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106 Works of Mrs. J. C. Yule

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A little child stood moaningAt the hour of midnight lone,And no human ear was list’ningTo the feebly wailing tone;The cold, keen blast of winterWith funeral wail swept by,And the blinding snow fell darklyThrough the murky, wintry sky. Ah! desolate and wretchedWas the drunkard’s outcast child,Driven forth; amidst the horrorsOf that night of tempests wild.The babe […]

[Footnote: This poem is designed to form a part of a volume of strictly religious poetry, which the Author has in course of preparation; and is inserted here in deference to the expressed wish of a large number of friends. Its appearance here will not, however, prevent its appearing in its appropriate connection.] I SING […]

(Ps. 3 5.) Dark was the midnight hour,And wild with storm. Nor moon nor pitying starGleamed through the inky darkness from afar;And Earth seemed reeling blindly to her doom,As reels some stout ship thro’ the midnight gloom,What time the tempest and the waves have power. I stood alone that night,And stretched my chill hands tow’rd […]

Will the shadows be lifted to-morrow?–Will the sunshine come ever again?–Will the clouds, that are weeping in sorrow,Their glorious beauty regain?Will the forest stand forth in its greenness?–The meadows smile sweet as before?–And the sky, in its placid sereneness,Bend lovingly o’er us once more? Will the birds sing again as we heard them,Ere the tempest […]

Under The Rod

Story type: Poetry

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“Be Still, and know that I am God!” Be silent, Soul!–though dark thy path and dreary,And wild with storm, yet what is that to thee?Though thou art faint, and desolate, and weary,Thy God hath willed thus,–so let it be!Murmurs the mountain oak when storms assail it,And warring tempests wildly shake its form?Firmer within the earth […]

AN INDIAN TRADITION; VERSIFIED FROM SCHOOLCRAFT It was a day of festive-mirth,And bright the Indian wigwams shone,For ’twas a chieftain’s bridal-day,And gladness dwelt in every tone;But ere the glow of sunset hoursUpon the western hills was shed,Deep sadness rested on those bowers–The bride was numbered with the dead. Days passed; and still beside her tombThe […]

Thou art but gone before–Gone to that unknown shoreToward which my feet are journeying swiftly onThou hast but laid thy headFirst with the dreamless dead,I, too, shall come, and share thy rest anon. Methinks ’twas sweet to die,Ere childhood’s purityHad been polluted by sin’s withering breath;Ere Care’s pale, haggard mienThy laughing eye had seen,Or thou […]

‘Twas a balmy day in Autumn,In the drowsy, dreamy Autumn,When from out the quiet woodlandSounds of rustling leaves came only–Leaves that floated softly earthward–And the streamlets had a murmurSuch as wanders through our visionsIn the hushed and starry midnight–Low, soft murmur, full of music. With the small hand of her darlingClasped in her’s, there came […]

Sanzas

Story type: Poetry

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“Whom have I in heaven but thee?” ‘Twere nought to me, yon glorious arch of night,Decked with the gorgeous blazonry of heaven,If, to my faith, amid its splendors bright,No vision of the Eternal One were given;I could but view a dreary, soulless waste–A vast expanse of solitude unknown;–More cheerless for the splendors o’er it cast,For […]

I heard a voice–twas the voice of Spring,Up from the rivulets murmuring,Singing of freedom,–thus the layOn the breezes floated away–“Joy! joy!–the chains that bound usNow disappear,Sunlight pours its treasures round us,Warm, warm and clear,Onward, speeding onwardTo the bright main,Chainless, free, unfettered,Are we again!” I heard a voice–’twas the voice of Spring,Out from the hill sides […]

Honor To Labor

Story type: Poetry

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HONOR TO LABOR!–it giveth health;Honor to labor!–it bringeth wealth;Honor to labor!–our glorious landDisplayeth its triumphs on every hand.It has smoothed the plains, laid the forests low,And brightened the vales with the harvest’s glow,–Reared cities vast with their marts of trade,Where erst undisturbed lay the woodland shade,–Brought up from the depths of the teeming mine,Its treasured […]

Broken

Story type: Poetry

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I. Broken!It’s only a ring–a plain, old ring,Worn down to a thread almost–Fling it away–the useless thing!What value now can it boast?–Fling it away!Yet stay!–oh stayEre you cast it away!There’s a tale of the vanished yearsThat ever will cling,To that broken ring,That hallows and endears–Oh stay!In vain!–in vain!–What matters it nowThat tenderest memories clingTo that […]

Full fifty years together–Father and mother dear–Through pleasant summer weather,Or wintry tempests drear,–Thro’ sunshine and thro’ shadow,Oft travel sore and tried,Yet strong to aid each other,You’ve journeyed side by side A few brief years of climbing,–One glad, exultant glanceAt the sun bright world around you,At the smiling heaven’s expanse,–And then, the slow descendingInto the vale […]

