroud, - From the same texture, Nature weaves;— - Alike to her are sky and cloud: - She neither joys with us nor grieves. - - Indifferent to life and death, - She heedeth not our hopes or fears; - Our days seem bounded by a breath;— - Why should she note our smiles or tears. - - From depths of sorrow manifold - We call, and, weeping, wait reply;— - No answer comes from wood or wold, - And silent are the sea and sky. - - O pitying Christ, to Thee we turn, - In loneliest grief uncomforted; - For Thee and Thy sure love we yearn, - Light of the living and the dead! - - Thou healest, Lord, the heart’s sore strife;— - With Thee, with Thee our dearest dwell— - Crowned, in Thy grace, O Prince of life, - With peace and joy ineffable. - - And ours, at last, the home above! - We, too, from sin and sorrow free, - Shall share that life of cloudless love - For evermore with them and Thee. - - - - - COMMUNION. - - - Some meet memorial I would raise, - O gracious God, to Thy kind care:— - A fane for silent, unshared praise, - A shrine for solitary prayer. - - An altar in the wilderness, - Known only to the stars above,— - Whose grateful incense shall confess - The comfort of Thy sheltering love. - - Such monument my heart would rear, - O blessed God, _my_ God! to Thee; - Thy presence ever proving near, - My Strength, my Song, eternally! - - - - - ST. AUGUSTINE. - - - O Thou my inmost life, my God! - How blind the soul can be! - Thou wert within, and I abroad, - And there I searched for Thee. - - A stranger to my own poor heart, - A stranger, Lord, to Thee, - I sought Thee, from Thyself apart, - Throughout immensity. - - In vain the weary, painful quest,— - Still further did I stray - From Thee, my being’s only rest,— - Thyself the Truth, the Way. - - I found Thee not, O sovereign Good! - Though seeking Thee alone; - I found Thee not,—nor understood - Thy grace, Thy love unknown. - - For Thou hast chosen, in Thy grace, - As all who seek Thee find, - To make Thy dearest dwelling-place - The lowly, loving mind. - - Close to the fountain of our tears - Dost Thou set up Thy rest; - And nearer than our doubts and fears - Art Thou, the Heavenly Guest. - - O child of sorrow and of pain! - Know this, where’er thou art,— - Thy long and lonely quest is vain;— - Return into thy heart. - - The Blessed Presence is enshrined - Deep, deep within the breast;— - Who seeks Thee there, O God, shall find - The soul’s abiding rest. - - - - - BETHEL. - - - Not on couch of ivory, - Cushioned, curtained, daintily,— - But upon the flinty ground, - The dread wilderness around, - Jacob sleeps, afar, alone,— - And his pillow is a stone! - Ah! poor friendless fugitive, - What can now thy birth-right give? - - Pitiless the stars look down, - Like his brother’s haunting frown;— - In his heart are many fears,— - In his eyes are bitter tears; - Even in his sleep he groans; - Even as he sleeps he moans, - “God be merciful to me! - Pity, Lord, my misery.” - - - Rest thee, pilgrim; not in vain - Thy repentance and thy pain. - Wonderful the grace divine! - Thine the covenant,—still thine, - Sealed to Abraham of old,— - Bearing blessing manifold - Unto ages yet unborn, - Through thee, desolate, forlorn. - - Ay! e’en now to him is given - Token of the love of Heaven; - For behold! about him stand - Ministers of God’s right hand: - Angels excellent in might, - Radiant in robes of light;— - And, before his ravished eyes, - Lo, the ladder to the skies! - - Oh, that blessed, wondrous sight! - Making all the midnight bright,— - Bringing hope and healing in, - To the spirit stained with sin,— - Driving grief and gloom away, - With the breaking of the day,— - Wakening every tender chord - With the glory of the Lord! - - Passed the Vision;—it is dawn; - Shining sons of light are gone;— - Wakes the servant of the Lord, - Wondering, at His gracious word;— - From his lips in language