■f 
 
 J N E T,S 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 ©lajt. ..- - ©opt, S ^^ 
 
 Shelf .X<^-5. 5 fe 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
SONNETS AND LYRICS 
 
Sonnets and Lyrics 
 
 BY 
 
 KATRINA TRASK 
 
 AUTHOR OF " UNDER KING CONSTANTINE " 
 
 i>^r^7 1- 
 
 NEW YORK: ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH AND 
 COMPANY (INCORPORATED), l82 FIFTH AVENUE 
 
 \ 
 
 \^^AS\ 
 
 b= 
 

 Copyright, 1894, 
 By Anson D. F. Randolph & Company 
 
 (INCORPORATED). 
 
 John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. 
 
TO MY MOTHER. 
 
 Spring's secret had her nature caught, 
 
 A II joy co?npelling; 
 Her converse ivas "ujith ivisdom fraught^ 
 
 And laughter welling. 
 
 The circle of her daily life 
 
 Was sweetly human; 
 As friend, as 7n other, and as wife, 
 
 She was all woman. 
 
 With these rare charms she did cofnbine 
 
 A Christ-like power j 
 Transfused with His dear grace divine, 
 
 Lave was her dower. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Sonnets, 
 
 Page 
 
 Thy love is like an armor for my soul 13 
 
 Between the Shadows of the Night Love came ... 14 
 
 As I beheld Love's lambent wings outspread .... 15 
 
 Behold, I saw a burning furnace 16 
 
 I seult to Tristram 17 
 
 My Love, this evening hour I stand confessed ... 18 
 
 I wander in the desert of this world 19 
 
 In darkened upper chamber, on her bier 20 
 
 I longed for Thee, O Christ, to be my guest . . . . 21 
 
 O Love supreme, when is thy greatest bliss ? .... 22 
 
 Sorrow 23 
 
 Love 24 
 
 Paolo to Frances ca 
 
 25 
 
 Look in my eyes, my Love, and say good-bye .... 26 
 
 Yea, — inasmuch as thou art brave to fight .... 27 
 
 The lady sat in her vine-clad tower 31 
 
 Revelation 34 
 
 Three Hours 37 
 
 7 
 
My Lover's Bower 39 
 
 To a Pessimist 41 
 
 When we have done the best we can 43 
 
 No one may know what the crimson rose 45 
 
 After the Storm 4^ 
 
 Spring 47 
 
 Autumn 49 
 
 Heaven is mirrored Love, deep in thine eyes .... 51 
 
 Our hearts are full of sin 52 
 
 And has it been for this, my Love — the sheaves ? . • 53 
 
 O foolish soul, why should you now assail 54 
 
 Courage, O heart! • 55 
 
 If 56 
 
 Who can fill a chaHce 58 
 
 Calm is the peaceful night 59 
 
 Thine eyes, so true, shine on me, dear ...... 60 
 
 It has been dark so long ! 61 
 
 Love reaches to the infinite .62 
 
 Lo ! in the dome of the sky 63 
 
 Lie down and sleep 64 
 
 The purple mountains, on whose crest • ^5 
 
 To Ben Jonson 66 
 
 My feet are sandalled with Love 6S 
 
 My spirit is free 69 
 
 A Woman's Confession 70 
 
 At Last . 72 
 
 Fellowship 73 
 
 To a Poet - - • 75 
 
 8 
 
Rejoice .76 
 
 " Darling, darling," a bird is calling ....... 77 
 
 Renunciation . 79 
 
 Brunhilde 80 
 
 Speech and Silence 81 
 
 Trust 82 
 
 Morning 83 
 
 Emancipation S6 
 
 Quatrains 8S 
 
 Contrasts* 
 
 A fair young mother bends, and gaily laughs .... 91 
 
 My friend is near me now, so near 92 
 
 City and Country 93 
 
 She sits, with grief too deep for tears 94 
 
 A man and woman steeped in ecstasy 95 
 
 Wringing white hands in passionate despair .... 96 
 
 The night is still ; a faint perfume 97 
 
 Point of Uieto. 
 
 The Sea loi 
 
 Night 102 
 
 The Pines i03 
 
SONNETS. 
 
^THHY love is like an armor for my soul, 
 
 A burnished armor glitteringly white, 
 Irradiating all my path with light. 
 Naught now can vanquish me ; e'en pain and dole 
 Disturb me not. Swift, well-aimed arrows roll 
 In impotency from my armor bright; 
 I have been made invulnerable, no knight 
 E'er had a stronger harness, yet no stole, 
 Embroidered with Christ's cross, was ever worn 
 With holier reverence. Now to God be praise ! 
 Darkness and danger bring no fear to me ; 
 My soul, thus shielded, will not be overborne, 
 But calm, serene, through peril's devious ways, 
 Equipped with Love, may walk triumphantly. 
 
 13 
 
T)ETWEEN the shadows of the night Love came 
 Straight from God's self — His own ambas- 
 sador. 
 Shining he stood, with lambent wings astir; 
 My barren room from that bright form of flame 
 Glowed with effulgence ; soft he spake my name, 
 *'What would you have that Love may now 
 
 confer?" 
 *' Grant me," I cried, *' O mighty Almoner, 
 My lover's presence ; that again the same 
 Rose-ladened, rapture-freighted hours may hold 
 My lover with me in a spell of bliss, 
 Where every breath is fragrant with a kiss." 
 Love with a look divine of holy fire 
 And yearning pity did my soul enfold ; 
 
 *' Farewell," he said, ** I was not named Desire." 
 
 H 
 
II. 
 
 A S I beheld Love's lambent wings outspread 
 To leave me, all my spirit rose and cried, 
 " Stay, Love immortal, I am satisfied 
 With thy completeness, though I be unfed 
 With thy blest sacramental gifts. O shed 
 Thy glory in my soul ; what is denied 
 I here resign. If thou art by my side, 
 I will not ask for rapture.'' On my head 
 Love, stooping, laid his hands of Christ-like balm ; 
 Swift through my being flowed a strength unknown. 
 Deep in my heart there sprang a joy intense. 
 Soft on my spirit fell a thrilling calm ; 
 Love passed ; and I lay bathed — although alone — 
 In a glad bliss more rapturous than of sense. 
 