No Solitude

Story type: Poetry

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“Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?” I stood where ocean lashed the sounding shoreWith his unresting waves, and gazed far outUpon the billowy strife. I saw the deepLifting his watery arms to grasp the clouds,While the black clouds stooped from the sable archOf the storm-darkened heavens, and deep to deepAnswered responsive in the ceaseless […]

We had finished our pitiful morsel,And both sat in silence a while;At length we looked up at each other.And I said, with the ghost of a smile,–“Only two little potatoesAnd a very small crust of bread–And then?”–“God will care for us, Lucy!”John, quietly answering, said. “Yes, God will provide for us, Lucy!”He said, after musing […]

“Stay, mother, stay, for the storm is abroad,And the tempest is very wild;It’s a fearful night with no ray of light,Oh stay with your little child!” “Hush darling!” the mother, with white lips said–“Lie still till I come again,God’s angels blest will watch o’er thy restWhile I am abroad in the rain!Thy father, child?–oh, I […]

Time For Bed

Story type: Poetry

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“Time for bed!”–the weary dayWith its toils has passed awaySol has wrapped his forehead brightIn the curtains of the night,And his glorious lamp againLowered behind the western mainLeaving all heaven’s pure expanseRadiant with his parting glance Just a few, faint stars are seenRanged around the midnight queen–A select and glorious bandWho alone may waiting standHound […]

I hear the beat of the unresting tideOn either shore as swiftly on I glideWith eager haste the narrow channel o’er,Which links the floods behind with those before.I hear behind me as I onward glide,Faint, farewell voices blending with the tide,While from beyond, now near, now far away,Come stronger voices chiding each delay;And drowning, oft, […]

Come Home

Story type: Poetry

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Come home! come home! O loved and lost, we sighThus, ever, while the weary days go by,And bring thee not. We miss thy bright, young face,Thy bounding step, thy form of girlish grace,Thy pleasant, tuneful voice,–We miss thee when the dewy evening hoursCome with their coolness to our garden, bowers,–We miss thee when the warbler’s […]

Be In Earnest

Story type: Poetry

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Be in earnest, Christian toilers,Life is not the summer, dreamOf the careless, child that gathersDaisies in the noontide beam!It hath conflict, it hath danger,It hath sorrow, toil, and strife;Yet the weak alone will falterIn the battle-field of life. There are burdens you may lighten,Toiling, struggling ones may cheer,Tear-dimmed eyes that you may brighten,Thorny paths that […]

Chlodine

Story type: Poetry

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We met one fresh June-morn, Chlodine,Where two roads came together;I’d travelled far through storm and rain,And you, through pleasant weather.I loved you for the light, Chlodine,Of summer all around you,–I loved you foil the sweet June-flowers,Whose dewy garlands bound you! You loved me not, Chlodine, becauseThe storms had beat upon me;Because there was no breath […]

Little bird, is that thy sphere,Yonder threat’ning cloud so near?Sunbeams blaze along its brow,Yet what darkness reigns below!There the sullen thunder mutt’ring,Wrathful sounds is sternly utt’ring;–There the red-eyed lightning gleameth,Where no more the sunlight beameth,And the strong wind, fiercely waking,Wings of fearful might is taking;–Creature of the calmer air,Wherefore art thou soaring there? Wert thou […]

An Evening Hymn

Story type: Poetry

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“I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety” The tranquil hours steal byOn drowsy wings and slow,And over all the peaceful skyThe stars of evening glow. No gathering clouds I see,I hear no rising blast,I fold my tired hands restfully,As though all storms were […]

I shall be satisfied when I awakenIn thy dear likeness, my King and my Lord,–When the dark prison of death shall be shaken,And the freed spirit comes forth at thy word!–I shall be satisfied, Saviour, be satisfied,Wearing thy likeness and near to thy side!Sinless and sorrowless, robed in thy righteousness,What can I ask for in […]

A transient day,A troubled night,The swift decay,The certain blight,And death and dust;– And are these all?–Nay: those are past;And she who sleepsShall wake at lastAmong the just!