meet, - Faith’s confession, grateful, sweet:— - “Surely God was in this place, - And upon me shone His face!” - - So, upon the holy ground - Where the gate of heaven he found, - Buildeth he with pious care, - Joining praise with humble prayer, - From the stones of that blest place, - A memorial to God’s grace:— - “Bethel, Lord, its name shall be,— - Covenant ’twixt Thee and me.” - - Glory to Thy holy Name,— - Thou, O Lord, art still the same! - Angel-guides _our_ way attend; - Angel-guards _our_ souls defend;— - We, too, know the blessed ground - Where the shining gate was found:— - Trysting-place of earth and heaven,— - Let the same sweet name be given:— - Bethel, through the ages past,— - Bethel still, while time shall last; - Bethel, then, its dear name be,— - Bethel, through eternity! - - - - - AN IDYL OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. - - - Silently, to lowly minds, - God communicates His grace, - And the wondering spirit finds - The dear favor of His face. - - Secretly the Voice divine - Whispers low to each, apart; - Suddenly, without a sign, - Glows His presence in the heart. - - Like the light of evening star, - Reigns the peace that heals all strife; - Passionless as lilies are, - Love enthrones the heavenly life. - - Silently the morning breaks, - And the shadows flee away; - So, in death, the soul awakes - To the light of endless day! - - - - - OPPORTUNITY. - - - Before this truth be bared each brow,— - The infinite is here and now! - As sacred as the stars, the sod,— - As near to Heaven, as close to God. - - Call nothing common or unclean,— - Nor deem thou any service mean; - Forevermore this faith be thine,— - All days, all duties, are divine. - - E’en now, at thy reluctant feet, - The seed-time and the harvest meet; - “The morrow in the moment lies:” - Heed well the Voice; awake! arise! - - He, only he, is free indeed, - Who in his heart holds fast this creed,— - (A fadeless wreath for every brow), - The infinite is here and now! - - - - - LET IN THE LIGHT! - - - Let in the light! - The sky is bright, - The air is flowing free; - The mountains glow,— - The vale, below, - Is holding jubilee. - - Let in the light! - Sad oversight - To miss so sweet a morn;— - The vision flies; - Awake! arise! - Each dawn is life reborn. - - Let in the light! - O, read aright - The day’s Apocalypse; - Its hours enfold - The age of gold, - And all thy dreams eclipse. - - Let in the light! - 'Twill soon be night;— - Prize every moment given; - With all thy might - Serve thou the right, - And leave the rest to Heaven. - - - - - THE LAW OF LOVE. - - - O, the sky is blue above me, - And the earth beneath is green, - And softly bright the flowing light - Floods the boundless space between. - - But what if the day should darken, - And death’s dread shadows fall? - I need not fear; with heaven so near, - Why should the night appall? - - ’Tis but the peaceful portal - Unto a morn immortal; - For the light that once gladdened the garden’s deep gloom, - At last shall transfigure all blight into bloom. - - For over and under the soul’s sore strife - Is the blessed law of an endless life; - From the sod to the stars, and the stars to the sod, - Sways the everlasting love of God. - - - - - SUPPLICATION. - - - A cup of pleasure passing sweet, - Sometimes, this life of hopes and fears,— - But oft, a fountain full of grief, - O’erflowing still with lonely tears. - - When brightest skies above us bend, - Dark o’er our heads the tempest lowers;— - At best, a sombre happiness, - A partial light, at best, is ours. - - What waits beyond,—of good or ill, - We vainly struggle to discern;— - Poor, sinful, blind, and comfortless, - O pitying Christ! to Thee we turn. - - Our only help and refuge, Thou;— - Give joy for sorrow, peace for strife; - We bring our burdened hearts to Thee, - O Love divine! our Light, our Life. - - - - - OUR