diff options
| author | pgww <pgww@lists.pglaf.org> | 2025-08-31 17:22:01 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | pgww <pgww@lists.pglaf.org> | 2025-08-31 17:22:01 -0700 |
| commit | 06e079bac108b4b1c44333a8095fea5533e7d5c1 (patch) | |
| tree | f475837df57cd8d8bdc0e8adbfcad07ded18c822 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76783-0.txt | 2978 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76783-h/76783-h.htm | 4028 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76783-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 405505 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76783-h/images/i_title.jpg | bin | 0 -> 28468 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
7 files changed, 7022 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/76783-0.txt b/76783-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3343c11 --- /dev/null +++ b/76783-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2978 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76783 *** + + + + + + HEART OF NEW ENGLAND + + + + + Heart of New England + + By + Abbie Farwell Brown + +[Illustration: [Logo]] + + BOSTON AND NEW YORK + HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY + =The Riverside Press Cambridge= + 1920 + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY ABBIE FARWELL BROWN + + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + + + + =To + The Memory of my Ancestor + Mary Allerton Cushman + Last of the Mayflower Pilgrims= + + + + +Thanks are due the publishers of various magazines for courteous +permission to reprint poems that first appeared in their pages, as +follows: _The Atlantic Monthly_, _Harper’s Magazine_, _The Bookman_, +_The Bellman_, _Contemporary Verse_, _The Delineator_, _The Designer_, +_The Ladies’ Home Journal_, _The Woman’s Home Companion_, _The Smart +Set_, _The Youth’s Companion_, _The Living Church_, _The Christian +Endeavor World_, _The Congregationalist_, _The New England Magazine_, +_Life_, _Saint Nicholas_, _Radcliffe Quarterly_, _Boston Transcript_, +_Boston Herald_, _New York Tribune_, _New York Times_, _The Old Farmer’s +Almanack_. + +“The Rock of Liberty; A Pilgrim Ode,” with music for Chorus by Rosseter +Cole, is copyrighted and published in 1920 by the Arthur P. Schmidt +Company, of Boston. + + + + + CONTENTS + + + EAST WIND 2 + NAMES 3 + COMFORTERS 6 + PILGRIM MOTHERS 9 + CROSS-CURRENTS 11 + SAVAGES 14 + PIRATE TREASURE 16 + THE WALL 19 + HAMPTON TOWN 22 + THE OLD GARDEN 24 + GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE 25 + GRANDMOTHER’S GARDEN 27 + THE FRIGHTENED PATH 28 + DEVIL’S GOLD: A HAMPTON LEGEND 29 + THE HAUNTED HOUSE 32 + ROSE PERENNIAL 34 + SCARECROW 37 + INSPIRATION 39 + A WASTED MORNING 40 + CIPHERS 42 + PINE MUSIC 44 + MAIDS AND MUSHROOMS 45 + IN THE DARK 47 + GARDEN THOUGHTS 48 + THE PASSER-BY 49 + FROST 51 + WINTER SONG 53 + TANAGER 54 + SONG 56 + THE KNOCK 57 + AN OLD-WORLD CONVENT GARDEN 59 + A SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAY IN BRITTANY 61 + THE BLAZED TRAIL 64 + BUT THERE ARE WINGS 66 + SAFE? 67 + THE UP-HILL STREET 68 + CITY SMOKE 71 + GREEN CROSSES 73 + THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 76 + SONG OF THE BOOKWORM 80 + THE BOOKS I OUGHT TO READ 82 + JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE 83 + THE JOY-VENDER 85 + THE SPARROW 88 + SYLVIA 90 + THE PLUME 91 + THE WOODSY ONES 93 + THE WEE KNITTER 94 + A CHARM SAID UNDER AN OAK 96 + FAIRY RING 98 + DANGEROUS PASSING 99 + THE DRYAD 101 + FAIRY WINE 103 + WEBS 104 + THE FAIRY FORT 105 + ───────────────────────────────────────────────── + PEACE—WITH A SWORD 109 + THE CRY 112 + CRUSADERS 114 + THE KNIGHTS 115 + FROM THE CANTEEN 117 + CRIPPLED SOLDIER 119 + THE FLAG TRIUMPHANT 121 + THREE GOLDEN STARS 123 + THE SPRING OF THE YEAR 126 + PRAYER FOR AMERICA 128 + ───────────────────────────────────────────────── + THE ROCK OF LIBERTY; A PILGRIM ODE. 1620–1920 131 + + + + + HEART OF NEW ENGLAND + + + + + EAST WIND + + + _I dream of a languorous, tideless shore, + Of azure light in magic caves; + Of heathery hills with summits hoar, + That wade knee-deep in northern waves; + Of rainbow sails like butterflies + That flutter to an Old World quay; + Of where a buried city lies + Beneath the sands of Brittany._ + + _Nay! But my own New England coast, + Pungent with wild rose, pine, and bay; + Brown marsh, white sand, gray rocks that boast + The fiercest surf, the wildest spray! + Ho! For me, + Where the white, white sails go flashing to the sea; + And the sea wind is the east wind, as the sea wind ought to be!_ + + _I dream of a castle-covered height; + Of gardens with eternal flowers, + And mossy fountains gleaming white; + Of lemon groves and myrtle bowers; + Of fairy glens and haunted halls, + Where mystery walks to and fro; + Of palaces on gay canals; + Of English green, and Alpenglow._ + + _Nay! But New England’s apple trees, + Her homely houses, square and plain, + The simple gardens loved of bees, + The maple groves, the firs of Maine! + Ho! For me, + Where the spring comes slowly, like a play to see; + And the sea wind is the east wind, as the sea wind ought to be!_ + + + + + Heart of New England + ⁂ + + + + + NAMES + + + From Somerset and Devon, + From Kent and Lincolnshire, + The younger sons came sailing + With hearts of steel and fire. + + From leafy lane and valley, + Fair glebe and ancient wood, + The counties of old England + Poured forth their warmest blood. + + Out of the gray-walled cities, + Away from the castled towns, + Corners of thatch and roses, + Heathery combes and downs, + + With neither crown nor penny, + But an iron will they came, + Heirs of an old tradition + And a good old English name. + + A brooding silence met them + On a nameless, savage shore; + But they called the wild—“New England,” + For the sake of the blood they bore. + + “_Plymouth_, _Exeter_, _Bristol_, + _Boston_, _Windsor_, _Wells_.” + Beloved names of England + Rang in their hearts like bells. + + They named their rocky farmlands, + Their hamlets by the sea, + For the mother-towns that bred them + In racial loyalty. + + “_Cambridge_, _Hartford_, _Gloucester_, + _Hampton_, _Norwich_, _Stowe_.” + The younger sons looked backward + And sealed their sonship so. + + The old blood thrills in answer, + As centuries go by, + To names that meant a challenge, + A signal, or a sigh. + + Now over friendly waters + The old towns, each to each, + Call with the kinship in a name; + One race, one truth, one speech. + + + + + COMFORTERS + + + Raw April came. The snow was melting fast + From the bleak Plymouth hills. The _Mayflower_, + Who had been fretting at her anchor-chains + Through the unfriendly weeks of rain and snow, + Flew like a homing pigeon out to sea, + With treacherous captain and a sulky crew. + But not one of the Faithful was returning. + Iron of purpose, worn but undismayed + By the fell winter, on a little hill + That bedded half the flock in a long sleep, + Pale Pilgrims watched the shining sails grow dim, + With straining vision. So, the final link + With home was severed now! The happy ship + Was homeward bound to the belovèd land, + Where soon the may would blossom in the hedges + Of Kent and Suffolk; while in Lincolnshire + The friendly robin sang by flooding tides. + “Never again to see the green of England + Or hear that song!” they murmured. “Never again! + For us sad exiles on a barren shore, + Sorrow and toil till death, uncomforted. + Yet the Lord’s will be done!” + Running there came + A little maid with treasure-trove in hand, + A flushed and furry blossom. “Look!” she cried, + “The first pink posy peeping through the snow + Upon a sunny hillside in the wood! + Is it not like the precious English may, + But sweeter still?” “Behold, the mayflower!” + The Pilgrims whispered. “God has sent to us + A messenger of homeland and the spring!” + The wistful shadow faded from their eyes, + Their set lips softened. + Came a little lad, + Leaping and laughing. “I have heard a song! + A redbreast bubbling in the willow-tree + Caroled ‘Cheer up! Cheer up!’ See where he flies + With his bright feathers!” Eagerly they peered, + Elder and Captain, man and weary wife, + Orphans with little faces pinched and pale. + Forgetting now the vanished ship, they cried— + “The robin and the mayflower are here! + Now in New England shall we be at home, + God wills it so.” Thereon they shyly smiled, + Straightened bent shoulders, and with lifted hearts + Slowly departed; thinking more than speaking, + In the old English fashion. + + + + + PILGRIM MOTHERS + + + Now thank God for the women + Who dared the perilous sea + With our adventurous ancestors, + To bear them company! + + They sailed, they knew not whither, + They came, nor questioned why, + But that the men-folk whom they loved + Without their care would die. + + Babes newly born they carried, + And bairns with wavering feet; + But never a cow was there for milk, + And never a stove for heat. + + Through icy waves they landed, + They washed in frozen streams; + They shivered through the nights of dread + With horror in their dreams. + + Through toil and want and danger + High-hearted they could wait; + They lived and died for the commonweal, + And mothered a nursling State. + + They had no voice in meeting, + No vote in pact or law; + But of their flesh and blood is built + Our strength for peace and war. + + Thank God for the brave women + Of a hard three-hundred years! + Have they not earned a nation’s trust + Through sacrifice and tears? + + + + + CROSS-CURRENTS + + + Through twelve stout generations + New England blood I boast; + The stubborn pastures bred them, + The grim, uncordial coast, + + Sedate and proud old cities— + Loved well enough by me. + Then how should I be yearning + To scour the earth and sea? + + Each of my Yankee forbears + Wed a New England mate; + They dwelt and did and died here, + Nor glimpsed a rosier fate. + + My clan endured their kindred; + But foreigners they loathed, + And wandering folk, and minstrels, + And gypsies motley-clothed. + + Then why do patches please me, + Fantastic, wild array? + Why have I vagrant fancies + For lads from far away? + + My kin were godly Churchmen— + Or paced in elders’ weeds; + But all were grave and pious + And hated heathen creeds. + + Then why are Thor and Wotan + To me dread forces still? + Why does my heart go questing + For Pan beyond the hill? + + My people clutched at freedom, + (Though others’ wills they chained) + But made the Law and kept it, + And Beauty they restrained. + + Then why am I a rebel + To laws of rule and square? + Why would I dream and dally, + Or, reckless, do and dare? + + O righteous, solemn Grandsires, + O Dames, correct and mild, + Who bred me of your virtues, + Whence comes this changeling child? + + The thirteenth generation— + Unlucky number this!— + My grandam loved a pirate, + And all my faults are his. + + A gallant, ruffled rover, + With beauty-loving eye, + He swept Colonial waters + Of coarser, bloodier fry. + + He waved his hat to Danger, + At Law he shook his fist. + Ah, merrily he plundered, + He sang and fought and kissed! + + Though none have found his treasure, + And none his part would take, + I bless that thirteenth lady + Who chose him for my sake. + + + + + SAVAGES + + + The Heathen hailed us from the beach, + Prayed the new gods to bless and teach. + They worshiped us and gave us food, + Sweet water and maize, nuts from the wood; + Showed us safe harbor. Liquor and beads + Got us broad acres for our needs; + We set shrewd boundaries to the farms. + Too generously we loaned them arms; + Froward they grew and scorned our laws, + They bared white fangs, unsheathed fierce claws. + Haunts in the wilderness they made + To spy upon our barricade, + Our meeting-house and granaries, + Coveting them with cruel eyes. + One stole a heifer from our yard; + We hanged the whelp; they scalped our guard; + We shot their chief and eight tall braves. + The devils swarmed from dens and caves, + And burned the roofs above our heads; + Murdered the children in their beds! + With righteous wrath we armed for war, + Scouring the forest near and far, + River and lake with uncouth name, + All the fair region once their claim, + Killing the Redskin fiends at sight. + At last we rid us of the blight; + We made the savage race to cease, + And earned a Sabbath Day of peace. + We walled the tilth and reared this town. + + O great Jehovah looking down, + Reward our pious people still, + Who set Thy temple on the hill. + + + + + PIRATE TREASURE + + + A lady loved a swaggering rover, + The seven salt seas he voyaged over, + Bragged of a hoard none could discover, + Hey! Jolly Roger, O. + + She bloomed in a mansion dull and stately, + And as to Meeting she walked sedately, + From the tail of her eye she liked him greatly, + Hey! Jolly Roger, O. + + Rings in his ears and a red sash wore he, + He sang her a song and told her a story; + “I’ll make ye Queen of the Ocean!” swore he, + Hey! Jolly Roger, O. + + She crept from bed by her sleeping sister; + By the old gray mill he met and kissed her. + Blue day dawned before they missed her, + Hey! Jolly Roger, O. + + And while they prayed her out of Meeting, + Her wild little heart with bliss was beating, + As seaward went the lugger fleeting, + Hey! Jolly Roger, O. + + Choose in haste and repent at leisure; + A buccaneer life is not all pleasure. + He set her ashore with a little treasure, + Hey! Jolly Roger, O. + + Off he went where waves were dashing, + Knives were gleaming, cutlasses clashing; + And a ship on jagged rocks went crashing. + Hey! Jolly Roger, O. + + Over his bones the tides are sweeping; + The only trace of the pirate sleeping + Is what he left in the lady’s keeping, + Hey! Jolly Roger, O. + + Two hundred years is his name unspoken, + The secret of his hoard unbroken. + But a black-browed race wears the rover’s token, + Hey! Jolly Roger, O. + + Sea-blue eyes that gleam and glisten, + Lips that sing—and you like to listen— + A swaggering song; it might be this one, + “Hey! Jolly Roger, O!” + + + + + THE WALL + + + “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” + ROBERT FROST + + “Not love a wall!” + I sit above the meadow in the glowing fall, + Tracing the gray redoubt from square to square + That bounds the acres harvest-ripe and fair, + And wonder if it’s true? + Nay! Ask the sumac and the teeming vine + That lean upon the boulders; + The crimsoning ivy and the wild woodbine, + Whose eager fingers clutch the stony shoulders; + The golden-rod, the aster, and the rue. + Ask the red squirrel with the chubby cheek + Skipping from stone to stone + By a quick route, his hidden hoard to seek, + Making the little viaduct his own. + Look where the woodchuck lifts a cautious head + Between the rocks, close by the cabbage bed; + The honey-bees have built a secret hive + In a forgotten chink; + And there a gray cocoon is tucked away, + Shrouding a miracle of mauve and pink + To wait its Easter Day. + The wall with pageantry is all alive. + + And I who gaze + On the dark border here, + Drawn like a ribbon round the pasture-ways, + Embroidered with the glory of the year— + What is the wall to me? + Has it no beauty more than eyes can see? + Lo, I remember how in days of old + A grandsire toiled with weariness and pain + To dig the clumsy boulders from the mould; + Piled them in ordered rows again, + Fitting them firm and fast, + A monument to last + Long after his own harried day was past. + He cleared the rocky soil for corn and grain + By which his children throve + To carry on the race. + We live by his life-giving. + I see each stone, rough like his granite face— + Uncompromising, stern, no slave to love, + Dowered with little grace, + Grim with the hard, unjoyful task of living; + But strong to stand the wrath of storm and time, + And bolts that heaven lets fall. + Built of a patriot’s prime— + How well I love the wall! + + + + + HAMPTON TOWN + + + The Hampton marshes to the sea + Stretch out a colored tapestry; + A woven, iridescent gleam, + Patterned with many a sea-filled stream, + Where dips the heron silently. + + Above the Hampton meadows soar + Wisps of a quaint, forgotten lore, + Wild legends of another day, + Sea-born and salty, like the spray + Flung from the great tusks of the Boar. + + And as I wander down the street + Of Hampton Town with loitering feet, + A fragrance breathes from gardens old, + Drawn from the centuries of mould, + Thyme, bleeding-heart, and bitter-sweet. + + The ghosts of lovely ladies rise, + With terror in their haunted eyes; + Witches and redskins, soldiers grim; + Pirate and Puritan—oath and hymn— + All in a web whose threads I share. + + The Hampton pines these legends know, + And gossip them in whispers low. + They spin an eerie charm that twines + About the lovely Place of Pines, + To blood that throbs from long ago. + + + + + THE OLD GARDEN + + + I chanced upon the little bowered retreat + For the first time, and never shall forget + The spell of tangled mystery! The wet + Bejeweled leaves like fingers curled to meet + My childish hand; the unimagined sweet + Of briar, heliotrope, and mignonette; + The tang of box, and quainter blossoms set + By mazy paths for liliputian feet. + + High walls of hollyhock and morning-glory + Concealed the ancient house with gables wide; + Shut out the world of swift and merry hours. + In the long silence of a fairy-story + My heart stood still. Then, at a turn I spied + My Mother, smiling at the other flowers. + + + + + GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE + + + Grandmother’s house is far away. + You take the train and you ride all day, + Till you come to a meadow beside the sea, + As green and still as a place can be. + + In a little white room is a little white bed; + The pillow is sweet where you lay your head; + And all around is the scent of rose, + That breathes wherever Grandmother goes. + + Down in the meadow the crickets trill + As if they thought it was daytime still; + “_Cheep! Cheep! Cheep! Cheep! + Cheepy, cheepy! Cheep! Cheep!_” + Oh, how can a body go to sleep? + + All alone you lie and hark + To the curious sounds that come in the dark; + For the wall says “_Crick!_” And the floor goes “_Creak!_” + Then out in the hall is a rustle and squeak. + + A wee voice cries and is still again; + Then Something taps on the window-pane. + There’s a whispering in the tree outside, + And a sigh, that Grandmother _says_ is the tide. + + Grandmother’s house is nice by day, + But at night you seem very far away. + And the noise of the quiet is so loud, + It bothers you more than the noise of a crowd. + + + + + GRANDMOTHER’S GARDEN + + + This was the garden that Grandmother made, + Here in the filtering sunlight and shade. + Here grew the delicate, old-fashioned posies, + Columbine, larkspur, cinnamon roses, + Balsam and lavender, briar and box, + Pale mignonette and chintz hollyhocks; + Neatest of paths for the tiniest feet, + Wandering, wavering, all through the sweet. + And there, quite the prettiest blossom of all, + Mother went tiptoeing when she was small. + + This is the garden that Grandmother made— + New buds to open as older ones fade. + With her wee waterpot making the showers, + _My_ mother dallied with _her_ mother’s flowers; + Quaint little figure with cheeks like a rose, + Starched pantalettes and slippers with bows; + Bonny brown hair and a bonnet of straw, + And the merriest eyes that the sun ever saw. + But for Grandmother’s garden and all that was in it, + Why, where should _I_ be this blessed minute? + + + + + THE FRIGHTENED PATH + + + The wood grew very quiet + As the road made a sudden turn; + Then a wavering, furtive path crept out + From the tangled briar and fern. + + “Where does it lead?” I asked the child; + She shivered and shook her head. + “It doesn’t _lead_ to any place. + It is running away!” she said. + + “It is running away on tiptoe + Through the untrodden grass, + To join the cheerful highroad, + Where real, live people pass. + + “It runs from a heap of ruins + Where a home stood in old days; + But nothing living goes there now, + And—Nothing Living stays!” + + + + + DEVIL’S GOLD + + + A HAMPTON LEGEND + + The General rolled in a coach-and-four, + His head held high in pride; + And Mary, who should have married me, + Cowered in silk at his side. + + The mud of the General’s chariot-wheels + Grimed me, plodding by; + But I saw a doom on his pallid face, + And met the fear in her eye. + + For well she knew—as I know now, + As neighbors guessed full well— + He had sold his soul for a bootful of gold + To the Devil himself from Hell. + + · · · · · + + He called from the hearth of his paneled hall + To the Fiend on the chimney-crown; + His jack-boot stood in the chimney-place, + And the gold came pouring down. + + The gold poured down in a tinkling flood, + And covered the great hall floor; + But the General roared to the Devil above— + “Nay! more! and more! and more!” + + For the great jack-boot was never filled + Till the gold lay three-foot thick; + The bargainer had cut the toe, + And fooled the Fiend by the trick. + + But the lady shivered in the dark + At the roar of the General’s mirth; + While brimstone flashes seared the roof, + And the Fiend’s wrath shook the earth. + + · · · · · + + I read in the face of the smitten man + As he passed me on that day, + And in the haunted lady’s eye— + That his hour was near to _pay_. + + And when we bore the General’s bier + To his proud tomb up the road, + Ten of the sturdiest lads in town + Staggered beneath the load. + + Ten of the sturdiest lads in town + Turned pale as lime-bleached bones + When their burden dropped and the cover loosed; + The coffin was filled with stones! + + My Mary fled from the haunted house + To toil as a poor man’s wife; + For not one pound of her widow’s wealth + Would I suffer to curse our life. + + The only dower she brought away + Was the terrible tale she told; + And our children bred in a humble home + Are marked with the hate of gold. + + + + + THE HAUNTED HOUSE + + + Upon a little rise it stands alone, + Dark and forbidding, where three crossroads meet; + The dim, fierce windows frown upon the street + From walls with mould and mosses overgrown. + + Pink hollyhocks group idly at the door, + And bend above the latch with prying eyes, + Or shake their heads and whisper, gossipwise, + Secrets that trouble living hearts no more. + + The rusty hinges give a warning scream; + The jealous panels shudder as they swing. + About my face the dusty cobwebs cling, + Soft as the shadow-fingers of a dream. + + There is a window looking to the sea; + The small, cracked panes are blurred as if with tears. + Here long ago a young bride felt the fears + That even now creep coldly over me. + + Here trembling still she sat, yet made no moan, + But felt an unseen presence fill the door, + And heard a light step steal across the floor, + And shrank beneath a touch that chilled her own.... + + Once more I pass the hall, the dim oak stair. + A sudden gust breathes down, a tremulous sigh; + A silken rustle lightly whispers by; + A fragrance as of roses fills the air. + + + + + ROSE PERENNIAL + + + The worn gray slab yet lies before + What once was a thrifty farmer’s door; + Now roofless cellar and scattered stones + Show skeleton hopes with time-picked bones. + Here backed against a crumbling wall + Still blooms at bay, unpruned and tall, + A soil-disdaining moss-rose bush, + The delicate buds in faintest flush, + Clutched by the brambles and woodbine, + Whose envious fingers tear and twine. + + There was the huge barn; here the yard, + Where the grim farmer labored hard + From dawn to dark, and never knew + A dream beyond the crops he grew, + The stock he raised, the silver store + Under the loose board in the floor. + + To and fro, to and fro, + The feet of his little wife would go, + All day long and half the night, + Up a flight and down a flight; + Pantry to kitchen, pen to barn, + Cellar to garret with loom of yarn; + In to the babies, out to the men, + Down to the pasture and back again. + Farms were never planned, you find, + To save the steps of womenkind. + + One can trudge and drudge through a long life’s course, + If she discover a hidden source + To seek when the spirit is faint and dry. + + Here was her rosebush growing high, + That he never knew—for he never cared; + This was her joy no mortal shared. + Her hands were never too stiff or tired + To foster beauty the soul desired; + The first shy green, the venturesome shoot, + Flushing sap from the sturdy root, + Moss-veiled bud and passionate bloom; + Scarlet hips for the winter gloom. + Never too worn the busy feet, + Never too dull the old heart’s beat, + For a furtive trip to the little shrine + That made the moment a pause divine. + + Here by the bush one glimpsed the Hills, + Where forests crooned and ran free rills; + One breathed deep draughts from a windswept sky, + Sunset, moonglow, mystery. + + This was her rosebush by the wall. + Gone is the farmer, farm and all; + Gone herd and crops and silver store. + The children grown return no more + To the hearth deserted, the loveless place, + Haunted by one enduring grace; + A dream of beauty, torn with briar, + Clutched in vain as it reaches higher. + + + + + SCARECROW + + + Rags and tags of what he was, + Topped with straw and stuffed with hay; + Balanced tipsily askew, + It grins to scare the crows away. + + I saw _Him_ first in that old hat— + It seemed the crown of a king to me. + I liked his careless swagger then; + Lord! He was straight and fine to see. + + He courted me in that same coat— + He couldn’t meet it now, I guess. + That gay vest was the one he wore + When I walked bride in my silver dress. + + He seemed as proud as I, those days. + I never dreamed, when we were wed, + I’d think the Scarecrow a better man, + With a broom for a spine and a pumpkin head. + + Rags and tags of what he seemed, + Mocking me in the field all day. + What can I make a scarecrow of, + To drive the hungry thoughts away? + + + + + INSPIRATION + + + Life—Death in a drop of dew; + And a prism to sift a sunbeam through. + + Fragile, perfect, briefly bright, + A tremulous miracle of light; + + Beauty poised on a flower-tip; + A whole round world for a Thrush to sip! + + + + + A WASTED MORNING + + + I wasted a morning! + Where? And why? + I let swift hours go silently by, + As I lay at the foot of an ancient tree, + And let God’s universe talk to me. + + Wind and shadow, cloud and bird, + Spoke each to my heart a musical word. + The little brown cone that fell on my cheek, + The squirrel who mocked with an impudent squeak, + The golden mushroom brimmed with death, + The twin-flower blessing the air with its breath; + Old spider spinning above my head + A magical dream with her rainbow thread; + The liliput vases of moss below; + The sudden caw of a picket crow; + The rhythmical green of a supple snake + Quivering into a lair of brake; + The grumbling bee, the whispering pine— + What need had they for a word of mine? + They lived the poem; they wove the spell + No tongue could utter, no phrases tell; + And a human voice could but disgrace + The eloquent stillness of the place. + + So I lay at the foot of the ancient tree, + And let God’s free verse sing to me. + + + + + CIPHERS + + + Oh, to be a wonder-child + And read the cipher of the wild! + + A starry-splintered alphabet + In the ancient rocks is set, + Spelling, if one held the key, + All creation’s history. + Cryptic messages I trace + Etched on many a flower-face; + Graven symbols score the pines, + The birches wear mysterious signs— + Perhaps the wistful diary + Of the Dryad in her tree. + + On the open page of snow + Curious hieroglyphics show, + Dots and dashes, twist and thrust, + Carven in the crystal crust; + Marks of furred and feathered things + With furtive feet or startled wings— + Comic secrets of the dark, + Silent tragedy and stark. + + Ciphers, ciphers everywhere, + In the sky, the wave, the air! + On the faces that one meets + Adrift upon the eddying streets; + On the near and dear, that change + With lines inscrutable and strange— + Palimpsests that time has wrought + With the signs of hidden thought, + Dreams unguessed and griefs unsaid, + Passionate yearning unbetrayed. + + Ah, could Love but find and own + Nature’s old Rosetta Stone! + + + + + PINE MUSIC + + + A hundred years I seek the stars + Through tempest, heat, and cold; + My body scarred by many scars, + My spirit wisely old. + + Yet the eternal song I sing, + From sun and shadow made, + Is lisped as sweetly every spring + By the least flowers that fade. + + + + + MAIDS AND MUSHROOMS + + + Oddly fashioned, quaintly dyed, + In the wood the mushrooms hide; + Rich and meaty, full of flavor, + Made for man’s delicious savor. + But he shudders and he shrinks + At the piquant mauves and pinks. + Who is brave enough to dare + Curious shapes and colors rare, + Dainties in peculiar dresses, + Fairy-rings and inky messes? + Something sinister must be + In the strange variety. + It is better not to know; + Safer but to peer—and go. + + So the mushrooms dry and fade, + Like full many a blooming maid, + With her dower of preciousness + Hid too well for men to guess. + But the toadstools bright and yellow + Tempt and poison many a fellow, + With their flaunting beauty bright, + The bold promise of delight. + Taste and suffer, ache and burn; + Generations do not learn! + + Nay, a little mushroom study + Would not injure anybody. + + + + + IN THE DARK + + + In the dark I lie and think + Of the glory in a day; + Of the sunshine and the shade, + All the color soft or gay. + + I can see it better now + As I lie with curtained eyes. + Oh, the rainbow and the moon; + Oh, the opal of the skies! + + How the poppies glow and thrill, + How the pigeon-feathers shine! + I will weave them into dreams, + I will make them ever mine. + + All the wonder of a wave, + All the magic of a tree— + I shall wear them in my soul + When these eyes no longer see. + + + + + GARDEN THOUGHTS + + + Some of us are roses, + Some of us are weeds; + All of us began in clay, + Silent little seeds. + + Some of us are flaunting, + Some of us are shy; + All of us have roots in earth, + Faces to the sky. + + Some give joy by living, + Some leave fragrance, dead; + Thorns and spines and ugliness + May yield balm or bread. + + Twisted, seared and