Thank God for life, in such an age as this,Rich with the promises of better things.Thank God for being part of this great nation’s heart,Whose strong pulsations are not ruled by kings. Our thanks for fearless and protesting speechWhen cloven hoofs show ‘neath the robes of state.For us no servile song of ‘Kings can do […]

What shall the leader be in that great dayWhen we who sleep and dream that we are slavesShall wake and know that Liberty is ours?Mark well that word–not yours, not mine, but ours.For through the mingling of the separate streamsOf individual protest and desire,In one united sea of purpose, liesThe course to Freedom. When Progression […]

Hear thou my prayer, great God of opulence;Give me no blessings, save as recompenseFor blessings which I lovingly bestowOn needy stranger or on suffering foe.If Wealth, by chance, should on my path appear,Let Wisdom and Benevolence stand near,And Charity within my portal wait,To guard me from acquaintance intimate. Yet in this intricate great art of […]

However certain of the way thou art,Take not the self-appointed leader’s part.Follow no man, and by no man be led,And no man lead. AWAKE, and go ahead.Thy path, though leading straight unto the goalMight prove confusing to another soul.The goal is central; but from east, and west,And north, and south, we set out on the […]

There is no summit you may not attain,No purpose which you may not yet achieve,If you will wait serenely and believeEach seeming loss is but a step toward gain. Between the mountain-tops lie vale and plain;Let nothing make you question, doubt or grieve;Give only good, and good alone receive;And as you welcome joy, so welcome […]

Unhoused in deserts of accepted thought,And lost in jungles of confusing creeds,My soul strayed, homeless, finding its own needsUnsatisfied with what tradition taught. The pros and cons, the little ifs and ands,The but and maybe, and the this and that,On which the churches thicken and grow fat,I found but structures built on shifting sands. And […]

On a bleak, bald hill with a dull world under,The dreary world of the Commonplace,I have stood when the whole world seemed a blunderOf dotard Time, in an aimless race.With worry about me and want before me –Yet deep in my soul was a rapture springThat made me cry to the grey sky o’er me:‘Oh, […]

When God had formed the Universe, He thoughtOf all the marvels therein to be wroughtAnd to His aid then Motherhood was brought. ‘My lesser self, the feminine of Me,She will go forth throughout all time,’ quoth He,‘And make My world what I would have it be. ‘For I am weary, having laboured so,And for a […]

God, what a world, if men in street and martFelt that same kinship of the human heartWhich makes them, in the face of flame and flood,Rise to the meaning of true Brotherhood!

Among the virile hosts he passed along,Conspicuous for an undetermined graceOf sexless beauty. In his form and faceGod’s mighty purpose somehow had gone wrong.Then on his loom, he wove a careful song,Of sensuous threads; a wordy web of laceWherein the primal passions of the raceAnd his own sins made wonder for the throng. A little […]

‘Hurry up!’No lingering by old doors of doubt –No loitering by the way,No waiting a To-morrow car,When you can board To-day.Success is somewhere down the track;Before the chance is goneAccelerate your laggard pace,Swing on, I say, swing on –Hurry up! ‘Step lively!’Belated souls are following fast,They shout and signal, ‘Wait.’Conductor Time brooks no delay,He rings […]

Look in the eyes of trouble with a smile,Extend your hand and do not be afraid.‘Tis but a friend who comes to masquerade.And test your faith and courage for awhile. Fly, and he follows fast with threat and jeer.Shrink, and he deals hard blow on stinging blow,But bid him welcome as a friend, and lo!The […]

When from the prison of its body free,My soul shall soar, before it goes to Thee,Thou great Creator, give it power to knowThe language of all sad, dumb things below.And let me dwell a season still on earthBefore I rise to some diviner birth:Invisible to men, yet seen and heard,And understood by sorrowing beast and […]

At Fontainebleau, I saw a little bedFashioned of polished wood, with gold ornate,Ambition, hope, and sorrow, ay, and hateOnce battled there, above a childish head,And there in vain, grief wept, and memory pleadIt was so small! but Ah, dear God, how greatThe part it played in one sad woman’s fate.How wide the gloom, that narrow […]

Talk not of strength, until your heart has knownAnd fought with weakness through long hours alone. Talk not of virtue, till your conquering soulHas met temptation and gained full control. Boast not of garments, all unscorched by sin,Till you have passed, unscathed, through fires within. Oh, poor that pride the unscarred soldier shows,Who safe in […]

‘Since Sinus crossed the Milky Way, sixty thousand years have gone.’–GARRETT P. SERVISS. Since Sirius crossed the Milky WayFull sixty thousand years have gone,Yet hour by hour, and day by day,This tireless star speeds on and on. Methinks he must be moved to mirthBy that droll tale of Genesis,Which says creation had its birthFor such […]

(Written on the day of Queen Victoria’s funeral) The Queen is taking a drive to-day,They have hung with purple the carriage-way,They have dressed with purple the royal trackWhere the Queen goes forth and never comes back. Let no man labour as she goes byOn her last appearance to mortal eye;With heads uncovered let all men […]

All wantonly in hours of joy,I made a song of pain.Soon Grief drew near, and paused to hear,And sang the sad refrain,Again and yet again. Then recklessly in my despair,I sang of hope one day.And Joy turned back upon life’s track,And smiled, and came my way,And sat her down to stay.

Oh, a great world, a fair world, a true world I find it;A sun that never forgets to rise,On the darkest night, a star in the skies,And a God of love behind it. Oh, a good life, a sweet life, a large life I take it,Is what He offers to you, and me;A chance to […]

MORTAL:‘The night is cold, the hour is late, the world is bleak anddrear;Who is it knocking at my door?’ THE NEW YEAR:‘I am Good Cheer.’ MORTAL:‘Your voice is strange; I know you not; in shadows dark I grope.What seek you here?’ THE NEW YEAR:‘Friend, let me in; my name is Hope.’ MORTAL:‘And mine is Failure; […]