LIFE IS LENT. - - - Our life is Lent:— - Our years are spent - In penance for the past; - Our songs are sighs; - Our brightest skies - With clouds are overcast. - - Our life is Lent:— - The old lament— - “All, all is vanity;” - And Youth, in tears, - Awaits with fears - The morrow’s mystery. - - Our life is Lent:— - Lord, we repent - Each folly, fault, and fall; - Our best resolve - Do thou absolve,— - Forgive, forget it all. - - Our life is Lent:— - Our hearts are rent, - As we Thy gifts recount, - And mark again, - With bitter pain, - “The pattern in the mount.” - - Our life is Lent:— - Our strength is spent; - O holy Judge, and just, - Receive our prayer,— - Poor sinners spare; - Remember we are dust. - - Our life is Lent:— - But Jesus went - This way; in Him confide;— - 'Twill soon be past; - Then, for thy fast, - Eternal Eastertide! - - - - - LENTEN LESSONS. - - - Not of one day or age alone, - In unfeared Future far away,— - But here, and now, the Great White Throne:— - To-day, to-day, the Judgment-Day! - - On every heart, O God, impress - This truth,—for all souls given,— - That heaven does not make holiness, - But holiness makes heaven. - - Thy rightful dower Earth cannot give; - Far other, thou, than sun and sod;— - The soul of man can only live - By living in the life of God. - - The creed of a contracted heart, - The code of a self-serving will, - Ne’er matched thy nature’s nobler part, - Nor could thy being’s end fulfill. - - Peace is not here; in vain thy quest;— - Thou art not brother to the clod; - The heart of man can only rest - By resting on the heart of God. - - - - - REMEMBER! - - - Remember, Soul, the solemn word, - Still uttered by thy loving Lord:— - “That which thou sowest, thou shalt reap.” - Let not thy nobler nature sleep; - The word the Voice within thee saith, - Reveals the law of life and death. - That law, inexorably just, - For good or ill, binds soul and dust,— - And sways, with equal sovereignty, - The shoreless sea of Destiny! - Choose well; for baser choice endures:— - Each heedless hour its age ensures,— - Planting, in place of memories blest, - A cypress forest in the breast. - - - - - THE RECKONING. - - - Search well thy ways, thy wishes,— - Thy deepest life lay bare; - Against to-morrow’s daylight, - Desire and deed prepare. - - Of reckless ease and pleasure, - And slothful will, beware; - Against to-morrow’s daylight, - Thy stewardship prepare. - - Ambition, aim, and motive,— - To each give honest care; - Against to-morrow’s daylight, - Thy character prepare. - - O Judgment-journeying brother! - Thyself shall meet thee there;— - Against to-morrow’s daylight, - Thy destiny prepare. - - Choose well; thy choice is endless! - Be this our earnest prayer:— - “Against to-morrow’s daylight, - O God, my soul prepare.” - - - - - THE FONT, THE ALTAR, AND THE TOMB. - - - The font, the altar, and the tomb,— - And but a step between! - A pulse, a breath, ’twixt birth and death— - And ends life’s sombre scene. - - The font, the altar, and the tomb! - How swift through mirth and moan, - The silent shuttles of life’s loom, - Guided by hands unknown! - - The font, the altar, and the tomb! - Poor heart, seek not in vain - To move the unrelenting gloom, - For short surcease of pain. - - The font, the altar, and the tomb! - Accept frail nature’s dower;— - To thee, to all, an equal doom,— - The inevitable hour! - - The font, the altar, and the tomb! - Faint not at “Dust to Dust;”— - The love of God leaves ample room - For deathless hope and trust. - - The font, the altar, and the tomb! - Christ crowns the soul’s sore strife;— - The morning breaks! the victor wakes - To everlasting life! - - - - - EVENTIDE. - - - The evening shadows deepen fast, - Enshrouding sea and shore; - The day so bright, so quickly past, - Returneth nevermore. - - The night is come; but lo! on high - The steadfast stars appear; - A