 15 
 
T)EHOLD, I saw a burning furnace, red 
 
 With heat intense ; and in its vivid glow 
 A human soul, unclayed ; first did I know 
 Overwhelming fear ; then straightway felt instead 
 Most wondering sorrow; for the lustre shed 
 Upon the soul I thought as pure as snow, 
 Showed dross, impurity, — Ah, bitter woe, 
 To me who loved so well ! I should have fled 
 From the revealment, had a strange control 
 Not held me, as the purging fire burned on. 
 In yearning anguish, " Spare the pain ! '' I cried ; 
 But naught was spared, until from that loved sou] 
 All the impurity and dross were gone ; 
 Then for new life it came forth purified. 
 
 i6 
 
ISEULT TO TRISTRAM. 
 
 npRISTRAM, my life's one only Love, your 
 
 queen,— 
 While banished from her sight you roam alone, — 
 A weary exile sits upon her throne, 
 Bedecked in pearl-strewn samite, glinting sheen 
 Of diamond glows bright like stars between 
 The curls your dear caressing lips have known ; 
 But all the while her aching heart makes moan, 
 Beneath the courtly homage, when serene 
 And proud she smiles with royal grace above 
 Her kneeling subjects, as becomes her state. 
 
 Tristram, Tristram, would that I might be 
 My fortune's arbitress ; in truth, my Love, 
 
 1 would but claim this single boon of fate, — 
 To wander forth a beggar-maid with thee. 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
1\ /TY Love, this evening hour I stand confessed. 
 When I recall these magic woods, which ring 
 With songs of homeward-flocking birds that sing 
 Sweet lullabys to fledghngs in the nest ; 
 The opalescent gates that in the west 
 Part to receive the passing day, and fling 
 A crimson glory forth ; — remembering 
 The myriad marvels, I will count this best. 
 Of sights, of music, flowers, and singing birds, 
 Of beauties manifold, which gird us round, — 
 Earth's bloom below, heaven's radiance above, — 
 Best will I count your life-revealing words 
 Which in my ears forevermore shall sound, 
 *' Light of my soul, I love you, O my Love.'* 
 
 i8 
 
T WANDER in the desert of this world, 
 
 See God's effulgence for a moment's space 
 On some Mount Sinai, then come face to face 
 With altars to the Golden Calf. Thus hurled 
 From holy heights, my soul in depths is whirled ; 
 Yea, from the Blessed swiftly to the base. 
 Ah ! 'tis a desolate and barren place ; 
 My heart is weary; — but, behold ! unfurled 
 Before me floats a fieecy cloud of light, 
 A roseate pillar through the toiling day. 
 Illumining the deserfs arid sand ; 
 And, lo ! a vivid guiding flame by night. 
 *T is Love that goes before me on my way. 
 And leads me onward to the Promised Land. 
 
 19 
 
TN darkened upper chamber, on her bier, 
 
 Lay Hope, arrayed for burial ; asphodel 
 And rosemary bedecked her pall, that fell 
 In straight black folds. Standing in silence near 
 Was Memory, with eyes as azure clear 
 As Heaven, but keen and haunting as deep Hell ; 
 At the sad sounding of the slow death knell, 
 Anon in frenzied haste ran frantic Fear, 
 And rosy Love, his glad voice hushed and low, 
 His torch inverted, paused to linger there 
 By my dead Hope. I stood apart with Woe ; 
 Then to my side came gaunt and grim Despair. 
 ** Fear not to be companionless/' she said, 
 ** Lo ! I will share your dweUing in her stead." 
 
 20 
 
T LONGED for Thee, O Christ, to be my guest, 
 To break the bread, and pour the Hving wine. 
 All consecrated, in this home of mine, 
 That my poor soul and spirit might be blessed. 
 Perchance I called Thee not enough; confessed 
 My yearning want too seldom at Thy shrine. 
 To bring Thy presence, glorious, divine. 
 Thou for these many years hast thought it best 
 That I should wait. There came instead to me 
 Remorseless Death, whose ruthless besom swept 
 My fireside empty ; then apart I crept, 
 Alone beneath the shadow, — ah, but see ! 
 I raise my head my barren home to mark, 
 And Thou, O Christ, art standing in the dark. 
 
 21 
 
/^ LOVE supreme, when is thy greatest bhss? 
 
 ^^ My soul grows faint remembering the sight 
 
 And inspiration of thy dear dehght, 
 
 The revelation of thy perfect kiss, 
 
 Where the completeness that my soul did miss 
 
 Beforetime, seemed my heritage by right. . 
 
 Standing to judge of Love upon Love's height, — 
 
 Now my familiar home, tho' dark abyss 
 
 Long sheltered me, — I count it greatest when 
 
 The rising tide of throbbing harmony 
 
 Sweeps through the senses with a sudden rush 
 
 To climax of Love's rapture ; then again 
 
 I know that sweeter than aught else to me. 
 
 Is the tense silence of Love's breathless hush. 
 
 22 
 
SORROW. 
 
 r\ THORN-CROWNED Sorrow, pitiless and 
 
 ^^ stern, 
 
 I sit alone, with broken heart, my head 
 
 Low bowed, keeping long vigil with my dead. 
 
 My soul, unutterably sad, doth yearn 
 
 Beyond relief in tears — they only burn 
 
 My aching eyelids to fall back unshed 
 
 Upon the throbbing brain like molten lead, 
 
 Making it frenzied. Shall I ever learn 
 
 To face you fearlessly, as by my door 
 
 You stand with haunting eyes and death-damp hair. 
 
 Through the night-watches, whispering solemnly, 
 
 *' Behold, I am thy guest forevermore.'' 
 
 It chills my soul to know that you are there. 
 
 Great GOD, have mercy on my misery ! 
 
LOVE. 
 
 /^~\ POWER of Love, O wondrous mystery ! 
 ^^ How is my dark illumined by thy light, 
 That maketh morning of my gloomy night, 
 Setting my soul from Sorrow^s bondage free 
 With swift-sent revelation ; yea, I see 
 Beyond the limitation of my sight 
 And senses, comprehending now, aright, 
 To-day's proportion to Eternity. 
 Through thee, my faith in God is made more sure. 
 My searching eyes have pierced the misty veil ; 
 The pain and anguish which stern Sorrow brings. 
 Through thee become more easy to endure. 
 Love-strong I mount, and Heaven's high summit 
 
 scale ; 
 Through thee, my soul has spread her folded wings. 
 
