There’s blood between us, love, my love,There’s father’s blood, there’s brother’s blood;And blood’s a bar I cannot pass:I choose the stairs that mount above,Stair after golden skyward stair,To city and to sea of glass.My lily feet are soiled with mud,With scarlet mud which tells a taleOf hope that was, of guilt that was,Of love that […]

I wonder if the sap is stirring yet,If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate,If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sunAnd crocus fires are kindling one by one:Sing, robin, sing!I still am sore in doubt concerning Spring. I wonder if the spring-tide of this yearWill bring another Spring both lost and dear;If heart and […]

O Earth, lie heavily upon her eyes;Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth;Lie close around her; leave no room for mirthWith its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs.She hath no questions, she hath no replies,Hushed in and curtained with a blessed dearthOf all that irked her from the hour of birth;With stillness that […]

Who calleth?–Thy Father calleth,Run, O Daughter, to wait on Him:He Who chasteneth but for a seasonTrims thy lamp that it burn not dim. Who calleth?–Thy Master calleth,Sit, Disciple, and learn of Him:He Who teacheth wisdom of AngelsMakes thee wise as the Cherubim, Who calleth?–Thy Monarch calleth,Rise, O Subject, and follow Him:He is stronger than Death […]

Summer is gone with all its roses,Its sun and perfumes and sweet flowers,Its warm air and refreshing showers:And even Autumn closes. Yea, Autumn’s chilly self is going,And winter comes which is yet colder;Each day the hoar-frost waxes bolderAnd the last buds cease blowing.

Ah! changed and cold, how changed and very cold!With stiffened smiling lips and cold calm eyes:Changed, yet the same; much knowing, little wise;This was the promise of the days of old!Grown hard and stubborn in the ancient mould,Grown rigid in the sham of lifelong lies:We hoped for better things as years would rise,But it is […]

I watched a rosebud very longBrought on by dew and sun and shower,Waiting to see the perfect flower:Then, when I thought it should be strong,It opened at the matin hourAnd fell at even-song. I watched a nest from day to day,A green nest full of pleasant shade,Wherein three speckled eggs were laid:But when they should […]

The sweetest blossoms die.And so it was that, going day by dayUnto the church to praise and pray,And crossing the green churchyard thoughtfully,I saw how on the graves the flowersShed their fresh leaves in showers,And how their perfume rose up to the skyBefore it passed away. The youngest blossoms die.They die and fall and nourish […]

A DIALOGUE. “O happy happy land!Angels like rushes standAbout the wells of light.”–“Alas, I have not eyes for this fair sight:Hold fast my hand.”– “As in a soft wind, theyBend all one blessed way,Each bowed in his own glory, star with star.”–“I cannot see so far,Here shadows are.”– “White-winged the cherubim,Yet whiter seraphim,Glow white with […]

Vanity of vanities, the Preacher saith,All things are vanity. The eye and earCannot be filled with what they see and hear.Like early dew, or like the sudden breathOf wind, or like the grass that withereth,Is man, tossed to and fro by hope and fear:So little joy hath he, so little cheer,Till all things end in […]

THE FLESH. “Sweet, thou art pale.”“More pale to see,Christ hung upon the cruel treeAnd bore His Father’s wrath for me.” “Sweet, thou art sad.”“Beneath a rodMore heavy, Christ for my sake trodThe winepress of the wrath of God.” “Sweet, thou art weary.”“Not so Christ:Whose mighty love of me sufficedFor Strength, Salvation, Eucharist.” “Sweet, thou art […]

This Advent moon shines cold and clear,These Advent nights are long;Our lamps have burned year after year,And still their flame is strong.“Watchman, what of the night?” we cry,Heart-sick with hope deferred:“No speaking signs are in the sky,”Is still the watchman’s word. The Porter watches at the gate,The servants watch within;The watch is long betimes and […]

I have no wit, no words, no tears;My heart within me like a stoneIs numbed too much for hopes or fears;Look right, look left, I dwell alone;I lift mine eyes, but dimmed with griefNo everlasting hills I see;My life is in the falling leaf:O Jesus, quicken me! My life is like a faded leaf,My harvest […]

Oh what is that countryAnd where can it be,Not mine own country,But dearer far to me?Yet mine own country,If I one day may seeIts spices and cedars,Its gold and ivory. As I lie dreamingIt rises, that land;There rises before meIts green golden strand,With the bowing cedarsAnd the shining sand;It sparkles and flashesLike a shaken brand. […]

It is over. What is over?Nay, how much is over truly!–Harvest days we toiled to sow for;Now the sheaves are gathered newly,Now the wheat is garnered duly. It is finished. What is finished?Much is finished known or unknown:Lives are finished; time diminished;Was the fallow field left unsown?Will these buds be always unblown? It suffices. What […]

1. New Year met me somewhat sad:Old Year leaves me tired,Stripped of favorite things I had,Balked of much desired:Yet farther on my road to-day,God willing, farther on my way. New Year coming on apaceWhat have you to give me?Bring you scathe, or bring you grace,Face me with an honest face;You shall not deceive me:Be it […]

The first was like a dream through summer heat,The second like a tedious numbing swoon,While the half-frozen pulses lagged to beatBeneath a winter moon. “But,” says my friend, “what was this thing and where?”It was a pleasure-place within my soul;An earthly paradise supremely fairThat lured me from the goal. The first part was a tissue […]

Sound the deep waters:–Who shall sound that deep?–Too short the plummet,And the watchmen sleep.Some dream of effortUp a toilsome steep;Some dream of pasture groundsFor harmless sheep. White shapes flit to and froFrom mast to mast;They feel the distant tempestThat nears them fast:Great rocks are straight ahead,Great shoals not past;They shout to one anotherUpon the blast. […]

I said of laughter, it is vain.Of mirth I said, what profits it?Therefore I found a book, and writTherein how ease and also pain,How health and sickness, every oneIs vanity beneath the sun. Man walks in a vain shadow; heDisquieteth himself in vain.The things that were shall be again.The rivers do not fill the sea,But […]

By day she wooes me, soft, exceeding fair:But all night as the moon so changeth she;Loathsome and foul with hideous leprosy,And subtle serpents gliding in her hair.By day she wooes me to the outer air,Ripe fruits, sweet flowers, and full satiety:But through the night, a beast she grins at me,A very monster void of love […]