holy calm is in the sky, - And heaven seems very near. - - So fades, at last, life’s little day,— - So falls death’s deepening gloom; - We hasten, each a different way, - To reach one goal,—the tomb! - - But God is good, whate’er may come;— - To every heart is given - A tender memory of home, - A trembling hope of heaven. - - - - - THE LARGER LIFE. - - - My years are very few, O God! - More rapidly they pass - Than clouds whose transient tale is told - In shadows on the grass. - - My years are very few, O God! - But they are full of Thee:— - A drop of being in Thy life’s - Unfathomable sea. - - My years are very few, O God! - Oh, let me clearly see - How they grow strong and beautiful - In Thy immensity. - - My years are very few, O God! - The sum of them is small,— - But each may serve Thy blessed will, - And Thou shalt have them all. - - My years are very few, O God! - On earth, but not in heaven;— - To Thee, eternal Life and Love, - Be endless praises given. - - - - - A PRAYER. - - - Deepen, Lord, the light divine, - In this darkened heart of mine; - On my inmost spirit shine, - Radiance of th’ Eternal Trine! - - Deepen, Lord, the life divine, - In this barren heart of mine;— - As the branch is to the vine, - Hangs my helpless soul on Thine. - - Deepen, Lord, the love divine, - In this lonely heart of mine; - Surest seal and sweetest sign,— - There thy perfect peace enshrine. - - Light, and life, and love, Thou art;— - With thy grace, Thyself impart; - Rest and Rapture of the heart, - Come, and nevermore depart. - - - - - THE MESSAGE. - - - Sweet message of the Holy Dove, - In mercy brought us from above,— - O haste, my soul, its peace to prove:— - “God, the Eternal God, is love!” - - In Jesus, full of truth and grace,— - Dear brightness of the Father’s face, - Each radiant letter we can trace:— - “God, the Eternal God, is love!” - - All other word is empty, vain; - Naught else can heal the heart’s sore pain, - And faith and hope revive again:— - “God, the Eternal God, is love!” - - Through all life’s dangers, doubts and fears,— - In all our trials, toils and tears, - This promise spans the darkest years:— - “God, the Eternal God, is love!” - - Blest tidings, borne by Holy Dove, - Of welcome waiting us above,— - Through endless ages there to prove— - “God, the Eternal God, is love!” - - - - - AS THOU WILT. - - - Give what Thou wilt, - And what Thou wilt, withold; - Only, O Lord, bestow - Thy mercy manifold. - - Give what Thou wilt, - And what Thou wilt, recall; - Thou still art ours, O God, - And Thou art all in all. - - Rich in Thy gifts, - But richer in Thy grace, - What bliss, what glory, ours, - When we behold Thy face! - - - - - WE WOULD SING THE STORY! - - - We would sing the story - Of Thy wondrous love, - Jesus, King of glory, - On Thy throne above. - - Once in a rude manger - Thou didst lowly lie,— - Sweetest little stranger - From the world on high. - - Sister none, nor brother, - There to welcome Thee,— - Only Thy dear mother - Watching tenderly. - - Yet, unseen, around Thee, - (Oh how kind and good!) - Glad that they had found Thee,— - Shining angels stood. - - Angels who from heaven - Brought the wondrous word, - To the whole world given,— - First by shepherds heard. - - For, while they were tending - Their lone flocks by night, - Over them were bending - Angels pure and bright. - - And they heard them singing, - “Peace, good will to men!” - God’s sweet message bringing;— - Near was heaven, then! - - Happy shepherds! speeding - Unto Bethlehem, - Eagerly all heeding - What was told to them. - - And they found Thee sleeping - There upon the hay,— - And, with wonder weeping, - They knelt down to pray. - - And the Wise Men sought Thee, - Guided by a star! - Treasures rare they brought Thee,— - From their home afar. - - We would seek Thee, Saviour,— - We would kneel and pray, - And in kind behaviour - Serve Thee