Go, Dream No More

Story type: Poetry

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Go, dream no more of a sun-bright skyWith never a cloud to dim!–Thou hast seen the storm in its robes of night,Them hast felt the rush of the whirlwind’s might,Thou hast shrunk from the lightning’s arrowy flight,When the Spirit of Storms went by! Go, dream no more of a crystal seaWhere never a tempest sweeps!–For […]

"Come Unto Me"

Story type: Poetry

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Weary soul, by care oppressed,Wouldst thou find a place of rest?Listen, Jesus calls to thee,Come, and find thy rest in me! Hungry soul, why pine and dieWith exhaustless stores so nigh?Lo, the board is spread for thee,Come, and feast to-day with me! Thirsty soul, earth’s sweetest rillMocks thee with its promise still;Hark, the Saviour calls […]

Nay, I will not let thee go,Though the midnight glideth slow,–Though the darkness deep and longDim the sight and hush the song,On thy tender, faithful breast,Find I still my perfect rest–Soothing sweet for keenest woe–And I will not let thee go! Nay, I will not let thee go,Though the morn’s enkindling glowFlame along the mountain-height.Flooding […]

Greeting Hymn

Story type: Poetry

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Written for the Alumni of Albion College, Michigan; and sung at their last re-union, June, 1881. The gliding years have rolled along,And once again we come,With greeting hand and choral song,To our old college-home;–Sweet college-home! dear college-home!We gladly gather here,Old friends to greet,Old faces meet,And sing our songs of cheer! A welcome true for those […]

Minniebel

Story type: Poetry

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Where the willow weepethBy a fountain lone,–Where the ivy creepethO’er a mossy stone,–With pale flowers above her,In a quiet dell.Far from those who love her,Slumbers Minniebel. There thy bed I made thee,By that fountain side,And in anguish laid theeDown to rest, my bride!Tenderest and fairest,Who thy worth may tell!Flower of beauty rarest,Saintly Minniebel! Weary years […]

Weary

Story type: Poetry

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Weary of dreaming what never comes true,Weary of thinking what never is new,Of endeav’ring, yet never succeeding to do. Weary of walking the dusty, old ways,Weary of saying what every one says,Weary of singing old, obsolete lays. Weary of laughing, to make others laugh,Weary of gleaning for nothing but chaff,Of giving the whole, and receiving […]

RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO AN OVERWORKED STUDENT. O tyrant soul of mine,What’s the useOf this never-ceasing toil,Of this struggle, this turmoil,This abuseOf the body and the brain,Of this labor and this pain,Of this never-ceasing strainOn the cords that bind us twainEach to each? O tyrant soul of mine,Is it wellThus to waste and wear awayThe poor, […]

Not Yet

Story type: Poetry

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“Go thy way, and when I have a more convenient season I will call for thee.” * * * * * “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Not yet, not yet, O Saviour,Although thou callest meIn life’s unclouded morningWhy should I follow thee?The world and all its pleasuresOutspread […]

Soft evening bells!–sweet evening bells!O’er vale and plain your music swells,And far awayThe echoes playO’er shaggy mount and forest grey;And every rock its secret tellsTo your soft chime, sweet evening bells! Soft evening bells!–sweet evening bells!Now twilight drapes the woodland dells,And shadows lieOn the closed eyeOf flowers that dream beneath the sky;Yet fainter, sweeter, tenderer […]

Unknown

Story type: Poetry

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Thou hast marked the lonely river,On whose waveless bosom laySome deep mountain-shadow ever,Dark’ning e’en the ripples’ play–Didst thou deem it had no murmurOf soft music, though unheard?Deem that, ‘neath the quiet surface,The calm waters never stirred? Thou hast marked the pensive forest,Where the moonbeams slept by night,While the elm and drooping willowSorrowed in the misty […]

Onward

Story type: Poetry

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Onward, still on!–though the pathway be dreary,–Though few be the fountains that gladden the way,–Though the tired spirit grow feeble and weary,And droop in the heat of the toil-burdened day;Green in the distance the hills of thy CanaanLift their bright heads in a tenderer light,Where the full boughs with rich fruits overladenSpread their luxurious treasures […]

Looking Back

Story type: Poetry

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Do the dancing leaves of summerTo the time of buds look back?–Does the river moan regretfulFor the brooklet’s mountain-track?Does the ripened sheaf of summer,Heavy with precious grain,Ask for its hour of blossom,And the breath of Spring again? Does the golden goblet, brimmingWith the precious, ruby wine,Look back with weary longingTo the damp and dusky mine?Is […]

Fount Of Bliss

Story type: Poetry

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“Yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Love of God!–amazing love!Height, above all other height,Depth no creature thought can prove,Boundless, endless, infinite!Howsoe’er I sink or rise,Stretch my powers beyond, abroad,Pierce the depths or climb the skies,Find I still the love of God–Fount of bliss, exhaustless, free,Evermore unsealed for me! Love of Christ!–amazing love!Vast […]

Away to the hills, away!–There is health in the summer air;–The rustling bough, and the bending spray,And the breath of flowers are there–The honey-bee’s hum and the wild bird’s song,And sunshine and summer winds all day long! Away to the hills, away!There are peace and calmness there–White cloudlets floating in light all dayThrough the blue […]

Alien blossoms! tell me whySeek ye such a lonely place,Thus to bloom, and droop, and dieFar away from all your race? Wherefore, from the sunny bowersWhere your beauteous kindred bloom,Have ye come, O banished flowers!Thus to decorate a tomb? “Mortal, dost thou question whyThus beside the grave we bloom?Why we hither come to die,Aliens from […]

