Mother of all the high-strung poets and singers departed, Mother of all the grass that weaves over their graves the glory of the field, Mother of all the manifold forms of life, deep-bosomed, patient, impassive, Silent brooder and nurse of lyrical joys and sorrows! Out of thee, yea, surely out of the fertile depth below […]

FOR THE UNNAMED SOLDIERS WHO DIED IN FRANCE Universal approval has been accorded the proposal made in the French Chamber that the ashes of an unnamed French soldier, fallen for his country, shall be removed with solemn ceremony to the Pantheon. In this way it is intended to honor by a symbolic ceremony the memory […]

I Lover of beauty, walking on the height Of pure philosophy and tranquil song; Born to behold the visions that belong To those who dwell in melody and light; Milton, thou spirit delicate and bright! What drew thee down to join the Roundhead throng Of iron-sided warriors, rude and strong, Fighting for freedom in a […]

Knight-errant of the Never-ending Quest, And Minstrel of the Unfulfilled Desire; For ever tuning thy frail earthly lyre To some unearthly music, and possessed With painful passionate longing to invest The golden dream of Love’s immortal fire With mortal robes of beautiful attire, And fold perfection to thy throbbing breast! What wonder, Shelley, that the […]

The melancholy gift Aurora gained From Jove, that her sad lover should not see The face of death, no goddess asked for thee, My Keats! But when the scarlet blood-drop stained Thy pillow, thou didst read the fate ordained,– Brief life, wild love, a flight of poesy! And then,–a shadow fell on Italy: Thy star […]

How blind the toil that burrows like the mole, In winding graveyard pathways underground, For Browning’s lineage! What if men have found Poor footmen or rich merchants on the roll Of his forbears? Did they beget his soul? Nay, for he came of ancestry renowned Through all the world,–the poets laurel-crowned With wreaths from which […]

The record of a faith sublime, And hope, through clouds, far-off discerned; The incense of a love that burned Through pain and doubt defying Time: The story of a soul at strife That learned at last to kiss the rod, And passed through sorrow up to God, From living to a higher life: A light […]

In Lucem Transitus, October, 1892 From the misty shores of midnight, touched with splendours of the moon, To the singing tides of heaven, and the light more clear than noon, Passed a soul that grew to music till it was with God in tune. Brother of the greatest poets, true to nature, true to art; […]

1802-1902 Heart of France for a hundred years, Passionate, sensitive, proud, and strong, Quick to throb with her hopes and fears, Fierce to flame with her sense of wrong! You, who hailed with a morning song Dream-light gilding a throne of old: You, who turned when the dream grew cold, Singing still, to the light […]

In a great land, a new land, a land full of labour and riches and confusion, Where there were many running to and fro, and shouting, and striving together, In the midst of the hurry and the troubled noise, I heard the voice of one singing. “What are you doing there, O man, singing quietly […]

I BIRTHDAY VERSES, 1906 Dear Aldrich, now November’s mellow days Have brought another Festa round to you, You can’t refuse a loving-cup of praise From friends the fleeting years have bound to you. Here come your Marjorie Daw, your dear Bad Boy, Prudence, and Judith the Bethulian, And many more, to wish you birthday joy, […]

(Read at His Funeral, January 21, 1908) Oh, quick to feel the lightest touch Of beauty or of truth, Rich in the thoughtfulness of age, The hopefulness of youth, The courage of the gentle heart, The wisdom of the pure, The strength of finely tempered souls To labour and endure! The blue of springtime in […]

ON HIS “BOOK OF JOYOUS CHILDREN” Yours is a garden of old-fashioned flowers; Joyous children delight to play there; Weary men find rest in its bowers, Watching the lingering light of day there. Old-time tunes and young love-laughter Ripple and run among the roses; Memory’s echoes, murmuring after, Fill the dusk when the long day […]

IN MEMORIAM Soul of a soldier in a poet’s frame, Heart of a hero in a body frail; Thine was the courage clear that did not quail Before the giant champions of shame Who wrought dishonour to the city’s name; And thine the vision of the Holy Grail Of Love, revealed through Music’s lucid veil, […]

The grief that is but feigning, And weeps melodious tears Of delicate complaining From self-indulgent years; The mirth that is but madness, And has no inward gladness Beneath its laughter straining, To capture thoughtless ears; The love that is but passion Of amber-scented lust; The doubt that is but fashion; The faith that has no […]

(In memory of Theodore Thomas, 1905) Glory architect, glory of painter, and sculptor, and bard, Living forever in temple and picture and statue and song,– Look how the world with the lights that they lit is illumined and starred; Brief was the flame of their life, but the lamps of their art burn long! Where […]

Great Nature had a million words, In tongues of trees and songs of birds, But none to breathe the heart of man, Till Music filled the pipes o’ Pan. 1909.

Oh, what do you know of the song, my dear, And how have you made it your own? You have caught the turn of the melody clear, And you give it again with a golden tone, Till the wonder-word and the wedded note Are flowing out of your beautiful throat With a liquid charm for […]

The time will come when I no more can play This polished flute: the stops will not obey My gnarled fingers; and the air it weaves In modulations, like a vine with leaves Climbing around the tower of song, will die In rustling autumn rhythms, confused and dry. My shortened breath no more will freely […]

TO OLIVE WHEELER Winter on Mount Shasta, April down below; Golden hours of glowing sun, Sudden showers of snow! Under leafless thickets Early wild-flowers cling; But, oh, my dear, I’m fain to hear The first bird o’ Spring! Alders are in tassel, Maples are in bud; Waters of the blue McCloud Shout in joyful flood; […]