stunted, + Radiant, sweet and glad; + Who shall say that one is “good” + And another “bad”? + + + + + THE PASSER-BY + + + In the fragrant, moonlit night, + Without a thought of fear, + I wakened in my seaward room + And felt a Presence near. + + The open window glowed, + And suddenly I knew + That Some One was out walking + Above the summer dew. + + The tall pines held their breath, + And the little cedar trees, + With all the grasses in the field, + Were kneeling on their knees. + + Beyond the dunes the sea + Was like a silver floor, + For Some One’s holy feet to cross + Out of a foreign shore. + + Then lo! Above the trees + A halo, round and bright! + No more I saw of One who passed + All silent in the night. + + + + + FROST + + + Hark to a call in the late September night, + From the little garden-close crying—crying! + As the cold stars watch from their safe, untroubled height, + Faintly breathes the scented prayer—“Help! We are dying!” + + Who would invade the sisterhood of flowers, + In their cloistered innocence fresh and gently gay? + What so cruel foe would dare profane the hours, + To fright the tender sleeping buds and steal their peace away? + + Hark! The wistful cry again! Wafted o’er the grasses + Comes the trembling fragrance, a sigh from hearts of gold. + Something sly and sinister in the shadow passes; + Shivering draw the covers close, the blood runs cold! + + Lo, in the morning, the bleak and hoary morning. + Desolate the garden where the white foe crept; + Wall or moat no bar to him, come without a warning. + Capturing the pretty ones helpless where they slept. + + Cruel was the touch of him, blighting was his breath. + Beauty shrank before him, but found no place to hide. + Fragile, piteous martyrs coldly done to death, + Was there none to answer when your sweet souls cried? + + + + + WINTER SONG + + + Because I sang in April + With magic in the air. + Must I be sad and silent now + When winter boughs are bare? + + My heart is not a songster + That waits upon the spring, + But while there is a blessèd sky + And friendly earth, I sing! + + For evergreen my joy is, + Like any cedar tree; + It makes a tune of ice and snow + And whispers it to me. + + + + + TANAGER + + + Scarlet bird! + Whence have you fluttered into my green gloom, + My sleepy solitude, on quiet wing, + Your voice unheard? + Why do you linger there upon the tree. + And still forbear to sing, + As if your message were a silent doom? + O torch of fire; + Enkindled at the flame of heart’s desire. + In some enchanted land! O wingèd rose. + Blown from the living garden of delight! + O flash of joy + Deliriously bright. + Escaping from the heart of some fierce boy, + Or girl who thrills and glows! + O dream incarnadine + Out of the jeweled past; red rapture that was mine! + Why sent to torture me? + You cut the shadow like an open wound; + The forest bleeds with your intensity, + In a mysterious anguish unrelieved by sound. + + And when you flit away, + Back to your radiant realm, your vivid day, + And shivering I shall gaze + Down the dim alley empty of your blaze, + The darkness will be darker evermore, + The silence stiller than it was before. + Then faded peace will brood— + A moment stirred + In the transfigured wood, + O scarlet bird! + + + + + SONG + + + Oh, yes, I love you still, my lad, + For that is woman’s way; + A whole life long of tenderness + For the fancy of a day. + + I gave you golden loyalty + And starry faith to wear. + You gave me pearls that were my tears, + And silver in my hair. + + You gave me something less than good, + I gave the best I had. + But yes—the man I thought you were, + I love him still, my lad. + + + + + THE KNOCK + + + Did you knock at the door, my Dear? + Knock, and I fail to hear? + + Was I so eager to bind my hair, + And fasten a flower to make me fair; + Study a book that I might be wise, + Or make you a song for a sweet surprise? + Mixing a cake, + Saying a prayer, + All for your sake, + All for your care— + So busily happy I did not hear + When you knocked, my Dear! + + Will you pass to another door, + And knock at my own no more? + + Shall I listen and wait and long, + No more laughter, no more song? + But still with the faded rose in my hair, + Still on my lips the tremulous prayer; + Till the fire goes out + To a single spark. + Ending the doubt; + And in empty dark, + Shall I sit and hear + The knock, knock, knock of my heart? My Dear! + + + + + AN OLD-WORLD CONVENT GARDEN + + + Walled quiet from the din. + So near, of worldly strife; + A cloistered peace within, + A life apart from life. + Shrines bowered in roses sweet, + And in a hidden dell + Worn by accustomed feet, + A holy well. + + Along the ancient wall + Fruit basking in the sun; + Flowers radiant and tall— + A coquette every one. + Bees busy on the stalks, + Birds mating in the weeds— + Here a pale Sister walks, + Telling her beads. + + High walls to shut aside + The world’s dear bliss and care! + O Birds, your nestlings hide + In sanctuary there. + High walls to her, to me— + But ah! to wings, how low; + Blest little Birds, quite free + To come—and go! + + + + + A SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAY IN BRITTANY + + FOR C. N. B. + + + Who counts the foolish years? + This Brittany of ours, + With all her gathered hopes and fears, + Her scroll of smiles and tears, + Is young, amid her sweet, perennial flowers. + About the lone, deserted shrines + Carol melodious songsters of to-day; + Weaving their modern spell + Through Carnac’s mighty lines + The sun-burned children play, + Knowing, perchance, the ancient secret well. + Above the buried Ys, + Stout fishers in their rainbow shallops ply; + Gazing into the azure depths they sigh, + Dreaming of fair Dahut, and brighter realms than this, + Longing to feel her kiss. + But homely love is waiting them ashore; + Soon they will sigh no more. + Joy of the present, full of light and life, + Faith of the future years, with promise rife— + Belovèd of the sea, + How young is Brittany! + + Who marks the months’ retreat? + It is not fall when roses are abloom, + When strawberries are sweet, + And snowy, great magnolias breathe perfume. + This bright September day, + With radiant sky and balmy airs at play, + Renewing joy in every living thing, + Is Spring! Is Spring! + + And so with you, dear Mother! Heart of youth, + Wise in your dreaming, soul of mystery, + Tender in faith and truth. + Lo, in your gentle hands you hold the key + Of Spring eternal, of the spirit’s prime; + You make a slave of time. + With his malicious fears, + And as this _spring_ day brightly + Clasps like a gem the threaded years + You wear so lightly, + Who shall seek to sum them, + Admiring still how sweetly you become them? + + _Vitré + September 3, 1913_ + + + + + THE BLAZED TRAIL + + + Just when the path is lost to me, + Bewildered wanderer in the maze, + Upon some unexpected tree + I spy the Woodman’s blaze; + + A mystic rune of sight or sound, + A message quick from sense to soul, + That lifts the spirit from the ground + And speeds it to the goal. + + A wind-flower nodding by an oak + Has given assurance from afar; + Once in the dark a fragrance spoke, + And once it was a star. + + The silver fluting of a thrush; + The bursting of a sunken flame; + A sigh of wind, a sudden hush— + Out of the depths I came. + + A burning challenge to despair + Flashed from an idly-open book; + A small dumb creature’s silent prayer, + A friend’s revealing look; + + And all the doubtful horrors fade, + The weary heart leaps up again. + Through tangled thickets in the shade, + The Trail shows broad and plain. + + + + + BUT THERE ARE WINGS + + + “How big it is, the Blueness everywhere!” + Between two seas, her playtime scarce begun, + Trembles the shy, bewildered little one. + Above her roll the shoreless depths of air + Reflected in her azure eyes; and there + Close to her feet in thunderous fury run + The crowding waters, peacock in the sun, + That fling a salty threat upon her hair. + + “But there are wings!” They brood against the sky, + A cloudy wonder; while upon the deep + She sees them dip and flutter, far and near. + “The same kind wings that shelter one asleep!” + So, drawing reassurance in a sigh, + She digs the treacherous sand without a fear. + + + + + SAFE? + + + If I but set my casement high + Where none peer in at me, + I shall look only at the sky + And the fair top of the tree. + + I shall forget the sorry things + The swallows do not tell; + I shall not see the wounded wings + Of the little bird that fell. + + And if below there crawls a road, + Where dusty travelers go, + Groaning beneath a weary load— + Why, I shall never know. + + I can pretend there is no sin, + No pain and misery, + If I gaze out where none look in + To read the heart of me. + + + + + THE UP-HILL STREET + + + There’s a lane through grassy meadows, + There’s a turnpike to the sea, + There’s a trail across the mountain + Which is very dear to me. + There’s a shady, quiet roadway + On the border of the town; + There are footpaths going blithely + Up the little hills and down. + And oh! I love the highroads + My happy feet have pressed. + But walk at evening, walk at morn, + There’s one I love the best. + + It is a narrow city street + That clambers with a will + Between two ragged cliffs of brick + Upon a windy hill. + I see it from my window, + I watch it every day + Slope to the level sky-verge + Whereon it melts away; + While etched across the picture + Stands straight and strong and tall, + The oak tree that I planted + When I was very small. + + Above, a narrow sky-way + The houses frame for me; + Beyond, across the city— + Though I can hardly see— + I know the blue bay opens, + With towering blocks between; + I feel, I smell, I hear it + When winds blow east and keen! + And I have dwelt here always; + A child I saw it climb, + The quaint, forgotten byway, + Unmarked by change or time. + + How often have I trod it! + Each brick and stone I know! + Each little rise and hollow + Though hidden under snow. + And looking from my window + I almost think to see + A childish figure climbing— + The little shade of Me. + But as I watch her, smiling— + The child who once was I— + My Fancy climbs the little hill + And merges in the sky. + + + + + CITY SMOKE + + + Oh, the smoke of the city! + Pouring in columns black and thick; + Swooping, a nightmare bird of prey, + From a hideous eyrie of iron and brick, + Obscuring the day; + Sinister, greasy, noisome, vile, + Spoiling the delicate, fouling the pure, + Creeping like sorrowful sin or guile + Through tiniest cranny and lock secure. + The rosiest chamber reeks with its breath, + And the dens already besmirched with death. + It broods impartial, sullying all, + Palace, tenement, hovel and hall; + Beauty’s ruin and Nature’s ban, + Price of the fierce, packed struggle of man. + Grim smoke hovering without pity, + Over the city. + + Oh, the smoke of the city! + Rising and rolling a magical stream, + Spreading and wavering higher and higher; + Bright with the opaline colors of dream, + A torrent of beauty, a cloud of desire. + Delicate gossamer rags float free, + Drifting into eternity, + Washed with radiance, purged and clean, + All-escaping, ethereal, new; + Vision of poets sublime, serene, + Etching the blue; + Life transfigured by hope again, + Prize of the dear, near loving of men. + Glorified smoke, like a halo of pity, + Over the city. + + + + + GREEN CROSSES + + + At the back of the pompous houses, + Above the beautiful river-way, + A row of squalid barrels + Blush at themselves in the morning light. + From one grotesquely leaning, + Dusty and scarred + Amid the dead, forgotten slag and ashes, + A fir-tree thrusts its live, protesting fingers— + Crosses of green. + About it still cling a few silver cobwebs, + Rags of its brief splendor. + It was the Christmas Tree + That graced the cheerful drawing-room + A little while; + That blessed the comfortable house with its fragrance, + And with its symbols of love, + The small green crosses. + + A pinched, pale child with hungry eyes, + Ragged and wolfish, but with wisps of glory + Still haloing her hair, + Comes with her bag of rubbish. + Her eyes brighten; + She sets down her heavy burden, + She forgets the cold as she picks at the little tree, + Plucks eagerly at the fragile cobwebs; + They are so silvery few! + But they do not go into the heavy sack. + Her thin, blue fingers snap one of the green crosses; + She twists the tinsel thread about it, + And sticks it in her breast. + Then she shoulders her bundle of trash, + And stumbles away, smiling. + + The green crosses, alive in the dust! + The Christmas Tree! + The evergreen tree whose roots are cut— + On the dump it will die! + + The Christmas Tree! + What if this ornament of brief holidays, + This plaything of a favored few, + This strong, slow-murdered creature of pure woods, + With its green crosses, + Were really growing! + If it were rooted in the hearts + Of Christendom! + How different a world would see this sunny morning! + No war; no hate; + No want nor selfishness; + No ragged children, starved for tinsel joys, + Furtively clutching at rejected beauty + On a forgotten cross, + The green cross of Love. + + + + + THE MYSTIC CIRCLE + + + Eight lusty bell-ringers + In the loft of the campanile; + Eight quick-eyed, firm-muscled, clean-lipped lads, + Forming a mystic circle, + Poised a-tiptoe, + Hands above heads, + Waiting. + Eight stout ropes mysteriously pending + From the unrevealing, dusty rafters. + The bells are poised for the peal, + Though they remain unseen, + Waiting. + + The magic word is spoken by the leader— + “_She_’s off!” (The unmistakable English accent.) + The treble bell gives signal first, + The racing merry scales descend. + The cue is flashed from eye to eye; + The Bob-major double, + An intricate combination of sequences, + A miracle of mathematics resolved into sound; + A psalm of joy! + While the sturdy arms pull in ordered eagerness, + And the bright eyes shine. + + The Bells! + Their tongues are loosed. + The charm of the mystic circle has made them animate, + Has lifted the enchantment of silence + And given sound to their joy. + In the tower above the young men, + (So near, unseen,) + They shout till the rafters ring; + A revel of frank, untrammeled spirits, + Like innocent children with clear, full voices, + Merry, unrestrained, irresponsible. + A somersaulting group of eight, + Praises God in mirth. + Still farther above, + High in the vault of the church, + Revealed in ethereal, vibrating overtones, + Like the whirring of great wings, + The heavenly choir chanting Te Deum + Join in the song; + The Angels of the Bells, + Tender intermediaries between earth and heaven, + Breathing holy gladness, singing ineffable praise. + + Above, above again, + Far above the pointed spire, + Above the seething city and the sinning world, + Above the singing in the hearts of men, + The clamor of bells, the choiring of angels— + Silence. + The eternal harmony of all sound, + The caught-up commingled praises of creation, + Blended into quiet, + The Silence that is God: + God listening; God approving; God the Father of Joy, + Blessing His angels and His bells, + Blessing the ringers with rapt faces, + Tense, devotional, + Who consummate the ritual of sound + In a religious office. + + Eight young men + In a mystic circle, + Whose center is the center of the universe, + God. + + + + + SONG OF THE BOOKWORM + + + Who would long for wings to wander + Over sea or mountains yonder? + Who would hang on risky pinion, + And become the breezes’ minion, + When the spirit, birdlike, hovers, + Borne between two leathern covers? + These are wings a fay might sigh for, + Or a chubby cherub cry for! + + So the dusty Bookworm quivers + Into life; the cocoon shivers, + Bursts into a world of glory, + Borne on tinted wings of story, + Poesy, romance or fairy— + Wings of book-leaves thin and airy; + Floats and flutters off, away, + To Avonside or far Cathay. + + There is no land so strange, so far, + From pole to pole, from star to star, + But he may visit passage free, + No duty, fare or grudging fee. + Hey for Egypt! Ho for Arden! + Mowgli’s jungle, Omar’s garden! + None shall limit, none can stay, + When the Bookworm flits away! + + + + + THE BOOKS I OUGHT TO READ + + + On dusty shelves in serried ranks they stand, + Reproachful thousands, quaint, and grave and great. + My guilty conscience hears their mute commands, + Yet day by day—they wait. + + Their army grows more deadly every year; + Their captain-names I cannot call to mind. + A friend amid the order would, I fear, + Be very hard to find. + + But to a corner shelf by most forgot, + I steal, and to my conscience pay no heed, + With boon companions dear. Yet these are not + The books I ought to read! + + + + + JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE + + FEBRUARY 12, 1916 + + + Wizard of youth! How many years, + Since first we felt the story-spell, + Your name has thrilled the childish ears + That knew your magic well. + + Dear noble head of snowy hair, + Face with the sunglow; keen, kind eyes; + Presence erect and debonair, + Heart generous and wise. + + No more our Poet walks the land! + Your mellow voice no more is heard. + Oh, for the warm clasp of your hand, + The friendly, precious word! + + But in the hearts whose love you share, + In countless friends you never met, + In the world’s childhood everywhere + Your life is singing yet. + + Your merry quips; your thought’s pure gold; + Your knightly quest and champion cry; + The songs you sang, the tales you told— + Their echoes do not die. + + They make a part of what we are, + Of all the best we think and do. + The land you loved is better far + Because her youth loved you! + + + + + THE JOY-VENDER + + + Giovanni Carbone, lame and old, + Has a struggling bunch of balloons to hold; + Balloons like giant, luscious grapes, + With shiny skins and the roundest shapes. + They dodge and tug to get away, + Like children, peevish at control. + + Early and late the patient soul + Smiling and nodding keeps his stand, + On a corner where the breezes play, + And the child-parade goes by each day; + For windmills whirl in his other hand. + Petaled windmills of every hue + Known to his native, opal land, + Busily, dizzily whiz and whir, + Making rosettes of rainbow blur, + Too bewildering to be true. + Giovanni guards the corner well; + A kindly wizard, ready to sell + For a tiny bit of sordid money + A gaudy joy, when the day is sunny. + Flimsy joys! Just pretty toys, + Fragile and useless anywhere; + Except to little girls and boys + Empty and meaningless as air! + + How babies love the foolish things! + Their chubby, mittened hands they reach, + Pout rosy lips in lisping speech, + Coaxing the wizard with wrinkled face + To part with his treasure, + The joys that have wings. + He is willing enough, for a nickel or two— + And what is a nickel to me or you? + He grins and nods with an artist’s grace, + Pleased with the little ones’ guileless pleasure. + He airily pockets the proffered pence, + Tethers his wares to the iron fence. + With gentle fingers he ties the strings + To proud small buttons; he thrusts a wand— + A fairy wand—in a baby hand. + “_Va bene!_” + Off to a Wonderland! + + Giovanni Carbone! No wonder you grin, + With your burning eye set in parchment skin; + Purveyor of dreams for the innocent; + Maker of laughter rather than pain; + Vender of perfect, rounded content. + I envy you again and again + Your job and your bit of wonder-money, + And your breezy stand, when the day is sunny. + + + + + THE SPARROW + + + Little bird of dusty brown, + Why do you stay here in town, + In the noise and dirt and heat + Hopping in the ugly street? + Other songsters choose to go + Where the grass and clovers grow, + Where the dew is on the hill + And the shady woods are still; + Where the baby rivers skip, + And the cool green mosses drip. + There to-morrow I shall be! + Sparrow, do you envy me? + + Saucy bird, alert and quick, + Lingering on stone and brick— + Little children linger too, + Who perhaps are fond of you; + Pale and pitiful to see, + Sick and sorry too, maybe. + They can dream, but never stray + Where the ferns and daisies play. + All the sultry summer through + They will hear no bird but you, + Cheap and common, sharp and shrill, + Chirping, chirping, chirping still, + Picking bugs and crumbs and things. + Yet—you have the gift of wings! + They can see you dart and fly + Free and high to tree and sky— + Only little comrade given + Who can bring them news of heaven! + + Sparrow, though I run away, + Is that why you choose to stay? + + + + + SYLVIA + + + Sylvia is always gay. + When she winged to earth one day, + Through the wonders of the sky, + She caught a star as she flew by, + Green and gold and amethyst, + In her tiny baby fist, + And hid it in her little breast + As a secret unconfessed. + + Like a jeweled lantern she + Shines for all the world to see. + In her eyes the sparkle beams, + From her burnished hair it gleams; + Radiant all she does and says, + All her pretty, twinkling ways— + Just because she dared to leaven + Lifetime with a bit of heaven. + Sylvia! Without your spark, + Oh, the journey would be dark. + + + + + THE PLUME + + + “Here is a gift,” the Brownie said, + As something fell on the little maid’s head— + “A golden feather with silver bars + Of the Faraway Bird who sings to the stars; + A beautiful plume to use as you will, + Fortunate friend on top of the hill! + Fasten it into your curly hair; + Love will follow and find you fair. + Put it into the Magi’s hands; + They will pay you with gold and lands. + Feather a shaft with the magic thing, + And bring down Fame with a crippled wing. + Other wonders the plume can do, + But I wouldn’t bother, if I were you!” + + Now the queer little maid on top of the hill + Clipped the plume to a scratchy quill— + The golden feather with silver bars + Of the Faraway Bird who sings to the stars! + She wrote and wrote, all night, all day, + The curious things it made her say— + Wonder-tales and whimsical rhymes, + Faraway deeds from faraway times, + Told for the clamorous boys and girls, + With bangs and braids, with clips and curls. + The children laughed and clapped and cried— + “Tell it again! Tell more beside!” + Then the queer little maid was proud and glad, + And this was the good of the gift she had— + The magical plume of the Faraway Bird. + + But the Brownie sighed, for never a word + To the busy house on the hilltop came + Of flattering love, or wealth, or fame. + + + + + THE WOODSY ONES + + + Hear them creeping, creeping, creeping, + through the mosses and the brush, + The Woodsy Ones whom I can never see! + Now they snap a twig and falter, + now they laugh and whisper “Hush!” + As they dodge their little heads behind a tree. + + Hear them dancing, dancing, dancing, + in the grass when I’m abed, + And singing at my window in the moon! + Oh, the fairy music bubbles + in my dizzy little head, + And I drift away to Nothing all too soon! + + + + + THE WEE KNITTER + + + _Click! Click! Click!_ + Hark to the needles knitting fast + Of the wee Knitter in the sun. + Over the fairy finger-tips are cast + Gossamer threads by an old witch-spider spun + In her den at the heart of a flower + In a moonlit hour. + + _Click! Click! Click!_ + The wee small Knitter is all in green, + With thistledown hair, + And petal-shoon on her silver toes + That she swings in the air, + From her perch on a tremulous rose, + Knitting unseen. + + _Click! Click! Click!_ + The slender needles of the pine + Flash spicy fragrance as they go, + To and fro, + In the sweet sunshine, + Knitting a secret few can know, + Of magical meshes none may spy + With a mortal eye. + + _Click! Click! Click!_ + A fairy laugh rings clear and wild, + As eagerly the needles knit, + Knot by knot and bit by bit, + A purse invisible to hold + Not gold— + But a bit of luck for a human child. + + Do you hear, do you hear, O Fortunate One, + The wee small Knitter in the sun? + _Click! Click! Click!_ + + + + + A CHARM SAID UNDER AN OAK + + + _Deus Robur Meus._ + Oak, with thy straightness, + Oak, with thy wholeness, + Oak, with thy brightness, + Hearten me! Aid me! + Rooted in passionate earth, + Crowned in ethereal blue, + Breathing ineffable love, + Shelter me! Shade me! + + With thy sweet strength, + With thy cool peace, + With thy green joy, + Touch me and thrill me! + Spirit of patience, + Spirit of courage, + Spirit of wisdom, + Cover me! Fill me! + + Balm-giving oak, + Force-giving oak, + Self-giving oak, + Inspire and elate me! + Lovely green tree of life, + Happy tall tree of hope, + Holy great tree of good, + Oh, consecrate me! + _Deus Robur Meus._ + + + + + FAIRY RING + + + I stepped within the fairy ring, + Where it was green, so green. + Then I heard the trill of a fairy bell, + And the song of the Fairy Queen. + + The secret that she murmured me, + To the trill of the fairy bell, + Was sweet, so sweet you’d not believe, + If I should try to tell. + + But step you too in the fairy ring, + And hold fast to my hand; + Then we may hear a lovelier thing, + And both will understand. + + + + + DANGEROUS PASSING + + + Who ventures to the Magic Wood? + Who dares the moonlit way, + Full perilous in the silver flood, + Though safe enough by day? + + Who brushes through the mystic dew + To hear the flute of Pan, + And spy upon our dancing crew? + Beware, O Maid, O Man! + + The Wee Folk lurk behind the trees + And ambush in the fern; + Our mischief whispers in the breeze— + Ye Trespassers, return! + + Enchanted, each to each shall seem + Transfigured and divine; + Your faces with strange beauty gleam, + Your lips hold maddening wine. + + You shall forget for what you seek; + Careless of all about, + Hand clasped to hand and cheek to cheek, + Sport for the elfin rout. + + We tangle never to be free + The feet that tread too far. + Beware the moonlight witchery, + The magic of a star! + + + + + THE DRYAD + + + I was a Dryad cloistered in a tree, + Nor knew it for a cell, so close and kind; + Till some one’s careless fingers found the key + And set me free to sun and sky and wind. + + Heigho! The outer world seemed very sweet, + For all the sunlit mysteries were new, + The tender little moss caressed my feet, + I drank of flower-wine and crystal dew. + + I heard quaint stories from the birds and bees; + My cheeks were of the sun’s warm kisses fain; + I joined wild frolics with the reckless breeze, + And mocked the mocking echoes back again. + + But when the evening fell and all the world + Folded to rest without a thought of me, + With fear a-shiver as the dark unfurled, + I longed to shelter in the ancient tree. + + The sun has gone and now my heart is cold! + My friend the breeze, grown weary with his play, + Slumbers upon the flowers; while all the gold + Has faded from the glory of the day. + + O good great Oak, close me within your bark! + I droop and faint and cannot wander more. + But though through all the world I search the dark, + I cannot find my cloister’s wrinkled door. + + O good great Oak, let me not seek in vain + A helpless Dryad, exiled from her tree! + Ah, but to feel your clasping strength again + Between the cruel, careless world and me! + + + + + FAIRY WINE + + + You from east and I from west + Both stumbled into Fairyland; + And there we wandered, blithe and blest, + Through elfin mazes, hand in hand. + + They poured a cup of magic brew + And laid enchantment on our eyes; + I thought I read the heart of you, + You saw me in a fairy guise. + + Out of the wonder-hill we came; + We blinked and stammered, wild and wan. + For you and I were just the same, + But lo! the witchery was gone! + + So, go your way and I’ll go mine, + You to the west, I to the east. + But ah, how sweet the fairy wine + We sipped together at the feast! + + + + + WEBS + + + Oh, they spread out their silver webs + Upon the moonlit grass, + Their wee bright webs of faërie, + To catch the Dreams that pass. + + The wistful dream that stole from me + And crept away to you, + They tangled it in glistering knots + Of witchery and dew. + + And whisht! Your bashful little thought, + So innocent and bright, + Got trapped in that same silver web + And kept with mine all night. + + Then ah! Whatever shall we do + Upon to-morrow day, + Our dreams are snared together so + And cannot slip away? + + + + + THE FAIRY FORT + + + As I went by the fairy fort + I heard a laughing wee voice say— + “Whisht! Be these humans rale at all? + I’ll not believe it, nay!” + + “Aye, but ye see the crayturs plain?” + “But seein’ niver makes it true, + No more that not to see be proof; + ’Tis what they think and do. + + “They just have faith in what they see, + And they be blind as midday owls— + Except the little childher dear, + And some with childher sowls. + + “They chase unrale things all day long— + Money and aise and fame and power— + With niver time to pipe and dream, + Or gossip with a flower. + + “Such stupid things they be, and quare! + I’ll not believe in them, not I! + Come, let us pipe a rale, true lilt, + And lave the crayturs by.” + + As I went by the fairy fort + I heard a piping sweet and small; + I wonder, are the Wee Folk real, + Or am I real at all? + + + + + PEACE—WITH A SWORD! + + “ENSE PETIT PLACIDAM SUB LIBERTATE QUIETEM” + (_Motto of Massachusetts_) + + + Peace! How we love her and the good she brings + On broad, benignant wings! + And we have clung to her, how close and long, + While she has made us strong! + Now we must guard her lest her power cease, + And in the harried world be no more peace. + Even with a sword; + Help us, O Lord. + + For us no patient peace, the weary goal + Of a war-sickened soul; + No peace that battens on misfortune’s pain, + Swollen with selfish gain, + Bending slack knees before a calf of gold, + With nerveless fingers impotent to hold + The freeman’s sword: + Not this, O Lord! + + No peace bought for us by the martyr dead + Of countries reeking red; + No peace flung to us from the tyrant’s hand, + Sop to a servile land. + Our Peace the State’s strong arm holds high and free, + The “placid Peace she seeks in liberty,” + Yea, “with a sword.” + Help us, O Lord! + + O Massachusetts! In your golden prime, + Not with the bribe of time + You won her; subtle words and careful ways + In perilous days. + No! By your valor; by