 24 
 
PAOLO TO FRANCESCA. 
 
 rj^RANCESCA MIA, in the purple air 
 
 That whirls us onward in our fatal woe, 
 Your soulful love-lit eyes, that ever grow, 
 Beneath the shadow of your wind-blown hair, 
 More doleful with vast sorrow you must bear, 
 Make my heart melt in agonizing flow 
 Of penitential tears ; for well I know 
 That I have brought you to this deep despair. 
 You would have been in Heaven, a blessed saint, 
 Save that you gave me your unbounded love, 
 And, spotless, innocent, all free from taint. 
 Came to my bosom like a guileless dove, 
 For shelter. Gracious God ! you trusted me; 
 I dragged you down to Hell and misery. 
 
 25 
 
T OOK in my eyes, my Love, and say good bye — 
 Love is not love save it hath made us strong 
 To meet stern duties, that remorseless throng 
 For doing. Men may fail, but you and I 
 Should be invincible to live, or die ; 
 To wage firm battle against sin and wrong; 
 To wait — that's hardest, dear — however long, 
 For joys withheld, and God to answer why ; 
 To banish yearning hope if it be vain ; 
 To say good bye, if we must parted be. 
 Had we but half Xow^dy then we might complain 
 Parting were murdered possibility; 
 But loving, O my Love, so perfectly, 
 We are beyond the touch of any pain. 
 
 26 
 
TTEA, — inasmuch as thou art brave to fight 
 
 Victorious battle against sin and wrong, 
 And, still despite the miseries that throng, 
 To walk serenely in God's holy light, 
 Teaching the ignorant the ways of right. 
 Turning the dirge of life into a song 
 Triumphant ; inasmuch as thou art strong, 
 Purehearted, steadfast, — thou shalt be my knight. 
 Arise, go forth unto the waiting field, 
 And hurl the evil low into the dust. 
 Now may the sign by all men known be this. 
 My love for thee shall be thy guarding shield. 
 Thine armor shall be brightened by my trust, 
 Thine accolade shall be my royal kiss. 
 
 27 
 
LYRICS. 
 
 29 
 
T 
 
 HE lady sat in her vine-clad tower, 
 
 Her face was fair as a dew-washed flower; 
 
 The great oaken door was barred and fast, 
 And she smiled aloof as all men passed, 
 
 *' I yield me not until I discover, 
 
 For my heart's giving, a perfect lover/* 
 
 At dawn, one sued her with subtle brain, 
 To grant him guerdon. He sued in vain. 
 
 ** Yea," she made answer, '' I yield me in part; 
 But what should I do with my throbbing heart? " 
 
 At sunrise, a passionate lover came. 
 And offered his heart of burning flame. 
 
 ''Ah, yea," she said, *' I might yield to thee; 
 
 But alas ! alas ! for the soul in me." 
 
 31 
 
As the sun waxed high, 'neath her casement stole 
 A bashful pilgrim, and offered his soul. 
 
 ''Yea, this is highest and best," she said; 
 ''But my mind and body would faint, unfed." 
 
 Then she smiled and fast barred the tower door, 
 " I will never yield ; I watch no more." 
 
 But, lo ! o'er the hills, at the earth's high noon. 
 Swift came a lover with love triune. 
 
 He looked in her eyes, and she was aware 
 That the lord of her body was standing there ; 
 
 He challenged her mind, and quick was she 
 To bow her own to his mastery ; 
 
 He lifted on high his blossoming rod, 
 And wooed her soul in the name of God. 
 
 Myrrh and spikenard and frankincense sweet 
 
 Dropped in the way of her hurrying feet. 
 
 32 
 
The fast-barred door was thrown open wide, 
 And the lover sprang to the lady's side. 
 
 The light of love dawned glad on her face, 
 And she whispered low, with an eager grace : 
 
 " Because thou wooed with the threefold power, 
 I come to thine arms from my fast-barred tower.** 
 
 33 
 
REVELATION. 
 
 ^T^O be made akin to the wonderful earth, 
 
 Engirdled with cestus of azure around ; 
 To know all her secrets of life, and of birth, 
 Of fragrance and fruitage, of vision and sound, — 
 Is the mystical sweetness 
 From Love's all completeness. 
 
 To swoon with the spell of her deep-folding dark. 
 To tremble with hope when a new day is born, 
 To awake, and sing with the carolling lark, 
 To blush with the beauty of her rosy morn, — 
 Is the mystical sweetness 
 From Love's all completeness. 
 
 To welcome the breeze as it blows to greet you, 
 
 As soft as it might be the breath of a kiss ; 
 
 34 
 
To watch for the tide as it rolls to meet you, 
 And throb with remembered and prescient bliss, — 
 Is the mystical sweet?iess 
 From Loves all-completeness. 
 
 To be swayed by the song that the pine-trees sing 
 To the heart of your heart, harmonious, clear; 
 To have day and night from their hid treasures bring 
 What those who have loved not, ne'er see and 
 
 ne'er hear, — 
 Is the mystical sweetness 
 From Love's all-completeness. 
 
 To joy and exult in the wild winds that make 
 A measureless music abroad in the land ; 
 To watch the mad white-crested waves as they break, 
 And their passionate murmur to understand, — 
 Is the mystical szveetness 
 From Lovers all-completeness. 
 
 35 
 
To feel the soul suddenly thrill with a glow 
 Of power to see beyond death's dusky portal; 
 With surety stronger than logic, to know 
 That God is the Lord, and the soul is immortal, 
 Is the mystical sweetness 
 From Love's all-completeness. 
 
 36 
 
THREE HOURS. 
 
 I. 
 
 HE comes ! my bliss-remembering heart sends 
 fire 
 Swift through my veins where blood was wont to 
 
 flow. 
 Enwrapped in joyous soaring soul-desire, 
 Down fragrant paths where welcoming roses grow, 
 I speed, my love to meet, 
 With winged feet. 
 
 II. 
 
 He leaves me desolate, my eyes grow dim. 
 My rebel heart denies the natural boon 
 Of life-flow to my veins ; he took with him 
 My spirit as he went ; I faint, I swoon. 
 His name I breathe for breath, 
 And long for death. 
 
 37 
 
III. 
 
