“He is mad as a hare, poor fellow,And should be in chains,” you say.I haven’t a doubt of your statement,But who isn’t mad, I pray?Why, the world is a great asylum,And people are all insane,Gone daft with pleasure or folly,Or crazed with passion and pain. The infant who shrieks at a shadow,The child with his […]

We stood by the river that sweptIn its glory and grandeur away;But never a pulse o’ me leapt,And you wondered at me that day. We stood by the lake as it layWith its dimpled face turned to the light;Was it strange I had nothing to sayTo so fair and enchanting a sight? I look on […]

I am stirred by the dream of an afternoonOf a perfect day–though it was not June;The lilt of winds, and the droning tuneThat a busy city was humming. And a bronze-brown head, and lips like wineLeaning out through the window-vineA-list for steps that were maybe mine –Eager steps that were coming. I can see it […]

Mother says, “Be in no hurry,Marriage oft means care and worry.” Auntie says, with manner grave,“Wife is synonym for slave.” Father asks, in tones commanding,“How does Bradstreet rate his standing?” Sister crooning to her twins,Sighs, “With marriage care begins.” Grandma, near life’s closing days,Murmurs, “Sweet are girlhood’s ways.” Maud, twice widowed (“sod and grass”)Looks at […]

This is the place that I love the best,A little brown house like a ground-bird’s nest,Hid among grasses, and vines, and trees,Summer retreat of the birds and bees. The tenderest light that ever was seenSifts through the vine-made window screen –Sifts and quivers, and flits and fallsOn home-made carpets and gray-hung walls. All through June, […]

Nay, Romney, nay–I will not hear you sayThose words again: “I love you, love you sweet!”You are profane–blasphemous. I repeat,You are no actor for so grand a play. You love with all your heart? Well, that may be;Some cups are fashioned shallow. Should I tryTo quench my thirst from one of those, when dry –I […]

What would I ask the kindly fates to giveTo crown her life, if I could have my way?My strongest wishes would be negative,If they would but obey. Give her not greatness. For great souls must standAlone and lonely in this little world:Cleft rocks that show the great Creator’s hand,Thither by earthquakes hurled. Give her not […]

[On the election of the Roman Emperor Maximus, by the Senate, A.D. 238, a powerful army, headed by the Thracian giant Maximus, laid siege to Aquileia. Though poorly prepared for war, the constancy of her citizens rendered her impregnable. The women of Aquileia cut off their hair to make ropes for the military engines. The […]

(AMERICA’S GREAT EMOTIONAL ACTRESS) The Radiant Rulers of Mystic RegionsWhere souls of artists are fitted for birthGathered together their lovely legionsAnd fashioned a woman to shine on earth.They bathed her in splendour,They made her tender,They gave her a nature both sweet and wild;They gave her emotions like storm-stirred oceans,And they gave her the heart of […]

A TRIBUTE TO THE POLICEMEN OF ENGLAND’S CAPITAL Here in my cosy corner,Before a blazing log,I’m thinking of cold LondonWrapped in its killing fog;And, like a shining beaconAbove the picture grim,I see the London ‘Bobby,’And sing my song for him. I see his stalwart figure,I see his kindly face,I hear his helpful answerAt any hour […]

Just as I shape the purport of my thought,Lord of the Universe, shape Thou my lot.Let each ill thought that in my heart may be,Mould circumstance and bring ill luck to me. Until I weed the garden of my mindFrom all that is unworthy and unkind,Am I not master of my mind, dear Lord?Then as […]

Is the goal distant, and troubled the road,And the way long?And heavy your load?Then gird up your courage, and say ‘I am strong,’And keep going. Is the work weary, and endless the grindAnd petty the pay?Then brace up your mindAnd say ‘Something better is coming my way,’And keep doing. Is the drink bitter life pours […]

I held the golden vessel of my soulAnd prayed that God would fill it from on high.Day after day the importuning cryGrew stronger–grew, a heaven-accusing doleBecause no sacred waters laved my bowl.‘So full the fountain, Lord, wouldst Thou denyThe little needed for a soul’s supply?I ask but this small portion of Thy whole.’Then from the […]

When thy hand touches mine, through all the meshOf intricate and interlaced veinsShoot swift delights that border on keen pains:Flesh thrills to thrilling flesh. When in thine eager eyes I look to findA comrade to my thought, thy ready brainDelves down and makes its inmost meaning plain:Mind answers unto mind. When hands and eyes are […]

Over and over the task was set,Over and over I slighted the work,But ever and alway I knew that yetI must face and finish the toil I shirk. Over and over the whip of painHas spurred and punished with blow on blow;As ever and alway I tried in vainTo shun the labour I hated so. […]

If one proves weak who you fancied strong,Or false who you fancied true,Just ease the smart of your wounded heartBy the thought that it is not you! If many forget a promise made,And your faith falls into the dust,Then look meanwhile in your mirror and smile,And say, ‘I am one to trust!’ If you search […]

Strange are the ways that her feet have trodSince first she was set in the path of duty,Finished and fair by the hand of God,To carry her message of love and beauty.Delicate creature of light and shade,She gleamed like an opal, on wide worlds under:And earth looked up to her half afraid,While heaven looked down […]

They are waking, they are waking,In the east, and in the west;They are throwing wide their windows to the sun;And they see the dawn is breaking,And they quiver with unrest,For they know their work is waiting to be done. They are waking in the city,They are waking on the farm;They are waking in the boudoir, […]

Two dead men boarded a spectral shipIn the astral Port of Space;On that ghost-filled barque, they met in the dark,And halted, face to face. ‘Now whither away’–called one of the ghosts,‘This ship sets sail for Earth.On the astral plane you must remain,Where the newly dead have birth.’ ‘But I could not stay and I would […]

Pausing a moment ere the day was done,While yet the earth was scintillant with light,I backward glanced. From valley, plain, and height,At intervals, where my life-path had run,Rose cross on cross; and nailed upon each oneWas my dead self. And yet that gruesome sightLent sudden splendour to the falling night,Showing the conquests that my soul […]