"Three For Three"

Story type: Poetry

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“Giving up three for one!”–mother,You said in the long ago,When father, yourself, and John, mother,I left, o’er the deep to go.“Giving up three for one!”–mother,You said, and it sank in my heart;For tho’ strong was my love for the one, mother,It was hard from the three to part. But to-day, as I sit alone, mother,Rocking […]

God’s Blessings

Story type: Poetry

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“For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.” Like the dew-drops that fallThrough the chill, midnight hours,Unheeded by all,On the close-folded flowers,–E’en so, on thy chosen,Grief stricken that bend,Thy tenderest blessingsIn silence descend. Like the showers that moistenThe tree’s shrivelled root,And quicken its branchesTo flower and […]

I sat beside a bed of pain,And all the muffled hours were still;The breeze that bent the summer grain,Scarce sighed along the pine-clad hill;The pensive stars, the silvery moonSeemed sleeping in a sea of calm.And all the leafy bowers of JuneWere steeped in midnight’s dewy balm. She seemed to sleep, for lull of painHad calmed […]

Under The Snow

Story type: Poetry

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Over the mountains, under the snowLieth a valley cold and low,‘Neath a white, immovable pall,Desolate, dreary, soulless all,And soundless, save when the wintry blastSweeps with funeral music past. Yet was that valley not always so,For I trod its summer-paths long ago;And I gathered flowers of fairest dyesWhere now the snow-drift heaviest lies;And I drank from […]

Longings

Story type: Poetry

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Sleep, gentle, mysterious healer,Come down with thy balm-cup to me!Come down, O thou mystic revealerOf glories the day may not see!For dark is the cloud that is o’er me,And heavy the shadows that fall,And lone is the pathway before me,And far-off the voice that doth call–Faintly, yet tenderly ever,From over the dark river, call. Let […]

AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED TO A DEAR FRIEND ON THE DEATH OF A BELOVED FATHER. The dawn-light wakes, and brightens to the day,And the slow sun climbs the far eastern skies,Then, down the western slopes pursues his way,Till shadows deepen and the twilight dies;–And still I muse, and wait, and list in vainFor feet that never, never […]

Somewhere

Story type: Poetry

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“For he looked for a city that hath foundations, whose Maker and Builder is God.” I. Somewhere, I know, there waits for meA home that mocks the pomp of Earth,Eye hath not seen its majesty,Nor heart conceived its priceless worth,–Talk not of crystal, gems, or gold,Or towers that flame in changeless light,Imagination, weak and cold,Faints […]

Eloise

Story type: Poetry

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Eloise! Eloise!It is morn on the seas,And the waters are curling and flashing;And our rock-sheltered seat,Where the waves ever beatWith a cadenced and rhythmical dashing,Is here–just here,But I miss thee, dear!And the sun-beams around me are flashingO seat, by the lonely sea,O seat, that she shared with me,Thou art all unfilled to day!And the plaintive, […]

"Let Us Pray"

Story type: Poetry

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[Footnote: A precious memory is associated with these words. The voice that uttered them is silent now but the solemnity of their utterance has not passed away. The [below] is a feeble attempt to give it something like permanency.] Bow the head in supplication,Lowly, penitent, sincere,Worthiest of adoration,God, the Holy One is here!–Here, while through […]

A light departed from the hearth of home,Leaving a shadow where its radiance shone,–A flower just bursting into life and bloom,Lopped from its stem, the bower left sad and lone,–A golden link dropped from love’s precious chain,–Gem from affection’s sacred casket riven,–Of music’s richest tones a missing strain,–A bird-note hushed in the blue summer heaven! […]

Balmy Morning

Story type: Poetry

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Balmy morning! blessed morning!Dew-drops brightAll the emerald glade adorningIn thy light–In thy golden glowing beamWith an ever-changeful gleamFlashing sparkling deeply glowingVarying tints of beauty showingEverywhereRadiant areIn thy welcome light! Balmy morning! blessed morning!Flowers look up,With a precious, pearly off’ring,In each cup–Dewy off’ring gleaned by night,As a tribute to the light,–Far more precious than the gemOf […]

Oh, take me where the wild flowers bloom!I’m dying, mother dear!And shades of ever deepening gloomAre round, and o’er me here,–The city’s din is in my ear,Its glitter mocks my eye,–Oh, take me where the skies are clear.And the hills are green, to die! I do not dread the shadowy vale,The river deep and chill,–For, […]

Autumn And Winter

Story type: Poetry

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I. Beautiful Autumn is dead and gone–Weep for her!Calm, and gracious, and very fair,With sunny robe and with shining hair,And a tender light in her dreamy eye,She came to earth but to smile and die–Weep for her! Nay, nay, I will not weep!She came with a smile,And tarried awhile,Quieting Nature to sleep;–Then went on her […]