day by day. - - And while we are singing,— - Like the kings of old, - We would still be bringing - Frankincense and gold. - - Pearls of priceless beauty, - Every precious gem,— - Faith, and love, and duty,— - For Thy diadem! - - So would we adore Thee, - Now, and till we die,— - Then, with Thee in glory, - Reign above the sky. - - - - - CHRISTMAS. - - - O holy, happy morning, - That saw the Saviour’s birth! - The star, thy brow adorning, - Beams mercy on the earth;— - For shepherds, and for sages, - Thy cheer, impartial, free,— - The travail of the Ages - Finds recompense in thee. - - My soul, be thou believing,— - No more thy past deplore; - In Christ, all loss retrieving, - Rejoice forevermore. - By love unknown attended, - Thy weary watch and ward:— - Behold the vision splendid! - The angel of the Lord! - - And hark! the herald angel! - The radiant, rapturous throng! - The ravishing evangel - Floods all the hills with song:— - “To God, in heaven, glory; - Good will to men, below;—” - Speed, speed the blessed story, - That all the world may know. - - Repeat it softly, slowly; - For still, in hut and hall, - Are lonely hearts and lowly, - That hunger for it all. - Again, again the story,— - Till sin and sorrow cease: - “To God, the Father, glory, - And to His children, peace.” - - - - - “AS HE IS.” - - - God in man, and man in God! - Speed the glorious word abroad; - Heart’s best hope, and Heaven’s plan— - Man in God, and God in man! - - Into human history - Blooms the blessed mystery;— - Dayspring darkest night doth span:— - Lo, the Christ! the Son of Man! - - Brother, thine the call divine; - Thine the grace, the glory thine; - Life’s ideal in Jesus see:— - As He is, so we may be. - - O, how high, how deep, how broad— - Infinite the love of God! - Heaven shall crown the wondrous plan,— - Man in God, and God in man! - - - - - PASSION-TIDE. - - - The Way of Sorrows Thou hast trod, - Dear suffering Saviour, Lamb of God! - And now, O nameless agony! - They nail Thee to the cruel Tree. - - With bleeding brow and breaking heart, - Thou bearest, Lord, Thy baleful part;— - And sorer far than we can see, - Thy Passion’s painful mystery. - - Yet here, triumphant o’er our sins, - Thy blessed reign on earth begins,— - And boundless empire waits for Thee, - O thorn-crowned King of Calvary! - - Before Thy Cross the world shall bow; - Victor, because the Victim, Thou:— - Thy dying love, O Christ, shall be - The bond that draws all hearts to Thee. - - - - - IN BROTHERHOOD WITH ALL. - - - O Christ, the light of all that live, - In heaven above, in earth beneath, - To all Thou dost Thy blessing give, - In brotherhood with all that breathe. - - In brotherhood with all that breathe! - Redeemer, Saviour, Thee we laud, - And thy dear cross with glory wreathe, - O Son of Mary! Son of God! - - Thy loving spirit, Jesus, give - To us who serve Thee here beneath, - That we, henceforth, like Thee may live - In brotherhood with all that breathe. - - - - - CODE AND CREED. - - - Christ’s life our code,—His Cross our creed, - Our common glad confession be;— - Our deepest wants, our highest aims, - Find their fulfillment, Lord, in Thee. - - Dear Son of God! Thy blessed will, - Our hearts would own with saints above; - All life is larger for Thy law,— - All service sweeter for Thy love. - - Thy life our code! in letters clear - We read our duty, day by day,— - Thy footsteps tracing eagerly, - Who art the Truth, the Life, the Way. - - Thy Cross our creed! Thy boundless love - A ransomed world at last shall laud, - And crown Thee their eternal King, - O Lord of Glory! Lamb of God! - - Till then, to Thee our souls aspire, - In ardent prayer and earnest deed,— - With love like Thine, confessing, still, - Christ’s life our code,—His Cross our creed! - - - - - EASTER-TIDE. - - - Easter bells are ringing, - Easter anthems rise,— - Age and Childhood singing - Strains that seek the skies; - Seek their source, ascending - Where, in rapture sweet, - Song and service blending, - Saint and seraph meet. - - “Christ, the Lord, is risen!” - Wondering angels cry; - “Broken, Death’s dread prison!” - Sons of men reply. - Blessed song and story! - Doubt and fear depart,— - Resurrection glory - Floods the faithful heart. - - Purest, purest pleasure - In each bosom wells; - Happy, happy measure— - How the choral swells! - By that song supplanted, - Wrath and wrong shall cease; - From this hour undaunted - Reigns the Prince of Peace! - - Easter lilies, blowing, - Breathe His praise abroad,— - All their grace bestowing - On the Son of God. - Lo! His brow adorning, - Kings their homage pay; - Hark! the stars of morning - Hail His boundless sway. - - - - - EASTER LILIES. - - - In faith sincere we bear the sign - Of Thy dear cross, O Christ divine! - And in our hearts the lilies bloom - That blossom by Thy radiant tomb. - - Thy dying love, Thy glorious power - Triumphant over sin and death, - Shall be our song till life’s last hour, - And thrill with praise life’s parting breath. - - Then, then, O bliss beyond compare! - Thy face, Thy glory, we shall see, - And in the home immortal share - Eternal life and love with Thee. - - In faith sincere we bear the sign - Of Thy dear cross, O Christ divine! - And in our hearts the lilies bloom - That blossom by Thy radiant tomb. - - - - - EASTER-TIDE ADORATION. - - - O Lamb of God, for sinners slain, - To loving hearts restored again! - Our Light, our Life, Redeemer, Lord,— - Forever be Thy name adored. - - Victorious over death and hell,— - Incarnate Word, Immanuel! - Thou comest, Saviour, to Thine own: - Thy cross is now Thy glorious throne! - - The Earth her richest gains shall bring, - To crown Thee Conqueror and King; - And the abundance of the sea - Shall be converted unto Thee. - - Kings at Thy feet their scepters lay; - The Ages own Thy widening sway; - Thy rule shall over all extend, - And Thy dominion never end! - - - - - THE KING. - - - With all Thy saints, below, above, - Thy triumph over death we sing, - And crown Thy cross with wreaths of love, - O Christ, our Saviour, and our King! - - Rejoicing in Thy widening sway, - We hail Thy coming, gracious Lord; - The dawn predicts the perfect day,— - The world redeemed, renewed, restored! - - Her richest gains Earth brings to Thee:— - The East, her reverence and awe,— - The West, her boundless energy, - Her learning, liberty, and law. - - Where’er stars shine or dews shall fall, - Thine is the power, the kingdom Thine; - Thou by Thy cross hast conquered all, - O Jesus, Saviour, Love divine! - - - - - AN EASTER-TIDE LYRIC. - - - Thine was the cross, O Christ,— - The brow thorn-crown’d and gory; - Thine, blessed Saviour, now, - The kingdom, power, and glory! - - The ages own Thy sway;— - All kings shall bow before Thee, - And to Thy service bring - Their honor, power and glory, - - All that Thy grace bestowed, - The world shall yet restore Thee,— - Enshrining in its heart - The bitter cross that bore Thee. - - With saints and seraphim, - Let us, O Lord, adore Thee,— - Ascribing to Thy name - The kingdom, power, and glory! - - And in the hour of death, - Receive us, we implore Thee, - To share, forevermore, - Thy kingdom, power, and glory! - - - - - AN EASTER IDYL. - - - Between two twilights folded in,— - Kiss’d by the day’s sweet breath, - Frail as the flowers of fairest bloom, - We pass from birth to death. - - Between two twilights,—dawn and dusk,— - Two twilights,—dusk and dawn! - We shall not know that we have slept,— - So soon the night has gone. - - For dearer far, to God, are we, - Than fairest flowers of earth;— - Breaks on the soul eternal day,— - _Death is another birth!