the patriot blood + Of your brave sons poured in a generous flood. + Peace, with a sword! + Help us, O Lord. + + Fling out the banners that defied a king; + The tattered colors bring + That made a nation one from sea to sea, + In godly liberty. + Unsheathe the patriot sword in time of need, + O Massachusetts, shouting in the lead— + “Peace, with a sword! + Help us, O Lord!” + + + + + THE CRY + + + Hark! From the trampled gardens once so fair, + From hateful trenches in the harried fields, + From vineyards wasting in polluted air + Their rich, ungarnered yields, + There comes the piteous, instinctive cry + Of soldiers in their lonely agony— + “Mother!” “Mère!” + + Alas! Those bonny yellow heads low-lying! + Blue anguished eyes—like eyes beloved and near! + Weak, fevered lips with painful effort sighing + That word of all most dear— + So like on every tongue, so understood, + Sign of our common, outraged brotherhood— + “Mutter!” “Mither!” + + They cry to Her—the Pity of the race, + The fostering Care from which they marched afar, + The Sympathy forsaken, and the grace + Of Love betrayed by war. + In this their bitter hour the brave men cry + To her who bore them, piteously to die— + “Madre!” “Mat!” + + And she at home, the pale, heart-broken mother— + She who had nought to do with war and strife— + Knows Cain and Abel, brother slaying brother! + Sad Eve who gave them life + Must watch and wait and weep and work, and hear + Those kindred voices crying to her ear— + “Mutter!” “Maman!” + + Oh, hearken, human Love! unselfish, high, + Impartial as the love of mothers good! + Not vainly died the lads, if their last cry + Prove us our brotherhood; + If horror so abound for kindred slain, + Man ends forever War, the crime of Cain. + “Mother!” + + + + + CRUSADERS + + + They who have seen the vision, + We who have dreamed the dream, + Are comrades of a mighty host, + Crusaders of the Gleam. + + Some lads will fall in battle, + Some wave victorious swords; + Some knit the pitying web of love, + Or forge the glowing words. + + Still, shoulder set to shoulder, + We tread the fields of fate, + Our hearts invincible to crush + Truculent ranks of Hate. + + And comrade heartens comrade + Through voids of time and space, + Flashing the Sign upon his brow, + A light upon his face. + + + + + THE KNIGHTS + + + Not dust! Not dust the chivalry, + The knightly heart of high romance + Enshrined in ancient poetry. + Behold, the battle-fields of France! + + Gone plume and crest and jeweled sword, + Gone pomp and picturesque array. + War is a grim and hideous word! + Yet heroes walk the world to-day. + + A Launcelot or Lion Heart? + A Roland or a Godfrey bold? + Nay, simple lads who bear their part + As gallantly as knights of old. + + Our lithe brown legions swinging by, + Our bonny sailors proudly free; + The dauntless champions of the sky, + The dragon-chasers on the sea! + + A thousand Sidneys pass the cup + Of blessedness on fields of blood; + And countless Bayards offer up + Their joyous hope for others’ good. + + Never were hearts so nobly bold, + Nor bodies built so strongly fair. + The tree of life has not grown old, + But blooms to-day beyond compare! + + No more we glory in the past + And yearn to see those kings of men. + The peerless knights arise at last, + And epic deeds are done again! + + + + + FROM THE CANTEEN + + + Sailor, we shall miss you, + Swaggering up and down, + Bringing picaresque romance + To the mouldy town. + + On your lips a whistle, + In your heart a dance, + A merry lass upon your arm, + Mischief in your glance. + + Childish in your loneliness, + Boyish in your needs, + But a man in strong desire, + A man to do bold deeds. + + Fearful tales you told us— + Some of them were true; + Furtive tears were often spilled + In the cups we poured for you. + + How we yearned to help you; + Longed to understand + The riddle of your restless look, + The strange lines of your hand. + + You brought us pain and vision, + Bright youth and gallant ways. + Sailor, we shall miss you + In the peaceful days! + + + + + CRIPPLED SOLDIER + + + I may have used but half my strength, + And you but half your mind, + To help the Cause for which he bled, + Leaving a limb behind. + + You may have stumbled in your task, + I may have limped and failed. + But he leaped forth to give his hope, + Nor once looked back, nor quailed. + + We may be scarred with vain regret + For duties left undone, + With stiffened limbs and slackened hearts, + When the great war is won. + + Then who will say that he is lame, + While we are safe and whole? + Who bears dread wounds for others’ sake + Has the uncrippled soul. + + And life for him may now begin, + With a new hope at heart, + While we, disfigured, face a peace + In which we won no part. + + + + + THE FLAG TRIUMPHANT + + + Across my window blow the splendid folds + Of the great flag hung out for Victory + And Peace. They gleam through traceries of vine + And struggling plants, cherished through four grim years + For comfort, now in blossom. Everything + I see between the flutterings of the flag; + The unimportant doings in the street, + The homely houses opposite, the folk + Carelessly passing; and the flight of doves— + Peace doves—along a narrow strip of sky. + I see them glorified by red and white, + Under a blessed hidden field of stars. + + And when I turn away to read or write, + My eyes are dazzled still by vivid flashes, + Caught from the floating colors. No escape + From thoughts of death heroic, life triumphant! + The room is full of red and white reflections. + The very picture-glasses are aglow + With patriotic fervor, not content + To be mere shields for ancient, precious things— + Precious for being ancient; they would share + The pride of present effort. Even shy prisms + Hung in old candelabra flush and pale + Alternately, with tremulous, caught emotion. + + O Flag of sacrifice and chivalry, + Never before so dear! Your holy red + Dyed with the blood of hero-friends; your white + Clear like their vision; and your starry field + Steadfast with life devotion! Not again, + I think, shall I look out upon the world + But through the folds of your eternal glory. + Flash your fair challenge still across my window, + Flag of my Country! + + + + + THREE GOLDEN STARS + + (IN MEMORY OF THREE RADCLIFFE GIRLS WHO DIED IN SERVICE ABROAD; RUTH + HOLDEN, ’11; LUCY N. FLETCHER, ’10; AND HELEN HOMANS) + + + Lucy, Helen, Ruth! Sweet names they have, + Our brave young soldiers, womanly and kind! + Sweet as the glorious youth of heart and mind, + The years of promise they so gladly gave. + + And they have wound the ribbon of their love + About and through the nations sundered far, + Drawing them close; each with a golden Star + Setting her seal on bonds that time shall prove. + + For one, a Briton born and Island bred, + Chose for America to serve, and bless + Our wounded with her strength and steadfastness. + She sleeps in France among her Yankee dead. + + One of New England, back to England gave + The treasure of her wisdom and her skill, + To use for hapless refugees, who still + Are weeping by her lonely Russian grave. + + And one has won a hero’s _Croix de Guerre_, + “_Morte pour La France_,” so honoring a debt. + Our sister nation never will forget + The foreign Saint who gave her soldiers care. + + Oh, greater love hath no man shown than they, + The dear, bright spirits with the radiant eyes, + Fearlessly venturing the great emprise, + Cheerfully pacing down the dolorous way! + + So, never deem their golden web unspun, + Blighted the hope, and lost the precious dower! + For Three have died to speed the blessed hour + When Truth and Love make all the nations one. + + + + + THE SPRING OF THE YEAR + + + On fields of France the violets are fair, + The skylarks sing above the broad champaign; + But where are they who walked and listened there, + The hero-lads our spring finds not again? + They leave to us who did not share the fight, + The earth’s expectancy of green delight. + + Nay! They have journeyed to a sweeter bourne, + Where ghosts of all the garnered springs survive, + With all earth-joys that never will return, + And all the flowers that ever were alive; + Where bird-songs that have echoed through the years + Make harmony too sweet for mortal ears. + + Oh, what a radiant company are they! + Forever one with all that’s newly fair; + Out of the heat and burden of the day, + The blight of fall and winter’s aged care. + They are Youth’s Gladness, ever blossoming + Beyond the wistful limit of our spring! + + + + + PRAYER FOR AMERICA + + + O Lord of justice and of right + Who made the generous Cause prevail, + Who helped our heroes win the fight, + Now let not their endeavor fail. + Facing new dangers that arise, + Oh, make us wise! + + Draw out the best of each to serve + Unselfishly the common good, + Nor let the wider vision swerve + From the true goal of brotherhood. + To this, thy mighty-blended race, + Oh, give thy grace! + + Give us great leaders we can trust + To strive for righteousness alone; + Cast small ambition in the dust, + With greed and malice overthrown. + Lord God, Preserver of the State, + Oh, make us great! + + + + + THE ROCK OF LIBERTY + A PILGRIM ODE, 1620–1920[1] + + ⁂ + + + + + I. VISION + + + PRAYER OF SAILING + + Lord God of Hosts, Defender of the weak, + With thine Almighty arm deliver us, + Thy suffering people, exiled and forlorn, + Pilgrims of faith, who dream a glorious dream! + Beyond the deep, where no man knows the way, + To savage shores beneath an alien sky, + Guide us in hope to Liberty and Peace. + Jehovah! Hearken to thy people’s cry! + Oh, grant us freedom, Lord, within thy law, + To toil or worship, live or die for Thee, + In thy name building that which shall endure + Beyond the little while we have to live. + + + THE VISION + + O rolling waste of unimagined ocean, + Dividing continents and parting men! + Yield to the fragile sails of destiny, + Maimed by the will that conquers mighty force! + Bow to the courage that endures to die, + The faith that anchors to a solid Rock. + O waves that do divide! The time will come + When water shall unite the sundered lands. + Then over sea, under the sea and through, + Shall fare the galleons of brotherhood, + Bearing the freight of liberty and love + From a great nation, heir of our desire, + To every corner of the peopled earth. + + + THE MAYFLOWER + + O Pilgrims in a cockle frail + Upon a perilous quest, + Out of the old world making sail + Into the golden west; + Beyond the misty ocean veil + Awaits a Vision blest! + + A simple little yeoman band, + None of the rich or great, + But stout of heart and strong of hand, + The pioneers of fate; + The patient builders of a land, + The founders of a State! + + Your fragile bark adventuring + Upon a fearful sea,— + Awful the cargo that you bring; + The seeds of destiny, + Promise of future harvesting + In sheaves of liberty. + + + CHORUS OF WOMEN + + The peril of the frozen wave + Our faith cannot betray; + Mothers and maidens, be ye brave, + And teach the babes to pray,— + “Jehovah! Who art strong to save, + Guide to Thy chosen Bay!” + + Famine and cold and fever come + To meet us on the shore; + Labor and want and sorrow, dumb + For joys we see no more. + O Lord, give hope in a new home; + Strength for what lies before! + + Yea, though he slay with scourge forlorn, + We trust Jehovah’s will. + Although the pitying rows of corn + Hide many a little hill + Where lie our loved and newly-born; + Our God is with us still. + + + CHORUS OF MEN + + No snarling danger in its den + Can make our courage quail; + No prowling savage of the fen + Will turn our color pale, + Nor treachery of brother men + Make our endeavor fail. + + With freedom are our furrows filled, + To blossom in the spring. + To freedom run the roads we build: + “_Freedom!_” the gray walls sing. + For FREEDOM is the word we willed + Should through the ages ring! + + + II. STRUGGLE + + + PSALM + + _The Lord is my strength; of whom shall I be afraid? + He hath brought me forth into a place of Liberty. + Oh what great and sore troubles hast Thou showed me, + And yet dost Thou quicken me again, + Yea, and shalt bring me up again out of the deep. + Thou hast tried me as silver is tried. + The Lord will give strength to His people. + The Lord will bless His people with peace._ + + + THE CAPTAIN + + We who have challenged fate + To buy the boon of peace, + Shall we not watch and wait, + Nor from the vigil cease? + Pray God for strength and trust his word, + Guarding our treasure with a sword! + + We who have burned the past + Upon an altar fire, + Will pay our lives at last + To win the soul’s desire. + Give us our peace! Renew our faith, + O Lord, to seek it unto death! + + + THE ELDER + + Come, let us build a temple to God, + Here in the wilderness, made by our might, + Set in our midst, the center of life. + Smite the tall pines that fall with a roar! + Hew the great logs and heave them in place + Square is the meeting-house, simple and stern, + Barren of beauty, honestly builded, + A shield from the arrow that flieth by day, + A haven from storm and peril of night. + Slender the spire that points to the sky, + First one of many to blaze out a path + Through the wild jungle, lifting men’s eyes + Out of the shadow into the light. + Old men and maidens, young men and children, + Enter His house with thanksgiving and praise! + + + PILGRIM MOTHERS + + Patter, patter, in and out, + Go the women’s loyal feet. + Hither, thither, roundabout, + Late and early hear the beat; + To the crib, the well, the hay, + From the kitchen to the loom; + Treading out a people’s way, + From the cradle to the tomb. + + Flutter, flutter, to and fro, + Busy hands fly out and in. + Flaxen threads are white as snow,— + Rough the little hands that spin; + Drawing out the thread of life, + Working early, winding late; + Gentle mother, noble wife, + Knitting firm a nation’s fate. + + + PILGRIM FATHERS + + Lord of the harvest and the toil, + Prosper the laborer on thy soil. + Steady the shoulder to the plow, + And let there be no faltering now. + Our lot is in a goodly land; + Inspire the heart and steel the hand + To build a fabric grandly sure + In righteousness that shall endure! + + + THE CONGREGATION + + Sing to the Lord! Here there shall be + No leading into captivity, + And no complaining on our shore. + But we will guard the lowly poor, + The little children and the weak, + And they shall find the prize they seek. + + O Liberty! The corner-stone + Of a greater hope than men have known! + + + III. ACHIEVEMENT + + + SONS + + We have felled the forest and pierced the hill; + We have scoured the prairie and venture still, + Turning the torrent to our behest, + Sons of the Pilgrims, East and West. + + + DAUGHTERS + + We have followed our men to make a home; + Wherever they fared we dared to come, + From the mountain top to the river mouth, + Daughters of Pilgrims, North and South. + + + THE NEW GENERATION + + We have builded well by the waterside, + We have garnered a harvest far and wide, + Setting our mark from sea to sea, + Heirs of the Pilgrim liberty. + + + THE ALARUM + + Daughters of men, arise! + Sons of the soil, awake! + What are the hopes ye prize + When Freedom is at stake? + Hark to a warning cry + Out of the sacred dust; + Dare all for Liberty, + Give all to keep the trust! + + “_Pray God for strength and trust his word, + Guarding our treasure with a sword!_” + + Arise, O glorious Land, + And make confusion cease! + The foes of Freedom stand + Across the path of peace. + In loyal might arrayed + Assail the host of shame. + Forward! Unafraid! + In God’s Almighty name! + + “_Give us our peace! Renew our faith, + O Lord, to seek it unto death!_” + + America! Be strong! + Heir of a noble race, + Bear the proud Flag along + Up to the highest place. + The road our fathers made + Is bright as living flame. + Forward! Unafraid! + In God’s Almighty name! + + + THE VISION FULFILLED + + O waves that did divide! The time has come + When water shall unite the sundered lands! + Now over sea, under the sea and through, + Shall fare the galleons of brotherhood, + Bearing the freight of liberty and love + From the great Nation, heir of men’s desire, + To every corner of the peopled earth. + + + THE UNION + + Lovely is this, the land of our abiding, + From shore to shore across the leagues of freedom, + From North to South in merciful abundance; + Land of our heart, America! + + The little school, the farmstead, and the chapel, + Type of the treasure that our fathers cherished, + Followed the feet that tramped beyond the mountains, + Making thy ways, America! + + Out of the East came men in mighty millions, + Into the savage corners of the country, + Scattering wide the seed of old tradition, + Germ of thy power, America! + + From deep to deep, from gulf to frozen forest, + The mountain and the plain have known their courage, + The harbor and the town have seen their wisdom, + Quickening thee, America! + + They chained the Titan, Steam, to be their servant; + They made the thunderbolt to do their bidding, + And gave thee Light to be thy living halo, + Glorious one, America! + + The old world turned to thee in time of trouble, + The people held their empty hands for succor; + Thy bread and wine of love went forth to feed them, + Strength of thy strength, America! + + Thy Liberty became the hope of nations; + To Victory thy banner crossed the ocean, + Borne by the gallant sons of Pilgrim honor, + Shouting thy name—“_America!_” + + Yet are we humble, mindful of the fathers. + Not unto us, but unto God the glory, + Who gave them grace, and made us to inherit + Their sacred trust,—America! + + + DOXOLOGY + + Praise God from whom all blessings flow. + Praise Him, all creatures here below; + Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; + Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. + Amen. + + + + + =The Riverside Press= + CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS + U . S . A + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + Copyright, 1920, by the Arthur P. Schmidt Company. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + + ● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. + ● Enclosed blackletter font in =equals=. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76783 *** diff --git a/76783-h/76783-h.htm b/76783-h/76783-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ce552b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/76783-h/76783-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4028 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> + <head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title>Heart of New England | Project Gutenberg</title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + body { margin-left: 8%; margin-right: 10%; } + h1 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: xx-large; } + h2 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; } + h3 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: large; } + h4 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: 1.0em; } + .pageno { right: 1%; font-size: x-small; background-color: inherit; color: silver; + text-indent: 0em; text-align: right; position: absolute; + border: thin solid silver; padding: .1em .2em; font-style: normal; + font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; } + p { text-indent: 0; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; text-align: justify; } + sup { vertical-align: top; font-size: 0.6em; } + .sc { font-variant: small-caps; } + .large { font-size: large; } + .xlarge { font-size: x-large; } + .small { font-size: small; } + .lg-container-b { text-align: center; } + .x-ebookmaker .lg-container-b { clear: both; } + .linegroup { display: inline-block; text-align: justify; } + .x-ebookmaker .linegroup { display: block; margin-left: 1.5em; } + .linegroup .group { margin: 1em auto; } + .linegroup .line { text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em; } + div.linegroup > :first-child { margin-top: 0; } + .linegroup .in10 { padding-left: 8.0em; } + .linegroup .in12 { padding-left: 9.0em; } + .linegroup .in2 { padding-left: 4.0em; } + .linegroup .in20 { padding-left: 13.0em; } + .linegroup .in24 { padding-left: 15.0em; } + .linegroup .in36 { padding-left: 21.0em; } + .linegroup .in4 { padding-left: 5.0em; } + .linegroup .in6 { padding-left: 6.0em; } + .linegroup .in8 { padding-left: 7.0em; } + .ul_1 li {padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; } + ul.ul_1 {padding-left: 0; margin-left: 2.78%; margin-top: .5em; + margin-bottom: .5em; list-style-type: disc; } + div.footnote > :first-child { margin-top: 1em; } + div.footnote p { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + div.pbb { page-break-before: always; } + hr.pb { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin-bottom: 1em; } + .x-ebookmaker hr.pb { display: none; } + .chapter { clear: both; page-break-before: always; } + .figcenter { clear: both; max-width: 100%; margin: 2em auto; text-align: center; } + .figcenter img { max-width: 100%; height: auto; } + .id001 { width:10%; } + .x-ebookmaker .id001 { margin-left:45%; width:10%; } + .ig001 { width:100%; } + .table0 { margin: auto; margin-top: 2em; } + .bbt { border-bottom: thin solid; } + .nf-center { text-align: center; } + .nf-center-c0 { text-align: justify; margin: 0.5em 0; } + .c000 { margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + .c001 { margin-top: 4em; } + .c002 { page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em; } + .c003 { margin-top: 1em; } + .c004 { margin-top: 4em; text-indent: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + .c005 { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + .c006 { page-break-before:auto; margin-top: 4em; } + .c007 { vertical-align: top; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1em; + padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em; } + .c008 { vertical-align: top; text-align: right; } + .c009 { margin-top: 2em; font-size: .9em; } + .c010 { margin-top: 1em; font-size: .9em; } + .c011 { page-break-before: auto; margin-top: 2em; } + .c012 { margin-top: 2em; } + .c013 { font-size: 80%; } + .c014 { text-decoration: none; } + .c015 { page-break-before: auto; margin-top: 4em; } + .c016 { page-break-before: always; margin-top: 2em; } + .c017 { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; width: 10%; margin-left: 0; + margin-top: 1em; text-align: justify; } + div.tnotes { padding-left:1em;padding-right:1em;background-color:#E3E4FA; + border:thin solid silver; margin:2em 10% 0 10%; font-family: Georgia, serif; + clear: both; } + .covernote { visibility: hidden; display: none; } + div.tnotes p { text-align: justify; } + .x-ebookmaker .covernote { visibility: visible; display: block; } + .figcenter {font-size: .9em; page-break-inside: avoid; max-width: 100%; + max-height: 100%; } + h1 {line-height: 150%; } + .footnote {font-size: .9em; } + div.footnote p {text-indent: 2em; margin-bottom: .5em; } + .chapter { clear: both; page-break-before: always; } + body {font-family: Garamond, Georgia, serif; text-align: justify; } + table {font-size: .9em; padding: 1.5em .5em 1em; page-break-inside: avoid; + clear: both; } + div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; + page-break-after: always; } + div.titlepage p {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; + line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 3em; } + .ph1 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: xx-large; + margin: .67em auto; page-break-before: always; } + .ph2 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; + page-break-before: always; } + .blackletter {font-family: 'Old English Text MT', serif; font-weight:bold; + font-style: normal; } + .x-ebookmaker p.dropcap:first-letter { float: left; } + </style> + </head> + <body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76783 ***</div> + +<div class='tnotes covernote'> + +<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong></p> + +<p class='c000'>New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.</p> + +</div> + +<div class='chapter ph1'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div>HEART OF NEW ENGLAND</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class='titlepage'> + +<div> + <h1 class='c002'>Heart of New England</h1> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c003'> + <div>By</div> + <div><span class='xlarge'>Abbie Farwell Brown</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='figcenter id001'> +<img src='images/i_title.jpg' alt='[Logo]' class='ig001'> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div>BOSTON AND NEW YORK</div> + <div><span class='large'>HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY</span></div> + <div><span class='blackletter'>The Riverside Press Cambridge</span></div> + <div>1920</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div><span class='small'>COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY ABBIE FARWELL BROWN</span></div> + <div class='c003'><span class='small'>ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div><span class='blackletter'>To</span></div> + <div><span class='blackletter'>The Memory of my Ancestor</span></div> + <div><span class='blackletter'><span class='large'>Mary Allerton Cushman</span></span></div> + <div><span class='blackletter'>Last of the Mayflower Pilgrims</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c004'>Thanks are due the publishers of various magazines +for courteous permission to reprint poems +that first appeared in their pages, as follows: <cite>The +Atlantic Monthly</cite>, <cite>Harper’s Magazine</cite>, <cite>The Bookman</cite>, +<cite>The Bellman</cite>, <cite>Contemporary Verse</cite>, <cite>The Delineator</cite>, +<cite>The Designer</cite>, <cite>The Ladies’ Home Journal</cite>, <cite>The +Woman’s Home Companion</cite>, <cite>The Smart Set</cite>, <cite>The +Youth’s Companion</cite>, <cite>The Living Church</cite>, <cite>The Christian +Endeavor World</cite>, <cite>The Congregationalist</cite>, <cite>The +New England Magazine</cite>, <cite>Life</cite>, <cite>Saint Nicholas</cite>, <cite>Radcliffe +Quarterly</cite>, <cite>Boston Transcript</cite>, <cite>Boston Herald</cite>, +<cite>New York Tribune</cite>, <cite>New York Times</cite>, <cite>The Old +Farmer’s Almanack</cite>.</p> + +<p class='c005'>“The Rock of Liberty; A Pilgrim Ode,” with +music for Chorus by Rosseter Cole, is copyrighted +and published in 1920 by the Arthur P. Schmidt +Company, of Boston.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_ix'>ix</span> + <h2 class='c006'>CONTENTS</h2> +</div> + +<table class='table0'> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>East Wind</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_2'>2</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Names</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_3'>3</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Comforters</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_6'>6</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Pilgrim Mothers</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_9'>9</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Cross-Currents</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_11'>11</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Savages</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_14'>14</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Pirate Treasure</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_16'>16</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Wall</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_19'>19</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Hampton Town</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_22'>22</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Old Garden</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_24'>24</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Grandmother’s House</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_25'>25</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Grandmother’s Garden</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_27'>27</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Frightened Path</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_28'>28</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Devil’s Gold: A Hampton Legend</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_29'>29</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Haunted House</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_32'>32</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Rose Perennial</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_34'>34</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Scarecrow</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_37'>37</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Inspiration</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_39'>39</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>A Wasted Morning</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_40'>40</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Ciphers</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_42'>42</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Pine Music</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_44'>44</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Maids and Mushrooms</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_45'>45</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>In the Dark</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_47'>47</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Garden Thoughts</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_48'>48</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_x'>x</span><span class='sc'>The Passer-By</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_49'>49</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Frost</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_51'>51</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Winter Song</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_53'>53</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Tanager</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_54'>54</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Song</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_56'>56</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Knock</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_57'>57</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>An Old-World Convent Garden</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_59'>59</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>A September Birthday in Brittany</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_61'>61</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Blazed Trail</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_64'>64</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>But there are Wings</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_66'>66</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Safe?