Once in a time of trouble and of careI dreamed I talked with God about my pain;With sleepland courage, daring to complainOf what I deemed ungracious and unfair.‘Lord, I have grovelled on my knees in prayerHour after hour,’ I cried; ‘yet all in vain;No hand leads up to heights I would attain,No path is shown […]

Who is a Christian in this Christian landOf many churches and of lofty spires?Not he who sits in soft upholstered pewsBought by the profits of unholy greed,And looks devotion, while he thinks of gain.Not he who sends petitions from the lipsThat lie to-morrow in the street and mart.Not he who fattens on another’s toil,And flings […]

All your wonderful inventions,All your houses vast and tall,All your great gun-fronted vessels,Every fort and every wall,With the passing of the ages,They shall pass and they shall fall. As you sit among the idolsThat your avarice gave birth,As you count the hoarded treasuresThat you think of priceless worth,Time is digging tombs to hide themIn the […]

He said as he sat in her theatre boxBetween the acts, “What beastly weather!How like a parrot the lover talks–And the lady is tame, and the villain stalks–I hope they finally die together.” He thought–“You are fair as the dawn’s first ray;I know the angels keep guard above you.And so I chatter of weather, and […]

The bold young Autumn came riding alongOne day where an elm-tree grew.“You are fair,” he said, as she bent down her head,“Too fair for your robe’s dull hue.You are far too young for a garb so old;Your beauty needs colour and sheen.Oh, I would clothe you in scarlet and goldBefitting the grace of a queen. […]

Unto each mortal who comes to earthA ladder is given by God, at birth,And up this ladder the soul must go,Step by step, from the valley below;Step by step, to the centre of space,On this ladder of lives, to the Starting Place. In time departed (which yet endures)I shaped my ladder, and you shaped yours.Whatever […]

You remember the hall on the corner?To-night as I walked down streetI heard the sound of music,And the rhythmic beat and beat,In time to the pulsing measureOf lightly tripping feet. And I turned and entered the doorway–It was years since I had been there–Years, and life seemed altered:Pleasure had changed to care.But again I was […]

I knew that a baby was hid in the house;Though I saw no cradle and heard no cry,But the husband went tiptoeing round like a mouse,And the good wife was humming a soft lullaby;And there was a look on the face of that motherThat I knew could mean only one thing, and no other. “The […]

Art thou alive? Nay, not too soon reply,Tho’ hand, and foot, and lip, and ear, and eye,Respond, and do thy bidding yet may beGrim death has done his direst work with thee.Life, as God gives it, is a thing apartFrom active body and from beating heart.It is the vital spark, the unseen fire,That moves the […]

Above the din of commerce, above the clamour and rattleOf labour disputing with riches, of Anarchists’ threats and groans,Above the hurry and hustle and roar of that bloodless battle,Where men are fighting for riches, I hear the falling of thrones. I see no savage host, I hear no martial drumming,But down in the dust at […]

Time looked me in the eyes while passing byThe milestone of the year. That piercing gazeWas both an accusation and reproach.No speech was needed. In a sorrowing lookMore meaning lies than in complaining words,And silence hurts as keenly as reproof. Oh, opulent, kind giver of rich hours,How have I used thy benefits! As babesUnstring a […]

All through the Castle of High-bred Ease,Where the chief employment was do-as-you-please,Spread consternation and wild despair.The queen was wringing her hands and hair;The maids of honour were sad and solemn;The pages looked blank as they stood in column;The court-jester blubbered, “Boo-hoo, boo-hoo”The cook in the kitchen dropped tears in the stewAnd all through the castle […]

In what I do I note the marring flaw,The imperfections of the work I see;Nor am I one who rather DO than BE,Since its reversal is Creation’s law. Nay, since there lies a better and a worse,A lesser and a larger, in men’s view,I would be better than the thing I do,As God is greater […]

When the Summer sun is shining,And the green things push and grow,Oft my heart runs over measure,With its flowing fount of pleasure,As I feel the sea winds blow;Ah, then life is good, I know. And I think of sweet birds building,And of children fair and free;And of glowing sun-kissed meadows,And of tender twilight shadows,And of […]

Between the ringing of bells and the musical clang of chimesI hear a sound like the breaking of chains, all through these Christmas times.For the thought of the world is waking out of a slumber deep and long,And the race is beginning to understand how Right can master Wrong. And the eyes of the world […]

The cunningest thing that a baby can doIs the very first time it plays peek-a-boo; When it hides its pink little face in its hands,And crows, and shows that it understands What nurse, and mamma and papa, too,Mean when they hide and cry, “Peek a-boo, peek-a-boo.” Oh, what a wonderful thing it is,When they find […]

I saw them sitting in the shade;The long green vines hung over,But could not hide the gold-haired maidAnd Earl, my dark-eyed lover.His arm was clasped so close, so close,Her eyes were softly lifted,While his eyes drank the cheek of roseAnd breasts like snowflakes drifted. A strange noise sounded in my brain;I was a guest unbidden.I […]

Long, long ago, ere yet our race began,When earth was empty, waiting still for man,Before the breath of life to him was givenThe angels fell into a strife in heaven. At length one furious demon grasped the sunAnd sped away as fast as he could run,And with a ringing laugh of fiendish mirth,He leaped the […]

There sat two glasses, filled to the brim,On a rich man’s table, rim to rim.One was ruddy and red as blood,And one was as clear as the crystal flood. Said the glass of wine to his paler brother:“Let us tell tales of the past to each other.I can tell of banquet, and revel, and mirth,Where […]

When from dawn till noon seems one long day,And from noon till night another,Oh, then should a little boy come from play,And creep into the arms of his mother.Snugly creep and fall asleep,Oh, come, my baby, do;Creep into my lap, and with a napWe’ll break the day in two. When the shadows slant for afternoon,When […]