_ - - - - - ASCENSION-TIDE. - - - Lamb of the riven side,— - Lord of lords, glorified! - Victim and Victor, Thee we adore; - Shepherd of Israel, - Saviour from death and hell, - Mighty Immanuel! reign evermore. - - Lion of Judah, - From Brahm and from Buddha - Seize for Thy glory the sea and the land; - Where age-long error thralls, - Where blackest night appalls, - There, with her radiant walls, let Zion stand. - - The gates of the morning, - Thy temple adorning, - Shall beacon the uttermost isles of the sea; - And nations, now unknown, - Shall bow before Thy throne, - And Thee their Sovereign own, with saintly jubilee. - - Orient, and Occident, - Hail Him the Father sent! - Greet Him with shoutings, and joyfully sing; - On love’s blest mission bent, - Through Death’s wide realm He went - Conq’ror omnipotent;—crown Him your King! - - Martyr with gory brow, - Monarch in glory, now,— - Victim and Victor, Thee we adore; - Shepherd of Israel, - Saviour from death and hell, - Mighty Immanuel! reign evermore. - - - - - HOMEWARD. - - - O Jesus, sole, sufficient source - Of hope that heals the sad heart’s strife, - Direct us on our darkened course,— - Thyself the Way, the Truth, the Life. - - Thou knowest the way we take, O Lord! - Didst Thou not prove its painful length? - Help of the helpless, still afford - Thy pitying love, Thy tender strength. - - In every trial, every care, - Thy patient footsteps may we see;— - The sorrows of Thy cross to share - Shall then our joy and glory be. - - Secure in Thy unchanging love, - No toil, no suffering will we flee,— - Assured that death itself shall prove - The path that leads to heaven and Thee. - - - - - CHRISTUS CONSOLATOR. - - - In the day of tribulation, - In the hour of sore temptation, - With the strength of Thy salvation, - Jesus, Saviour, comfort me! - - When no more the heart may borrow - Hope and courage from the morrow,— - In the darkest depths of sorrow, - Jesus, Saviour, comfort me! - - When all aid is unavailing, - Flesh and heart together failing, - Sin and death the soul assailing,— - Jesus, Saviour, comfort me! - - On Thy word alone relying,— - Never Thy dear name denying,— - Oh, forsake me not when dying! - Jesus, Saviour, comfort me! - - Crowned, at last, in light supernal, - Victor over foes infernal,— - With Thy love, supreme, eternal, - Jesus, Saviour, comfort me! - - - - - COMPENSATION. - - - The mystery of sorrow, - The mystery of pain, - Shall sure, some happy morrow, - To every heart be plain. - - Till then, O loving Master, - Thy footsteps may we see, - And only press the faster - Through darkest days to Thee. - - Choose Thou each care, each trial, - As serves Thy will divine, - And be our self-denial, - And sacrifice, like Thine. - - Strung on the string of duty, - Life’s toils and tears shall be - Like pearls of priceless beauty,— - The soul’s fair rosary! - - And dearer yet, and dearer, - Thy cross, O Christ, shall be, - As nearer yet, and nearer, - We draw to heaven and Thee! - - - - - FROM MORNING TO MORNING! - - - Lovingly the morning glows - On the lily and the rose; - So the heart of God o’erflows! - - Quietly the sky looks down - On the turmoil of the town,— - Face divine, without a frown. - - Peacefully, when toil is o’er, - Twilight comes to sea and shore,— - Pledge of rest for evermore. - - Tenderly the moonbeams fall - On the hovel and the hall;— - So God’s pity shelters all. - - Soft the light on lea and lawn, - Till the faithful stars are gone,— - Then—the rapture of the dawn! - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. - -Odd outdent of next to last line on page 43 was omitted. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Niagara, and Other Poems, by Benjamin Copeland - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NIAGARA, AND OTHER POEMS *** - -***** This file should be named 55105-0.txt or 55105-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/1/0/55105/ - -Produced by Larry B. 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