Over the waves of the Western sea,Led by the hand of Hope she came–The beautiful Angel of Liberty–When the sky was red with the sunset’s flame,–Came to a rocky and surf-beat shore,Lone, and wintry, and stern, and wild,The waves behind her, and wastes before,And the Angel of Liberty, pausing, smiled. “Here, O Sister, shall be […]

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I gave myself to JesusIn my sunny childhood’s years,When on my young, unsullied cheekThere lay no trace of tears;I little knew what gift I gave,Nor yet what gift I took;For life without and life withinWere each a sealed-up […]

There’s a beautiful Artist abroad in the world,And her pencil is dipped in heaven,–The gorgeous hues of Italian skies,The radiant sunset’s richest dyes,The light of Aurora’s laughing eyes,Are each to her pictures given. As I walked abroad yestere’en, what timeThe sunset was fairest to see,I saw where her wonderful brush had beenOver a maple tree–half […]

Judson’s Grave

Story type: Poetry

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He sleeps where the billowLifts high its white crestO’er his lone, sea-weed pillowOn Ocean’s dark breast;No shroud is around him,No flowers bloom above,No mourners surround himWith grief-drops of love. But the limitless oceanHis requiem sings,As, with tireless motion,The green billow springsToward the infinite heaven,Blue, bending above,Where angels are watchingHis slumbers in love. Oh! boundless his […]

Shall Be Free

Story type: Poetry

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“ALL PERSON’S HELD AS SLAVES, within said designated States and partsof States, ARE, AND HENCEFORWARD SHALL BE FREE!”—Proclamation of Emancipation, Jan. 1st, 1863. “Shall be free! shall be free!”–lo, the strong winds have caught it,And borne it from hill top to hill top afar,And echo to answering echo has taught it,Through the din of the […]

Just fifty years, my daughters,Just fifty years, my son,Since your sire and I togetherThe march of life begun.It does not seem so long agoAs half a hundred years,Since hand in hand we started out,To face life’s toils and tears. And toils, and tears, too, we have met;Yet sunbeams oft have come–Many and beautiful, and bright–To […]

I plucked a fair flower that grewIn the shadow of summer’s green trees–A rose petalled flower,Of all in the bower,Best beloved of the bee and the breezeI plucked it, and kissed it, and called it my own–This beautiful, beautiful flowerThat alone in the cool, tender shadow had grown,Fairest and first in the bower Then a […]

Thou hast entered the land without shadows,Thou who, ‘neath the shadow, so longHast sat with thy white hands close-folded,And lips that could utter no song;Through a rift in the cloud, for an instant,Thine eyes caught a glimpse of that shore,And Earth with its gloom was forgotten,And Heaven is thine own evermore! We see not the […]

Sabbath Memories

Story type: Poetry

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I love thee, Sabbath morn!–I cannot sayBut ’tis because my father loved thee so,–Because my mother’s care-worn face would growSo sweetly placid in thy peaceful ray;– It may be, that is part of what endearsThee, Sabbath, to my soul; for memory stirsOld buried thoughts of his voice and of hers–Heard never more on Earth–till sudden […]

When the heavy, midnight shadowsGather o’er a slumbering world,And the banner folds of darknessAre in gloomy pomp unfurled,–Think, lone watcher, pale and tearful,In thy sad, unpitied lot,By the death couch waking, weeping,There is One who slumbers not!–One who, though no mourning brotherShare thy vigils lone and drear,Loving, pitying, as no otherLoves or pities, watches near! […]

By And By

Story type: Poetry

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God will not let His bright gifts dieIf I may not sing my songs just nowI shall sing them by and by A young man with a Poet’s soul,And a Poet’s kindling eye–Dark, dreamy, full of unvoiced thought–And forehead calm and high,Toiled wearily at his heavy taskTill his soul grew sick with pain,And the pent […]

The One Refuge

Story type: Poetry

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I. Storms gather o’er thy path,Christian!–the sullen, tempest-darkened skyGrows lurid with the elemental wrath,–Say, whither wilt thou fly? God is my Refuge!–let the tempests come,They will but speed me sooner to my home! II. Night lowers in sullen gloom,Christian!–a long, dark night awaiteth thee,Dreary as Egypt’s night of fear and doom,–Where will thy hiding be? […]

A voice missed by the dear home-hearth–A voice of music and gentle mirth–A voice whose lingering sweetness longWill float through many a Sabbath song,And many a hallowed, evening hymn,Tenderly breathed in the twilight dim!–But that missing voice, with a richer tone,Is heard in the anthems before the throne;And another voice and another lyre,Are added now […]

