AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED TO A DEAR FRIEND ON THE DEATH OF A BELOVED FATHER. The dawn-light wakes, and brightens to the day,And the slow sun climbs the far eastern skies,Then, down the western slopes pursues his way,Till shadows deepen and the twilight dies;–And still I muse, and wait, and list in vainFor feet that never, never […]

Sleep, gentle, mysterious healer,Come down with thy balm-cup to me!Come down, O thou mystic revealerOf glories the day may not see!For dark is the cloud that is o’er me,And heavy the shadows that fall,And lone is the pathway before me,And far-off the voice that doth call–Faintly, yet tenderly ever,From over the dark river, call. Let […]

Over the mountains, under the snowLieth a valley cold and low,‘Neath a white, immovable pall,Desolate, dreary, soulless all,And soundless, save when the wintry blastSweeps with funeral music past. Yet was that valley not always so,For I trod its summer-paths long ago;And I gathered flowers of fairest dyesWhere now the snow-drift heaviest lies;And I drank from […]

I sat beside a bed of pain,And all the muffled hours were still;The breeze that bent the summer grain,Scarce sighed along the pine-clad hill;The pensive stars, the silvery moonSeemed sleeping in a sea of calm.And all the leafy bowers of JuneWere steeped in midnight’s dewy balm. She seemed to sleep, for lull of painHad calmed […]

“For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.” Like the dew-drops that fallThrough the chill, midnight hours,Unheeded by all,On the close-folded flowers,–E’en so, on thy chosen,Grief stricken that bend,Thy tenderest blessingsIn silence descend. Like the showers that moistenThe tree’s shrivelled root,And quicken its branchesTo flower and […]

“Giving up three for one!”–mother,You said in the long ago,When father, yourself, and John, mother,I left, o’er the deep to go.“Giving up three for one!”–mother,You said, and it sank in my heart;For tho’ strong was my love for the one, mother,It was hard from the three to part. But to-day, as I sit alone, mother,Rocking […]

Alien blossoms! tell me whySeek ye such a lonely place,Thus to bloom, and droop, and dieFar away from all your race? Wherefore, from the sunny bowersWhere your beauteous kindred bloom,Have ye come, O banished flowers!Thus to decorate a tomb? “Mortal, dost thou question whyThus beside the grave we bloom?Why we hither come to die,Aliens from […]

Away to the hills, away!–There is health in the summer air;–The rustling bough, and the bending spray,And the breath of flowers are there–The honey-bee’s hum and the wild bird’s song,And sunshine and summer winds all day long! Away to the hills, away!There are peace and calmness there–White cloudlets floating in light all dayThrough the blue […]

“Yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Love of God!–amazing love!Height, above all other height,Depth no creature thought can prove,Boundless, endless, infinite!Howsoe’er I sink or rise,Stretch my powers beyond, abroad,Pierce the depths or climb the skies,Find I still the love of God–Fount of bliss, exhaustless, free,Evermore unsealed for me! Love of Christ!–amazing love!Vast […]

Do the dancing leaves of summerTo the time of buds look back?–Does the river moan regretfulFor the brooklet’s mountain-track?Does the ripened sheaf of summer,Heavy with precious grain,Ask for its hour of blossom,And the breath of Spring again? Does the golden goblet, brimmingWith the precious, ruby wine,Look back with weary longingTo the damp and dusky mine?Is […]

Onward, still on!–though the pathway be dreary,–Though few be the fountains that gladden the way,–Though the tired spirit grow feeble and weary,And droop in the heat of the toil-burdened day;Green in the distance the hills of thy CanaanLift their bright heads in a tenderer light,Where the full boughs with rich fruits overladenSpread their luxurious treasures […]

Thou hast marked the lonely river,On whose waveless bosom laySome deep mountain-shadow ever,Dark’ning e’en the ripples’ play–Didst thou deem it had no murmurOf soft music, though unheard?Deem that, ‘neath the quiet surface,The calm waters never stirred? Thou hast marked the pensive forest,Where the moonbeams slept by night,While the elm and drooping willowSorrowed in the misty […]

Soft evening bells!–sweet evening bells!O’er vale and plain your music swells,And far awayThe echoes playO’er shaggy mount and forest grey;And every rock its secret tellsTo your soft chime, sweet evening bells! Soft evening bells!–sweet evening bells!Now twilight drapes the woodland dells,And shadows lieOn the closed eyeOf flowers that dream beneath the sky;Yet fainter, sweeter, tenderer […]

“Go thy way, and when I have a more convenient season I will call for thee.” * * * * * “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Not yet, not yet, O Saviour,Although thou callest meIn life’s unclouded morningWhy should I follow thee?The world and all its pleasuresOutspread […]

RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO AN OVERWORKED STUDENT. O tyrant soul of mine,What’s the useOf this never-ceasing toil,Of this struggle, this turmoil,This abuseOf the body and the brain,Of this labor and this pain,Of this never-ceasing strainOn the cords that bind us twainEach to each? O tyrant soul of mine,Is it wellThus to waste and wear awayThe poor, […]

Weary of dreaming what never comes true,Weary of thinking what never is new,Of endeav’ring, yet never succeeding to do. Weary of walking the dusty, old ways,Weary of saying what every one says,Weary of singing old, obsolete lays. Weary of laughing, to make others laugh,Weary of gleaning for nothing but chaff,Of giving the whole, and receiving […]

Where the willow weepethBy a fountain lone,–Where the ivy creepethO’er a mossy stone,–With pale flowers above her,In a quiet dell.Far from those who love her,Slumbers Minniebel. There thy bed I made thee,By that fountain side,And in anguish laid theeDown to rest, my bride!Tenderest and fairest,Who thy worth may tell!Flower of beauty rarest,Saintly Minniebel! Weary years […]

Written for the Alumni of Albion College, Michigan; and sung at their last re-union, June, 1881. The gliding years have rolled along,And once again we come,With greeting hand and choral song,To our old college-home;–Sweet college-home! dear college-home!We gladly gather here,Old friends to greet,Old faces meet,And sing our songs of cheer! A welcome true for those […]

Nay, I will not let thee go,Though the midnight glideth slow,–Though the darkness deep and longDim the sight and hush the song,On thy tender, faithful breast,Find I still my perfect rest–Soothing sweet for keenest woe–And I will not let thee go! Nay, I will not let thee go,Though the morn’s enkindling glowFlame along the mountain-height.Flooding […]

Weary soul, by care oppressed,Wouldst thou find a place of rest?Listen, Jesus calls to thee,Come, and find thy rest in me! Hungry soul, why pine and dieWith exhaustless stores so nigh?Lo, the board is spread for thee,Come, and feast to-day with me! Thirsty soul, earth’s sweetest rillMocks thee with its promise still;Hark, the Saviour calls […]