PS 3S(3 Portraits Poems To Marias And Other Poems RALPH GORDON Class ._E^_^5-l.S ^ , fr ^, a - U-/ Book___ r Lj : Copyright N^. q 9 C-^- 1 Ci)£miGHT DEFOSm Portraits Poems To Marias AND Other Poems BY RALPH GORDON THE STRATFORD CO., Publishers BOSTON, MASS. > Copyright 1921 The STRATFORD CO., Publishers Boston, Mass. The Alpine Press, Boston, Mass., U. S. A. fiUG-871 g)CU622357 (T« I To My Beloved Brother William Marias Malisoff These Poems are Dedicated CONTENTS PORTRAITS Sloppy Liz 1 The Beard 2 OldMr.— ....... 3 A Gossip 4 A Quail 5 A Talking Machine 6 Canine-Faced Mr.— . . t . .7 Mrs. Far- About 8 A Dainty Lady 9 The Lady in Gray 10 The Hog > , 11 The Dreamer 12 Handsome Paul 13 A Lovable Masker 14 Mrs. Goriot 17 POEMS TO MARIAS First Poems 21 Wisdom 27 Unceasing Melody 28 CONTENTS Dear One 31 Rainbow of Hope 34 Psalm 35 Ourselves Must Be Our Greatness . . .36 HER POEMS The Subway .... . 39 Bach : Fugue . 47 Youth . . 48 Autumn . . 50 The Oak . 51 Calm . . 55 Vengeance . 56 Ode . 58 When the Coffined Souls of Men . 62 Towaco : Sketches Sunrise in the Hills . 63 Meadow-lands . 63 Earth and Sky . 64 The Country Road . . 64 Sunset in the Hills . . 65 Symphony . 66 Light of Ocean . 70 World: Wrec k: Ri ift . . 75 To Earl Fenton Palmer These Portraits are Lovingly^ Dedicated PORTRAITS PORTRAITS Sloppy Liz of Rockaway Beach A HUMAN duck So fat her plumpness trembles as she waddles. An oily, self-complacent smile Upon her flabby face. She rolls along Like a ball of whale blubber ; Unkempt, perpetually in semi-negligee; Midsummer moisture glistening on her flaming cheeks ; Each day she rolls her volume past our house ; And rain or shine she smiles complacently. ['1 PORTRAITS The Beard A FLOWING beard More precious much Than child on mother's breast. A tender hand passed through its sinuous coils Down-curled luxuriant on a well-plumped front. Caressed and fondled With meticulous care Admired by ladies of the hoop-skirt age And mocked by none But sacrilegious youth ; Proudly cradled On a haughty breast ; And lulled to sleep By after-dinner snores, It leads a life Of comfort and of ease Most highly suited To its majesty. [2] PORTRAITS Old Mr. A SHRIVELED ham : Two bleary eyes Sunk in a creviced face And peeping out With dilute petulance. A voice high strung To thin and screechy treble And breaking into whistling Gasps and sobs. He sits and peels potatoes By the hour His mumbling jaw Accompanying his knife. [3] PORTRAITS A G ossip A VOICE of honey-sweetness Well controlled, And held in leash Like an all-eager hound. A power reserved And used with tender care ; Each small expenditure Made most efficiently; And nicely calculated To achieve its end. A fearful instrument : The Voice of Envy, And the Tongue of Treason Steeled to a sword against whose fatal stroke No shield avails; Mellifluous, refined. Quintessence of a studied kindliness; Yet like the serpent bearing in its coils The fangs and poison of a hideous death ! [4] PORTRAITS A Quail A LITTLE woman, Short and plump, Togged out in a new suit Of Shepherd Plaid. On tiny feet She runs this way and that From stand to stand In the Green Grocer Store. With bird-like movements Peeping at the goods ; Until dissatisfied she scurries out And disappears beyond the open door. [5] PORTRAITS A Talking Machine A RUBBER face. The jaw adjustable, Huge, heavy, loosely-hinged, Elastic in' grimaces. Here triteness clothes itself In rumbling grandeur. And thought becomed the humble servitor Of voice. Through lips that scarce are parted. Petty thunder rolls; And men attend, And give an anxious ear; But should those lips, half-soldered, Break apart. And outlet give to that tremendous voice. How would the world stuif cotton in its ears And pray for mercy of the silent grave ! [6] PORTRAITS Canine-Faced Mr.