To melting murmurs ye have stirred The timid, trembling leaves.
When sunshine beautifies the shower, As smiles through teardrops seen, Ask of its June, the long-hushed heart, [20]
What hath the record been?
And thou wilt find that harmonies, In which the Soul hath part, Ne"er perish young, like things of earth, In records of the heart. [25]
[Page 391.]
Wish And Item
Written to the Editor of the _Item_, Lynn, Ma.s.s.
I hope the heart that"s hungry For things above the floor, Will find within its portals [5]
An item rich in store;
That melancholy mortals Will count their mercies o"er, And learn that Truth and wisdom Have many items more; [10]
That when a wrong is done us, It stirs no thought of strife; And Love becomes the substance, As item, of our life;
That every ragged urchin, [15]
With bare feet soiled or sore, Share G.o.d"s most tender mercies,- Find items at our door.
Then if we"ve done to others Some good ne"er told before, [20]
When angels shall repeat it, "T will be an item more.
[Page 392.]
The Oak On The Mountain"s Summit
Oh, mountain monarch, at whose feet I stand,- Clouds to adorn thy brow, skies clasp thy hand,- Nature divine, in harmony profound, With peaceful presence hath begirt thee round. [5]
And thou, majestic oak, from yon high place Guard"st thou the earth, asleep in night"s embrace,- And from thy lofty summit, pouring down Thy sheltering shade, her noonday glories crown?
Whate"er thy mission, mountain sentinel, [10]
To my lone heart thou art a power and spell; A lesson grave, of life, that teacheth me To love the Hebrew figure of a tree.
Faithful and patient be my life as thine; As strong to wrestle with the storms of time; [15]
As deeply rooted in a soil of love; As grandly rising to the heavens above.
Isle Of Wight
Written on receiving a painting of the Isle
Isle of beauty, thou art singing [20]
To my sense a sweet refrain; To my busy mem"ry bringing Scenes that I would see again.
[Page 393.]
Chief, the charm of thy reflecting, [1]
Is the moral that it brings; Nature, with the mind connecting, Gives the artist"s fancy wings.
Soul, sublime "mid human _debris_, [5]
Paints the limner"s work, I ween, Art and Science, all unweary, Lighting up this mortal dream.
Work ill-done within the misty Mine of human thoughts, we see [10]
Soon abandoned when the Master Crowns life"s Cliff for such as we.
Students wise, he maketh now thus Those who fish in waters deep, When the buried Master hails us [15]
From the sh.o.r.es afar, complete.
Art hath bathed this isthmus-lordling In a beauty strong and meek As the rock, whose upward tending Points the plane of power to seek. [20]
Isle of beauty, thou art teaching Lessons long and grand, to-night, To my heart that would be bleaching To thy whiteness, Cliff of Wight.
[Page 394.]
Hope
"T is borne on the zephyr at eventide"s hour; It falls on the heart like the dew on the flower,- An infinite essence from tropic to pole, The promise, the home, and the heaven of Soul. [5]
Hope happifies life, at the altar or bower, And loosens the fetters of pride and of power; It comes through our tears, as the soft summer rain, To beautify, bless, and make joyful again.
The harp of the minstrel, the treasure of time; [10]
A rainbow of rapture, o"erarching, divine; The G.o.d-given mandate that speaks from above,- No place for earth"s idols, but hope thou, and love.