 A mighty Voice speaks through the night to me, 
 " Is it for this I gave thee wondrous gift, 
 That in the shadow thou shouldst poorer be? 
 Hath love, revealed, no power to uplift? 
 Thou hast received ; now give — 
 Arise and live ! '' 
 
 38 
 
MY LOVER'S BOWER. 
 
 1\ yf Y Love, of all men, knoweth best 
 
 How well to weave a web complete, 
 Of intermingled love and rest, 
 With passion's power replete. 
 For the dayy and the houVy 
 He led me to his vine-clad Bowery 
 And wove for me a rapture sweet. 
 
 It was, forsooth, a magic place, 
 A covert from all storms that beat, 
 A mystic woof of light and grace, 
 A shade from noontide's heat. 
 And O the dayy and O the houry 
 He took me to that vine-clad Bowery 
 And wove for me a rapture sweet. 
 
 It lay upon a fruitful hill. 
 
 Crimson roses, and golden wheat ! 
 
 39 
 
The sunlight fell serene and still; 
 The sands of Time ran fleet. 
 For O the day, and O the hour, 
 He led me to his vine-clad Bower y 
 And wove for me a rapture sweet. 
 
 Far was it from the busy throng, 
 In sheltered, forest-hid retreat; 
 A crystal brook with laughing song, 
 Ran by a rose-hung seat. 
 A7id O the day^ and O the hour^ 
 He led me to that vine-clad Bower, 
 And wove for me a rapture sweet. 
 
 Low cooed an opal-crested dove 
 
 Her wooing mate, returned, to greet; 
 
 Beneath a panoply of love. 
 
 Unveiled, our souls did meet. 
 
 For O the day, and O the hour, 
 
 He took me to his vine-clad Bower, 
 
 And wove for me a rapture sweet. 
 40 
 
TO A PESSIMIST. 
 
 TTUSH! Do not dare 
 ^^ Add to the load 
 Your brother must bear 
 As he toils up the road. 
 
 The way is bleak, 
 Hard, at the best; 
 Perchance he is weak, 
 Did he stand confessed. 
 
 Can he rejoice? 
 Then God be praised ; 
 Ah ! w^hy should your voice, 
 
 To mock him, be raised? 
 
 41 
 
Holds he on high 
 His lamp of trust? 
 Beware how you try 
 To quench it with dust! 
 
 If, through the night, 
 No lamp you take ; 
 Then guard well his light, 
 For Jesus Christ's sake. 
 
 42 
 
TT THEN we have done the best we can 
 
 To help upHft our fellow-man, 
 To ease his load of care and sin, 
 Ah ! then, perchance, we may begin 
 All human nature to deplore, — 
 But not before ! 
 
 When we have studied, night and day, 
 
 A better and a surer way 
 
 To purge the State of wrong and crime. 
 
 Ah ! then, perchance, it may be time 
 
 To sit at home, with idle hand, 
 
 And mourn the land. 
 
 When we have prayed with trusting mind, 
 
 And in our life no answer find ; 
 
 43 
 
When we have done His utmost will, 
 And yet are left in darkness still ; 
 Then carping doubt we may express 
 But not unless. 
 
 44 
 
ATO one may know what the crimson rose 
 
 Whispers to me alone, 
 As its leaves unfold 
 From its heart of gold, — 
 Nay, nay, it is all unknown. 
 Save to me and the deep red rose. 
 The rarest flower that grows. 
 
 No one may know what the crimson rose, 
 
 As it hides in my breast, 
 
 Adown from the cold, 
 
 Is silently told, — 
 
 Nay, nay, it is unconfessed, 
 
 Save to me and the deep red rose. 
 
 The fairest flower that blows. 
 
 45 
 
AFTER THE STORM. 
 
 T^ARK files of fleece-edged clouds, that move 
 
 and break 
 To show clear azure through the sombre gray; 
 Tall tufts of crystal-beaded grass, that shake 
 Their heads in wind-tossed dances ; far away 
 The empurpled hills glow to the wooing sun, 
 Which floods the w^orld, — the stress of storm is 
 done. 
 
 Perched on a pine-tree, near my window-pane, 
 An oriole is swinging by his nest; 
 Bright from the freshness of the glistening rain. 
 Gleams the gold plumage of his shining breast; 
 He tilts and sways in joyousness on high, 
 And sings his heart out to the clearing sky. 
 
 46 
 
SPRING. 
 
 i^ WONDERFUL, sun-crowned, perfect Day ! 
 
 ^^ O fairest, flowering month of May ! 
 
 O redolent Spring, benign, supernal, 
 
 Thou art the symbol of Life Eternal ! 
 
 The silent Earth, so grim, so bare, 
 
 Seems dead, as cold she lieth there, 
 
 So long close-locked in icy sleep ; 
 
 Thou comest. Spring, and she doth leap 
 
 To vivid life. Her throbbing breast, 
 
 Where late the snowy pall did rest, 
 
 A larger, hidden life hath kept 
 
 Through all the winter while she slept. 
 
 Now, her myriad ways are a mystic maze 
 
 Of beauty's bloom, and rare perfume; 
 
 Her woodlands sad are fragrantly glad ; 
 
 47 
 
And birds, on the wing, carol gayly, and sing 
 
 To the beautiful Spring 
 
 A welcoming roundelay. 
 
 O wonderful, sun-crowned, perfect Day! 
 
 O fairest, flowering month of May ! 
 
 O Spring, thou art the proof to me 
 
 Of my Soul's immortality. 
 
 48 
 
AUTUMN. 
 
 T^ANK leaves in storm-soaked, undertrodden 
 
 mass, 
 Make a wet pathway for my feet to tread 
 Between the soughing trees ; the rain-drops shed 
 Their sullen damp defiance on my head, 
 As through the woodland bare I onward pass. 
 
 Between the parted branches of the pines, 
 The stretch of sky shows long above my way 
 A dull monotony of leaden gray, 
 That makes the full, high noontide of the day 
 A shadowed twilight; a soft mist entwines 
 
 Grim tree-trunks, brown with a forbidding gloom; 
 The sere moss settles earthward drearily; 
 The serpentine gnarled root of a dead tree 
 Appears to live and writhe in misery ; 
 
 The sodden world is but a sombre tomb. 
 4 49 
 
Vanished are all the happy summer things; 
 Here in the rain-washed woodland all is still 
 Save the harsh murmur of the rippling rill, 
 That wanders from the leaf-stripped, barren hill. 
 And cawing of a crow, that flaps black wings. 
 