- A BOSTON Bull: Round eyes, A wrinkled forehead, And a mouth In sadness drooping down at either end. A little nose Run up against a wall, And left forever w^ith a petty sneer. This nose held high aloft As with disdainful sniffing to assure The world of its contempt. The body clothed In quiet gray, And almost a ilonentity ; But that caninal face, Round eyes and drooping mouth. Needs no support of a corporeal frame But seems to float upon the vacant air. [7] PORTRAITS Mrs. Far-About A HIPPOPOTAMUS : A vast amount Compactly harnessed in. A barrel strongly built With girdling hoops. No flabbiness, Solidity in mass. The head A slightly elongated square A trifle broader at the lower end. The eyes, two little things Beyond a pair of glasses On a nose That is as small as All the rest of her is massy big. Yet her feet, too, are little things, And when she walks She seems to be a top upon two points. [8] PORTRAITS A Dainty Lady 4 MINIATURE-FEATURED face: Jx A little nose ; A little mouth ; And little teeth ; And little eyes ; Beyond a little pair Of gold pince-nez. A pretty hat With dainty clustered grapes ; A creamy-beaded purse Inwrought with pink rose-buds. The tiny feet Most exquisitely shod ; The little hand's most prettily bejewelled ; And quick in motion With the child-like smile That ever lights her happy baby face And sparkles in her cheerful, laughing eyes. [9] PORTRAITS The Lady in Gray. A DULL-GRAY street, A dull-gray house, A window gray with dust. She sits and gazes Through the dingy pane. Her hair is dusty-white ; Her face an ashy hue ; She wears a shawl of faded, musty gray. Her unambitious eyes And sagging lips brood on a life That once, all sunshine glow, Now is long faded from her misty sight ; Long vanished into dim forgetfulness. [10] PORTRAITS The Hog WITH triple chins in front and back ; Weighed-down, stoop-shouldered By a mass of fat; — On legs that scarce can bear the weight Of bulky, flabby, blubber-back, — He takes his heavy-burdened way From house to auto-car, From auto-car to house, — His little piggish eyes And broad; flat snout, Like rooting swine 's, fixed lowly on the ground ; His mind, fat- ^cumbered, totally engrossed In sweet achievement of obesity . [M] PORTRAITS The Dreamer A VOICE of velvet softness Gently rising like a cloud of volumed smoke ; With something of a misty greatness, A hazy consummation Of thoughts too deep for words. An earnest eagerness, A tender, shy sincerity, Taking keen delight In nicest subleties Of dialectic art. A mind for Beauty and for Truth ; Yet lost to Beauty's frankness, Truth 's simplicity. A wanderer in cloudy atmospheres Where glorious sunsets clothe themselves in mists. [12] PORTRAITS Handsome Paul HANDSOME Paul, Most admirably set up : The leg, the nose, the hair Delectable. And prepossessing to the last degree ; — One look enough to charm, to captivate. But shallow sweetness cloys ; 'Tis depth of soul We seek beneath ingratiating smiles. And Paul is glossed and glazed, " Enamelled, and embossed In figures of polite society ; But when the glamor of the surface dies And we seek earnestly For what's within, Alas, we find him But a rosy husk : — His mind 's a toy ; His beauty is his soul. [13] PORTRAITS A Lovable Masker DEAR friend, We know you. Sunshine in shadow, Starlight in mist and fog, You cannot hide that pristine loveliness of yours : That sweetness, that frankness, That pure manliness. That cheerful saneness. That soul of yours Loving and beloved ; And beautiful in clear-eyed candor. Would you appear brazen and bold, You are quiet and modest; We love you for it. Would you appear wicked, calloused, You are pure and tender as a child ; And we love you for it. Would you appear world-wdse, world-weary, [14] PORTRAITS There is about you the freshness of everlasting spring ; We love you for it. Would you appear conscious of censure, of mute disdain, You blush with pleasure at our applause ; And we love you for it. Would you appear not proud To hold celestial heights ; Would you come down to us In slough and slime, How well you fail! How gloriously succeed ! 'Tis we who rise ; Not you that do descend ; 'Tis we who rise And with j^ou scale those heights ; Then are we better men For love of you. ' Dear friend. We would not have you other than you are, Sunshine in shadow, Starlight in fog and mist, [IS] PORTRAITS Lovable masker, Know our hearts As we know yours. Love cannot hide its face Behind a mask. Soul speaks to soul Though half the world's between [i6] PORTRAITS Mrs. Goriot AN elderly lady In a black, faded suit. The dark hat graying with age. The hair alreadj^ white. Her face washed out save for the loving smile That all unbidden comes and goes, Unconscious badge of doting motherhood. She stands before the brilliant-lighted window Where myriad-spangled, sparkling evening gowns Glisten and glow. A sky-blue satin fronts the rich array. Her