Ho! we were strong, we were swift, we were brave.Youth was a challenge, and Life was a fight.All that was best in us gladly we gave,Sprang from the rally, and leapt for the height.Smiling is Love in a foam of Spring flowers:Harden our hearts to him — on let us press!Oh, what a triumph and […]

And when I come to the dim trail-end,I who have been Life’s rover,This is all I would ask, my friend,Over and over and over: A little space on a stony hillWith never another near me,Sky o’ the North that’s vast and still,With a single star to cheer me; Star that gleams on a moss-grey stoneGraven […]

O dear little cabin, I’ve loved you so long,And now I must bid you good-bye!I’ve filled you with laughter, I’ve thrilled you with song,And sometimes I’ve wished I could cry.Your walls they have witnessed a weariful fight,And rung to a won Waterloo:But oh, in my triumph I’m dreary to-night —Good-bye, little cabin, to you! Your […]

Smith, great writer of stories, drank; found it immortalised his pen;Fused in his brain-pan, else a blank, heavens of glory now and then;Gave him the magical genius touch; God-given power to gouge out, flingFlat in your face a soul-thought — Bing!Twiddle your heart-strings in his clutch.“Bah!” said Smith, “let my body lie stripped to the […]

In the moonless, misty night, with my little pipe alight,I am sitting by the camp-fire’s fading cheer;Oh, the dew is falling chill on the dim, deer-haunted hill,And the breakers in the bay are moaning drear.The toilful hours are sped, the boys are long abed,And I alone a weary vigil keep;In the sightless, sullen sky I […]

My glass is filled, my pipe is lit,My den is all a cosy glow;And snug before the fire I sit,And wait to FEEL the old year go.I dedicate to solemn thoughtAmid my too-unthinking days,This sober moment, sadly fraughtWith much of blame, with little praise. Old Year! upon the Stage of TimeYou stand to bow your […]

When from my fumbling hand the tired pen falls,And in the twilight weary droops my head;While to my quiet heart a still voice calls,Calls me to join my kindred of the Dead:Grant that I may, O Lord, ere rest be mine,Write to Thy praise one radiant, ringing line. For all of worth that in this […]