This lovely lily, so pure and white,Seems covered o’er with celestial light;As if it grew on the “Tree of Life,”And not down here, in this world of strife;Too pure for earth it now seems to be;My queenly wife, it was meant for thee. Its wax-like petals with graceful bend,Drink in the sunbeams as they descend;And […]

Five hundred years have nearly passed awaySince that glad morn, when o’er fair Bethl’hem’s plainA light resplendent as the glow of day,Shone down from heaven, and holy angels deignTo sing the sweetest song e’er heard by mortal ear,Which fills sad hearts with joy and drives away their fear. Clovis, of the brave Franks, the king, […]

As fought the Paladins of old,With gleaming swords and spirit bold,To thwart the schemes of base Lothar,Give France to Karl in holy war,So would we battle for the right,Tho’ we may perish in the fight. Our trusty blade, not made of steel,While wounding deep, doth also heal;With this, and clad in Christian mail,The hosts of […]

The leaf is faded, and decayed the flower,The birds have ceased to sing in wayside bower,The babbling brook is silenced by the cold,And hill and vale the frost and snow enfold.The life we see seems hasting to the tombNor sun, nor star, relieves the dismal gloom;The good man suffers with the base and vile,And honesty […]

The yeoman lays aside his soil-stained smock,And from his herd selects a trusty steed,And sallies forth to help in hour of need;Nor dreads the battle’s shock. The artisan from mine, or shop, or store,Responds at duty’s call without delay,Nor stops to ask, “What will my nation pay?”It calls–what needs he more? The man of law–the […]

The Shah Jehan sat with his much-loved wife,The Empress Mahal, one hot summer day,In a cool arbor far from courtly strife,Close by the Jumna, winding on its way. In silence played they long their game of chess,But Jehan’s eyes rose oft to Mahal’s brow,His ardent love he could not well repress,Nor tried–she was his own […]

Every tear that dims the eye,Or bedews the careworn cheek,Will our God, who reigns on high,With a hand so kind and meek,Wipe away, nor leave a traceOf its stain on eye or face. He alone life’s ills can right.Each His tender pity needs;None are hidden from His sight;“Every tear,” the promise reads–Every tear shall cease […]

Every flower that decks the way,Whether it be dun or gay,Fills a place in God’s great plan,Serving Him, while pleasing man.Every star that gilds the nightWith its beams of silver lightHas its mission to fulfil,As assigned it by God’s will. Feathered songsters all declareAs they cleave the ambient air,“He who made us made our lays,Giving […]

A stately church by pious hands erected long ago,Was found to lack a vesper bell, by which the poor might knowThe hour of prayer, the hour of mass, and who had lately died,The hour when gent and bonny lass, so timid at his side,Would stand before the surpliced priest, and twain would pledgetheir troth,The hour […]

A Prize Birthday Poem, 1885. We do not sing of vast domain–Empires as vast as ours are seen,And o’er their millions despots reign;We sing the virtues of our Queen. We think of her when but a maidThe message came, “the King is dead!”And at her feet a crown was laid;In deep distress of mind, she […]

The waters of the Big Bear creekGlide slowly on their way;The western lakes they surely seek,Which they will reach some day; But sluggishly they seek their end–They scarcely seem to move;Yet through the fields and round each bendTheir progress daily prove. By debris borne upon their breast,And strewn along each shore,They slowly move, but never […]

Heroic deeds in every ageCommand the world’s esteem;Each finds a place in history’s page,‘Midst gloom a glory beam. And we full oft revert to this,To show man’s true descentFrom Him who is the source of bliss,Tho’ now by passions rent. But we need not consult the past;The present bears this fruit:The hero race will ever […]

Doomed to decay are all things here;Whate’er their form or worth,Color and beauty disappear,Or turn to mother earth. The luscious fruits which please the tasteAnd please the eye as well,Sometimes reduced to rot and waste,Ere from the tree they fell– Some gathered with a gentle hand,And stored away with care,To serve a place in banquet […]

A grand stairway do these clouds appearAs they heavenward rise, tier upon tier,With clearly-marked space of blue between,Compared with which human art looks mean. Do the angels tread this grand staircase,When they come to earth to bless our race,And lend their aid to each struggling soulAs he ascends toward the heavenly goal? Was this the […]

The gem is not this ode itself;Hardly can it aspire so high.Earth has its gems; but all its wealth, Increased by thousands, cannot buyMan’s soul, the gem of priceless worth,Made in God’s image at its birth;Ordained to live for evermore;Redeemed by blood from sin and hell;Transformed by grace, God’s love to tell;And at His feet […]

O harass not a driven leaf,Nor stubble dry in wrath pursue;A life so brief load not with grief,Nor with thine arrow pierce me through. The fragile leaf, by tempest tost,Is scarcely worth a passing thought;The brook is crossed, and then is lost;There let it lie, a thing of naught. The stubble dry ne’er grows again;To […]

Feathery frost on the window-pane,Who placed you there? “I cannot explain,”Each little feather at once replied;“But this I know, I’m the children’s pride,As they think I fell from an angel’s wing,And coming to earth must rich blessings bring. “I once formed part of a lovely bay;The sun shone out, and I turned to spray,And rose […]

The grandest theme for tongue, or pen,Is not the heavens supernal;Nor mighty deeds of God-like men,Though they may be eternal; Nor Alpine heights, nor lovely vale,With brooks and grazing cattle;Nor awful roar of rushing gale,Beyond the noise of battle; Nor clashing arms, nor trembling earth;Nor heaving waves of ocean;Nor record of a nation’s birth;Nor heaven’s […]

Exquisite mosses, so lovely and green,Covering the rocks with emerald sheen;Hiding the scars which convulsions have made;Blessing the mound where our angel was laid;Forming a carpet on which we may tread;Clothing with beauty the rotten and dead;Sheathing from storm-blasts the young forest tree–Beautiful mosses, examples for me. Trod under foot by all kinds of men;Gracing […]

O beautiful sky of every hue;Golden and purple, crimson and blue,With some sombre lines thrown in between,And some bright spots of emerald green.The earth is wed to the sun it seems,And to grace the robe of his royal brideNo pains are spared, nor a tint untried,And thus complete it with glory gleams. He wields his […]