weary eyes light up with quenchless greed. A rosy mouth ^ to-night will kiss her withered cheek. Grasping her cheap, old, worn and threadbare purse, She rushes in with trembling eagerness To point her choice to the obsequious clerk. [17] POEMS TO MARIAS [19] POEMS TO MARIAS First Poems I OH, my friend, The joy of you has sunk into my very being; So that waking or sleeping, At home, abroad, By every path of life, on every threshold. Your presence ever before me, works^ A peace and a dear contentment ; Until I would in thankfulness exalt thee, My friend, my friend. II "To heal the afflicted hearts of men, Deep sorrow, long endured, has taught me. From out of the lightless depths, I come to give them light. [21] POEMS TO MARIAS There in the darkness of night, Yearning and striving, At last I beheld the sun, A glory of endless day. Then turned I my eyes and looked Back on the wretched, the blind. For them is my heart, my mind. My soul, my vision of light. ' ' III Arise my friend. And go thou forth ! Upon the earth The needy wait. Give them thy heart To find their worth ; Give them thy mind To challenge fate; Give them thy strength To succour them ; Give them th}^ love To banish hate. [22] POEMS TO MARIAS IV In the quiet moments, When the world is fading, And the peace of silence Soothes my soul to rest ; Then do I behold you At me calmly gazing, And a radiant gladness Glows within my heart. I do smile you welcome, You do answer smiling: Oh the blissful moment, Oh the sacred peace. Joy is in you, my friend, And life, and strength. And power to do, and courage to endure ; Comfort in sorrow, light in discontent, Wisdom in darkness, sympathy in pain : A love which compasses round with heavenly peace The poor, the weak, the needy, the oppressed. [23] POEMS TO MARIAS VI Where in my dreams have I met you, my friend ? Years and years have I waited. How many nights in the lighted darkness of sleep, How many da3^s in the dimness of lonely thought ? How long, my friend, have you lived in my heart Before I beheld the sun given back by your eyefi ; Before I beheld my soul soothed and lulled in your eyes ? VII Thou hast compassed me round with gladness ; From the stou}^ paths of hatred hast thou led me; About me hast thou cast a halo Of shining peace. [24] POEMS TO MARIAS VIII That mind of yours must not remain unseen, Sheathed in the scabbard of a blinded race. But like a blazing' sword it must leap forth To sear the darkness of their sightless eyes With heavenly light. IX Still love and cherish me, And I in you will find my lot and fate. Joy is not single, but to beauty gi^ows By sacred union of embracing souls, My hand in yours, my eyes upon your face. What power of earth may strive to keep us down. The world will not ignore you. Such a soul as in you finds its being Was not sent upon the earth for nought. [25] POEMS TO MARIAS Take courage then, and look into the future ; For beyond the peaks I see a radiant dawn. XI Sacred art thou to me As the light of day, The lingering dusk, the peace of the setting sun. [26] POEMS TO MARIAS Wisdom WISDOM pure and deep, Like a crystal, sunset lake, Holding the calm of the skies In a cup of gold. [271 POEMS TO MARIAS Unceasing Melody UNCEASING melody, as of the wind or waters Flows ever from thee, Rare Mysterious. Light of thine eyes shall lead me on and on, Nearer and nearer, yet approaching not The final presence of thine inmost soul ; For thou art precious as the heart of change Clothing itself each day in beauty fresh and new. II Rare Spirit sent on earth to work us change. Despair not that thy ways are darkling, see, Thyself, thine own salvation, wins thee love As broad and deep as an impetuous stream That foams o 'er rocks and caverns undivided [28] POEMS TO MARIAS To hurl its gift into the vast of sea. Noise and confusion are thine elements, But in thy heart the calm of Paradise. Ill Days bring- us change as does the blazing orb In shadowing motion round the immortal tree. But as the foot of shadows holds its place Though lengthened flung athwart the sunset earth, So do we cling to immortality And mark our destinies as passing shades. IV The uov.cr springs from out the dark of earth, And freshet waters with gayest sparkle run. Struggle doth quicken joy, and darkness hope. The brightest dawning greets the gloomiest night. And so thy