A Parting Hymn

Story type: Poetry

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Father in Heaven, to thee,Guardian and friend,Lowly the suppliant kneeHere would we bend!–Blessing thee ere we part,Each with a grateful heart,For all thy love doth send–Plenteous and free! Thanks for thy hand outspreadEver in powerO’er each defenceless headIn danger’s hour!Thanks for the light arid love,From thy full fount above–A rich and constant shower,O’er us still […]

The Wind god, Eolus, sat one mornIn his cavern of tempests, quite forlorn,He’d been ill of a fever a month and a day,And the sun had been having things all his own way,Pouring o’er earth such a torrent of heatThat the meadows were dry as the trampled street,And people were panting, and ready to dieOf […]

Strike the chords softly with tremulous fingers,While, on the threshold of happiest years,For a brief moment fond memory lingers,Ere we go forth to life’s conflicts and fears! Strike the chords softly!–yet no, as we tarry,Swiftly the morning is gliding away;Weary ones droop ‘neath the burdens they carry,Toiling ones faint in the heat of the day. […]

Lines written after hearing a returned missionary relate some of the traditions, and speak of the long-cherished hopes of this interesting people. A voice from the distant East–A voice from a far-off shore–A voice from the perishing tribes of EarthHas wandered the blue seas o’er!It comes with a lingering cry,With a wail of anguish and […]

“I am doing no good!” said a little rill,As it rippled along at the foot of a hill,“I am doing no good with my babbling here,No one is listening,–no one is near!” “‘No good!–no good!’” said a violet blue,As it shook from its petals the sparkling dew,And opened its wondering, azure eyesTo the soft, clear […]

Hail, Risen Lord!

Story type: Poetry

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Hail, risen Lord, upon whose browThe crown of victory resteth now,Unfading as the sun!Hail, vanquisher of every foe,Of Sin, dread source of all our woe,And Death–the last undone! Hail, risen Lord,–the empty graveProclaims aloud thy power to save,–Thy high, victorious might!Hail, Lord of life, and peace, and love,On thy exalted throne above,In uncreated light! Hail, […]

I am slowly treading the mazy trackThat leadeth, through sunshine and shadows, back–Through freshest meads where the dews yet clingAs erst they did to each lowly thing,Where flowers bloom and where streamlets flowWith the tender music of long ago–To the far-off past that, through mists of tears,In its spring time loveliness still appears,And wooes me […]

No Other Name

Story type: Poetry

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“For there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Jesus! the only name that’s given,Through which salvation we may claim;This, this alone, we breathe to Heaven,For God accepts no other name. No other name when skies are bright.And sunshine glows on field and flower;No other name when, dark […]

Heart-Pictures

Story type: Poetry

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Two pictures, strangely beautiful, I holdIn Mem’ry’s chambers, stored with loving careAmong the precious things I prized of old,And hid away with tender tear and prayerThe first, an aged woman’s placid faceFull of the saintly calm of well spent years,Yet bearing in its pensive lines the traceOf weariness, and care, and many tears. We sat […]

To pray as Jesus prayed,When faithless brethren sleep,–To weep the ruin sin has made–The only ones that weep,–To bear the heavy cross,–To toil, yet murmur not,–To suffer pain, reproach, and loss,–Be such our earthly lot. Yet oh, how richly blestThe Master’s cup to share,–The aching grief that wrung His breast,–His broken-hearted prayer,–If thus we may […]

“Here is a lantern, my little boy,”Said a father to his child,“And yonder’s a wood, a lonely wood,Tangled, and rough, and wild;And now, this night,–this very hour,Though gloomy and dark it be,By the single light of this lamp alone,You must cross the wild to me! “I’ll be on the farther side, my son,So follow the […]

VIOLET’S SONG I. Come down from thy dazzling sphere,Bird of the gushing song!Come down where the young leaves whisper low,While the breeze steals in with a murmurous flow,And the tender branches wave to and froIn the soft air all day long! I have watched thy daring wingCleaving the sun-bright air,Where the snowy cloud is asleep […]

“They need not go away!”the Master said,“Give ye to them.”Ah, Lord, behold our store–These loaves, these fishes,–see, we have no more!How shall this fainting throng with these be fed?“Make them sit down!”–and the disciples spedTo do His will. He blessed, and brake, and gaveAnd as they ate, each heart grew strong and brave,Filled, till they […]

Rest In Heaven

Story type: Poetry

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When tossed on time’s tempestuous tide,By angry storms resistless driven,One hope can bid our fears subside–It is the hope of rest in Heaven. With trusting heart we lift our eyesAbove the dark clouds, tempest-driven,And view, beyond those troubled skies,The peaceful, stormless rest of Heaven. No more to shed the exile’s tears,–No more the heart by […]