</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_67'>67</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Up-Hill Street</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_68'>68</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>City Smoke</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_71'>71</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Green Crosses</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_73'>73</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Mystic Circle</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_76'>76</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Song of the Bookworm</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_80'>80</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Books I Ought to Read</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_82'>82</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>John Townsend Trowbridge</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_83'>83</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Joy-Vender</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_85'>85</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Sparrow</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_88'>88</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Sylvia</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_90'>90</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Plume</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_91'>91</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Woodsy Ones</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_93'>93</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Wee Knitter</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_94'>94</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>A Charm Said under an Oak</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_96'>96</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Fairy Ring</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_98'>98</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Dangerous Passing</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_99'>99</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Dryad</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_101'>101</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_xi'>xi</span><span class='sc'>Fairy Wine</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_103'>103</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Webs</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_104'>104</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='bbt c007'><span class='sc'>The Fairy Fort</span></td> + <td class='bbt c008'><a href='#Page_105'>105</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Peace—With a Sword</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_109'>109</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Cry</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_112'>112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Crusaders</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_114'>114</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Knights</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_115'>115</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>From the Canteen</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_117'>117</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Crippled Soldier</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_119'>119</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Flag Triumphant</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_121'>121</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Three Golden Stars</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_123'>123</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Spring of the Year</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_126'>126</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='bbt c007'><span class='sc'>Prayer for America</span></td> + <td class='bbt c008'><a href='#Page_128'>128</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Rock of Liberty; A Pilgrim Ode. 1620–1920</span></td> + <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_131'>131</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<div class='chapter ph1'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div>HEART OF NEW ENGLAND</div> + </div> +</div> + +<span class='pageno' id='Page_xii'>xii</span> + +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span> + <h2 class='c006'>EAST WIND</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><em>I dream of a languorous, tideless shore,</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>Of azure light in magic caves;</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Of heathery hills with summits hoar,</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>That wade knee-deep in northern waves;</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Of rainbow sails like butterflies</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>That flutter to an Old World quay;</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Of where a buried city lies</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>Beneath the sands of Brittany.</em></div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><em>Nay! But my own New England coast,</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>Pungent with wild rose, pine, and bay;</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Brown marsh, white sand, gray rocks that boast</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>The fiercest surf, the wildest spray!</em></div> + <div class='line in8'><em>Ho! For me,</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Where the white, white sails go flashing to the sea;</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>And the sea wind is the east wind, as the sea wind ought to be!</em></div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><em>I dream of a castle-covered height;</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>Of gardens with eternal flowers,</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>And mossy fountains gleaming white;</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>Of lemon groves and myrtle bowers;</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Of fairy glens and haunted halls,</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>Where mystery walks to and fro;</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Of palaces on gay canals;</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>Of English green, and Alpenglow.</em></div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><em>Nay! But New England’s apple trees,</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>Her homely houses, square and plain,</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>The simple gardens loved of bees,</em></div> + <div class='line in2'><em>The maple groves, the firs of Maine!</em></div> + <div class='line in8'><em>Ho! For me,</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Where the spring comes slowly, like a play to see;</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>And the sea wind is the east wind, as the sea wind ought to be!</em></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span></div> +<div class='chapter ph1'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div>Heart of New England</div> + <div>⁂</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <h2 class='c006'>NAMES</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>From Somerset and Devon,</div> + <div class='line in2'>From Kent and Lincolnshire,</div> + <div class='line'>The younger sons came sailing</div> + <div class='line in2'>With hearts of steel and fire.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>From leafy lane and valley,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Fair glebe and ancient wood,</div> + <div class='line'>The counties of old England</div> + <div class='line in2'>Poured forth their warmest blood.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Out of the gray-walled cities,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Away from the castled towns,</div> + <div class='line'>Corners of thatch and roses,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Heathery combes and downs,</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>With neither crown nor penny,</div> + <div class='line in2'>But an iron will they came,</div> + <div class='line'>Heirs of an old tradition</div> + <div class='line in2'>And a good old English name.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>A brooding silence met them</div> + <div class='line in2'>On a nameless, savage shore;</div> + <div class='line'>But they called the wild—“New England,”</div> + <div class='line in2'>For the sake of the blood they bore.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“<em>Plymouth</em>, <em>Exeter</em>, <em>Bristol</em>,</div> + <div class='line in2'><em>Boston</em>, <em>Windsor</em>, <em>Wells</em>.”</div> + <div class='line'>Beloved names of England</div> + <div class='line in2'>Rang in their hearts like bells.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>They named their rocky farmlands,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Their hamlets by the sea,</div> + <div class='line'>For the mother-towns that bred them</div> + <div class='line in2'>In racial loyalty.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“<em>Cambridge</em>, <em>Hartford</em>, <em>Gloucester</em>,</div> + <div class='line in2'><em>Hampton</em>, <em>Norwich</em>, <em>Stowe</em>.”</div> + <div class='line'>The younger sons looked backward</div> + <div class='line in2'>And sealed their sonship so.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The old blood thrills in answer,</div> + <div class='line in2'>As centuries go by,</div> + <div class='line'>To names that meant a challenge,</div> + <div class='line in2'>A signal, or a sigh.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>Now over friendly waters</div> + <div class='line in2'>The old towns, each to each,</div> + <div class='line'>Call with the kinship in a name;</div> + <div class='line in2'>One race, one truth, one speech.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span> + <h2 class='c006'>COMFORTERS</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Raw April came. The snow was melting fast</div> + <div class='line'>From the bleak Plymouth hills. The <em>Mayflower</em>,</div> + <div class='line'>Who had been fretting at her anchor-chains</div> + <div class='line'>Through the unfriendly weeks of rain and snow,</div> + <div class='line'>Flew like a homing pigeon out to sea,</div> + <div class='line'>With treacherous captain and a sulky crew.</div> + <div class='line'>But not one of the Faithful was returning.</div> + <div class='line'>Iron of purpose, worn but undismayed</div> + <div class='line'>By the fell winter, on a little hill</div> + <div class='line'>That bedded half the flock in a long sleep,</div> + <div class='line'>Pale Pilgrims watched the shining sails grow dim,</div> + <div class='line'>With straining vision. So, the final link</div> + <div class='line'>With home was severed now! The happy ship</div> + <div class='line'>Was homeward bound to the belovèd land,</div> + <div class='line'>Where soon the may would blossom in the hedges</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>Of Kent and Suffolk; while in Lincolnshire</div> + <div class='line'>The friendly robin sang by flooding tides.</div> + <div class='line'>“Never again to see the green of England</div> + <div class='line'>Or hear that song!” they murmured. “Never again!</div> + <div class='line'>For us sad exiles on a barren shore,</div> + <div class='line'>Sorrow and toil till death, uncomforted.</div> + <div class='line'>Yet the Lord’s will be done!”</div> + <div class='line in24'>Running there came</div> + <div class='line'>A little maid with treasure-trove in hand,</div> + <div class='line'>A flushed and furry blossom. “Look!” she cried,</div> + <div class='line'>“The first pink posy peeping through the snow</div> + <div class='line'>Upon a sunny hillside in the wood!</div> + <div class='line'>Is it not like the precious English may,</div> + <div class='line'>But sweeter still?” “Behold, the mayflower!”</div> + <div class='line'>The Pilgrims whispered. “God has sent to us</div> + <div class='line'>A messenger of homeland and the spring!”</div> + <div class='line'>The wistful shadow faded from their eyes,</div> + <div class='line'>Their set lips softened.</div> + <div class='line in24'>Came a little lad,</div> + <div class='line'>Leaping and laughing. “I have heard a song!</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>A redbreast bubbling in the willow-tree</div> + <div class='line'>Caroled ‘Cheer up! Cheer up!’ See where he flies</div> + <div class='line'>With his bright feathers!” Eagerly they peered,</div> + <div class='line'>Elder and Captain, man and weary wife,</div> + <div class='line'>Orphans with little faces pinched and pale.</div> + <div class='line'>Forgetting now the vanished ship, they cried—</div> + <div class='line'>“The robin and the mayflower are here!</div> + <div class='line'>Now in New England shall we be at home,</div> + <div class='line'>God wills it so.” Thereon they shyly smiled,</div> + <div class='line'>Straightened bent shoulders, and with lifted hearts</div> + <div class='line'>Slowly departed; thinking more than speaking,</div> + <div class='line'>In the old English fashion.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span> + <h2 class='c006'>PILGRIM MOTHERS</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Now thank God for the women</div> + <div class='line in2'>Who dared the perilous sea</div> + <div class='line'>With our adventurous ancestors,</div> + <div class='line in2'>To bear them company!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>They sailed, they knew not whither,</div> + <div class='line in2'>They came, nor questioned why,</div> + <div class='line'>But that the men-folk whom they loved</div> + <div class='line in2'>Without their care would die.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Babes newly born they carried,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And bairns with wavering feet;</div> + <div class='line'>But never a cow was there for milk,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And never a stove for heat.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Through icy waves they landed,</div> + <div class='line in2'>They washed in frozen streams;</div> + <div class='line'>They shivered through the nights of dread</div> + <div class='line in2'>With horror in their dreams.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>Through toil and want and danger</div> + <div class='line in2'>High-hearted they could wait;</div> + <div class='line'>They lived and died for the commonweal,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And mothered a nursling State.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>They had no voice in meeting,</div> + <div class='line in2'>No vote in pact or law;</div> + <div class='line'>But of their flesh and blood is built</div> + <div class='line in2'>Our strength for peace and war.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Thank God for the brave women</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of a hard three-hundred years!</div> + <div class='line'>Have they not earned a nation’s trust</div> + <div class='line in2'>Through sacrifice and tears?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span> + <h2 class='c006'>CROSS-CURRENTS</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Through twelve stout generations</div> + <div class='line in2'>New England blood I boast;</div> + <div class='line'>The stubborn pastures bred them,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The grim, uncordial coast,</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Sedate and proud old cities—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Loved well enough by me.</div> + <div class='line'>Then how should I be yearning</div> + <div class='line in2'>To scour the earth and sea?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Each of my Yankee forbears</div> + <div class='line in2'>Wed a New England mate;</div> + <div class='line'>They dwelt and did and died here,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Nor glimpsed a rosier fate.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>My clan endured their kindred;</div> + <div class='line in2'>But foreigners they loathed,</div> + <div class='line'>And wandering folk, and minstrels,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And gypsies motley-clothed.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>Then why do patches please me,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Fantastic, wild array?</div> + <div class='line'>Why have I vagrant fancies</div> + <div class='line in2'>For lads from far away?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>My kin were godly Churchmen—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Or paced in elders’ weeds;</div> + <div class='line'>But all were grave and pious</div> + <div class='line in2'>And hated heathen creeds.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Then why are Thor and Wotan</div> + <div class='line in2'>To me dread forces still?</div> + <div class='line'>Why does my heart go questing</div> + <div class='line in2'>For Pan beyond the hill?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>My people clutched at freedom,</div> + <div class='line in2'>(Though others’ wills they chained)</div> + <div class='line'>But made the Law and kept it,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And Beauty they restrained.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Then why am I a rebel</div> + <div class='line in2'>To laws of rule and square?</div> + <div class='line'>Why would I dream and dally,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Or, reckless, do and dare?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>O righteous, solemn Grandsires,</div> + <div class='line in2'>O Dames, correct and mild,</div> + <div class='line'>Who bred me of your virtues,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Whence comes this changeling child?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The thirteenth generation—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Unlucky number this!—</div> + <div class='line'>My grandam loved a pirate,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And all my faults are his.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>A gallant, ruffled rover,</div> + <div class='line in2'>With beauty-loving eye,</div> + <div class='line'>He swept Colonial waters</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of coarser, bloodier fry.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>He waved his hat to Danger,</div> + <div class='line in2'>At Law he shook his fist.</div> + <div class='line'>Ah, merrily he plundered,</div> + <div class='line in2'>He sang and fought and kissed!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Though none have found his treasure,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And none his part would take,</div> + <div class='line'>I bless that thirteenth lady</div> + <div class='line in2'>Who chose him for my sake.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span> + <h2 class='c006'>SAVAGES</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The Heathen hailed us from the beach,</div> + <div class='line'>Prayed the new gods to bless and teach.</div> + <div class='line'>They worshiped us and gave us food,</div> + <div class='line'>Sweet water and maize, nuts from the wood;</div> + <div class='line'>Showed us safe harbor. Liquor and beads</div> + <div class='line'>Got us broad acres for our needs;</div> + <div class='line'>We set shrewd boundaries to the farms.</div> + <div class='line'>Too generously we loaned them arms;</div> + <div class='line'>Froward they grew and scorned our laws,</div> + <div class='line'>They bared white fangs, unsheathed fierce claws.</div> + <div class='line'>Haunts in the wilderness they made</div> + <div class='line'>To spy upon our barricade,</div> + <div class='line'>Our meeting-house and granaries,</div> + <div class='line'>Coveting them with cruel eyes.</div> + <div class='line'>One stole a heifer from our yard;</div> + <div class='line'>We hanged the whelp; they scalped our guard;</div> + <div class='line'>We shot their chief and eight tall braves.</div> + <div class='line'>The devils swarmed from dens and caves,</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>And burned the roofs above our heads;</div> + <div class='line'>Murdered the children in their beds!</div> + <div class='line'>With righteous wrath we armed for war,</div> + <div class='line'>Scouring the forest near and far,</div> + <div class='line'>River and lake with uncouth name,</div> + <div class='line'>All the fair region once their claim,</div> + <div class='line'>Killing the Redskin fiends at sight.</div> + <div class='line'>At last we rid us of the blight;</div> + <div class='line'>We made the savage race to cease,</div> + <div class='line'>And earned a Sabbath Day of peace.</div> + <div class='line'>We walled the tilth and reared this town.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>O great Jehovah looking down,</div> + <div class='line'>Reward our pious people still,</div> + <div class='line'>Who set Thy temple on the hill.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span> + <h2 class='c006'>PIRATE TREASURE</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>A lady loved a swaggering rover,</div> + <div class='line'>The seven salt seas he voyaged over,</div> + <div class='line'>Bragged of a hoard none could discover,</div> + <div class='line in12'>Hey! Jolly Roger, O.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>She bloomed in a mansion dull and stately,</div> + <div class='line'>And as to Meeting she walked sedately,</div> + <div class='line'>From the tail of her eye she liked him greatly,</div> + <div class='line in12'>Hey! Jolly Roger, O.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Rings in his ears and a red sash wore he,</div> + <div class='line'>He sang her a song and told her a story;</div> + <div class='line'>“I’ll make ye Queen of the Ocean!” swore he,</div> + <div class='line in12'>Hey! Jolly Roger, O.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>She crept from bed by her sleeping sister;</div> + <div class='line'>By the old gray mill he met and kissed her.</div> + <div class='line'>Blue day dawned before they missed her,</div> + <div class='line in12'>Hey! Jolly Roger, O.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>And while they prayed her out of Meeting,</div> + <div class='line'>Her wild little heart with bliss was beating,</div> + <div class='line'>As seaward went the lugger fleeting,</div> + <div class='line in12'>Hey! Jolly Roger, O.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Choose in haste and repent at leisure;</div> + <div class='line'>A buccaneer life is not all pleasure.</div> + <div class='line'>He set her ashore with a little treasure,</div> + <div class='line in12'>Hey! Jolly Roger, O.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Off he went where waves were dashing,</div> + <div class='line'>Knives were gleaming, cutlasses clashing;</div> + <div class='line'>And a ship on jagged rocks went crashing.</div> + <div class='line in12'>Hey! Jolly Roger, O.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Over his bones the tides are sweeping;</div> + <div class='line'>The only trace of the pirate sleeping</div> + <div class='line'>Is what he left in the lady’s keeping,</div> + <div class='line in12'>Hey! Jolly Roger, O.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Two hundred years is his name unspoken,</div> + <div class='line'>The secret of his hoard unbroken.</div> + <div class='line'>But a black-browed race wears the rover’s token,</div> + <div class='line in12'>Hey! Jolly Roger, O.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>Sea-blue eyes that gleam and glisten,</div> + <div class='line'>Lips that sing—and you like to listen—</div> + <div class='line'>A swaggering song; it might be this one,</div> + <div class='line in12'>“Hey! Jolly Roger, O!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE WALL</h2> +</div> +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall”</div> + <div class='line in36'><span class='sc'>Robert Frost</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Not love a wall!”</div> + <div class='line'>I sit above the meadow in the glowing fall,</div> + <div class='line'>Tracing the gray redoubt from square to square</div> + <div class='line'>That bounds the acres harvest-ripe and fair,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And wonder if it’s true?</div> + <div class='line'>Nay! Ask the sumac and the teeming vine</div> + <div class='line in2'>That lean upon the boulders;</div> + <div class='line'>The crimsoning ivy and the wild woodbine,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Whose eager fingers clutch the stony shoulders;</div> + <div class='line in2'>The golden-rod, the aster, and the rue.</div> + <div class='line'>Ask the red squirrel with the chubby cheek</div> + <div class='line in2'>Skipping from stone to stone</div> + <div class='line'>By a quick route, his hidden hoard to seek,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Making the little viaduct his own.</div> + <div class='line'>Look where the woodchuck lifts a cautious head</div> + <div class='line'>Between the rocks, close by the cabbage bed;</div> + <div class='line in2'><span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>The honey-bees have built a secret hive</div> + <div class='line'>In a forgotten chink;</div> + <div class='line in2'>And there a gray cocoon is tucked away,</div> + <div class='line'>Shrouding a miracle of mauve and pink</div> + <div class='line in2'>To wait its Easter Day.</div> + <div class='line in4'>The wall with pageantry is all alive.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And I who gaze</div> + <div class='line in2'>On the dark border here,</div> + <div class='line'>Drawn like a ribbon round the pasture-ways,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Embroidered with the glory of the year—</div> + <div class='line'>What is the wall to me?</div> + <div class='line'>Has it no beauty more than eyes can see?</div> + <div class='line'>Lo, I remember how in days of old</div> + <div class='line in2'>A grandsire toiled with weariness and pain</div> + <div class='line'>To dig the clumsy boulders from the mould;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Piled them in ordered rows again,</div> + <div class='line'>Fitting them firm and fast,</div> + <div class='line'>A monument to last</div> + <div class='line'>Long after his own harried day was past.</div> + <div class='line in2'>He cleared the rocky soil for corn and grain</div> + <div class='line'>By which his children throve</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>To carry on the race.</div> + <div class='line in2'>We live by his life-giving.</div> + <div class='line'>I see each stone, rough like his granite face—</div> + <div class='line'>Uncompromising, stern, no slave to love,</div> + <div class='line'>Dowered with little grace,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Grim with the hard, unjoyful task of living;</div> + <div class='line'>But strong to stand the wrath of storm and time,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And bolts that heaven lets fall.</div> + <div class='line'>Built of a patriot’s prime—</div> + <div class='line in2'>How well I love the wall!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span> + <h2 class='c006'>HAMPTON TOWN</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The Hampton marshes to the sea</div> + <div class='line'>Stretch out a colored tapestry;</div> + <div class='line'>A woven, iridescent gleam,</div> + <div class='line'>Patterned with many a sea-filled stream,</div> + <div class='line'>Where dips the heron silently.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Above the Hampton meadows soar</div> + <div class='line'>Wisps of a quaint, forgotten lore,</div> + <div class='line'>Wild legends of another day,</div> + <div class='line'>Sea-born and salty, like the spray</div> + <div class='line'>Flung from the great tusks of the Boar.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And as I wander down the street</div> + <div class='line'>Of Hampton Town with loitering feet,</div> + <div class='line'>A fragrance breathes from gardens old,</div> + <div class='line'>Drawn from the centuries of mould,</div> + <div class='line'>Thyme, bleeding-heart, and bitter-sweet.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The ghosts of lovely ladies rise,</div> + <div class='line'>With terror in their haunted eyes;</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>Witches and redskins, soldiers grim;</div> + <div class='line'>Pirate and Puritan—oath and hymn—</div> + <div class='line'>All in a web whose threads I share.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The Hampton pines these legends know,</div> + <div class='line'>And gossip them in whispers low.</div> + <div class='line'>They spin an eerie charm that twines</div> + <div class='line'>About the lovely Place of Pines,</div> + <div class='line'>To blood that throbs from long ago.