greatness born of sorrow's tears. Will change the drops to jewels radiant bright. [29] POEMS TO MARIAS Moments of sadness grow to years of joy ; Despair is mortal, but divine is hope. Nights pass unmindful, blending into day ; The past is golden, and the future fair. Then let the present tinge its pallid cheek With rays serene of full eternity. [30] POEMS TO MARIAS Dear One D EAR one, Not for one moment let us cease from song, Lest life blaspheme the interval with raucous cry On cry of horror and despair ; but let Sweet music keep our sacred peace An endless bliss, so in melodious calm We pass our days, teaching our souls their greatness. II Child, Life knows well to rut the weary road Of circumstance with sorrows. Blind were we, Then, mincingly to tread, rising and sinking [31] POEMS TO MARIAS In the petty slough ; rather by far To walk the reckless heights, making of sister peaks Our rutted paths. Ill Broad-visioned be thou ever as the bird, Making of earth one splendid harmony. And let thy mind include thy nights and days, And weave them into shadowy tapestries Where joys and sorrows blend as woods and lakes When clouds of even darken round the sun. IV Let joys and sorrows be a smouldering fire Wherein broods Greatness as a flickering spark. Which when the crumpling ashes of despair Gray-veil the coals with choking dust of death. Caught in the w4nd of hope will leaping soar, And light the world with rose of rampant flame. [2>^] POEMS TO MARIAS Death, it may be we shall welcome thee When life grows pale, and pines in languid mists ; But while the fires of sunset and of dawn Rage in our hearts, and smiles with tears blend gay, We '11 cling to life and ride the shrieking blast, Laughing at thee, and scoffing at despair. VI So long have Sorrow's importuning wiles Droned at our ears in sick assail of hope. That Courage laughs at each renewed attack ; And makes grim Death into a lopping clown ! [33] POEMS TO MARIAS Rainbow of Hope BEHOLD the rainbow, how it glimmering dawns Upon the glassy lake, against the mountain wall, And mounts into the very sky of skies, To fall serene, and all in splendor calm Again upon the bosom of the lake. So let our hopes, caught in the sun's bright ray, Glimmer to rainbows, painting earth and sky With gorgeous tints of blessed Paradise ; And rising on the beatings of our hearts. Fall all as sweetly as the rainbow falls. And die without the anguish of despair. [34] POEMS TO MARIAS Psalm THE voices of the earth, the skies, the seas All sing thy praises and extol thy love : Thou are enthroned in the setting sun ; And in the grandeur of the starry eve : The air is filled with thee, and heavy laden With thy full sweetness as of many flowers : Thou comest on the sound of dropping waters, And in the melody of cataracts. [35] POEMS TO MARIAS Ourselves Must Be Our Greatness OURSELVES must be our greatness; cities fall, And mind and courage topple to their ruin; Sorrows approach, and pass, and sink in dust ; And hopes blush meekly and are robed in death. Greatness of man is as a dying flame That greets the dawn with last pale flickering glow; And strength dissolves as do the fading mists Fleeing beyond the frowning hills of night. Ourselves must be our greatness; we alone, Serene and strong amid despairing souls; Ourselves must be our greatness ; we alone. Supreme and calm amid the clashing strife ; Ourselves must be our greatness ; we alone, Unvanquished though the world sink robed in fire! [36] OTHER POEMS OTHER POEMS The Subway I GET me down Into the warm, fetid entrails of the lubber- ing city. The black maw gapes for me ; The stenches of intestinal exhalations Rise up about me. I am jerked down the belching throat; Foul gases choke my nostrils ; I am seized by an inexorable might : Seized, swallowed and swept away Down the awful tract of the suffocating dark- ness. And now all about me : — The smell of hot steel ; And leather moist with sweat; The rank, damp smell of the sweltering crowd ; The devilish burning bulbs Over the ghastly placards ; [39] OTHER POEMS The swaying, sagging, jolting Of the listless crowd ; The throbbing might, The roaring, crashing might Of the iron-muscled fiend, Hurling through darkness With its clammy load To dump it . . . Slush Into some bubbling cauldron Rank with the fumes of half digested things That once were men