Good Night

Story type: Poetry

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Good night, good night!–the daySlowly has borne away,Music and light;Once more the starry trainSweeps over vale and plain,Soft falls the dews again–Good night-good night! Day’s weary toils are done,Set is the glorious sun,Faded the light;–Now, to the weary breastEver a welcome guest,–Comes the sweet hour of rest–Good night–good night! Evening’s cool shadows lieCalmly o’er earth […]

JULY 1ST, 1867. Ring out your glad peals of rejoicing!Wake Music’s enlivening strain!Let the sound float abroad o’er your waters,And echo through valley and plain;From the shores of the far-distant Fundy,To the lakes of the limitless West,Let the sound of a People’s exultingGo forth in its joyous unrest! For a great Christian Nation, this morning,From […]

Our field is the world!–let us forth to the sowing,O’er valley and mountain, o’er desert and plain,Beside the still waters through cool meadows flowing,O’er regions unblest by the dew and the rain;–Let us scatter the seed, though in sorrow and weeping,Though fields should be verdureless, wintry, and bare,The Lord of the harvest hath still in […]

Sault Ste. Marie

Story type: Poetry

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Laughing and singingWith rhythmical flow,Leaping and springing,O light-hearted Sault!–Tossing up snowy handsIn thy glad play,Shaking out dewy locksBright with the spray,–Joyously everThy bright waters go,Yet wearying never,O beautiful Sault! Kingly SuperiorLeaps to thy arms,And all his broad watersAre bright with thy charms;They sparkle, and glitter,And flash in their play,Chasing ripple and rainbowAway and away!Weary, I […]

Rest, brother, rest! Thy eyes no more shall weepO’er unhealed anguish and unconquered sin;Thy peaceful slumber, tranquilized and deep,Is marred no more by Earth’s discordant din.Calm are the skies above thy quiet bed,And calm is Earth in Summer-glories dressed,And cool and sweet the fresh mould richly spreadAbove thy folded hands and peaceful breast. Oh, could […]

WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST OF A BEREAVED BROTHER. We were playmates long together,By the brook and on the hill,In the golden, summer weather,When the days were long and still;We were playmates in the firelightWhile the winter eyes went by,And we shared one couch at midnight–My brother James and I! We were schoolmates, too, together,In the […]

Idle

Story type: Poetry

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“Work to-day in my vineyard!” Hast thou, then, been called to laborIn the vineyard of thy Lord,With the promise that, if faithful,Thou shall win a sure reward?–Look! the tireless sun is hastingToward the zenith, and the day,Which in vanity thou’rt wasting,Speedeth rapidly away! Lo! the field is white for harvest,And the laborers are few;Canst thou, […]

The World’s Day

Story type: Poetry

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Dark was the world when from the bowersOf forfeit Eden man went forth,With aching heart and blighted powers,To till the sterile soil of earth;Yet, even then, a glimmering lightFaintly illumed the eastern skies,And, struggling through the mists of night,Beamed soft on Abel’s sacrifice. It shone on Abram’s eager eyesUpon Moriah’s lonely height,And Jacob, ‘neath the […]

Brethren, go! the day is bright’ningAs the sultry noon steals on,And the fields, already whit’ning,Tell of labor to be done. There are toilsome days before you,Burdens that you may not shun,Clouds will gather darkly o’er you,Reeds will fail you one by one. Yet go forth to strong endeavor,‘Neath the shadow of the cross;He who calls […]

RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO HIS PATRONESS AND FRIEND,BY THE LITTLE, BROWN SINGER HIMSELF. Merrily!Merrily!Tschee! tschee! tschee!What can the meaning of these things be?Tiniest buds and leaflets green–Who shall tell me what these things mean?Merrily!Merrily!Tschee! tschee! tschee!Much I guess they were meant for me! Tsu-ert!Tsu-ert!Tschee! tschee! tschee!So I shall eat them up you seeSomebody, somewhere, is kindly […]

Before them lay the heaving deepBehind, the foemen pressed;And every face grew dark with fear,And anguish filled each breastSave one, the Leader’s, he, serene,Beheld, with dauntless mind,The restless floods before them seen.The foe that pressed behind.“Why hast thou brought us forth for this?”The people loudly cry;–“Were there no graves in Egypt’s land,That here we come […]

The Way-Side Elm

Story type: Poetry

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Standing alone by the highway side,Stately, and stalwart, and tempest-tried,Staunch of body and strong of bough,Fronting the sky with an honest brow,King of the forest and field is he–Yon way side watcher–the old Elm tree. When kindly Summer, with smile serene,Drapes branch and bough in her robe of green,Ever the joyous, wild birds comeAnd sing […]

Drowned

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[Footnote: In the Grand River, at Brantford, July 30th, 1875, Miss Jessie Hamilton, adopted daughter of C.H. Waterous, Esq., Brantford, aged 14 years and 3 months, and Miss Ella E. Murton, only daughter of John W. Murton, Esq., Hamilton, aged 14 years.] The morning dawned without a cloud,But evening came with pall and shroud,–With muffled […]