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE OLD GARDEN</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I chanced upon the little bowered retreat</div> + <div class='line in2'>For the first time, and never shall forget</div> + <div class='line in2'>The spell of tangled mystery! The wet</div> + <div class='line'>Bejeweled leaves like fingers curled to meet</div> + <div class='line'>My childish hand; the unimagined sweet</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of briar, heliotrope, and mignonette;</div> + <div class='line in2'>The tang of box, and quainter blossoms set</div> + <div class='line'>By mazy paths for liliputian feet.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>High walls of hollyhock and morning-glory</div> + <div class='line'>Concealed the ancient house with gables wide;</div> + <div class='line'>Shut out the world of swift and merry hours.</div> + <div class='line'>In the long silence of a fairy-story</div> + <div class='line'>My heart stood still. Then, at a turn I spied</div> + <div class='line'>My Mother, smiling at the other flowers.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span> + <h2 class='c006'>GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Grandmother’s house is far away.</div> + <div class='line'>You take the train and you ride all day,</div> + <div class='line'>Till you come to a meadow beside the sea,</div> + <div class='line'>As green and still as a place can be.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>In a little white room is a little white bed;</div> + <div class='line'>The pillow is sweet where you lay your head;</div> + <div class='line'>And all around is the scent of rose,</div> + <div class='line'>That breathes wherever Grandmother goes.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Down in the meadow the crickets trill</div> + <div class='line'>As if they thought it was daytime still;</div> + <div class='line'>“<em>Cheep! Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!</em></div> + <div class='line in4'><em>Cheepy, cheepy! Cheep! Cheep!</em>”</div> + <div class='line'>Oh, how can a body go to sleep?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>All alone you lie and hark</div> + <div class='line'>To the curious sounds that come in the dark;</div> + <div class='line'>For the wall says “<em>Crick!</em>” And the floor goes “<em>Creak!</em>”</div> + <div class='line'>Then out in the hall is a rustle and squeak.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>A wee voice cries and is still again;</div> + <div class='line'>Then Something taps on the window-pane.</div> + <div class='line'>There’s a whispering in the tree outside,</div> + <div class='line'>And a sigh, that Grandmother <em>says</em> is the tide.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Grandmother’s house is nice by day,</div> + <div class='line'>But at night you seem very far away.</div> + <div class='line'>And the noise of the quiet is so loud,</div> + <div class='line'>It bothers you more than the noise of a crowd.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span> + <h2 class='c006'>GRANDMOTHER’S GARDEN</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>This was the garden that Grandmother made,</div> + <div class='line'>Here in the filtering sunlight and shade.</div> + <div class='line'>Here grew the delicate, old-fashioned posies,</div> + <div class='line'>Columbine, larkspur, cinnamon roses,</div> + <div class='line'>Balsam and lavender, briar and box,</div> + <div class='line'>Pale mignonette and chintz hollyhocks;</div> + <div class='line'>Neatest of paths for the tiniest feet,</div> + <div class='line'>Wandering, wavering, all through the sweet.</div> + <div class='line'>And there, quite the prettiest blossom of all,</div> + <div class='line'>Mother went tiptoeing when she was small.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>This is the garden that Grandmother made—</div> + <div class='line'>New buds to open as older ones fade.</div> + <div class='line'>With her wee waterpot making the showers,</div> + <div class='line'><em>My</em> mother dallied with <em>her</em> mother’s flowers;</div> + <div class='line'>Quaint little figure with cheeks like a rose,</div> + <div class='line'>Starched pantalettes and slippers with bows;</div> + <div class='line'>Bonny brown hair and a bonnet of straw,</div> + <div class='line'>And the merriest eyes that the sun ever saw.</div> + <div class='line'>But for Grandmother’s garden and all that was in it,</div> + <div class='line'>Why, where should <em>I</em> be this blessed minute?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE FRIGHTENED PATH</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The wood grew very quiet</div> + <div class='line in2'>As the road made a sudden turn;</div> + <div class='line'>Then a wavering, furtive path crept out</div> + <div class='line in2'>From the tangled briar and fern.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Where does it lead?” I asked the child;</div> + <div class='line in2'>She shivered and shook her head.</div> + <div class='line'>“It doesn’t <em>lead</em> to any place.</div> + <div class='line in2'>It is running away!” she said.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“It is running away on tiptoe</div> + <div class='line in2'>Through the untrodden grass,</div> + <div class='line'>To join the cheerful highroad,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Where real, live people pass.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“It runs from a heap of ruins</div> + <div class='line in2'>Where a home stood in old days;</div> + <div class='line'>But nothing living goes there now,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And—Nothing Living stays!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span> + <h2 class='c006'>DEVIL’S GOLD</h2> +</div> +<h3 class='c011'>A HAMPTON LEGEND</h3> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The General rolled in a coach-and-four,</div> + <div class='line in2'>His head held high in pride;</div> + <div class='line'>And Mary, who should have married me,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Cowered in silk at his side.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The mud of the General’s chariot-wheels</div> + <div class='line in2'>Grimed me, plodding by;</div> + <div class='line'>But I saw a doom on his pallid face,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And met the fear in her eye.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>For well she knew—as I know now,</div> + <div class='line in2'>As neighbors guessed full well—</div> + <div class='line'>He had sold his soul for a bootful of gold</div> + <div class='line in2'>To the Devil himself from Hell.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'> · · · · ·</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>He called from the hearth of his paneled hall</div> + <div class='line in2'>To the Fiend on the chimney-crown;</div> + <div class='line'>His jack-boot stood in the chimney-place,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And the gold came pouring down.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>The gold poured down in a tinkling flood,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And covered the great hall floor;</div> + <div class='line'>But the General roared to the Devil above—</div> + <div class='line in2'>“Nay! more! and more! and more!”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>For the great jack-boot was never filled</div> + <div class='line in2'>Till the gold lay three-foot thick;</div> + <div class='line'>The bargainer had cut the toe,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And fooled the Fiend by the trick.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>But the lady shivered in the dark</div> + <div class='line in2'>At the roar of the General’s mirth;</div> + <div class='line'>While brimstone flashes seared the roof,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And the Fiend’s wrath shook the earth.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'> · · · · ·</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I read in the face of the smitten man</div> + <div class='line in2'>As he passed me on that day,</div> + <div class='line'>And in the haunted lady’s eye—</div> + <div class='line in2'>That his hour was near to <em>pay</em>.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And when we bore the General’s bier</div> + <div class='line in2'>To his proud tomb up the road,</div> + <div class='line'>Ten of the sturdiest lads in town</div> + <div class='line in2'>Staggered beneath the load.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>Ten of the sturdiest lads in town</div> + <div class='line in2'>Turned pale as lime-bleached bones</div> + <div class='line'>When their burden dropped and the cover loosed;</div> + <div class='line in2'>The coffin was filled with stones!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>My Mary fled from the haunted house</div> + <div class='line in2'>To toil as a poor man’s wife;</div> + <div class='line'>For not one pound of her widow’s wealth</div> + <div class='line in2'>Would I suffer to curse our life.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The only dower she brought away</div> + <div class='line in2'>Was the terrible tale she told;</div> + <div class='line'>And our children bred in a humble home</div> + <div class='line in2'>Are marked with the hate of gold.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE HAUNTED HOUSE</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Upon a little rise it stands alone,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Dark and forbidding, where three crossroads meet;</div> + <div class='line in2'>The dim, fierce windows frown upon the street</div> + <div class='line'>From walls with mould and mosses overgrown.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Pink hollyhocks group idly at the door,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And bend above the latch with prying eyes,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Or shake their heads and whisper, gossipwise,</div> + <div class='line'>Secrets that trouble living hearts no more.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The rusty hinges give a warning scream;</div> + <div class='line in2'>The jealous panels shudder as they swing.</div> + <div class='line in2'>About my face the dusty cobwebs cling,</div> + <div class='line'>Soft as the shadow-fingers of a dream.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>There is a window looking to the sea;</div> + <div class='line in2'>The small, cracked panes are blurred as if with tears.</div> + <div class='line in2'><span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>Here long ago a young bride felt the fears</div> + <div class='line'>That even now creep coldly over me.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Here trembling still she sat, yet made no moan,</div> + <div class='line in2'>But felt an unseen presence fill the door,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And heard a light step steal across the floor,</div> + <div class='line'>And shrank beneath a touch that chilled her own....</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Once more I pass the hall, the dim oak stair.</div> + <div class='line in2'>A sudden gust breathes down, a tremulous sigh;</div> + <div class='line in2'>A silken rustle lightly whispers by;</div> + <div class='line'>A fragrance as of roses fills the air.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span> + <h2 class='c006'>ROSE PERENNIAL</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The worn gray slab yet lies before</div> + <div class='line'>What once was a thrifty farmer’s door;</div> + <div class='line'>Now roofless cellar and scattered stones</div> + <div class='line'>Show skeleton hopes with time-picked bones.</div> + <div class='line'>Here backed against a crumbling wall</div> + <div class='line'>Still blooms at bay, unpruned and tall,</div> + <div class='line'>A soil-disdaining moss-rose bush,</div> + <div class='line'>The delicate buds in faintest flush,</div> + <div class='line'>Clutched by the brambles and woodbine,</div> + <div class='line'>Whose envious fingers tear and twine.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>There was the huge barn; here the yard,</div> + <div class='line'>Where the grim farmer labored hard</div> + <div class='line'>From dawn to dark, and never knew</div> + <div class='line'>A dream beyond the crops he grew,</div> + <div class='line'>The stock he raised, the silver store</div> + <div class='line'>Under the loose board in the floor.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>To and fro, to and fro,</div> + <div class='line'>The feet of his little wife would go,</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>All day long and half the night,</div> + <div class='line'>Up a flight and down a flight;</div> + <div class='line'>Pantry to kitchen, pen to barn,</div> + <div class='line'>Cellar to garret with loom of yarn;</div> + <div class='line'>In to the babies, out to the men,</div> + <div class='line'>Down to the pasture and back again.</div> + <div class='line'>Farms were never planned, you find,</div> + <div class='line'>To save the steps of womenkind.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>One can trudge and drudge through a long life’s course,</div> + <div class='line'>If she discover a hidden source</div> + <div class='line'>To seek when the spirit is faint and dry.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Here was her rosebush growing high,</div> + <div class='line'>That he never knew—for he never cared;</div> + <div class='line'>This was her joy no mortal shared.</div> + <div class='line'>Her hands were never too stiff or tired</div> + <div class='line'>To foster beauty the soul desired;</div> + <div class='line'>The first shy green, the venturesome shoot,</div> + <div class='line'>Flushing sap from the sturdy root,</div> + <div class='line'>Moss-veiled bud and passionate bloom;</div> + <div class='line'>Scarlet hips for the winter gloom.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>Never too worn the busy feet,</div> + <div class='line'>Never too dull the old heart’s beat,</div> + <div class='line'>For a furtive trip to the little shrine</div> + <div class='line'>That made the moment a pause divine.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Here by the bush one glimpsed the Hills,</div> + <div class='line'>Where forests crooned and ran free rills;</div> + <div class='line'>One breathed deep draughts from a windswept sky,</div> + <div class='line'>Sunset, moonglow, mystery.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>This was her rosebush by the wall.</div> + <div class='line'>Gone is the farmer, farm and all;</div> + <div class='line'>Gone herd and crops and silver store.</div> + <div class='line'>The children grown return no more</div> + <div class='line'>To the hearth deserted, the loveless place,</div> + <div class='line'>Haunted by one enduring grace;</div> + <div class='line'>A dream of beauty, torn with briar,</div> + <div class='line'>Clutched in vain as it reaches higher.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span> + <h2 class='c006'>SCARECROW</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Rags and tags of what he was,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Topped with straw and stuffed with hay;</div> + <div class='line'>Balanced tipsily askew,</div> + <div class='line in2'>It grins to scare the crows away.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I saw <em>Him</em> first in that old hat—</div> + <div class='line in2'>It seemed the crown of a king to me.</div> + <div class='line'>I liked his careless swagger then;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Lord! He was straight and fine to see.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>He courted me in that same coat—</div> + <div class='line in2'>He couldn’t meet it now, I guess.</div> + <div class='line'>That gay vest was the one he wore</div> + <div class='line in2'>When I walked bride in my silver dress.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>He seemed as proud as I, those days.</div> + <div class='line in2'>I never dreamed, when we were wed,</div> + <div class='line'>I’d think the Scarecrow a better man,</div> + <div class='line in2'>With a broom for a spine and a pumpkin head.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>Rags and tags of what he seemed,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Mocking me in the field all day.</div> + <div class='line'>What can I make a scarecrow of,</div> + <div class='line in2'>To drive the hungry thoughts away?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span> + <h2 class='c006'>INSPIRATION</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Life—Death in a drop of dew;</div> + <div class='line'>And a prism to sift a sunbeam through.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Fragile, perfect, briefly bright,</div> + <div class='line'>A tremulous miracle of light;</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Beauty poised on a flower-tip;</div> + <div class='line'>A whole round world for a Thrush to sip!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span> + <h2 class='c006'>A WASTED MORNING</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I wasted a morning!</div> + <div class='line in20'>Where? And why?</div> + <div class='line'>I let swift hours go silently by,</div> + <div class='line'>As I lay at the foot of an ancient tree,</div> + <div class='line'>And let God’s universe talk to me.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Wind and shadow, cloud and bird,</div> + <div class='line'>Spoke each to my heart a musical word.</div> + <div class='line'>The little brown cone that fell on my cheek,</div> + <div class='line'>The squirrel who mocked with an impudent squeak,</div> + <div class='line'>The golden mushroom brimmed with death,</div> + <div class='line'>The twin-flower blessing the air with its breath;</div> + <div class='line'>Old spider spinning above my head</div> + <div class='line'>A magical dream with her rainbow thread;</div> + <div class='line'>The liliput vases of moss below;</div> + <div class='line'>The sudden caw of a picket crow;</div> + <div class='line'>The rhythmical green of a supple snake</div> + <div class='line'>Quivering into a lair of brake;</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>The grumbling bee, the whispering pine—</div> + <div class='line'>What need had they for a word of mine?</div> + <div class='line'>They lived the poem; they wove the spell</div> + <div class='line'>No tongue could utter, no phrases tell;</div> + <div class='line'>And a human voice could but disgrace</div> + <div class='line'>The eloquent stillness of the place.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>So I lay at the foot of the ancient tree,</div> + <div class='line'>And let God’s free verse sing to me.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span> + <h2 class='c006'>CIPHERS</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Oh, to be a wonder-child</div> + <div class='line'>And read the cipher of the wild!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>A starry-splintered alphabet</div> + <div class='line'>In the ancient rocks is set,</div> + <div class='line'>Spelling, if one held the key,</div> + <div class='line'>All creation’s history.</div> + <div class='line'>Cryptic messages I trace</div> + <div class='line'>Etched on many a flower-face;</div> + <div class='line'>Graven symbols score the pines,</div> + <div class='line'>The birches wear mysterious signs—</div> + <div class='line'>Perhaps the wistful diary</div> + <div class='line'>Of the Dryad in her tree.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>On the open page of snow</div> + <div class='line'>Curious hieroglyphics show,</div> + <div class='line'>Dots and dashes, twist and thrust,</div> + <div class='line'>Carven in the crystal crust;</div> + <div class='line'>Marks of furred and feathered things</div> + <div class='line'>With furtive feet or startled wings—</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>Comic secrets of the dark,</div> + <div class='line'>Silent tragedy and stark.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Ciphers, ciphers everywhere,</div> + <div class='line'>In the sky, the wave, the air!</div> + <div class='line'>On the faces that one meets</div> + <div class='line'>Adrift upon the eddying streets;</div> + <div class='line'>On the near and dear, that change</div> + <div class='line'>With lines inscrutable and strange—</div> + <div class='line'>Palimpsests that time has wrought</div> + <div class='line'>With the signs of hidden thought,</div> + <div class='line'>Dreams unguessed and griefs unsaid,</div> + <div class='line'>Passionate yearning unbetrayed.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Ah, could Love but find and own</div> + <div class='line'>Nature’s old Rosetta Stone!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span> + <h2 class='c006'>PINE MUSIC</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>A hundred years I seek the stars</div> + <div class='line in2'>Through tempest, heat, and cold;</div> + <div class='line'>My body scarred by many scars,</div> + <div class='line in2'>My spirit wisely old.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Yet the eternal song I sing,</div> + <div class='line in2'>From sun and shadow made,</div> + <div class='line'>Is lisped as sweetly every spring</div> + <div class='line in2'>By the least flowers that fade.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span> + <h2 class='c006'>MAIDS AND MUSHROOMS</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Oddly fashioned, quaintly dyed,</div> + <div class='line'>In the wood the mushrooms hide;</div> + <div class='line'>Rich and meaty, full of flavor,</div> + <div class='line'>Made for man’s delicious savor.</div> + <div class='line'>But he shudders and he shrinks</div> + <div class='line'>At the piquant mauves and pinks.</div> + <div class='line'>Who is brave enough to dare</div> + <div class='line'>Curious shapes and colors rare,</div> + <div class='line'>Dainties in peculiar dresses,</div> + <div class='line'>Fairy-rings and inky messes?</div> + <div class='line'>Something sinister must be</div> + <div class='line'>In the strange variety.</div> + <div class='line'>It is better not to know;</div> + <div class='line'>Safer but to peer—and go.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>So the mushrooms dry and fade,</div> + <div class='line'>Like full many a blooming maid,</div> + <div class='line'>With her dower of preciousness</div> + <div class='line'>Hid too well for men to guess.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>But the toadstools bright and yellow</div> + <div class='line'>Tempt and poison many a fellow,</div> + <div class='line'>With their flaunting beauty bright,</div> + <div class='line'>The bold promise of delight.</div> + <div class='line'>Taste and suffer, ache and burn;</div> + <div class='line'>Generations do not learn!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Nay, a little mushroom study</div> + <div class='line'>Would not injure anybody.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span> + <h2 class='c006'>IN THE DARK</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>In the dark I lie and think</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of the glory in a day;</div> + <div class='line'>Of the sunshine and the shade,</div> + <div class='line in2'>All the color soft or gay.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I can see it better now</div> + <div class='line in2'>As I lie with curtained eyes.</div> + <div class='line'>Oh, the rainbow and the moon;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Oh, the opal of the skies!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>How the poppies glow and thrill,</div> + <div class='line in2'>How the pigeon-feathers shine!</div> + <div class='line'>I will weave them into dreams,</div> + <div class='line in2'>I will make them ever mine.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>All the wonder of a wave,</div> + <div class='line in2'>All the magic of a tree—</div> + <div class='line'>I shall wear them in my soul</div> + <div class='line in2'>When these eyes no longer see.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span> + <h2 class='c006'>GARDEN THOUGHTS</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Some of us are roses,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Some of us are weeds;</div> + <div class='line'>All of us began in clay,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Silent little seeds.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Some of us are flaunting,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Some of us are shy;</div> + <div class='line'>All of us have roots in earth,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Faces to the sky.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Some give joy by living,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Some leave fragrance, dead;</div> + <div class='line'>Thorns and spines and ugliness</div> + <div class='line in2'>May yield balm or bread.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Twisted, seared and stunted,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Radiant, sweet and glad;</div> + <div class='line'>Who shall say that one is “good”</div> + <div class='line in2'>And another “bad”?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE PASSER-BY</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>In the fragrant, moonlit night,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Without a thought of fear,</div> + <div class='line'>I wakened in my seaward room</div> + <div class='line in2'>And felt a Presence near.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The open window glowed,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And suddenly I knew</div> + <div class='line'>That Some One was out walking</div> + <div class='line in2'>Above the summer dew.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The tall pines held their breath,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And the little cedar trees,</div> + <div class='line'>With all the grasses in the field,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Were kneeling on their knees.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Beyond the dunes the sea</div> + <div class='line in2'>Was like a silver floor,</div> + <div class='line'>For Some One’s holy feet to cross</div> + <div class='line in2'>Out of a foreign shore.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>Then lo! Above the trees</div> + <div class='line in2'>A halo, round and bright!</div> + <div class='line'>No more I saw of One who passed</div> + <div class='line in2'>All silent in the night.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span> + <h2 class='c006'>FROST</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Hark to a call in the late September night,</div> + <div class='line in2'>From the little garden-close crying—crying!</div> + <div class='line'>As the cold stars watch from their safe, untroubled height,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Faintly breathes the scented prayer—“Help! We are dying!”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Who would invade the sisterhood of flowers,</div> + <div class='line in2'>In their cloistered innocence fresh and gently gay?</div> + <div class='line'>What so cruel foe would dare profane the hours,</div> + <div class='line in2'>To fright the tender sleeping buds and steal their peace away?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Hark! The wistful cry again! Wafted o’er the grasses</div> + <div class='line in2'>Comes the trembling fragrance, a sigh from hearts of gold.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>Something sly and sinister in the shadow passes;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Shivering draw the covers close, the blood runs cold!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Lo, in the morning, the bleak and hoary morning.</div> + <div class='line in2'>Desolate the garden where the white foe crept;</div> + <div class='line'>Wall or moat no bar to him, come without a warning.</div> + <div class='line in2'>Capturing the pretty ones helpless where they slept.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Cruel was the touch of him, blighting was his breath.</div> + <div class='line in2'>Beauty shrank before him, but found no place to hide.</div> + <div class='line'>Fragile, piteous martyrs coldly done to death,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Was there none to answer when your sweet souls cried?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span> + <h2 class='c006'>WINTER SONG</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Because I sang in April</div> + <div class='line in2'>With magic in the air.</div> + <div class='line'>Must I be sad and silent now</div> + <div class='line in2'>When winter boughs are bare?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>My heart is not a songster</div> + <div class='line in2'>That waits upon the spring,</div> + <div class='line'>But while there is a blessèd sky</div> + <div class='line in2'>And friendly earth, I sing!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>For evergreen my joy is,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Like any cedar tree;</div> + <div class='line'>It makes a tune of ice and snow</div> + <div class='line in2'>And whispers it to me.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span> + <h2 class='c006'>TANAGER</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Scarlet bird!</div> + <div class='line'>Whence have you fluttered into my green gloom,</div> + <div class='line in2'>My sleepy solitude, on quiet wing,</div> + <div class='line'>Your voice unheard?</div> + <div class='line in2'>Why do you linger there upon the tree.