With sunshine jolaying on their wind-whipped cheeks. Squeezing, grinding. Iron-muscled fiend Hurling through endless night With feverish haste Upon the service of thy giant heart, That heart whose beat A million pulses swells; And makes to throb a mighty continent. Hurling through endless night Load upon load of hurrying menials [40] OTHER POEMS Eager in service to a busy land. Bearing them swiftly To a thousand posts, In shop and factory, In office, store, and school ; Bearing them hence When soothing shades of night Have dropped their peaceful veil upon the world. Bearing the pleasure-seeker. Gay of smile and flushed with zealous joy. Seeking contentment in the melting wind. The banker, plump-fed, rounded, rosy, Yet stern beneath his silken gentleness ; A feline shrewdness Lurking in his eyes ; His lips elastic To his mind's dictates: — Now softly-sweet, Now iron-resolute ; Now generous as dallying breeze of May, Now flintv-hard as is the Crack of Doom. [41] OTHER POEMS The student bu.sy with his books, Or preaehiri^ j^ospel To a well-trained friend. The girlish lady X)rimed and powder-puffed, The raw-boned girl trieked up to matronliness. The female sloven And the genius male; The doll, the tailor's dummy And the tramp. And Mr. Embonpoint And Mrs. Far-about; An elongated blond, A puggy-fat brunette; A silk(!n-socked hook-nose, Well Adam-appled and blue goggled-eyed. Tlie seedy clerk whom polish cannot save, Whose cuffs are frayed, Whose shoes are out at heel. Whose hair is neatly slicked, I>ut thin, alas ; And straggling down. Beneath a greenish hat. Upon a pair of ears [42] OTHER POEMS That never hear it seems, The tantalizing swish of shower-bath. The gangster with his gold and emerald cuffs, And diamonds making bright his manly breast. And a musician with contented look Upon his precious, tender-sheltered instrument. The cynic with the gimlet eyes More diligent to ferret out a fault, Than ever was a saint to save a soul. The lawyer smugly conscious of his worth ; And ready to dispute a sparrow 's peep. The theatre-goer with the Broadway gloss; The washerwoman with the weary droop ; The factory-worker with her startling hat: The vampire of the Five-and-ten-cent-Store A dainty lady from Fifth Avenue ; And an atrocity of Grand Street's best. The aged mother with the sad, sweet face, The anxious mother with the furtive look. The mannish mother with the self-concentred poise [43] OTHER POEMS And heavy hand for childish whimpering, The modest mother with the big blue eyes, The slattern mother All embarrassment, Half-shamed, half-proud Of her young prodigies. The gentle mother Smiling to her babe And blushing ever At a stranger's gaze. The mother with the babe. The mother with the soldier son, The mother with the daughter. Lovely both. The mother faded in her daugter's bloom; The mother rich, The mother poor. The mother joyous And the mother sad ; Yet always mother Written on the face, Or in the first, faint silvering of chestnut hair, Or in the weariness of folded hands, Or in the lovely depths of peaceful eyes. [44] OTHER POEMS The poet happy in a vagrant smile, Or moved to pity by a passing frown, Resounding willy-nilly to the love, The hate, the fury Of the whirling world. Men play upon him. And his song Is but the echo Of the passing soul. And oft his melody in Beauty soars. And oft it grovels at the feet of Hate ; But ever are his eyes far-fixed on distant shores Where the vast ocean of another world, Breaks with a sweeter music than we know. All these thou bearest, iron-muscled fiend. Through heated darkness of the boweled earth, And thou dost vomit forth All breeds of men That ever looked upon the light of day. Thou art Democracy; Thy maw the melting pot [45] OTHER POEMS And thou dost mould and shape the perfect man; For from the stench of Democratic Strife, Where Beauty strives In mortal grip with death, There yet shall rise A voice of mighty power, And it shall lead aright the Sons of Man ! [46] OTHER POEMS Bach: Fugue A PRIEST is but a torch of snowy flame Rose-tongued. In vestments white he stands, His folded hands and eyes remote in prayer, Lifted and yearning ever up and up; Until his faint, pale face. Touched with an ephemeral blush. Tapering seems and soaring, higher, higher; As when a fire upon a hill-top burning. Lifts high aloft and mounts into the