Poems

With all thou art – be thou our saint,
Our stay, alway.

    December, 1898.

EASTER MORN

Gently thou beckonest from the giant hills
The new-born beauty in the emerald sky,
And wakening murmurs from the drowsy rills —
O gladsome dayspring! 'reft of mortal sigh
To glorify all time – eternity —
With thy still fathomless Christ-majesty.

E'en as Thou gildest gladdened joy, dear God,
Give risen power to prayer; fan Thou the flame
Of right with might; and midst the rod,
And stern, dark shadows cast on Thy blest name,
Lift Thou a patient love above earth's ire,
Piercing the clouds with its triumphal spire.

While sacred song and loudest breath of praise
Echo amid the hymning spheres of light, —
With heaven's lyres and angels' loving lays, —
Send to the loyal struggler for the right,
Joy – not of time, nor yet by nature sown,
But the celestial seed dropped from Love's throne.

Prolong the strain "Christ risen!" Sad sense, annoy
No more the peace of Soul's sweet solitude!
Deep loneness, tear-filled tones of distant joy,
Depart! Glad Easter glows with gratitude —
Love's verdure veils the leaflet's wondrous birth —
Rich rays, rare footprints on the dust of earth.

Not life, the vassal of the changeful hour,
Nor burdened bliss, but Truth and Love attest
The solemn splendor of immortal power, —
The ever Christ, and glorified behest,
Poured on the sense which deems no suffering vain
That wipes away the sting of death – sin, pain.

    Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., April 18, 1900.

RESOLUTIONS FOR THE DAY

To rise in the morning and drink in the view —
The home where I dwell in the vale,
The blossoms whose fragrance and charms ever new
Are scattered o'er hillside and dale;

To gaze on the sunbeams enkindling the sky —
A loftier life to invite —
A light that illumines my spiritual eye,
And inspires my pen as I write;

To form resolutions, with strength from on high,
Such physical laws to obey,
As reason with appetite, pleasures deny,
That health may my efforts repay;

To kneel at the altar of mercy and pray
That pardon and grace, through His Son,
May comfort my soul all the wearisome day,
And cheer me with hope when 'tis done;

To daily remember my blessings and charge,
And make this my humble request:
Increase Thou my faith and my vision enlarge,
And bless me with Christ's promised rest;

To hourly seek for deliverance strong
From selfishness, sinfulness, dearth,
From vanity, folly, and all that is wrong —
With ambition that binds us to earth;

To kindly pass over a wound, or a foe
(And mem'ry but part us awhile),
To breathe forth a prayer that His love I may know,
Whose mercies my sorrows beguile, —

If these resolutions are acted up to,
And faith spreads her pinions abroad,
'Twill be sweet when I ponder the days may be few
That waft me away to my God.

    Written in girlhood.

O FOR THY WINGS, SWEET BIRD!

O for thy wings, sweet bird!
And soul of melody by being blest —
Like thee, my voice had stirred
Some dear remembrance in a weary breast.

But whither wouldst thou rove,
Bird of the airy wing, and fold thy plumes?
In what dark leafy grove
Wouldst chant thy vespers 'mid rich glooms?