God’s Witnesses

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A PEN PICTURE FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. Upon the plain of Dura stood an image great and high,With golden forehead broad and bright beneath the morning sky;All regal in its majesty and kingly in its mien,The grandest and most glorious thing the world had ever seen! Full sixty cubits high in air the lordly head […]

[“Dr. Reid, a traveller through the highlands of Peru, is said to have found in the desert of Alcoama the dried remains of an assemblage of human beings, five or six hundred in number, men, women, and children, seated in a semicircle as when alive, staring into the burning waste before them. It would seem […]

Be Still

Story type: Poetry

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O throbbing heart, be still!Canst thou not bearThe heavy dash of Memory’s troubled tide,Long sternly pent, but broken forth again,Sweeping all barriers ruthlessly aside,And leaving desolation in its trainWhere all was fair? Fair, did I say?–Oh yes!–I’d reared sweet flowersOf steadfast hope, and quiet, patient trust,Above the wreck and ruin of my years;–Had won a […]

John Littlewit, friends, was a credulous man.In the good time long ago,Ere men had gone wild o’er the latter-day dreamOf turning the world upside down with steam,Or of chaining the lightning down to a wire,And making it talk with its tongue of fire. He was perfectly sure that the world stood still,And the sun and […]

Why art thou here, little, motherless one,–Why art thou here in this bleak world alone?With that innocent smile on thy beautiful brow,What hath this stern world for such as thou? Why art thou here in this world of unrest,Thou that of angels shouldst be the guest?–Oh, wild are the storms of this wintry clime,Dire are […]

Frost-Flowers

Story type: Poetry

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Over my window in pencillings white,Stealthily traced in the silence of night–Traced with a pencil as viewless as air,By an artist unseen, when the star-beams were fair,Came wonderful pictures, so life-like and trueThat I’m filled with amaze as the marvel I view. Like, and yet unlike the things I have seen,–Feathery ferns in the forest-depths […]

All over the earth like a mantle,Golden, and green, and grey,Crimson, and scarlet, and yellow,The Autumn foliage lay;–The sun of the Indian SummerLaughed at the bare old treesAs they shook their leafless branchesIn the soft October breeze. Gorgeous was every hill-side,And gorgeous every nook,And the dry, old log was gorgeous,Spanning the little brook;Its holiday robes, […]

Memory-Bells

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Up from the spirit-depths ringing,Softly your melody swells,Sweet as a seraphim’s singing,Tender-toned memory-bells!The laughter of childhood,The song of the wildwood,The tinkle of streams through the echoing dell,The voice of a mother,The shout of a brother.Up from life’s morning melodiously swell. Up from the spirit-depths ringingRichly your melody swells,Sweet reminiscences bringing,Joyous-toned memory-bells!–Youth’s beautiful bowers,Her dew-spangled flowers,The […]

I will not despair while thou rulest the storm,Though the red lightning stream o’er the cloud’s sable-breast,For I catch through the darkness bright gleams of thy form,And I know ’tis thy voice lulls the tempest to rest–The wild tempest to rest:Nor yet, though the shadows of deepening night,Hang over my path like the pall of […]

To A Day Lily

Story type: Poetry

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What! only to stayFor a single day?Thou beautiful, bright hued onJust to open thine eyesTo the blue of the skiesAnd the light of the glorious sun,Then, to fade awayIn the same rich ray,And die ere the day is done? Bright thing of a dayThou hast caught a rayFrom Morn’s jewelled curtain foldOn thy burning cheek,And […]

Living And Dying

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Living for Christ, I die;–how strange, that I,Thus dying, live,–and yet, thus living, die!Living for Christ, I die;-yet wondrous thought,In that same death a deathless life is wrought;–Living, I die to Earth, to self, to sin;–Oh, blessed death, in which such life I win! Dying for Christ, I live!–death cannot beA terror, then, to one […]

Up The Nepigon

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How beautiful, how beautiful,Beneath the morning sky,In bridal veil of snowy mist,These dreamy headlands lie!How beautiful, in soft repose,Upon the water’s breast,Steeped in the sunlight’s golden calm,These fairy islets rest! A Sabbath hush enfolds the hills,And broods upon the deepWhose music every hollow fills,And climbs each rocky steep,Now low and soft like love’s own sigh,Now […]

Look Up

Story type: Poetry

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Christian, lookup? thy feet may slide;This is a slippery way!Yet One is walking by thy sideWhose arm should be thy stay,Thou canst not see that blessed form,Nor view that loving smileWith eager eyes thus earthward bent–Christian, look up a while! Christian, look up!–what seest thou hereTo court thy anxious eyes?Earth is beneath thee, lone and […]