 Thus, it is autumn over all the earth, — 
 
 But not within my heart, which keeps the glow 
 
 Of a remembered summer, as I go 
 
 Beneath the shadow, and the joy to know 
 
 That with the spring will come a glad new birth. 
 
 so 
 
TTEAVEN is mirrored Love, deep in thine eyes, 
 Soft falls its shimmering light upon thy face ; 
 Tell me, Beloved, is this Paradise, 
 Or but Love's bower in some deep-sheltered place? 
 
 Is that God's burning bush that now appears, 
 Or but the sunlight slanting through the trees? 
 Is that sweet song the music of the spheres, 
 Or but the deep andante of the breeze ? 
 
 Are we blest spirits of some glad new birth 
 Floating at last in God's eternity? 
 Or art thou, Love, still but a man on earth, 
 And I a woman clinging close to thee? 
 
 SI 
 
/^UR hearts are full of sin, 
 ^-^ And when we look within, 
 We shudder at the sight, — 
 They are as dark as night. 
 
 The Christ is full of love, 
 And when we look above, 
 Our darkened hearts grow white, 
 Bathed in His holy light. 
 
 We know this true ; and yet 
 We, day by day, forget 
 To lift our earth-bound eyes 
 Where cleansing power lies ! 
 
 52 
 
" \ ND has it been for this, my Love — the 
 
 sheaves ? 
 Have all the dewy moon-lit starry eves ; 
 The gathered fragrance from the myriad ways 
 Of all the flowering sun-steeped joyous days ; 
 The seasons that their fruitful courses ran, 
 In changing splendor, since our life began ; 
 Been tending only, my sweet Love, to this, — 
 The goal supreme of your full perfect kiss? '' 
 
 **Nay, Dear! not so,'' she answered, rapturously; 
 
 ** No kiss, that is its own finality, 
 
 Would be replete with bliss divine as ours. 
 
 The highest joy comes but from highest powers. 
 
 Most freighted with life's fulness, who have met 
 
 At last, — no petty brook nor rivulet 
 
 Meeting a pool ; but a full-tided sea, 
 
 Comminghng with an ocean deep and free.'* 
 
 53 
 
/^ FOOLISH Soul, why should you now assail 
 ^"^^ Your long-time creed, because weak mortals 
 
 fail? 
 If you have sought a just and righteous man, 
 Fulfilling well the Infinite's great plan, 
 And, searching earnestly, have failed to see one, 
 Despair not, — vindicate your creed, and be one. 
 
 54 
 
/^OURAGE,0 heart! 
 ^^ O fainting soul ! 
 Measure not part, 
 Compass the whole. 
 
 Dark falls the night? 
 Be not o'erborne ; 
 The morrow brings light, 
 Think on the morn. 
 
 Dim grows the day, 
 Under a shroud? 
 Have no dismay, 
 'T is but a cloud. 
 
 Thou must be laid 
 
 Down 'neath the sod? 
 
 Be not afraid. 
 
 After — comes God. 
 55 
 
IF. 
 
 /^~\H, never a lover shall win or subdue me ! 
 ^'^^ No ! not though he flatter, and seek, and 
 
 pursue me. 
 Howe'er he may strive to o'ercome me and take me, 
 However he may woo me, he never can make me 
 Forego my resolve to be free in m.y flight. 
 To keep the winged mystery of my delight. 
 For why should I stoop from the realms I can scan, 
 To. be the belonging of self-seeking man? 
 
 But, ah ! if a god should bend down to me, 
 
 love me, — 
 
 A being my soul bowed before, as above me, 
 
 With infinite wisdom to well-comprehend me. 
 
 With measureless love to protect and defend me 
 
 56 
 
From perilous storms in my own wayward soul, 
 With masterful touch, and a perfect control, 
 With the power to sway me deep down in his eyes, 
 And patience to wait for love's full tide to rise, — 
 
 Ah ! then, I would grant me, unbend me, and 
 yield me. 
 
 Enraptured with power found fitting to wield me ; 
 
 I naught would withhold 'neath the spell he cast 
 o'er me; 
 
 My spirit would sway, when his spirit o'erbore me. 
 
 As the tree's branches sway when swept by the 
 breeze, 
 
 To the rhythmical sound of their own harmonies; 
 
 I would yield with a lavishness born of complete- 
 ness ; 
 
 I would fold my wings close, and surrender to 
 sweetness. 
 
 57 
 
TT THO can fill a chalice 
 
 ^^ That is full; try to hold 
 Flowers in hands clutching dross and gold? 
 If with selfishness and malice 
 All our hearts be full of sin, 
 How may we ask the Lord to enter in? 
 
 58 
 
/^^ALM is the peaceful night, the ambient air 
 ^^ Stirs through the tree-tops with low melody; 
 Upon the hills a halo lingers, where 
 Has sunk the moon, serene and silvery. 
 Leaving naught, now, but subtle light of stars. 
 O my Star, stronger than the mighty Mars, 
 Here by thy side my prisoned self is free; 
 For in night's silence and immensity. 
 Souls, steeped in Love's divinest mystery, 
 Feel that they touch their immortality. 
 
 59 
 
nPHINE eyes, so true, shine on me, dear, 
 
 In visions of the ebon night; 
 My spirit feels that thine is near, 
 I murmur, '' It is morning-hght/' 
 
 I waken to the sun-bright day. 
 My chamber is aglow with light ; 
 
 I whisper, '' He is far away," 
 
 And then I know that it is night. 
 
 60 
 
TT has been dark so long! I cannot bear 
 
 The darkness longer; in my bosom, where 
 Joy dwelt of old, and in my room once fair, 
 Is silent desolation ; the still air 
 Is dense with darkness; in my wild despair 
 I fling my window open to the night, — 
 And in the East, behold, the dawn of light ! 
 
 6i 
 
T OVE reaches to the infinite. To-day 
 
 I love you to the uttermost; you sway 
 My spirit by your subtle power, — yea 
 I yield me wholly, love you far above 
 All that has been. Ah ! Dear, that is to-day. 
 To-morrow, as before, my soul w^ill say, 
 In very truth, as yet I know not love ; 
 Only the love of loving, and the larger thirst 
 For infinite revealing, eager as at first. 
 