</div> + <div class='line in2'>And still forbear to sing,</div> + <div class='line'>As if your message were a silent doom?</div> + <div class='line in2'>O torch of fire;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Enkindled at the flame of heart’s desire.</div> + <div class='line'>In some enchanted land! O wingèd rose.</div> + <div class='line in2'>Blown from the living garden of delight!</div> + <div class='line'>O flash of joy</div> + <div class='line in2'>Deliriously bright.</div> + <div class='line'>Escaping from the heart of some fierce boy,</div> + <div class='line'>Or girl who thrills and glows!</div> + <div class='line'>O dream incarnadine</div> + <div class='line'>Out of the jeweled past; red rapture that was mine!</div> + <div class='line in2'>Why sent to torture me?</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>You cut the shadow like an open wound;</div> + <div class='line in2'>The forest bleeds with your intensity,</div> + <div class='line'>In a mysterious anguish unrelieved by sound.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in2'>And when you flit away,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Back to your radiant realm, your vivid day,</div> + <div class='line'>And shivering I shall gaze</div> + <div class='line'>Down the dim alley empty of your blaze,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The darkness will be darker evermore,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The silence stiller than it was before.</div> + <div class='line'>Then faded peace will brood—</div> + <div class='line in2'>A moment stirred</div> + <div class='line'>In the transfigured wood,</div> + <div class='line in2'>O scarlet bird!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span> + <h2 class='c006'>SONG</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Oh, yes, I love you still, my lad,</div> + <div class='line in2'>For that is woman’s way;</div> + <div class='line'>A whole life long of tenderness</div> + <div class='line in2'>For the fancy of a day.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I gave you golden loyalty</div> + <div class='line in2'>And starry faith to wear.</div> + <div class='line'>You gave me pearls that were my tears,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And silver in my hair.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>You gave me something less than good,</div> + <div class='line in2'>I gave the best I had.</div> + <div class='line'>But yes—the man I thought you were,</div> + <div class='line in2'>I love him still, my lad.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE KNOCK</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Did you knock at the door, my Dear?</div> + <div class='line'>Knock, and I fail to hear?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Was I so eager to bind my hair,</div> + <div class='line'>And fasten a flower to make me fair;</div> + <div class='line'>Study a book that I might be wise,</div> + <div class='line'>Or make you a song for a sweet surprise?</div> + <div class='line in10'>Mixing a cake,</div> + <div class='line in12'>Saying a prayer,</div> + <div class='line in10'>All for your sake,</div> + <div class='line in12'>All for your care—</div> + <div class='line'>So busily happy I did not hear</div> + <div class='line'>When you knocked, my Dear!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Will you pass to another door,</div> + <div class='line'>And knock at my own no more?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Shall I listen and wait and long,</div> + <div class='line'>No more laughter, no more song?</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>But still with the faded rose in my hair,</div> + <div class='line'>Still on my lips the tremulous prayer;</div> + <div class='line in10'>Till the fire goes out</div> + <div class='line in12'>To a single spark.</div> + <div class='line in10'>Ending the doubt;</div> + <div class='line in12'>And in empty dark,</div> + <div class='line'>Shall I sit and hear</div> + <div class='line'>The knock, knock, knock of my heart? My Dear!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span> + <h2 class='c006'>AN OLD-WORLD CONVENT GARDEN</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Walled quiet from the din.</div> + <div class='line in2'>So near, of worldly strife;</div> + <div class='line'>A cloistered peace within,</div> + <div class='line in2'>A life apart from life.</div> + <div class='line'>Shrines bowered in roses sweet,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And in a hidden dell</div> + <div class='line'>Worn by accustomed feet,</div> + <div class='line in2'>A holy well.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Along the ancient wall</div> + <div class='line in2'>Fruit basking in the sun;</div> + <div class='line'>Flowers radiant and tall—</div> + <div class='line in2'>A coquette every one.</div> + <div class='line'>Bees busy on the stalks,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Birds mating in the weeds—</div> + <div class='line'>Here a pale Sister walks,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Telling her beads.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>High walls to shut aside</div> + <div class='line in2'>The world’s dear bliss and care!</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>O Birds, your nestlings hide</div> + <div class='line in2'>In sanctuary there.</div> + <div class='line'>High walls to her, to me—</div> + <div class='line in2'>But ah! to wings, how low;</div> + <div class='line'>Blest little Birds, quite free</div> + <div class='line in2'>To come—and go!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span> + <h2 class='c006'>A SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAY IN BRITTANY</h2> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c012'> + <div>FOR C. N. B.</div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Who counts the foolish years?</div> + <div class='line in2'>This Brittany of ours,</div> + <div class='line'>With all her gathered hopes and fears,</div> + <div class='line'>Her scroll of smiles and tears,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Is young, amid her sweet, perennial flowers.</div> + <div class='line'>About the lone, deserted shrines</div> + <div class='line in2'>Carol melodious songsters of to-day;</div> + <div class='line'>Weaving their modern spell</div> + <div class='line'>Through Carnac’s mighty lines</div> + <div class='line in2'>The sun-burned children play,</div> + <div class='line'>Knowing, perchance, the ancient secret well.</div> + <div class='line in2'>Above the buried Ys,</div> + <div class='line'>Stout fishers in their rainbow shallops ply;</div> + <div class='line'>Gazing into the azure depths they sigh,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Dreaming of fair Dahut, and brighter realms than this,</div> + <div class='line in4'>Longing to feel her kiss.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>But homely love is waiting them ashore;</div> + <div class='line'>Soon they will sigh no more.</div> + <div class='line in2'>Joy of the present, full of light and life,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Faith of the future years, with promise rife—</div> + <div class='line'>Belovèd of the sea,</div> + <div class='line'>How young is Brittany!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Who marks the months’ retreat?</div> + <div class='line in2'>It is not fall when roses are abloom,</div> + <div class='line'>When strawberries are sweet,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And snowy, great magnolias breathe perfume.</div> + <div class='line'>This bright September day,</div> + <div class='line'>With radiant sky and balmy airs at play,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Renewing joy in every living thing,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Is Spring! Is Spring!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And so with you, dear Mother! Heart of youth,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Wise in your dreaming, soul of mystery,</div> + <div class='line'>Tender in faith and truth.</div> + <div class='line in2'>Lo, in your gentle hands you hold the key</div> + <div class='line'>Of Spring eternal, of the spirit’s prime;</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>You make a slave of time.</div> + <div class='line in2'>With his malicious fears,</div> + <div class='line'>And as this <em>spring</em> day brightly</div> + <div class='line in2'>Clasps like a gem the threaded years</div> + <div class='line'>You wear so lightly,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Who shall seek to sum them,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Admiring still how sweetly you become them?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><em>Vitré</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>September 3, 1913</em></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE BLAZED TRAIL</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Just when the path is lost to me,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Bewildered wanderer in the maze,</div> + <div class='line'>Upon some unexpected tree</div> + <div class='line in2'>I spy the Woodman’s blaze;</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>A mystic rune of sight or sound,</div> + <div class='line in2'>A message quick from sense to soul,</div> + <div class='line'>That lifts the spirit from the ground</div> + <div class='line in2'>And speeds it to the goal.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>A wind-flower nodding by an oak</div> + <div class='line in2'>Has given assurance from afar;</div> + <div class='line'>Once in the dark a fragrance spoke,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And once it was a star.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The silver fluting of a thrush;</div> + <div class='line in2'>The bursting of a sunken flame;</div> + <div class='line'>A sigh of wind, a sudden hush—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Out of the depths I came.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>A burning challenge to despair</div> + <div class='line in2'>Flashed from an idly-open book;</div> + <div class='line'>A small dumb creature’s silent prayer,</div> + <div class='line in2'>A friend’s revealing look;</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And all the doubtful horrors fade,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The weary heart leaps up again.</div> + <div class='line'>Through tangled thickets in the shade,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The Trail shows broad and plain.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span> + <h2 class='c006'>BUT THERE ARE WINGS</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“How big it is, the Blueness everywhere!”</div> + <div class='line'>Between two seas, her playtime scarce begun,</div> + <div class='line'>Trembles the shy, bewildered little one.</div> + <div class='line'>Above her roll the shoreless depths of air</div> + <div class='line'>Reflected in her azure eyes; and there</div> + <div class='line'>Close to her feet in thunderous fury run</div> + <div class='line'>The crowding waters, peacock in the sun,</div> + <div class='line'>That fling a salty threat upon her hair.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“But there are wings!” They brood against the sky,</div> + <div class='line'>A cloudy wonder; while upon the deep</div> + <div class='line'>She sees them dip and flutter, far and near.</div> + <div class='line'>“The same kind wings that shelter one asleep!”</div> + <div class='line'>So, drawing reassurance in a sigh,</div> + <div class='line'>She digs the treacherous sand without a fear.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span> + <h2 class='c006'>SAFE?</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>If I but set my casement high</div> + <div class='line in2'>Where none peer in at me,</div> + <div class='line'>I shall look only at the sky</div> + <div class='line in2'>And the fair top of the tree.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I shall forget the sorry things</div> + <div class='line in2'>The swallows do not tell;</div> + <div class='line'>I shall not see the wounded wings</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of the little bird that fell.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And if below there crawls a road,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Where dusty travelers go,</div> + <div class='line'>Groaning beneath a weary load—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Why, I shall never know.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I can pretend there is no sin,</div> + <div class='line in2'>No pain and misery,</div> + <div class='line'>If I gaze out where none look in</div> + <div class='line in2'>To read the heart of me.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE UP-HILL STREET</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>There’s a lane through grassy meadows,</div> + <div class='line in2'>There’s a turnpike to the sea,</div> + <div class='line'>There’s a trail across the mountain</div> + <div class='line in2'>Which is very dear to me.</div> + <div class='line'>There’s a shady, quiet roadway</div> + <div class='line in2'>On the border of the town;</div> + <div class='line'>There are footpaths going blithely</div> + <div class='line in2'>Up the little hills and down.</div> + <div class='line'>And oh! I love the highroads</div> + <div class='line in2'>My happy feet have pressed.</div> + <div class='line'>But walk at evening, walk at morn,</div> + <div class='line in2'>There’s one I love the best.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>It is a narrow city street</div> + <div class='line in2'>That clambers with a will</div> + <div class='line'>Between two ragged cliffs of brick</div> + <div class='line in2'>Upon a windy hill.</div> + <div class='line'>I see it from my window,</div> + <div class='line in2'>I watch it every day</div> + <div class='line'>Slope to the level sky-verge</div> + <div class='line in2'>Whereon it melts away;</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>While etched across the picture</div> + <div class='line in2'>Stands straight and strong and tall,</div> + <div class='line'>The oak tree that I planted</div> + <div class='line in2'>When I was very small.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Above, a narrow sky-way</div> + <div class='line in2'>The houses frame for me;</div> + <div class='line'>Beyond, across the city—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Though I can hardly see—</div> + <div class='line'>I know the blue bay opens,</div> + <div class='line in2'>With towering blocks between;</div> + <div class='line'>I feel, I smell, I hear it</div> + <div class='line in2'>When winds blow east and keen!</div> + <div class='line'>And I have dwelt here always;</div> + <div class='line in2'>A child I saw it climb,</div> + <div class='line'>The quaint, forgotten byway,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Unmarked by change or time.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>How often have I trod it!</div> + <div class='line in2'>Each brick and stone I know!</div> + <div class='line'>Each little rise and hollow</div> + <div class='line in2'>Though hidden under snow.</div> + <div class='line'>And looking from my window</div> + <div class='line in2'>I almost think to see</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>A childish figure climbing—</div> + <div class='line in2'>The little shade of Me.</div> + <div class='line'>But as I watch her, smiling—</div> + <div class='line in2'>The child who once was I—</div> + <div class='line'>My Fancy climbs the little hill</div> + <div class='line in2'>And merges in the sky.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span> + <h2 class='c006'>CITY SMOKE</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Oh, the smoke of the city!</div> + <div class='line'>Pouring in columns black and thick;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Swooping, a nightmare bird of prey,</div> + <div class='line'>From a hideous eyrie of iron and brick,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Obscuring the day;</div> + <div class='line'>Sinister, greasy, noisome, vile,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Spoiling the delicate, fouling the pure,</div> + <div class='line'>Creeping like sorrowful sin or guile</div> + <div class='line in2'>Through tiniest cranny and lock secure.</div> + <div class='line'>The rosiest chamber reeks with its breath,</div> + <div class='line'>And the dens already besmirched with death.</div> + <div class='line'>It broods impartial, sullying all,</div> + <div class='line'>Palace, tenement, hovel and hall;</div> + <div class='line'>Beauty’s ruin and Nature’s ban,</div> + <div class='line'>Price of the fierce, packed struggle of man.</div> + <div class='line'>Grim smoke hovering without pity,</div> + <div class='line'>Over the city.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Oh, the smoke of the city!</div> + <div class='line'>Rising and rolling a magical stream,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Spreading and wavering higher and higher;</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>Bright with the opaline colors of dream,</div> + <div class='line in2'>A torrent of beauty, a cloud of desire.</div> + <div class='line'>Delicate gossamer rags float free,</div> + <div class='line'>Drifting into eternity,</div> + <div class='line'>Washed with radiance, purged and clean,</div> + <div class='line in2'>All-escaping, ethereal, new;</div> + <div class='line'>Vision of poets sublime, serene,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Etching the blue;</div> + <div class='line'>Life transfigured by hope again,</div> + <div class='line'>Prize of the dear, near loving of men.</div> + <div class='line'>Glorified smoke, like a halo of pity,</div> + <div class='line'>Over the city.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span> + <h2 class='c006'>GREEN CROSSES</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>At the back of the pompous houses,</div> + <div class='line'>Above the beautiful river-way,</div> + <div class='line'>A row of squalid barrels</div> + <div class='line'>Blush at themselves in the morning light.</div> + <div class='line'>From one grotesquely leaning,</div> + <div class='line'>Dusty and scarred</div> + <div class='line'>Amid the dead, forgotten slag and ashes,</div> + <div class='line'>A fir-tree thrusts its live, protesting fingers—</div> + <div class='line'>Crosses of green.</div> + <div class='line'>About it still cling a few silver cobwebs,</div> + <div class='line'>Rags of its brief splendor.</div> + <div class='line'>It was the Christmas Tree</div> + <div class='line'>That graced the cheerful drawing-room</div> + <div class='line'>A little while;</div> + <div class='line'>That blessed the comfortable house with its fragrance,</div> + <div class='line'>And with its symbols of love,</div> + <div class='line'>The small green crosses.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>A pinched, pale child with hungry eyes,</div> + <div class='line'>Ragged and wolfish, but with wisps of glory</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>Still haloing her hair,</div> + <div class='line'>Comes with her bag of rubbish.</div> + <div class='line'>Her eyes brighten;</div> + <div class='line'>She sets down her heavy burden,</div> + <div class='line'>She forgets the cold as she picks at the little tree,</div> + <div class='line'>Plucks eagerly at the fragile cobwebs;</div> + <div class='line'>They are so silvery few!</div> + <div class='line'>But they do not go into the heavy sack.</div> + <div class='line'>Her thin, blue fingers snap one of the green crosses;</div> + <div class='line'>She twists the tinsel thread about it,</div> + <div class='line'>And sticks it in her breast.</div> + <div class='line'>Then she shoulders her bundle of trash,</div> + <div class='line'>And stumbles away, smiling.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The green crosses, alive in the dust!</div> + <div class='line'>The Christmas Tree!</div> + <div class='line'>The evergreen tree whose roots are cut—</div> + <div class='line'>On the dump it will die!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The Christmas Tree!</div> + <div class='line'>What if this ornament of brief holidays,</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>This plaything of a favored few,</div> + <div class='line'>This strong, slow-murdered creature of pure woods,</div> + <div class='line'>With its green crosses,</div> + <div class='line'>Were really growing!</div> + <div class='line'>If it were rooted in the hearts</div> + <div class='line'>Of Christendom!</div> + <div class='line'>How different a world would see this sunny morning!</div> + <div class='line'>No war; no hate;</div> + <div class='line'>No want nor selfishness;</div> + <div class='line'>No ragged children, starved for tinsel joys,</div> + <div class='line'>Furtively clutching at rejected beauty</div> + <div class='line'>On a forgotten cross,</div> + <div class='line'>The green cross of Love.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE MYSTIC CIRCLE</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Eight lusty bell-ringers</div> + <div class='line'>In the loft of the campanile;</div> + <div class='line'>Eight quick-eyed, firm-muscled, clean-lipped lads,</div> + <div class='line'>Forming a mystic circle,</div> + <div class='line'>Poised a-tiptoe,</div> + <div class='line'>Hands above heads,</div> + <div class='line'>Waiting.</div> + <div class='line'>Eight stout ropes mysteriously pending</div> + <div class='line'>From the unrevealing, dusty rafters.</div> + <div class='line'>The bells are poised for the peal,</div> + <div class='line'>Though they remain unseen,</div> + <div class='line'>Waiting.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The magic word is spoken by the leader—</div> + <div class='line'>“<em>She</em>’s off!” (The unmistakable English accent.)</div> + <div class='line'>The treble bell gives signal first,</div> + <div class='line'>The racing merry scales descend.</div> + <div class='line'>The cue is flashed from eye to eye;</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>The Bob-major double,</div> + <div class='line'>An intricate combination of sequences,</div> + <div class='line'>A miracle of mathematics resolved into sound;</div> + <div class='line'>A psalm of joy!</div> + <div class='line'>While the sturdy arms pull in ordered eagerness,</div> + <div class='line'>And the bright eyes shine.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The Bells!</div> + <div class='line'>Their tongues are loosed.</div> + <div class='line'>The charm of the mystic circle has made them animate,</div> + <div class='line'>Has lifted the enchantment of silence</div> + <div class='line'>And given sound to their joy.</div> + <div class='line'>In the tower above the young men,</div> + <div class='line'>(So near, unseen,)</div> + <div class='line'>They shout till the rafters ring;</div> + <div class='line'>A revel of frank, untrammeled spirits,</div> + <div class='line'>Like innocent children with clear, full voices,</div> + <div class='line'>Merry, unrestrained, irresponsible.</div> + <div class='line'>A somersaulting group of eight,</div> + <div class='line'>Praises God in mirth.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>Still farther above,</div> + <div class='line'>High in the vault of the church,</div> + <div class='line'>Revealed in ethereal, vibrating overtones,</div> + <div class='line'>Like the whirring of great wings,</div> + <div class='line'>The heavenly choir chanting Te Deum</div> + <div class='line'>Join in the song;</div> + <div class='line'>The Angels of the Bells,</div> + <div class='line'>Tender intermediaries between earth and heaven,</div> + <div class='line'>Breathing holy gladness, singing ineffable praise.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Above, above again,</div> + <div class='line'>Far above the pointed spire,</div> + <div class='line'>Above the seething city and the sinning world,</div> + <div class='line'>Above the singing in the hearts of men,</div> + <div class='line'>The clamor of bells, the choiring of angels—</div> + <div class='line'>Silence.</div> + <div class='line'>The eternal harmony of all sound,</div> + <div class='line'>The caught-up commingled praises of creation,</div> + <div class='line'>Blended into quiet,</div> + <div class='line'>The Silence that is God:</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>God listening; God approving; God the Father of Joy,</div> + <div class='line'>Blessing His angels and His bells,</div> + <div class='line'>Blessing the ringers with rapt faces,</div> + <div class='line'>Tense, devotional,</div> + <div class='line'>Who consummate the ritual of sound</div> + <div class='line'>In a religious office.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Eight young men</div> + <div class='line'>In a mystic circle,</div> + <div class='line'>Whose center is the center of the universe,</div> + <div class='line'>God.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span> + <h2 class='c006'>SONG OF THE BOOKWORM</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Who would long for wings to wander</div> + <div class='line'>Over sea or mountains yonder?</div> + <div class='line'>Who would hang on risky pinion,</div> + <div class='line'>And become the breezes’ minion,</div> + <div class='line'>When the spirit, birdlike, hovers,</div> + <div class='line'>Borne between two leathern covers?</div> + <div class='line'>These are wings a fay might sigh for,</div> + <div class='line'>Or a chubby cherub cry for!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>So the dusty Bookworm quivers</div> + <div class='line'>Into life; the cocoon shivers,</div> + <div class='line'>Bursts into a world of glory,</div> + <div class='line'>Borne on tinted wings of story,</div> + <div class='line'>Poesy, romance or fairy—</div> + <div class='line'>Wings of book-leaves thin and airy;</div> + <div class='line'>Floats and flutters off, away,</div> + <div class='line'>To Avonside or far Cathay.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>There is no land so strange, so far,</div> + <div class='line'>From pole to pole, from star to star,</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>But he may visit passage free,</div> + <div class='line'>No duty, fare or grudging fee.</div> + <div class='line'>Hey for Egypt! Ho for Arden!</div> + <div class='line'>Mowgli’s jungle, Omar’s garden!</div> + <div class='line'>None shall limit, none can stay,</div> + <div class='line'>When the Bookworm flits away!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE BOOKS I OUGHT TO READ</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>On dusty shelves in serried ranks they stand,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Reproachful thousands, quaint, and grave and great.</div> + <div class='line'>My guilty conscience hears their mute commands,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Yet day by day—they wait.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Their army grows more deadly every year;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Their captain-names I cannot call to mind.</div> + <div class='line'>A friend amid the order would, I fear,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Be very hard to find.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>But to a corner shelf by most forgot,</div> + <div class='line in2'>I steal, and to my conscience pay no heed,</div> + <div class='line'>With boon companions dear. Yet these are not</div> + <div class='line in2'>The books I ought to read!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span> + <h2 class='c006'>JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE</h2> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c012'> + <div>FEBRUARY 12, 1916</div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Wizard of youth! How many years,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Since first we felt the story-spell,</div> + <div class='line'>Your name has thrilled the childish ears</div> + <div class='line in2'>That knew your magic well.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Dear noble head of snowy hair,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Face with the sunglow; keen, kind eyes;</div> + <div class='line'>Presence erect and debonair,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Heart generous and wise.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>No more our Poet walks the land!</div> + <div class='line in2'>Your mellow voice no more is heard.</div> + <div class='line'>Oh, for the warm clasp of your hand,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The friendly, precious word!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>But in the hearts whose love you share,</div> + <div class='line in2'>In countless friends you never met,</div> + <div class='line'>In the world’s childhood everywhere</div> + <div class='line in2'>Your life is singing yet.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>Your merry quips; your thought’s pure gold;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Your knightly quest and champion cry;</div> + <div class='line'>The songs you sang, the tales you told—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Their echoes do not die.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>They make a part of what we are,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of all the best we think and do.</div> + <div class='line'>The land you loved is better far</div> + <div class='line in2'>Because her youth loved you!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE JOY-VENDER</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Giovanni Carbone, lame and old,</div> + <div class='line'>Has a struggling bunch of balloons to hold;</div> + <div class='line'>Balloons like giant, luscious grapes,</div> + <div class='line'>With shiny skins and the roundest shapes.