In mirth he mocks the other birds at noon, Catching the lilt of every easy tune; But when the day departs he sings of love,– His own wild song beneath the listening moon.

FOR A SCULPTURE BY SARA GREENE Limber-limbed, lazy god, stretched on the rock, Where is sweet Echo, and where is your flock? What are you making here? “Listen,” said Pan,– “Out of a river-reed music for man!”

The nymphs a shepherd took To guard their snowy sheep; He led them down along the brook, And guided them with pipe and crook, Until he fell asleep. But when the piping stayed, Across the flowery mead The milk-white nymphs ran out afraid: O Thyrsis, wake! Your flock has strayed,– The nymphs a shepherd need.

“The worlds in which we live are two: The world ‘I am’ and the world ‘I do,’” The worlds in which we live at heart are one, The world “I am,” the fruit of “I have done”; And underneath these worlds of flower and fruit, The world “I love,”–the only living root.

I STARLIGHT With two bright eyes, my star, my love, Thou lookest on the stars above: Ah, would that I the heaven might be With a million eyes to look on thee. Plato. II ROSELEAF A little while the rose, And after that the thorn; An hour of dewy morn, And then the glamour goes. […]

“Joy is a Duty,”–so with golden lore The Hebrew rabbis taught in days of yore, And happy human hearts heard in their speech Almost the highest wisdom man can reach. But one bright peak still rises far above, And there the Master stands whose name is Love, Saying to those whom weary tasks employ: “Life […]

Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul; Love is the only angel who can bid the gates unroll; And when he comes to call thee, arise and follow fast; His way may lie through darkness, but it leads to light at last.

There are many kinds of love, as many kinds of light, And every kind of love makes a glory in the night. There is love that stirs the heart, and love that gives it rest, But the love that leads life upward is the noblest and the best.

Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul, May keep the path, but will not reach the goal; While he who walks in love may wander far, But God will bring him where the Blessed are.

Read here, O friend unknown, Our grief, of her bereft; Yet think not tears alone Within our hearts are left. The gifts she came to give, Her heavenly love and cheer, Have made us glad to live And die without a fear. 1912.

Deeds not Words: I say so too! And yet I find it somehow true, A word may help a man in need, To nobler act and braver deed.

Dedicated to the Zodiac Club Who knows how many thousand years ago The twelvefold Zodiac was made to show The course of stars above and men below? The great sun plows his furrow by its “lines”: From all its “houses” mystic meaning shines: Deep lore of life is written in its “signs.” Aries–Sacrifice. Snow-white and […]

Far richer than a thornless rose Whose branch with beauty never glows, Is that which every June adorns With perfect bloom among its thorns. Merely to live without a pain Is little gladness, little gain, Ah, welcome joy tho’ mixt with grief,– The thorn-set flower that crowns the leaf. June 20, 1914.

What is Fortune, what is Fame? Futile gold and phantom name,– Riches buried in a cave, Glory written on a grave. What is Friendship? Something deep That the heart can spend and keep: Wealth that greatens while we give, Praise that heartens us to live. Come, my friend, and let us prove Life’s true talisman […]

Dear to my heart are the ancestral dwellings of America, Dearer than if they were haunted by ghosts of royal splendour; They are simple enough to be great in their friendly dignity,– Homes that were built by the brave beginners of a nation. I love the old white farmhouses nestled in New England valleys, Ample […]

THE SHALLOP ON HUDSON BAY June 22, 1611 One sail in sight upon the lonely sea, And only one! For never ship but mine Has dared these waters. We were first, My men, to battle in between the bergs And floes to these wide waves. This gulf is mine; I name it! and that flying […]

Children of the elemental mother, Born upon some lonely island shore Where the wrinkled ripples run and whisper, Where the crested billows plunge and roar; Long-winged, tireless roamers and adventurers, Fearless breasters of the wind and sea, In the far-off solitary places I have seen you floating wild and free! Here the high-built cities rise […]

The roar of the city is low, Muffled by new-fallen snow, And the sign of the wintry moon is small and round and still. Will you come with me to-night, To see a pleasant sight Away on the river-side, at the edge of Claremont Hill? “And what shall we see there, But streets that are […]

(Song for the City College of New York) O youngest of the giant brood Of cities far-renowned; In wealth and glory thou hast passed Thy rivals at a bound; Thou art a mighty queen, New York; And how wilt thou be crowned? “Weave me no palace-wreath of Pride,” The royal city said; “Nor forge of […]

I THE TURK’S WAY Stand back, ye messengers of mercy! Stand Far off, for I will save my troubled folk In my own way. So the false Sultan spoke; And Europe, hearkening to his base command, Stood still to see him heal his wounded land. Through blinding snows of winter and through smoke Of burning […]