 62 
 
T O ! in the dome of the sky, 
 
 Glimmers a tremulous star; 
 I follow it from afar, 
 To find where it swings on high, 
 A world. 
 
 Lo ! in the depths of thine eyes, 
 Shimmers a nebulous light; 
 I follow it day and night. 
 And find, to my soul's surprise. 
 My world. 
 
 ^3 
 
T IE down and sleep. 
 
 Leave it with God to keep 
 This sorrow which is part 
 Now^ of thy heart. 
 When thou dost wake, 
 If still 't is there to take, 
 Utter no wild complaint, 
 Work waits thine hands. 
 If thou should'st faint, 
 God understands. 
 
 64 
 
^ I ^HE purple mountains, on whose crest, 
 
 High-banked, are clouds of sombrous shade. 
 As lo ! the day dies in the west, 
 In lofty calm, loom unafraid. 
 
 When deep the twilight shadow lies 
 Upon their summits, still they stand, 
 
 Unruffled by the darkening skies. 
 Steadfast, and undisturbedly grand. 
 
 So I would calmly let my soul, 
 
 In sight of God undaunted lie, 
 With tranquil and serene control 
 
 Meeting what comes, nor asking why; 
 
 Having no tremor of dismay, 
 
 When thunderous storm-clouds threaten doom ; 
 
 Unmindful of the dying day, 
 
 Unmoved by the approaching gloom. 
 5 65 
 
TO BEN JONSON. 
 
 /^^HARIS boasted God did make her; 
 
 But, O Ben, if you will take her 
 Where God's light can on her fall, 
 You will find He made not all. 
 There was much of frill and purl, 
 Much of crisped hair and curl, 
 Which were added at her glass ; 
 And, to heart and soul, alas ! 
 Sooth I fear there entered in 
 Many a folly, many a sin. 
 Petty snare of worldly fashion. 
 Selfish lust, and empty passion, — 
 Yea, I am full sore afraid 
 God's first work was overlaid 
 
 66 
 
With the errors of the Coi^rt, 
 
 By the House of Stuart brought. 
 
 If your Charis were unspoiled, 
 
 And by Mammon not entoiled, 
 
 Why were titles and French ways 
 
 To be had ere she would praise? 
 
 Why were they the first desired 
 
 In the lover she required ? 
 
 Would you know, O curious Ben, 
 
 What true women want in men? 
 
 Only titles that are won 
 
 By some act which they have done ; 
 
 Only manners that impart 
 
 Knowledge of their source — the heart. 
 
 (n 
 
1\ TY feet are sandalled with Love, 
 
 ^ ^ Making them fleet ; 
 
 I breathe but Love for my breath, 
 
 Finding it sweet. 
 Love's ichor flows in my veins, 
 
 Keeping me strong; 
 And I speed on my way, 
 
 Singing a song 
 To the beautiful earth 
 
 And the stars above, — 
 A song antiphonal, 
 
 Of love, of love. 
 
 68 
 
1\ T Y spirit is free 
 
 As the tossing sea ; 
 
 My moods make my tides, 
 
 And nothing besides 
 
 Can draw me or stay me, 
 
 Can calm me or sway me. 
 
 I come and I go 
 
 To the ebb and the flow 
 
 Of my own desire ; 
 
 But my heart of fire 
 
 And passion I keep 
 
 Deep hidden, down deep. 
 
 Where no one can find it. 
 
 And no one can bind it. 
 
 My heart and my love are as boundlessly free 
 
 As the shimmering, shining, sapphire sea. 
 
 69 
 
A WOMAN^S CONFESSION. 
 
 T/^ES, kiss me, Beloved ! 
 I yield to your lips ; 
 But my spirit slips 
 Away from your touch, 
 If you kiss overmuch. 
 
 Yes, hold me, Beloved ! 
 I feel your control ; 
 But my wayward soul 
 Takes wings, fleet and strong, 
 If you hold me too long. 
 
 Ah ! kiss me. Beloved ! 
 But find a new way, 
 A more subtle play 
 To arouse and awake 
 Me to want what you take. 
 70 
 
Ah ! hold me, Beloved ! 
 But most by a spell, 
 That I may not tell 
 Why I stay, nor yet know 
 How I ever could go. 
 
 71 
 
AT LAST. 
 
 TIEYOND the bourn of mortal death and birth, 
 
 Two lovers — parted sorrowing on earth — 
 Met in the land of dim and ghostly space. 
 Wondering, he gazed on her illumined face; 
 '* Alone you bear the burden, now," he said, 
 " Of bondage ; mine is ended, — I am dead." 
 With rapturous note of victory, she cried, 
 ** The Lord of Life be praised ! I, too, have died.' 
 
 72 
 
FELLOWSHIP. 
 
 TT IS the bourgeoning month of May, 
 
 And lissome Spring now cometh her way, 
 Trailing her dainty garments of green 
 The blossoming, low-drooped boughs between ; 
 The birds sing blithe to greet her, 
 The violets haste to meet her; 
 Earth smileth with gay delight, 
 And spreadeth a carpet bright ; 
 The glad Sun laugheth with golden glee 
 To see Spring passing over the lea. 
 
 She glideth on o'er the tender grass ; 
 I wait in the way that she must pass, 
 Until, as she pauseth where I stand, 
 She stretcheth forth her fragrant hand, 
 
 73 
 
Her dewy lips allure me, 
 
 Her azure eyes assure me, 
 
 Of a fellowship complete ; 
 
 In musical cadence sweet, 
 
 She murmureth, *' Thou of Spring art part; 
 
 Love blossoms to fruitage in thine heart/* 
 
 74 
 
TO A POET. 
 
 'T^HOU who hast seen behind the mystic veil 
 The goal that lies beyond the weary way. 
 Stay not to tell a melancholy tale, 
 To please the ear of fancy for a day; 
 Oh, be not thou a crier of thy time, 
 Who chants the dirges of sad monotone. 
 Arise ! Translate the message, thou alone 
 Within thy soul hast heard, into thy rhyme ; 
 Infuse the world with harmony sublime ; 
 Show toiling mortals, girt by pain and strife. 
 An undimmed vision of the Truth — the Life. 
 Thus shalt thou be a Seer, and so fulfil 
 The glory of thy mission, and God's will. 
 