</div> + <div class='line'>They dodge and tug to get away,</div> + <div class='line'>Like children, peevish at control.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Early and late the patient soul</div> + <div class='line'>Smiling and nodding keeps his stand,</div> + <div class='line'>On a corner where the breezes play,</div> + <div class='line'>And the child-parade goes by each day;</div> + <div class='line'>For windmills whirl in his other hand.</div> + <div class='line'>Petaled windmills of every hue</div> + <div class='line'>Known to his native, opal land,</div> + <div class='line'>Busily, dizzily whiz and whir,</div> + <div class='line'>Making rosettes of rainbow blur,</div> + <div class='line'>Too bewildering to be true.</div> + <div class='line'>Giovanni guards the corner well;</div> + <div class='line'>A kindly wizard, ready to sell</div> + <div class='line'>For a tiny bit of sordid money</div> + <div class='line'>A gaudy joy, when the day is sunny.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>Flimsy joys! Just pretty toys,</div> + <div class='line'>Fragile and useless anywhere;</div> + <div class='line'>Except to little girls and boys</div> + <div class='line'>Empty and meaningless as air!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>How babies love the foolish things!</div> + <div class='line'>Their chubby, mittened hands they reach,</div> + <div class='line'>Pout rosy lips in lisping speech,</div> + <div class='line'>Coaxing the wizard with wrinkled face</div> + <div class='line'>To part with his treasure,</div> + <div class='line'>The joys that have wings.</div> + <div class='line'>He is willing enough, for a nickel or two—</div> + <div class='line'>And what is a nickel to me or you?</div> + <div class='line'>He grins and nods with an artist’s grace,</div> + <div class='line'>Pleased with the little ones’ guileless pleasure.</div> + <div class='line'>He airily pockets the proffered pence,</div> + <div class='line'>Tethers his wares to the iron fence.</div> + <div class='line'>With gentle fingers he ties the strings</div> + <div class='line'>To proud small buttons; he thrusts a wand—</div> + <div class='line'>A fairy wand—in a baby hand.</div> + <div class='line'>“<em>Va bene!</em>”</div> + <div class='line in12'>Off to a Wonderland!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>Giovanni Carbone! No wonder you grin,</div> + <div class='line'>With your burning eye set in parchment skin;</div> + <div class='line'>Purveyor of dreams for the innocent;</div> + <div class='line'>Maker of laughter rather than pain;</div> + <div class='line'>Vender of perfect, rounded content.</div> + <div class='line'>I envy you again and again</div> + <div class='line'>Your job and your bit of wonder-money,</div> + <div class='line'>And your breezy stand, when the day is sunny.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE SPARROW</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Little bird of dusty brown,</div> + <div class='line'>Why do you stay here in town,</div> + <div class='line'>In the noise and dirt and heat</div> + <div class='line'>Hopping in the ugly street?</div> + <div class='line'>Other songsters choose to go</div> + <div class='line'>Where the grass and clovers grow,</div> + <div class='line'>Where the dew is on the hill</div> + <div class='line'>And the shady woods are still;</div> + <div class='line'>Where the baby rivers skip,</div> + <div class='line'>And the cool green mosses drip.</div> + <div class='line'>There to-morrow I shall be!</div> + <div class='line'>Sparrow, do you envy me?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Saucy bird, alert and quick,</div> + <div class='line'>Lingering on stone and brick—</div> + <div class='line'>Little children linger too,</div> + <div class='line'>Who perhaps are fond of you;</div> + <div class='line'>Pale and pitiful to see,</div> + <div class='line'>Sick and sorry too, maybe.</div> + <div class='line'>They can dream, but never stray</div> + <div class='line'>Where the ferns and daisies play.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>All the sultry summer through</div> + <div class='line'>They will hear no bird but you,</div> + <div class='line'>Cheap and common, sharp and shrill,</div> + <div class='line'>Chirping, chirping, chirping still,</div> + <div class='line'>Picking bugs and crumbs and things.</div> + <div class='line'>Yet—you have the gift of wings!</div> + <div class='line'>They can see you dart and fly</div> + <div class='line'>Free and high to tree and sky—</div> + <div class='line'>Only little comrade given</div> + <div class='line'>Who can bring them news of heaven!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Sparrow, though I run away,</div> + <div class='line'>Is that why you choose to stay?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span> + <h2 class='c006'>SYLVIA</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Sylvia is always gay.</div> + <div class='line'>When she winged to earth one day,</div> + <div class='line'>Through the wonders of the sky,</div> + <div class='line'>She caught a star as she flew by,</div> + <div class='line'>Green and gold and amethyst,</div> + <div class='line'>In her tiny baby fist,</div> + <div class='line'>And hid it in her little breast</div> + <div class='line'>As a secret unconfessed.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Like a jeweled lantern she</div> + <div class='line'>Shines for all the world to see.</div> + <div class='line'>In her eyes the sparkle beams,</div> + <div class='line'>From her burnished hair it gleams;</div> + <div class='line'>Radiant all she does and says,</div> + <div class='line'>All her pretty, twinkling ways—</div> + <div class='line'>Just because she dared to leaven</div> + <div class='line'>Lifetime with a bit of heaven.</div> + <div class='line'>Sylvia! Without your spark,</div> + <div class='line'>Oh, the journey would be dark.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE PLUME</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Here is a gift,” the Brownie said,</div> + <div class='line'>As something fell on the little maid’s head—</div> + <div class='line'>“A golden feather with silver bars</div> + <div class='line'>Of the Faraway Bird who sings to the stars;</div> + <div class='line'>A beautiful plume to use as you will,</div> + <div class='line'>Fortunate friend on top of the hill!</div> + <div class='line'>Fasten it into your curly hair;</div> + <div class='line'>Love will follow and find you fair.</div> + <div class='line'>Put it into the Magi’s hands;</div> + <div class='line'>They will pay you with gold and lands.</div> + <div class='line'>Feather a shaft with the magic thing,</div> + <div class='line'>And bring down Fame with a crippled wing.</div> + <div class='line'>Other wonders the plume can do,</div> + <div class='line'>But I wouldn’t bother, if I were you!”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Now the queer little maid on top of the hill</div> + <div class='line'>Clipped the plume to a scratchy quill—</div> + <div class='line'>The golden feather with silver bars</div> + <div class='line'>Of the Faraway Bird who sings to the stars!</div> + <div class='line'>She wrote and wrote, all night, all day,</div> + <div class='line'>The curious things it made her say—</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>Wonder-tales and whimsical rhymes,</div> + <div class='line'>Faraway deeds from faraway times,</div> + <div class='line'>Told for the clamorous boys and girls,</div> + <div class='line'>With bangs and braids, with clips and curls.</div> + <div class='line'>The children laughed and clapped and cried—</div> + <div class='line'>“Tell it again! Tell more beside!”</div> + <div class='line'>Then the queer little maid was proud and glad,</div> + <div class='line'>And this was the good of the gift she had—</div> + <div class='line'>The magical plume of the Faraway Bird.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>But the Brownie sighed, for never a word</div> + <div class='line'>To the busy house on the hilltop came</div> + <div class='line'>Of flattering love, or wealth, or fame.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE WOODSY ONES</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Hear them creeping, creeping, creeping,</div> + <div class='line in4'>through the mosses and the brush,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The Woodsy Ones whom I can never see!</div> + <div class='line'>Now they snap a twig and falter,</div> + <div class='line in4'>now they laugh and whisper “Hush!”</div> + <div class='line in2'>As they dodge their little heads behind a tree.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Hear them dancing, dancing, dancing,</div> + <div class='line in4'>in the grass when I’m abed,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And singing at my window in the moon!</div> + <div class='line'>Oh, the fairy music bubbles</div> + <div class='line in4'>in my dizzy little head,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And I drift away to Nothing all too soon!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE WEE KNITTER</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><em>Click! Click! Click!</em></div> + <div class='line'>Hark to the needles knitting fast</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of the wee Knitter in the sun.</div> + <div class='line'>Over the fairy finger-tips are cast</div> + <div class='line in2'>Gossamer threads by an old witch-spider spun</div> + <div class='line'>In her den at the heart of a flower</div> + <div class='line'>In a moonlit hour.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><em>Click! Click! Click!</em></div> + <div class='line'>The wee small Knitter is all in green,</div> + <div class='line in2'>With thistledown hair,</div> + <div class='line'>And petal-shoon on her silver toes</div> + <div class='line in2'>That she swings in the air,</div> + <div class='line'>From her perch on a tremulous rose,</div> + <div class='line'>Knitting unseen.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><em>Click! Click! Click!</em></div> + <div class='line'>The slender needles of the pine</div> + <div class='line in2'>Flash spicy fragrance as they go,</div> + <div class='line in2'>To and fro,</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>In the sweet sunshine,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Knitting a secret few can know,</div> + <div class='line'>Of magical meshes none may spy</div> + <div class='line'>With a mortal eye.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><em>Click! Click! Click!</em></div> + <div class='line'>A fairy laugh rings clear and wild,</div> + <div class='line in2'>As eagerly the needles knit,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Knot by knot and bit by bit,</div> + <div class='line'>A purse invisible to hold</div> + <div class='line'>Not gold—</div> + <div class='line in2'>But a bit of luck for a human child.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Do you hear, do you hear, O Fortunate One,</div> + <div class='line'>The wee small Knitter in the sun?</div> + <div class='line'><em>Click! Click! Click!</em></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span> + <h2 class='c006'>A CHARM SAID UNDER AN OAK</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in4'><em>Deus Robur Meus.</em></div> + <div class='line'>Oak, with thy straightness,</div> + <div class='line'>Oak, with thy wholeness,</div> + <div class='line'>Oak, with thy brightness,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Hearten me! Aid me!</div> + <div class='line'>Rooted in passionate earth,</div> + <div class='line'>Crowned in ethereal blue,</div> + <div class='line'>Breathing ineffable love,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Shelter me! Shade me!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>With thy sweet strength,</div> + <div class='line'>With thy cool peace,</div> + <div class='line'>With thy green joy,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Touch me and thrill me!</div> + <div class='line'>Spirit of patience,</div> + <div class='line'>Spirit of courage,</div> + <div class='line'>Spirit of wisdom,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Cover me! Fill me!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Balm-giving oak,</div> + <div class='line'>Force-giving oak,</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>Self-giving oak,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Inspire and elate me!</div> + <div class='line'>Lovely green tree of life,</div> + <div class='line'>Happy tall tree of hope,</div> + <div class='line'>Holy great tree of good,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Oh, consecrate me!</div> + <div class='line in4'><em>Deus Robur Meus.</em></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span> + <h2 class='c006'>FAIRY RING</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I stepped within the fairy ring,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Where it was green, so green.</div> + <div class='line'>Then I heard the trill of a fairy bell,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And the song of the Fairy Queen.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The secret that she murmured me,</div> + <div class='line in2'>To the trill of the fairy bell,</div> + <div class='line'>Was sweet, so sweet you’d not believe,</div> + <div class='line in2'>If I should try to tell.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>But step you too in the fairy ring,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And hold fast to my hand;</div> + <div class='line'>Then we may hear a lovelier thing,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And both will understand.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span> + <h2 class='c006'>DANGEROUS PASSING</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Who ventures to the Magic Wood?</div> + <div class='line in2'>Who dares the moonlit way,</div> + <div class='line'>Full perilous in the silver flood,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Though safe enough by day?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Who brushes through the mystic dew</div> + <div class='line in2'>To hear the flute of Pan,</div> + <div class='line'>And spy upon our dancing crew?</div> + <div class='line in2'>Beware, O Maid, O Man!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The Wee Folk lurk behind the trees</div> + <div class='line in2'>And ambush in the fern;</div> + <div class='line'>Our mischief whispers in the breeze—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Ye Trespassers, return!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Enchanted, each to each shall seem</div> + <div class='line in2'>Transfigured and divine;</div> + <div class='line'>Your faces with strange beauty gleam,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Your lips hold maddening wine.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>You shall forget for what you seek;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Careless of all about,</div> + <div class='line'>Hand clasped to hand and cheek to cheek,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Sport for the elfin rout.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>We tangle never to be free</div> + <div class='line in2'>The feet that tread too far.</div> + <div class='line'>Beware the moonlight witchery,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The magic of a star!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE DRYAD</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I was a Dryad cloistered in a tree,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Nor knew it for a cell, so close and kind;</div> + <div class='line'>Till some one’s careless fingers found the key</div> + <div class='line in2'>And set me free to sun and sky and wind.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Heigho! The outer world seemed very sweet,</div> + <div class='line in2'>For all the sunlit mysteries were new,</div> + <div class='line'>The tender little moss caressed my feet,</div> + <div class='line in2'>I drank of flower-wine and crystal dew.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I heard quaint stories from the birds and bees;</div> + <div class='line in2'>My cheeks were of the sun’s warm kisses fain;</div> + <div class='line'>I joined wild frolics with the reckless breeze,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And mocked the mocking echoes back again.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>But when the evening fell and all the world</div> + <div class='line in2'>Folded to rest without a thought of me,</div> + <div class='line'>With fear a-shiver as the dark unfurled,</div> + <div class='line in2'>I longed to shelter in the ancient tree.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>The sun has gone and now my heart is cold!</div> + <div class='line in2'>My friend the breeze, grown weary with his play,</div> + <div class='line'>Slumbers upon the flowers; while all the gold</div> + <div class='line in2'>Has faded from the glory of the day.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>O good great Oak, close me within your bark!</div> + <div class='line in2'>I droop and faint and cannot wander more.</div> + <div class='line'>But though through all the world I search the dark,</div> + <div class='line in2'>I cannot find my cloister’s wrinkled door.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>O good great Oak, let me not seek in vain</div> + <div class='line in2'>A helpless Dryad, exiled from her tree!</div> + <div class='line'>Ah, but to feel your clasping strength again</div> + <div class='line in2'>Between the cruel, careless world and me!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span> + <h2 class='c006'>FAIRY WINE</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>You from east and I from west</div> + <div class='line in2'>Both stumbled into Fairyland;</div> + <div class='line'>And there we wandered, blithe and blest,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Through elfin mazes, hand in hand.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>They poured a cup of magic brew</div> + <div class='line in2'>And laid enchantment on our eyes;</div> + <div class='line'>I thought I read the heart of you,</div> + <div class='line in2'>You saw me in a fairy guise.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Out of the wonder-hill we came;</div> + <div class='line in2'>We blinked and stammered, wild and wan.</div> + <div class='line'>For you and I were just the same,</div> + <div class='line in2'>But lo! the witchery was gone!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>So, go your way and I’ll go mine,</div> + <div class='line in2'>You to the west, I to the east.</div> + <div class='line'>But ah, how sweet the fairy wine</div> + <div class='line in2'>We sipped together at the feast!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span> + <h2 class='c006'>WEBS</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Oh, they spread out their silver webs</div> + <div class='line in2'>Upon the moonlit grass,</div> + <div class='line'>Their wee bright webs of faërie,</div> + <div class='line in2'>To catch the Dreams that pass.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The wistful dream that stole from me</div> + <div class='line in2'>And crept away to you,</div> + <div class='line'>They tangled it in glistering knots</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of witchery and dew.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And whisht! Your bashful little thought,</div> + <div class='line in2'>So innocent and bright,</div> + <div class='line'>Got trapped in that same silver web</div> + <div class='line in2'>And kept with mine all night.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Then ah! Whatever shall we do</div> + <div class='line in2'>Upon to-morrow day,</div> + <div class='line'>Our dreams are snared together so</div> + <div class='line in2'>And cannot slip away?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE FAIRY FORT</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>As I went by the fairy fort</div> + <div class='line in2'>I heard a laughing wee voice say—</div> + <div class='line'>“Whisht! Be these humans rale at all?</div> + <div class='line in2'>I’ll not believe it, nay!”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Aye, but ye see the crayturs plain?”</div> + <div class='line in2'>“But seein’ niver makes it true,</div> + <div class='line'>No more that not to see be proof;</div> + <div class='line in2'>’Tis what they think and do.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“They just have faith in what they see,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And they be blind as midday owls—</div> + <div class='line'>Except the little childher dear,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And some with childher sowls.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“They chase unrale things all day long—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Money and aise and fame and power—</div> + <div class='line'>With niver time to pipe and dream,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Or gossip with a flower.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>“Such stupid things they be, and quare!</div> + <div class='line in2'>I’ll not believe in them, not I!</div> + <div class='line'>Come, let us pipe a rale, true lilt,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And lave the crayturs by.”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>As I went by the fairy fort</div> + <div class='line in2'>I heard a piping sweet and small;</div> + <div class='line'>I wonder, are the Wee Folk real,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Or am I real at all?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span> + <h2 class='c006'>PEACE—WITH A SWORD!</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“ENSE PETIT PLACIDAM SUB LIBERTATE QUIETEM”</div> + <div class='line in20'>(<cite>Motto of Massachusetts</cite>)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Peace! How we love her and the good she brings</div> + <div class='line in2'>On broad, benignant wings!</div> + <div class='line'>And we have clung to her, how close and long,</div> + <div class='line in2'>While she has made us strong!</div> + <div class='line'>Now we must guard her lest her power cease,</div> + <div class='line'>And in the harried world be no more peace.</div> + <div class='line in8'>Even with a sword;</div> + <div class='line in8'>Help us, O Lord.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>For us no patient peace, the weary goal</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of a war-sickened soul;</div> + <div class='line'>No peace that battens on misfortune’s pain,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Swollen with selfish gain,</div> + <div class='line'>Bending slack knees before a calf of gold,</div> + <div class='line'>With nerveless fingers impotent to hold</div> + <div class='line in8'>The freeman’s sword:</div> + <div class='line in8'>Not this, O Lord!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>No peace bought for us by the martyr dead</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of countries reeking red;</div> + <div class='line'>No peace flung to us from the tyrant’s hand,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Sop to a servile land.</div> + <div class='line'>Our Peace the State’s strong arm holds high and free,</div> + <div class='line'>The “placid Peace she seeks in liberty,”</div> + <div class='line in8'>Yea, “with a sword.”</div> + <div class='line in8'>Help us, O Lord!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>O Massachusetts! In your golden prime,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Not with the bribe of time</div> + <div class='line'>You won her; subtle words and careful ways</div> + <div class='line in2'>In perilous days.</div> + <div class='line'>No! By your valor; by the patriot blood</div> + <div class='line'>Of your brave sons poured in a generous flood.</div> + <div class='line in8'>Peace, with a sword!</div> + <div class='line in8'>Help us, O Lord.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Fling out the banners that defied a king;</div> + <div class='line in2'>The tattered colors bring</div> + <div class='line'>That made a nation one from sea to sea,</div> + <div class='line in2'>In godly liberty.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>Unsheathe the patriot sword in time of need,</div> + <div class='line'>O Massachusetts, shouting in the lead—</div> + <div class='line in8'>“Peace, with a sword!</div> + <div class='line in8'>Help us, O Lord!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE CRY</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Hark! From the trampled gardens once so fair,</div> + <div class='line in2'>From hateful trenches in the harried fields,</div> + <div class='line'>From vineyards wasting in polluted air</div> + <div class='line in2'>Their rich, ungarnered yields,</div> + <div class='line'>There comes the piteous, instinctive cry</div> + <div class='line'>Of soldiers in their lonely agony—</div> + <div class='line in10'>“Mother!” “Mère!”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Alas! Those bonny yellow heads low-lying!</div> + <div class='line in2'>Blue anguished eyes—like eyes beloved and near!</div> + <div class='line'>Weak, fevered lips with painful effort sighing</div> + <div class='line in2'>That word of all most dear—</div> + <div class='line'>So like on every tongue, so understood,</div> + <div class='line'>Sign of our common, outraged brotherhood—</div> + <div class='line in10'>“Mutter!” “Mither!”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>They cry to Her—the Pity of the race,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The fostering Care from which they marched afar,</div> + <div class='line'>The Sympathy forsaken, and the grace</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of Love betrayed by war.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>In this their bitter hour the brave men cry</div> + <div class='line'>To her who bore them, piteously to die—</div> + <div class='line in10'>“Madre!” “Mat!”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And she at home, the pale, heart-broken mother—</div> + <div class='line in2'>She who had nought to do with war and strife—</div> + <div class='line'>Knows Cain and Abel, brother slaying brother!</div> + <div class='line in2'>Sad Eve who gave them life</div> + <div class='line'>Must watch and wait and weep and work, and hear</div> + <div class='line'>Those kindred voices crying to her ear—</div> + <div class='line in10'>“Mutter!” “Maman!”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Oh, hearken, human Love! unselfish, high,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Impartial as the love of mothers good!</div> + <div class='line'>Not vainly died the lads, if their last cry</div> + <div class='line in2'>Prove us our brotherhood;</div> + <div class='line'>If horror so abound for kindred slain,</div> + <div class='line'>Man ends forever War, the crime of Cain.</div> + <div class='line in10'>“Mother!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span> + <h2 class='c006'>CRUSADERS</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>They who have seen the vision,</div> + <div class='line in2'>We who have dreamed the dream,</div> + <div class='line'>Are comrades of a mighty host,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Crusaders of the Gleam.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Some lads will fall in battle,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Some wave victorious swords;</div> + <div class='line'>Some knit the pitying web of love,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Or forge the glowing words.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Still, shoulder set to shoulder,</div> + <div class='line in2'>We tread the fields of fate,</div> + <div class='line'>Our hearts invincible to crush</div> + <div class='line in2'>Truculent ranks of Hate.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And comrade heartens comrade</div> + <div class='line in2'>Through voids of time and space,</div> + <div class='line'>Flashing the Sign upon his brow,</div> + <div class='line in2'>A light upon his face.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE KNIGHTS</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Not dust! Not dust the chivalry,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The knightly heart of high romance</div> + <div class='line'>Enshrined in ancient poetry.</div> + <div class='line in2'>Behold, the battle-fields of France!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Gone plume and crest and jeweled sword,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Gone pomp and picturesque array.</div> + <div class='line'>War is a grim and hideous word!</div> + <div class='line in2'>Yet heroes walk the world to-day.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>A Launcelot or Lion Heart?</div> + <div class='line in2'>A Roland or a Godfrey bold?</div> + <div class='line'>Nay, simple lads who bear their part</div> + <div class='line in2'>As gallantly as knights of old.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Our lithe brown legions swinging by,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Our bonny sailors proudly free;</div> + <div class='line'>The dauntless champions of the sky,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The dragon-chasers on the sea!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>A thousand Sidneys pass the cup</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of blessedness on fields of blood;</div> + <div class='line'>And countless Bayards offer up</div> + <div class='line in2'>Their joyous hope for others’ good.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Never were hearts so nobly bold,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Nor bodies built so strongly fair.