DECEMBER 15, 1874 I SUPPOSE it’s myself that you’re making allusion to And bringing the sense of dismay and confusion to. Of course some must speak,–they are always selected to, But pray what’s the reason that I am expected to? I’m not fond of wasting my breath as those fellows do; That want to be […]

OCTOBER 18, 1875 “Lucy.”–The old familiar name Is now, as always, pleasant, Its liquid melody the same Alike in past or present; Let others call you what they will, I know you’ll let me use it; To me your name is Lucy still, I cannot bear to lose it. What visions of the past return […]

HINGHAM, OCTOBER 7, 1875 BEHOLD the shape our eyes have known! It lives once more in changeless stone; So looked in mortal face and form Our guide through peril’s deadly storm. But hushed the beating heart we knew, That heart so tender, brave, and true, Firm as the rooted mountain rock, Pure as the quarry’s […]

READ AT THE MEETING HELD AT MUSIC HALL, FEBRUARY 8, 1876, IN MEMORY OF DR. SAMUEL G. HOWE I. LEADER of armies, Israel’s God, Thy soldier’s fight is won! Master, whose lowly path he trod, Thy servant’s work is done! No voice is heard from Sinai’s steep Our wandering feet to guide; From Horeb’s rock […]

TRAINED in the holy art whose lifted shield Wards off the darts a never-slumbering foe, By hearth and wayside lurking, waits to throw, Oppression taught his helpful arm to wield The slayer’s weapon: on the murderous field The fiery bolt he challenged laid him low, Seeking its noblest victim. Even so The charter of a […]

JULY 3, 1875 AND can it be you’ve found a place Within this consecrated space, That makes so fine a show, For one of Rip Van Winkle’s race? And is it really so? Who wants an old receipted bill? Who fishes in the Frog-pond still? Who digs last year’s potato hill?– That’s what he’d like […]

PHILADELPHIA, JULY 4, 1876 BRIGHT on the banners of lily and rose Lo! the last sun of our century sets! Wreathe the black cannon that scowled on our foes, All but her friendships the nation forgets All but her friends and their welcome forgets! These are around her; but where are her foes? Lo, while […]

TO SEVERAL CORRESPONDENTS YES, write, if you want to, there’s nothing like trying; Who knows what a treasure your casket may hold? I’ll show you that rhyming’s as easy as lying, If you’ll listen to me while the art I unfold. Here’s a book full of words; one can choose as he fancies, As a […]

“ONLY a housemaid!” She looked from the kitchen,– Neat was the kitchen and tidy was she; There at her window a sempstress sat stitching; “Were I a sempstress, how happy I’d be!” “Only a Queen!” She looked over the waters,– Fair was her kingdom and mighty was she; There sat an Empress, with Queens for […]

DEDICATED BY A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE COLLEGIAN, 1830, TO THE EDITORS OF THE HARVARD ADVOCATE, 1876. ‘T WAS on the famous trotting-ground, The betting men were gathered round From far and near; the “cracks” were there Whose deeds the sporting prints declare The swift g. m., Old Hiram’s nag, The fleet s. h., Dan Pfeiffer’s […]

“While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall.” FULL sevenscore years our city’s pride– The comely Southern spire– Has cast its shadow, and defied The storm, the foe, the fire; Sad is the sight our eyes behold; Woe to the three-hilled town, When through the land the tale is […]

READ AT A MEETING OF THE BOSTON BRIC-A-BRAC CLUB, FEBRUARY 21, 1877 WHEN rose the cry “Great Pan is dead!” And Jove’s high palace closed its portal, The fallen gods, before they fled, Sold out their frippery to a mortal. “To whom?” you ask. I ask of you. The answer hardly needs suggestion; Of course […]

AT THE DINNER TO THE PRESIDENT, BOSTON, JUNE 26, 1877 How to address him? awkward, it is true Call him “Great Father,” as the Red Men do? Borrow some title? this is not the place That christens men Your Highness and Your Grace; We tried such names as these awhile, you know, But left them […]

WOODSTOCK, CONN., JULY 4, 1877 NOT to myself this breath of vesper song, Not to these patient friends, this kindly throng, Not to this hallowed morning, though it be Our summer Christmas, Freedom’s jubilee, When every summit, topmast, steeple, tower, That owns her empire spreads her starry flower, Its blood-streaked leaves in heaven’s benignant dew […]

A SENTIMENT This “sentiment” was read on the same occasion as the “Family Record,” which immediately follows it. The latter poem is the dutiful tribute of a son to his father and his father’s ancestors, residents of Woodstock from its first settlement. THE Ship of State! above her skies are blue, But still she rocks […]

AND OTHER POEMS 1877-1881 THE IRON GATE Read at the Breakfast given in honor of Dr. Holmes’s Seventieth Birthday by the publishers of the “Atlantic Monthly,” Boston, December 3, 1879. WHERE is this patriarch you are kindly greeting? Not unfamiliar to my ear his name, Nor yet unknown to many a joyous meeting In days […]

AN ACADEMIC POEM 1829-1879 Read at the Commencement Dinner of the Alumni of Harvard University, June 25, 1879. WHILE fond, sad memories all around us throng, Silence were sweeter than the sweetest song; Yet when the leaves are green and heaven is blue, The choral tribute of the grove is due, And when the lengthening […]

Through my north window, in the wintry weather,– My airy oriel on the river shore,– I watch the sea-fowl as they flock together Where late the boatman flashed his dripping oar. The gull, high floating, like a sloop unladen, Lets the loose water waft him as it will; The duck, round-breasted as a rustic maiden, […]

DANVERS, 1866 BANKRUPT! our pockets inside out! Empty of words to speak his praises! Worcester and Webster up the spout! Dead broke of laudatory phrases! Yet why with flowery speeches tease, With vain superlatives distress him? Has language better words than these? THE FRIEND OF ALL HIS RACE, GOD BLESS HIM! A simple prayer–but words […]

Introduction To A Collection Of Poems By Different Authors AN usher standing at the door I show my white rosette; A smile of welcome, nothing more, Will pay my trifling debt; Why should I bid you idly wait Like lovers at the swinging gate? Can I forget the wedding guest? The veteran of the sea? […]