 75 
 
REJOICE. 
 
 /^ SHINING, glistening, sparkling sea, 
 ^^ Where white waves rise and swell ; 
 O murmuring brook and swaying tree, 
 
 Where wedded song-birds dwell ; 
 O rose and violet growing free, 
 
 Down in the mossy dell ; 
 O flowering Earth, — all things that be, 
 
 Rejoice, my soul is well ! 
 My Love has told his love to me, — 
 
 My Love who loves unfalterignly, 
 My Love whose matchless love for me 
 
 Will beat throughout Eternity. 
 
 76 
 
'' TA ARLING, darling/' a bird is calling, 
 "^ Over the hill and over the lea, 
 ^* The sun has risen, the dew ceased falling, 
 Darling, come back to me/' 
 
 "DarHng, darling," the violet is weeping, — 
 A tear deep-down in its heart I see, — 
 
 '' My lonely tryst I still am keeping. 
 Darling, come back to me." 
 
 '' Darting, darling/' the wind is singing, 
 Blowing all welcoming, fresh and free, 
 
 *' Where is thy musical laughter ringing? 
 Darling, come back to me/' 
 
 77 
 
" Darling, darling," the brook is saying, 
 Merrily winding down to the sea, 
 
 " Come, Oh, come, I am lone at playing, 
 Darling, come back to me." 
 
 "Darling, darling," the light is ghding 
 
 In and out from tree to tree, 
 Trying to find where thou art hiding, 
 
 " Darling, come back to me." 
 
 Darling, darling, my heart is yearning, 
 What is the summer bereft of thee? 
 
 Day has no dawn, the night no turning, 
 Darling, come back to me. 
 
 78 
 
RENUNCIATION. 
 
 ^T^HIRSTING and panting for the luscious wine, 
 
 I drew my breath in, and I tasted — brine. 
 The cup that I had waited for these years 
 Was in my hand, I Hfted it on high ; 
 But, ere I quaffed, I firmly laid it by, 
 And drank, instead, my own salt, bitter tears. 
 
 79 
 
BRUNHILDE. 
 
 T^ INGED by protective fire, the Walkyr lay, 
 Immaculate, unmoved. As golden day 
 Slow followed day, the immortal maid did keep 
 The unconscious love-watch of her virgin sleep. 
 
 Lo ! to her side her daring hero came, 
 And to her soul, sleep-folded, straight he spoke ; 
 Then more aglow than all her guarding flame, 
 Walhalla s maid a throbbing woman woke. 
 
 80 
 
SPEECH AND SILENCE. 
 
 /^^OME with me, Love, O come ! 
 
 ^^ Where the purple violet dwelleth, 
 
 Where the crystal water welleth. 
 
 Where the wind-blown wild-rose groweth, 
 
 Where the deer to cover goeth, 
 
 Down in the tangled dell ; 
 
 There are secrets sweet to tell. 
 
 Come with me, Love, O come ! 
 Where the crimson sunlight lieth, 
 Where the soaring eagle flieth, 
 Where the storied air soft ringeth, 
 To the height that vision bringeth 
 Of each golden sphere on sphere ; 
 There are mystic things to hear. 
 
 8i 
 
TRUST. 
 
 ^T^HE quiet river glideth to the sea ; 
 
 The silent planets, in the spacious sky, 
 Move on to their celestial destiny, 
 Each in its orbit, faithful ; and shall I 
 Fail to fulfil the purpose planned for me? 
 I know, however dark the way may be. 
 It leads me on to some vast mystery, 
 Some good supreme, for all Eternity, 
 
 82 
 
MORNING. 
 
 ^T^HE deep-shadowed night has passed away, 
 
 I look abroad on the bhthesome day; 
 The dew-fresh Earth is so wondrous fair 
 That my heart leaps high with praise and prayer ; 
 
 The World is awake, the Sitn is aflame y 
 hallowed be God's Holy name. 
 
 The morning-glories are spangled with dew, 
 The fleece-flecked sky is a vivid blue ; 
 The bright-eyed daisies spring from the grass, 
 And, smiling, nod as I onward pass; 
 
 The World is awake, the Sim is aflame^ 
 O hallowed be God's Holy 7iame. 
 
 83 
 
The yellow wheat waves gay in the field ; 
 The roses blush with a joy concealed ; 
 The shimmering brook leaps lightly by ; 
 The silent pond is another sky ; 
 
 The World is awake^ the Sun is afiamey 
 hallowed be God' s Holy name. 
 
 The golden butterflies glint and gleam 
 
 As they sport in the path of a slanting beam ; 
 
 The bees buzz busily here and there ; 
 
 The chirping crickets are everywhere ; 
 
 The World is awake ^ the Sun is aflame, 
 O hallowed be God'^s Holy name. 
 
 84 
 
Each pine a mystery proudly stands, 
 The httle hills, laughing, clap their hands; 
 The mightier mountains, one by one, 
 Rise in their beauty to meet the sun ; 
 
 The World is awake, the Sim is aflame, 
 O hallowed be God's Holy name. 
 
 Now all IS laughter, and light, and love, 
 In the Earth beneath and the Heavens above. 
 On the rock-bound shore, and the unbound sea, 
 But most in my heart — O joy to me ! 
 
 The World is awake, the Sun is aflame, 
 O hallowed be God's Holy name. 
 
 85 
 
EMANCIPATION. 
 
 T)ESIDE the gray, white- crested, lapping sea, 
 
 Where, with its subtle spell of mystery, 
 Lay the pale light from waning, crescent moon, 
 We stood together; — the low, rippling croon 
 Of quiet waves, upon the tranquil shore, 
 Made a mysterious music that, forevermore, 
 My heart will hold too precious to forget; 
 In the still sky, Venus and Alars had met. 
 All silently, by your dear hand's embrace, 
 My hands were folded ; I could see your face 
 But as a shadowy setting to your eyes, 
 Which held me with that strange and sweet surprise 
 The spirit knows on threshold of new birth. 
 It seemed the varied forces of the earth, 
 
 86 
 
And all my life, with its unfolding power, 
 Had been but prelude to this potent hour. 
 With a swift note of vibrating control. 
 You called unto my deep-imprisoned soul; 
 She rose, with a tense thrill of ecstasy. 
 Threw off her long-time shackles, and was free, 
 
 87 
 
QUATRAINS. 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 T F Love means having, then, — denied, — 
 
 Most Hves must be unsatisfied; 
 If giving — then, no Hfe need be 
 Bereft of Love's blest harmony. 
 