sky. [47] OTHER POEMS Youth To E. F. P. FOR youth, for youth Our life we lead ; Nor flee from death When youth is fled. Still life to know As when anew It burst upon our infant sight, A trembling wonder, sharp delight. And keen as cold October air, Still life to feel As a sacred gift. Untainted and unperishing. In beauty whole, Forever fresh. Perennial Spring, Eternal stream Of living waters from the fount [48] OTHER POEMS Of the God of Love, the God of life : This gift we crave, this spirit seek, This will attain Or Avelcome death ! [49] OTHER POEMS Autumn To E. F. P. IN the Autumn, In the Autumn, In the freedom of the wildwood, Where the wind, unreined, triumphant, Drives impetuous through the treetops;- I will get myself a new life, I will get myself a free life. Free as youth to do and triumph, Free as youth to love and conquer. — Not in joyous Spring's a spirit Lusty as the breath of Autumn. [50] OTHER POEMS The Oak To N. L. AN oak in the forest, I stand, Stretching my arms, Lifting my head to the sunlight. Winds creep, leaves fall Through my immortal branches ; Steadfast I stand, Nor heed the failings of frailty. II Now breath of the storm approaches. Seething in rain and in lightnings ; Piteously they bend, my comrades, Weak to the gusta and the thunders. Lo, as I tower above them, Defiant to wind and to water; [51] OTHER POEMS Singing my song of triumph, Chanting of strength never-vanquished, Vainly they look to me, Yearning in all their frail being, — ''What is thy strength, Unconquerable? ''Tell us," they sigh, "or we perish?" Ill And this is the song I sing them. IV "Of the air, of the sun, of the waters. Of the earth, of the illimitable heavens. Loving all things, I flourish, Embracing all things, I prosper. Sweetly the grass grows beneath me ; Tenderly sheltered, the sapling Twines in my arms its frail branches. Leaning and resting upon me. Birds in the warmth of love, Build their nests in my bosom ; [52] OTHER POEMS Breezes enamoured of May Play in my sweet-laughing leaflets ; Sunbeams dancing and kissing ; Raindrops tinkling and gleaming, Hang rainbow jewels upon me, Radiant with love and with gladness.' V This is the song I sing them As the breath of the storm hushes softly. VI The sun is alive in my branches. Earth and Heaven Smile. Through the glimmering drops of rain I look about me. Fair is the earth as an orient bride Hung with treasure of pearl. Glad is the forest. Not an emerald blade. Not a tender sapling is broken. D53] OTHER POEMS For all who have heard my song Stand uneonquered, triumphant. **Love,'* says the twig to the leaf; "Love," says the bird to its nest-mate ''Love," whispers softly the wind ; ' ' Love, ' ' sparkles gayly the water. 1 541 OTHER POEMS Calm To N. L. C^ALM, J As the wind on the mountain, Clear-blowing, mighty in stillness. Calm, As the mid-ocean billow, Swelling and falling unbroken.- Calm, As the deep-vaulted heavens. Serene 'mid the scurrying cloud-rifts. [55] OTHER POEMS Vengeance ! F LICKERING flame alive in the heart of man, Crusted, enslaved, begrimed With the smoke of a thousand years ; — Terrible years and bleak, Stretching- in desert waste, Years of the gloom of Death, And perishing beauty of Life. II Flickering flame still glowing Mid the dying embers of day ; Lost in the smoking sky And the blackened meadow and farm ; Choked with the dust of the ashes of countless dead ; Buried in ruin of the hearts of a million slaves, — [56] OTHER POEMS III Leap forth anew, Live, live ! On the breath of the dying live ! On the souls of the dead. Live on the turf of the grave, On the ashes of Death. Breathe in the corpses of men, Li the mouldering skull. Li tears find thy water of life ; In misery blossom to light; — They shall not have died in vain ; They ,shall not have died in vain. IV Leap forth and avenge thy dead, Spirit of Freedom and Life ! [57] OTHER POEMS Od( WHAT men are these who walk the lofty ways Of peace and comfort and soft-dreaming love, Far from the host of men, the darkening paths. The heat and turmoil of a maddened world Frantic in clutches of a Hellish Might ! Throbbing in cruel fear and insane wrath ! II What men are these Avho speak of love and peace When hatred sweeps with condor-wrings the earth — Darkling in sorrow of a brutish dream, Groaning aghast, wracked by the pains of death, [58] OTHER