High o’er the clouds a Sunbeam shone,And far down under him,With a subtle grace that was all her own,The Mist gleamed, fair and dim. He looked at her with his burning eyesAnd longed to fall at her feet;Of all sweet things there under the skies,He thought her the thing most sweet. He had wooed oft, […]

All hail the dawn of a new day breaking,When a strong-armed nation shall take awayThe weary burdens from backs that are achingWith maximum labour and minimum pay;When no man is honoured who hoards his millions;When no man feasts on another’s toil;And God’s poor suffering, striving billionsShall share His riches of sun and soil. There is […]

As the dead year is clasped by a dead December,So let your dead sins with your dead days lie.A new life is yours and a new hope. RememberWe build our own ladders to climb to the sky. Stand out in the sunlight of promise, forgettingWhatever the past held of sorrow and wrong.We waste half our […]

What do you think Red RobinFound by a mow of hay?Why, a flask brimful of liquor,That the mowers brought that dayTo slake their thirst in the hayfield.And Robin he shook his head:“Now I wonder what they call it,And how it tastes?” he said. “I have seen the mowers drink it–Why isn’t it good for me?So […]

The gate was thrown open, I rode out alone,More proud than a monarch who sits on a throne.I am but a jockey, yet shout upon shoutWent up from the people who watched me ride out;And the cheers that rang forth from that warm-hearted crowd,Were as earnest as those to which monarch e’er bowed. My heart […]

How does Love speak?In the faint flush upon the tell-tale cheek,And in the pallor that succeeds it; byThe quivering lid of an averted eye–The smile that proves the parent of a sigh:Thus doth Love speak. How does Love speak?By the uneven heart-throbs, and the freakOf bounding pulses that stand still and acheWhile new emotions, like […]

He slept as weary toilers do,She gazed up at the moon.He stirred and said, “Wife, come to bed”;She answered, “Soon, full soon.”(Oh! that strange mystery of the dead moon’s face.) Her cheek was wan, her wistful mouthWas lifted like a cup,The moonful night dripped liquid light:She seemed to quaff it up.(Oh! that unburied corpse that […]

Reach out your arms, and hold me close and fast,Tell me you have no memories of your pastThat mar this love of ours, so great, so vast. Some truths are cheapened when too oft averred–Does not the deed speak louder than the word?(Dear Christ! that old dream woke again and stirred.) As you love me, […]

What is flirtation? Really,How can I tell you that?But when she smiles I see its wiles,And when he lifts his hat. ‘Tis walking in the moonlight,‘Tis buttoning on a glove,‘Tis lips that speak of plays next week,While eyes are talking love. ‘Tis meeting in the ball-room,‘Tis whirling in the dance;‘Tis something hid beneath the lidMore […]

I How shall a maid make answer to a manWho summons her, by love’s supreme decree,To open her whole heart, that he may seeThe intricate strange ways that love began.So many streams from that great fountain ranTo feed the river that now rushes free,So deep the heart, so full of mystery;How shall a maid make […]

Sit still, I say, and dispense with heroics!I hurt your wrists? Well, you have hurt me.It is time you found out that all men are not stoics,Nor toys to be used as your mood may be.I will not let go of your hands, nor leave youUntil I have spoken. No man, you say,Dared ever so […]

Like the tenth wave, that offers to the shoreAccumulated opulence and force,So does my heart, which thought it loved of yore,Carry increasing passion down the courseOf time to proffer thee.Oh! not the faintFirst ripple of the sea should be its pride,But the great climax of its unrestraint,Which culminates in one commanding tide. The lesser billows […]

Love gives us copious potions of delight,Of pain and ecstasy, and peace and care;Love leads us upward, to the mountain height,And, like an angel, stands beside us there;Then thrusts us, demon-like, in some abyss:Where, in the darkness of despair, we grope,Till, suddenly, Love greets us with a kissAnd guides us back to flowery fields of […]

How will it be when one of us aloneGoes on that strange last journey of the soul?That certain search for an uncertain goal,That voyage on which no comradeship is known?Will our dear sea sing with the old sweet tone,Though one sits stricken where its billows roll?Will space be dumb, or from the mystic poleWill spirit-messages […]

In Nature’s bright blossoms not always reposesThat strange subtle essence more rare than their bloom,Which lies in the hearts of carnations and roses,That unexplained something by men called perfume.Though modest the flower, yet great is its powerAnd pregnant with meaning each pistil and leaf,If only it hides there, if only abides there,The fragrance suggestive of […]

“I think I hear the sound of horses feetBeating upon the gravelled avenue.Go to the window that looks on the street,He would not let me die alone, I knew.”Back to the couch the patient watcher passed,And said: “It is the wailing of the blast.” She turned upon her couch and, seeming, slept,The long, dark lashes […]

(THE NAME OF THE MOUNTAIN IN THE MOON) It was long and long ago our love began;It is something all unmeasured by time’s span:In an era and a spot, by the Modern World forgot,We were lovers, ere God named us, Maid and Man. Like the memory of music made by streams,All the beauty of that […]

In a mansion grand, just over the wayLives bonny, beautiful Dell;You may have heard of this lady gay,For she is a famous belle.I live in a low cot opposite–You never have heard of me;For when the lady moon shines bright,Who would a pale star see?But ah, well! ah, well! I am happier far than Dell,As […]

(Intended for recitation at club dinners.) To-night when I came from the club at eleven,Under the gaslight I saw a face–A woman’s face! and I swear to heavenIt looked like the ghastly ghost of–Grace! And Grace? why, Grace was fair; and I tarried,And loved her a season as we men do.And then–but pshaw! why, of […]

I will paint you a sign, rumseller,And hang it above your door;A truer and better signboardThan ever you had before.I will paint with the skill of a master,And many shall pause to seeThis wonderful piece of painting,So like the reality. I will paint yourself, rumseller,As you wait for that fair young boy,Just in the morning […]