 ILLOGICAL PHILANTHROPY. 
 
 ^T^HE gracious lord of the Manor gives dole 
 
 To wayfarers passing his stately door ; 
 But he raises not the burdensome toll 
 They must pay at his stream from their scanty store. 
 
 HAPPINESS. 
 
 T AY happiness in circumstance, 
 
 Man were a helpless waif of chance; 
 
 But since the highest lies within, 
 
 Man's happiness is his to win, 
 
 88 
 
CONTRASTS. 
 
 89 
 
A FAIR, young mother bends, and gaily laughs, 
 Above a cradle, snowy white, to kiss 
 Her smiling babe ; ah ! merrily she quaffs, 
 With mute thanksgiving, her new cup of bliss. 
 
 A DARK, chill bier lies in a room apart, 
 
 Covered by the inexorable pall ; 
 
 There, with the sword of sorrow in her heart, 
 
 Another mother drinks her cup of gall. 
 
 91 
 
"A /TY friend is near me now, so near; 
 
 Before my yearning eyes he stands, 
 And, bending, takes my weary hands. 
 I feel his breath upon my cheek, 
 I see his face, I hear him speak ; 
 But '^ Oh ! " within my heart I sigh, 
 " How many miles between us lie ! " 
 
 II. 
 
 1\ yf Y other friend is far away, 
 
 A wanderer in distant lands ; 
 
 He cannot reach to touch my hands, 
 
 He cannot look into my eyes. 
 
 Between us Fate's dark barriers rise; 
 
 And yet, through distance and through space. 
 
 Our souls meet in a close embrace. 
 
 92 
 
CITY AND COUNTRY. 
 
 \ FEVERED vortex of o'ercrowded life, 
 
 Men who attain, who fail, who faint, who 
 plod, — 
 A restless haste, interminable strife. 
 And ceaseless din that drowns the voice of God. 
 
 A PEACEFUL calm, a buoyant sense of space 
 From boundless azure, and broad tranquil 
 green. 
 The soul, in tune, looks now upon God's face 
 With but a veil of flowering bloom between. 
 
 93 
 
s 
 
 HE sits, with grief too deep for tears, 
 
 Mute, motionless, with parched eyes, dry and 
 wild ; 
 
 Breaking the ghastly silence, now she hears 
 The blithesome laughter of her happy child. 
 
 94 
 
A MAN and woman, steeped in ecstasy, 
 
 Murmur, 'mid kisses, *' Merciful is fate ! " 
 
 Far off, one — who has set that woman free — 
 Dies lonely ; and a maid waits, desolate. 
 
 95 
 
TT BRINGING white hands in passionate despair, 
 
 For the denied last jewel for her hair, 
 A woman lies on her luxurious couch. 
 
 TN bitter cold, beside her door, doth crouch 
 Another woman, hungry, faint, and pale, 
 Stretching wan hands with supplicating wail ; 
 Knowing that, save some careless passer-by- 
 Shall give her bread, her only child may die. 
 
 96 
 
'T^HE night is still; a faint perfume, 
 
 From drooping clematis and rose, 
 Floats through the dusky folds of gloom 
 That hide the earth ; a calm repose, 
 A mystic hush, is over all, 
 Save where the shadowed waterfall 
 Makes murmurous music, there between 
 The dolorous pine-trees, all unseen. 
 
 II. 
 
 ^ I ^HE morning breaks, one after one 
 
 The mountains glow, effulgent, red. 
 
 Bright heralds of the coming sun. 
 
 The fresh rose lifts her dewy head ; 
 
 97 
 
A joyous song within its breast, 
 The happy lark wakes in the nest ; 
 And, pkiming buoyant, eager wings, 
 To the blue vault up- soars and sings. 
 
 98 
 
POINT OF VIEW. 
 
 99 
 
THE SEA. 
 
 /^ TREACHEROUS, fierce, implacable sea! 
 ^-^^ That bore my beloved away from me ; 
 How hungrily cruel you rise and creep 
 To seize vast treasures, and bury them deep, 
 Far under your cold-hearted, white-lipped waves, 
 Where numberless thousands sleep their last sleep, 
 Unshrouded, uncoffined, in grassless graves. 
 
 r\ BOUNTIFUL, kind, beneficent sea! 
 
 ^^ That brought my beloved one home to me ; 
 
 How brightly and lightly you laugh and play, 
 
 In the sparkling sun, with your own waves' spray, 
 
 As you bear on your throbbing, mighty breast 
 
 The myriad souls on their homeward way, 
 
 To hearts that wait, and to havens of rest. 
 
 lOI 
 
NIGHT. 
 
 T TAST, awful night, how ghostly are thine hours! 
 
 The cold and unresponsive stars repel ; 
 Against the dark loom visions of strange powers, 
 With ghastly forms, like harbingers of hell ; 
 A dense, oppressive silence weights my soul, 
 As slowly each black moment doth unroll. 
 I shudder here alone, afraid, forlorn, 
 
 awful night ! and tremble for the morn. 
 
 QTILL, peaceful night, when cares are put away, 
 And in the swaying boughs of murmurous 
 trees. 
 The risen wind, that stirred not through the day, 
 Maketh low music, dreamy melodies ; 
 
 1 sit beside my Love in rapt content, 
 Reading the secrets of the firmament. 
 
 And from the depths of thy great star-strewn calm, 
 O wondrous night ! I drink a magic balm. 
 
 102 
 
THE PINES. 
 
 r\ MELANCHOLY, mournful pines, 
 
 ^-^^ Sobbing and soughing through your gloom, 
 
 The restless spirit of wild winds 
 
 Sigheth a hopeless wail of doom ; 
 
 I stand and list to ye, all alone, 
 
 And your doleful song is a moan, a moan,. 
 
 /^ MUSICAL and murmuring pinesj, 
 
 ^"^^ You echo life in every part. 
 
 As low, harmonious, fresh winds 
 
 Sweep singing through your deep-hid heart; 
 
 I stand with my Love, to list to ye, 
 
 And your song is a wondrous symphony. 
 
 103