I BEDTIME Ere thou sleepest gently lay Every troubled thought away: Put off worry and distress As thou puttest off thy dress: Drop thy burden and thy care In the quiet arms of prayer. Lord, Thou knowest how I live, All I’ve done amiss forgive: All of good I’ve tried to do, Strengthen, bless, and […]

I IN EXCELSIS Two dwellings, Peace, are thine. One is the mountain-height, Uplifted in the loneliness of light Beyond the realm of shadows,–fine, And far, and clear,–where advent of the night Means only glorious nearness of the stars, And dawn unhindered breaks above the bars That long the lower world in twilight keep. Thou sleepest […]

If on the closed curtain of my sight My fancy paints thy portrait far away, I see thee still the same, by night or day; Crossing the crowded street, or moving bright ‘Mid festal throngs, or reading by the light Of shaded lamp some friendly poet’s lay, Or shepherding the children at their play,– The […]

The fire of love was burning, yet so low That in the peaceful dark it made no rays, And in the light of perfect-placid days The ashes hid the smouldering embers’ glow. Vainly, for love’s delight, we sought to throw New pleasures on the pyre to make it blaze: In life’s calm air and tranquil-prosperous […]

I All the trees are sleeping, all the winds are still, All the fleecy flocks of cloud, gone beyond the hill; Through the noon-day silence, down the woods of June, Hark, a little hunter’s voice, running with a tune. “Hide and seek! When I speak, You must answer me: Call again, Merry men, Coo-ee, coo-ee, […]

Long, long ago I heard a little song, (Ah, was it long ago, or yesterday?) So lowly, slowly wound the tune along, That far into my heart it found the way: A melody consoling and endearing; And now, in silent hours, I’m often hearing The small, sweet song that does not die away. Long, long […]

Waking from tender sleep, My neighbour’s little child Put out his baby hand to me, Looked in my face, and smiled. It seems as if he came Home from a happy land, To bring a message to my heart And make me understand. Somewhere, among bright dreams, A child that once was mine Has whispered […]

The day returns by which we date our years: Day of the joy of giving,–that means love; Day of the joy of living,–that means hope; Day of the Royal Child,–and day that brings To older hearts the gift of Christmas tears! Look, how the candles twinkle through the tree, The children shout when baby claps […]

All night long, by a distant bell The passing hours were notched On the dark, while her breathing rose and fell; And the spark of life I watched In her face was glowing, or fading,–who could tell?– And the open window of the room, With a flare of yellow light, Was peering out into the […]

1888-1912 A deeper crimson in the rose, A deeper blue in sky and sea, And ever, as the summer goes, A deeper loss in losing thee! A deeper music in the strain Of hermit-thrush from lonely tree; And deeper grows the sense of gain My life has found in having thee. A deeper love, a […]

THE HOUSE The cornerstone in Truth is laid, The guardian walls of Honour made, The roof of Faith is built above, The fire upon the hearth is Love: Though rains descend and loud winds call, This happy house shall never fall. THE HEARTH When the logs are burning free, Then the fire is full of […]

IN HER TOWER OF YADDO This is the window’s message, In silence, to the Queen: “Thou hast a double kingdom And I am set between: Look out and see the glory, On hill and plain and sky: Look in and see the light of love That nevermore shall die!” L’ENVOI Window in the Queen’s high […]

IN HER GARDEN OF YADDO Hours fly, Flowers die New days, New ways, Pass by. Love stays. * * * Time is Too Slow for those who Wait, Too Swift for those who Fear, Too Long for those who Grieve, Too Short for those who Rejoice; But for those who Love, Time is not.

FOR THE CLASS OF 1904 The shadow by my finger cast Divides the future from the past: Before it, sleeps the unborn hour, In darkness, and beyond thy power: Behind its unreturning line, The vanished hour, no longer thine: One hour alone is in thy hands,– The NOW on which the shadow stands. March, 1904.

FOR BAYARD AND HELEN STOCKTON Two hundred years of blessing I record For Morven’s house, protected by the Lord: And still I stand among old-fashioned flowers To mark for Morven many sunlit hours.

I AT A BIRTHDAY FEAST With memories old and wishes new We crown our cups again, And here’s to you, and here’s to you With love that ne’er shall wane! And may you keep, at sixty-seven, The joy of earth, the hope of heaven, And fame well-earned, and friendship true, And peace that comforts every […]

(TO CHARLES A. YOUNG, ASTRONOMER) “Two things,” the wise man said, “fill me with awe: The starry heavens and the moral law.” Nay, add another wonder to thy roll,– The living marvel of the human soul! Born in the dust and cradled in the dark, It feels the fire of an immortal spark, And learns […]

May 4th, 1898.–To-day, fishing down the Swiftwater, I found Joseph Jefferson on a big rock in the middle of the brook, casting the fly for trout. He said he had fished this very stream three-and-forty years ago; and near by, in the Paradise Valley, he wrote his famous play.–Leaf from my Diary. We met on […]

(READING KEATS’ ODE ON A GRECIAN URN) Long had I loved this “Attic shape,” the brede Of marble maidens round this urn divine: But when your golden voice began to read, The empty urn was filled with Chian wine.

A flawless cup: how delicate and fine The flowing curve of every jewelled line! Look, turn it up or down, ’tis perfect still,– But holds no drop of life’s heart-warming wine.