</div> + <div class='line'>The tree of life has not grown old,</div> + <div class='line in2'>But blooms to-day beyond compare!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>No more we glory in the past</div> + <div class='line in2'>And yearn to see those kings of men.</div> + <div class='line'>The peerless knights arise at last,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And epic deeds are done again!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span> + <h2 class='c006'>FROM THE CANTEEN</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Sailor, we shall miss you,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Swaggering up and down,</div> + <div class='line'>Bringing picaresque romance</div> + <div class='line in2'>To the mouldy town.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>On your lips a whistle,</div> + <div class='line in2'>In your heart a dance,</div> + <div class='line'>A merry lass upon your arm,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Mischief in your glance.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Childish in your loneliness,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Boyish in your needs,</div> + <div class='line'>But a man in strong desire,</div> + <div class='line in2'>A man to do bold deeds.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Fearful tales you told us—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Some of them were true;</div> + <div class='line'>Furtive tears were often spilled</div> + <div class='line in2'>In the cups we poured for you.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>How we yearned to help you;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Longed to understand</div> + <div class='line'>The riddle of your restless look,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The strange lines of your hand.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>You brought us pain and vision,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Bright youth and gallant ways.</div> + <div class='line'>Sailor, we shall miss you</div> + <div class='line in2'>In the peaceful days!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span> + <h2 class='c006'>CRIPPLED SOLDIER</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>I may have used but half my strength,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And you but half your mind,</div> + <div class='line'>To help the Cause for which he bled,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Leaving a limb behind.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>You may have stumbled in your task,</div> + <div class='line in2'>I may have limped and failed.</div> + <div class='line'>But he leaped forth to give his hope,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Nor once looked back, nor quailed.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>We may be scarred with vain regret</div> + <div class='line in2'>For duties left undone,</div> + <div class='line'>With stiffened limbs and slackened hearts,</div> + <div class='line in2'>When the great war is won.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Then who will say that he is lame,</div> + <div class='line in2'>While we are safe and whole?</div> + <div class='line'>Who bears dread wounds for others’ sake</div> + <div class='line in2'>Has the uncrippled soul.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>And life for him may now begin,</div> + <div class='line in2'>With a new hope at heart,</div> + <div class='line'>While we, disfigured, face a peace</div> + <div class='line in2'>In which we won no part.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE FLAG TRIUMPHANT</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Across my window blow the splendid folds</div> + <div class='line'>Of the great flag hung out for Victory</div> + <div class='line'>And Peace. They gleam through traceries of vine</div> + <div class='line'>And struggling plants, cherished through four grim years</div> + <div class='line'>For comfort, now in blossom. Everything</div> + <div class='line'>I see between the flutterings of the flag;</div> + <div class='line'>The unimportant doings in the street,</div> + <div class='line'>The homely houses opposite, the folk</div> + <div class='line'>Carelessly passing; and the flight of doves—</div> + <div class='line'>Peace doves—along a narrow strip of sky.</div> + <div class='line'>I see them glorified by red and white,</div> + <div class='line'>Under a blessed hidden field of stars.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And when I turn away to read or write,</div> + <div class='line'>My eyes are dazzled still by vivid flashes,</div> + <div class='line'>Caught from the floating colors. No escape</div> + <div class='line'>From thoughts of death heroic, life triumphant!</div> + <div class='line'>The room is full of red and white reflections.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>The very picture-glasses are aglow</div> + <div class='line'>With patriotic fervor, not content</div> + <div class='line'>To be mere shields for ancient, precious things—</div> + <div class='line'>Precious for being ancient; they would share</div> + <div class='line'>The pride of present effort. Even shy prisms</div> + <div class='line'>Hung in old candelabra flush and pale</div> + <div class='line'>Alternately, with tremulous, caught emotion.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>O Flag of sacrifice and chivalry,</div> + <div class='line'>Never before so dear! Your holy red</div> + <div class='line'>Dyed with the blood of hero-friends; your white</div> + <div class='line'>Clear like their vision; and your starry field</div> + <div class='line'>Steadfast with life devotion! Not again,</div> + <div class='line'>I think, shall I look out upon the world</div> + <div class='line'>But through the folds of your eternal glory.</div> + <div class='line'>Flash your fair challenge still across my window,</div> + <div class='line'>Flag of my Country!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THREE GOLDEN STARS</h2> +</div> +<div class='lg-container-b c012'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>(IN MEMORY OF THREE RADCLIFFE GIRLS WHO DIED IN SERVICE ABROAD; RUTH HOLDEN, ’11; LUCY N. FLETCHER, ’10; AND HELEN HOMANS)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Lucy, Helen, Ruth! Sweet names they have,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Our brave young soldiers, womanly and kind!</div> + <div class='line in2'>Sweet as the glorious youth of heart and mind,</div> + <div class='line'>The years of promise they so gladly gave.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And they have wound the ribbon of their love</div> + <div class='line in2'>About and through the nations sundered far,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Drawing them close; each with a golden Star</div> + <div class='line'>Setting her seal on bonds that time shall prove.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>For one, a Briton born and Island bred,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Chose for America to serve, and bless</div> + <div class='line in2'>Our wounded with her strength and steadfastness.</div> + <div class='line'>She sleeps in France among her Yankee dead.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>One of New England, back to England gave</div> + <div class='line in2'>The treasure of her wisdom and her skill,</div> + <div class='line in2'>To use for hapless refugees, who still</div> + <div class='line'>Are weeping by her lonely Russian grave.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And one has won a hero’s <em>Croix de Guerre</em>,</div> + <div class='line in2'>“<em>Morte pour La France</em>,” so honoring a debt.</div> + <div class='line in2'>Our sister nation never will forget</div> + <div class='line'>The foreign Saint who gave her soldiers care.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Oh, greater love hath no man shown than they,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The dear, bright spirits with the radiant eyes,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Fearlessly venturing the great emprise,</div> + <div class='line'>Cheerfully pacing down the dolorous way!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>So, never deem their golden web unspun,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Blighted the hope, and lost the precious dower!</div> + <div class='line in2'>For Three have died to speed the blessed hour</div> + <div class='line'>When Truth and Love make all the nations one.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE SPRING OF THE YEAR</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>On fields of France the violets are fair,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The skylarks sing above the broad champaign;</div> + <div class='line'>But where are they who walked and listened there,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The hero-lads our spring finds not again?</div> + <div class='line'>They leave to us who did not share the fight,</div> + <div class='line'>The earth’s expectancy of green delight.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Nay! They have journeyed to a sweeter bourne,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Where ghosts of all the garnered springs survive,</div> + <div class='line'>With all earth-joys that never will return,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And all the flowers that ever were alive;</div> + <div class='line'>Where bird-songs that have echoed through the years</div> + <div class='line'>Make harmony too sweet for mortal ears.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Oh, what a radiant company are they!</div> + <div class='line in2'>Forever one with all that’s newly fair;</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>Out of the heat and burden of the day,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The blight of fall and winter’s aged care.</div> + <div class='line'>They are Youth’s Gladness, ever blossoming</div> + <div class='line'>Beyond the wistful limit of our spring!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span> + <h2 class='c006'>PRAYER FOR AMERICA</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c009'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>O Lord of justice and of right</div> + <div class='line in2'>Who made the generous Cause prevail,</div> + <div class='line'>Who helped our heroes win the fight,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Now let not their endeavor fail.</div> + <div class='line'>Facing new dangers that arise,</div> + <div class='line'>Oh, make us wise!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Draw out the best of each to serve</div> + <div class='line in2'>Unselfishly the common good,</div> + <div class='line'>Nor let the wider vision swerve</div> + <div class='line in2'>From the true goal of brotherhood.</div> + <div class='line'>To this, thy mighty-blended race,</div> + <div class='line'>Oh, give thy grace!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Give us great leaders we can trust</div> + <div class='line in2'>To strive for righteousness alone;</div> + <div class='line'>Cast small ambition in the dust,</div> + <div class='line in2'>With greed and malice overthrown.</div> + <div class='line'>Lord God, Preserver of the State,</div> + <div class='line'>Oh, make us great!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span> + <h2 class='c006'>THE ROCK OF LIBERTY<br> <span class='c013'>A PILGRIM ODE, 1620–1920<a id='r1'></a><a href='#f1' class='c014'><sup>[1]</sup></a></span></h2> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c012'> + <div>⁂</div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3 class='c015'>I. VISION</h3> +<h4 class='c011'>PRAYER OF SAILING</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Lord God of Hosts, Defender of the weak,</div> + <div class='line'>With thine Almighty arm deliver us,</div> + <div class='line'>Thy suffering people, exiled and forlorn,</div> + <div class='line'>Pilgrims of faith, who dream a glorious dream!</div> + <div class='line'>Beyond the deep, where no man knows the way,</div> + <div class='line'>To savage shores beneath an alien sky,</div> + <div class='line'>Guide us in hope to Liberty and Peace.</div> + <div class='line'>Jehovah! Hearken to thy people’s cry!</div> + <div class='line'>Oh, grant us freedom, Lord, within thy law,</div> + <div class='line'>To toil or worship, live or die for Thee,</div> + <div class='line'>In thy name building that which shall endure</div> + <div class='line'>Beyond the little while we have to live.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>THE VISION</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>O rolling waste of unimagined ocean,</div> + <div class='line'>Dividing continents and parting men!</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>Yield to the fragile sails of destiny,</div> + <div class='line'>Maimed by the will that conquers mighty force!</div> + <div class='line'>Bow to the courage that endures to die,</div> + <div class='line'>The faith that anchors to a solid Rock.</div> + <div class='line'>O waves that do divide! The time will come</div> + <div class='line'>When water shall unite the sundered lands.</div> + <div class='line'>Then over sea, under the sea and through,</div> + <div class='line'>Shall fare the galleons of brotherhood,</div> + <div class='line'>Bearing the freight of liberty and love</div> + <div class='line'>From a great nation, heir of our desire,</div> + <div class='line'>To every corner of the peopled earth.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>THE MAYFLOWER</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>O Pilgrims in a cockle frail</div> + <div class='line in2'>Upon a perilous quest,</div> + <div class='line'>Out of the old world making sail</div> + <div class='line in2'>Into the golden west;</div> + <div class='line'>Beyond the misty ocean veil</div> + <div class='line in2'>Awaits a Vision blest!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>A simple little yeoman band,</div> + <div class='line in2'>None of the rich or great,</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>But stout of heart and strong of hand,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The pioneers of fate;</div> + <div class='line'>The patient builders of a land,</div> + <div class='line in2'>The founders of a State!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Your fragile bark adventuring</div> + <div class='line in2'>Upon a fearful sea,—</div> + <div class='line'>Awful the cargo that you bring;</div> + <div class='line in2'>The seeds of destiny,</div> + <div class='line'>Promise of future harvesting</div> + <div class='line in2'>In sheaves of liberty.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>CHORUS OF WOMEN</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The peril of the frozen wave</div> + <div class='line in2'>Our faith cannot betray;</div> + <div class='line'>Mothers and maidens, be ye brave,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And teach the babes to pray,—</div> + <div class='line'>“Jehovah! Who art strong to save,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Guide to Thy chosen Bay!”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Famine and cold and fever come</div> + <div class='line in2'>To meet us on the shore;</div> + <div class='line'>Labor and want and sorrow, dumb</div> + <div class='line in2'>For joys we see no more.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>O Lord, give hope in a new home;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Strength for what lies before!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Yea, though he slay with scourge forlorn,</div> + <div class='line in2'>We trust Jehovah’s will.</div> + <div class='line'>Although the pitying rows of corn</div> + <div class='line in2'>Hide many a little hill</div> + <div class='line'>Where lie our loved and newly-born;</div> + <div class='line in2'>Our God is with us still.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>CHORUS OF MEN</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>No snarling danger in its den</div> + <div class='line in2'>Can make our courage quail;</div> + <div class='line'>No prowling savage of the fen</div> + <div class='line in2'>Will turn our color pale,</div> + <div class='line'>Nor treachery of brother men</div> + <div class='line in2'>Make our endeavor fail.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>With freedom are our furrows filled,</div> + <div class='line in2'>To blossom in the spring.</div> + <div class='line'>To freedom run the roads we build:</div> + <div class='line in2'>“<em>Freedom!</em>” the gray walls sing.</div> + <div class='line'>For <span class='sc'>Freedom</span> is the word we willed</div> + <div class='line in2'>Should through the ages ring!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span> + <h3 class='c016'>II. STRUGGLE</h3> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>PSALM</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><em>The Lord is my strength; of whom shall I be afraid?</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>He hath brought me forth into a place of Liberty.</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Oh what great and sore troubles hast Thou showed me,</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>And yet dost Thou quicken me again,</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Yea, and shalt bring me up again out of the deep.</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Thou hast tried me as silver is tried.</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>The Lord will give strength to His people.</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>The Lord will bless His people with peace.</em></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>THE CAPTAIN</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>We who have challenged fate</div> + <div class='line in2'>To buy the boon of peace,</div> + <div class='line'>Shall we not watch and wait,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Nor from the vigil cease?</div> + <div class='line'>Pray God for strength and trust his word,</div> + <div class='line'>Guarding our treasure with a sword!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>We who have burned the past</div> + <div class='line in2'>Upon an altar fire,</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>Will pay our lives at last</div> + <div class='line in2'>To win the soul’s desire.</div> + <div class='line'>Give us our peace! Renew our faith,</div> + <div class='line'>O Lord, to seek it unto death!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>THE ELDER</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Come, let us build a temple to God,</div> + <div class='line'>Here in the wilderness, made by our might,</div> + <div class='line'>Set in our midst, the center of life.</div> + <div class='line'>Smite the tall pines that fall with a roar!</div> + <div class='line'>Hew the great logs and heave them in place</div> + <div class='line'>Square is the meeting-house, simple and stern,</div> + <div class='line'>Barren of beauty, honestly builded,</div> + <div class='line'>A shield from the arrow that flieth by day,</div> + <div class='line'>A haven from storm and peril of night.</div> + <div class='line'>Slender the spire that points to the sky,</div> + <div class='line'>First one of many to blaze out a path</div> + <div class='line'>Through the wild jungle, lifting men’s eyes</div> + <div class='line'>Out of the shadow into the light.</div> + <div class='line'>Old men and maidens, young men and children,</div> + <div class='line'>Enter His house with thanksgiving and praise!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span> + <h4 class='c011'>PILGRIM MOTHERS</h4> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Patter, patter, in and out,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Go the women’s loyal feet.</div> + <div class='line'>Hither, thither, roundabout,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Late and early hear the beat;</div> + <div class='line'>To the crib, the well, the hay,</div> + <div class='line in2'>From the kitchen to the loom;</div> + <div class='line'>Treading out a people’s way,</div> + <div class='line in2'>From the cradle to the tomb.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Flutter, flutter, to and fro,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Busy hands fly out and in.</div> + <div class='line'>Flaxen threads are white as snow,—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Rough the little hands that spin;</div> + <div class='line'>Drawing out the thread of life,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Working early, winding late;</div> + <div class='line'>Gentle mother, noble wife,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Knitting firm a nation’s fate.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>PILGRIM FATHERS</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Lord of the harvest and the toil,</div> + <div class='line'>Prosper the laborer on thy soil.</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>Steady the shoulder to the plow,</div> + <div class='line'>And let there be no faltering now.</div> + <div class='line'>Our lot is in a goodly land;</div> + <div class='line'>Inspire the heart and steel the hand</div> + <div class='line'>To build a fabric grandly sure</div> + <div class='line'>In righteousness that shall endure!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>THE CONGREGATION</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Sing to the Lord! Here there shall be</div> + <div class='line'>No leading into captivity,</div> + <div class='line'>And no complaining on our shore.</div> + <div class='line'>But we will guard the lowly poor,</div> + <div class='line'>The little children and the weak,</div> + <div class='line'>And they shall find the prize they seek.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>O Liberty! The corner-stone</div> + <div class='line'>Of a greater hope than men have known!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span> + <h3 class='c016'>III. ACHIEVEMENT</h3> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>SONS</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>We have felled the forest and pierced the hill;</div> + <div class='line'>We have scoured the prairie and venture still,</div> + <div class='line'>Turning the torrent to our behest,</div> + <div class='line'>Sons of the Pilgrims, East and West.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>DAUGHTERS</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>We have followed our men to make a home;</div> + <div class='line'>Wherever they fared we dared to come,</div> + <div class='line'>From the mountain top to the river mouth,</div> + <div class='line'>Daughters of Pilgrims, North and South.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>THE NEW GENERATION</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>We have builded well by the waterside,</div> + <div class='line'>We have garnered a harvest far and wide,</div> + <div class='line'>Setting our mark from sea to sea,</div> + <div class='line'>Heirs of the Pilgrim liberty.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>THE ALARUM</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in6'>Daughters of men, arise!</div> + <div class='line in8'>Sons of the soil, awake!</div> + <div class='line in6'><span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>What are the hopes ye prize</div> + <div class='line in8'>When Freedom is at stake?</div> + <div class='line in6'>Hark to a warning cry</div> + <div class='line in8'>Out of the sacred dust;</div> + <div class='line in6'>Dare all for Liberty,</div> + <div class='line in8'>Give all to keep the trust!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“<em>Pray God for strength and trust his word,</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>Guarding our treasure with a sword!</em>”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in6'>Arise, O glorious Land,</div> + <div class='line in8'>And make confusion cease!</div> + <div class='line in6'>The foes of Freedom stand</div> + <div class='line in8'>Across the path of peace.</div> + <div class='line in6'>In loyal might arrayed</div> + <div class='line in8'>Assail the host of shame.</div> + <div class='line in6'>Forward! Unafraid!</div> + <div class='line in8'>In God’s Almighty name!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“<em>Give us our peace! Renew our faith,</em></div> + <div class='line'><em>O Lord, to seek it unto death!</em>”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in6'>America! Be strong!</div> + <div class='line in8'>Heir of a noble race,</div> + <div class='line in6'><span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>Bear the proud Flag along</div> + <div class='line in8'>Up to the highest place.</div> + <div class='line in6'>The road our fathers made</div> + <div class='line in8'>Is bright as living flame.</div> + <div class='line in6'>Forward! Unafraid!</div> + <div class='line in8'>In God’s Almighty name!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>THE VISION FULFILLED</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>O waves that did divide! The time has come</div> + <div class='line'>When water shall unite the sundered lands!</div> + <div class='line'>Now over sea, under the sea and through,</div> + <div class='line'>Shall fare the galleons of brotherhood,</div> + <div class='line'>Bearing the freight of liberty and love</div> + <div class='line'>From the great Nation, heir of men’s desire,</div> + <div class='line'>To every corner of the peopled earth.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h4 class='c011'>THE UNION</h4> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Lovely is this, the land of our abiding,</div> + <div class='line'>From shore to shore across the leagues of freedom,</div> + <div class='line'>From North to South in merciful abundance;</div> + <div class='line in4'>Land of our heart, America!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>The little school, the farmstead, and the chapel,</div> + <div class='line'>Type of the treasure that our fathers cherished,</div> + <div class='line'>Followed the feet that tramped beyond the mountains,</div> + <div class='line in4'>Making thy ways, America!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Out of the East came men in mighty millions,</div> + <div class='line'>Into the savage corners of the country,</div> + <div class='line'>Scattering wide the seed of old tradition,</div> + <div class='line in4'>Germ of thy power, America!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>From deep to deep, from gulf to frozen forest,</div> + <div class='line'>The mountain and the plain have known their courage,</div> + <div class='line'>The harbor and the town have seen their wisdom,</div> + <div class='line in4'>Quickening thee, America!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>They chained the Titan, Steam, to be their servant;</div> + <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>They made the thunderbolt to do their bidding,</div> + <div class='line'>And gave thee Light to be thy living halo,</div> + <div class='line in4'>Glorious one, America!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>The old world turned to thee in time of trouble,</div> + <div class='line'>The people held their empty hands for succor;</div> + <div class='line'>Thy bread and wine of love went forth to feed them,</div> + <div class='line in4'>Strength of thy strength, America!</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Thy Liberty became the hope of nations;</div> + <div class='line'>To Victory thy banner crossed the ocean,</div> + <div class='line'>Borne by the gallant sons of Pilgrim honor,</div> + <div class='line in4'>Shouting thy name—“<em>America!</em>”</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Yet are we humble, mindful of the fathers.</div> + <div class='line'>Not unto us, but unto God the glory,</div> + <div class='line'>Who gave them grace, and made us to inherit</div> + <div class='line in4'>Their sacred trust,—America!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span> + <h4 class='c011'>DOXOLOGY</h4> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Praise God from whom all blessings flow.</div> + <div class='line'>Praise Him, all creatures here below;</div> + <div class='line'>Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;</div> + <div class='line'>Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.</div> + <div class='line in10'>Amen.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span><span class='small'><span class='blackletter'>The Riverside Press</span></span></div> + <div><span class='small'>CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS</span></div> + <div><span class='small'>U . S . A</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class='c017'> +<div class='footnote' id='f1'> +<p class='c005'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. Copyright, 1920, by the Arthur P. Schmidt Company.</p> +</div> +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c003'> +</div> + +<div class='tnotes x-ebookmaker'> + +<div class='chapter ph2'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + + <ul class='ul_1 c012'> + <li>Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + </li> + </ul> + +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76783 ***</div> + </body> + <!-- created with ppgen.py 3.57e (with regex) on 2025-08-31 17:06:49 GMT --> +</html> + diff --git a/76783-h/images/cover.jpg b/76783-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..92588c3 --- /dev/null +++ b/76783-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/76783-h/images/i_title.jpg b/76783-h/images/i_title.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..85e6cf1 --- /dev/null +++ b/76783-h/images/i_title.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8070d3c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook #76783 +(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76783) |