POEMS Bearing through stifling night a horde of men, Whose dull, complaining eyes do dim the snn With sighless misery and voiceless grief. Ill What are these men who drink the light of day With soft contentment and appraising glance, Sampling the sweets of earth as 'twere a flower And they the bee to honey it to gold. IV Oh blinded beasts, the earth's a festering sore And ye do feed upon the blood of men ! Oh far enough of sacred brotherhood ! And far enough of pretty-lisping love ! Enough, enough of soft, sweet, tearful song Enough of blindness, cosy, fed and warm! [59] OTHER POEMS VI Blow chill Wind of Death from the Halls of Hate ! Blow bitter chill, Wind, from the aisles of pain ; Blow, blow with might of Hell, Wind of Tears ; Drown, droAvn the prattling breeze with deluge dire! VII Strike terror to the hearts of selfish men, Blow soothing veils of mist from the sleeping eye; Sweep into chaos full-fed, pampered lust, Plump in the gulping gorge of senile greed ; Sweep fierce and keen across the warped brain, Numbing to chillness festering disease; Sweep pure and clear across the feverish brow, — Oh Death ! Be thou our soothing purgative ! [60] OTHER POEMS VIII Cool, pure, and calm we'll welcome thee, Life; Pure, calm, and clean, and ready for the balm. Then in the cleansed air the sacred flame Shall burn with purer luster, brighter glow ; And souls of men, all hateful robes of night Clear shed away, will rise in radiant light To greet the dawning of a better day ! [6i] OTHER POEMS When the Coffined Souls of Men WHEN the coffined souls of men Burst trammels; And the flame of revolt Leaps high in splendid frenzy ; — Beauty shall walk in carnage, Justice in slaughter ; Power of the Universe, Reign, Prosper our seeking ! [62] OTHER POEMS Towaco — Sketches Sunrise in the Hills THe mountains cowled in silvery mist Beheld the sun ; cast off their veil ; And gave back joyously the blue of heaven. Then as the golden warmth of day rose level. Upon the little hills, they lightened, blushed and glowed With Autumn red, f aint-hued yet radiant ; As when a bride gives back her husband's love In sweet assuaging of his passion's flame. Meadow-lands THE meadows stretched away to the bend- ing sky That hung with love upon the couchant hills. Up-sloping gently went the rolling fields, Till oak and pine stood out against the blue. [63] OTHER POEMS Earth and Sky AROSE the mountain wall in Autumn glory And on its summit sudden flashed the sky, A pure and dazzling blue. One faint white cloud Hung in the aerial space, And then the azure lightened to the sun. The Country Road THE road went winding down through the Autumn woods, With our friends in the valley and a house on the hill ; The trees leaned whispering close, and the Autumn winds Brought voices of gladness holloing clear and shrill. [64] OTHER POEMS Sunset in the Hills THE sun went down in deepening rose of peace, Warm with the love of a heart-easing day. The moon all-eager came to view the sight, Silvery- glowing before her time was come ; And all the stars with quickened twinkling gleamed, Until the Vf est, so honored, blushed again. [65] OTHER POEMS Symphony WRITE!" says my Soul, though heart and pulses throb ; ''Write!" says my Soul, though mind in fever burns. But how to write when Life, a tangled skein. Lies knotted doubts, and cares, and cruel despairs ? ''Write!" says my Soul, "until the thread is free." "Write!" says my Soul, "until it glittering runs As freshet waters from a frozen fount Leap at the first, clear call of sudden Spring. II So yielding to the yearning of my Soul, I give myself to passion sweet of song, [66] OTHER POEMS Which soaring lightly on the wings of dawn, Carolling Fate, and Force, and Circumstance, Weaves melodies of changing goods and ills Into the harmony of Life and Death. Ill The wailing of eternal sorrows throng. And sighs and tears, and groaning, and dismay. Shame sobs her doleful tale, and Misery In quick, choked utterance of o'erwhelming woe. Breaks melody with painstruck, sharp despairs, And Death lends softness as of "Stifling dust. Then muffled Hopes, and Fears in clutted rage. And Anger of its own loud voice afraid ; And rumbling thunders of insane desire Grown inarticulate in passioned sound; Defeat, in delving bitterness and discord fierce, Frenziedly beating at its own sick heart; And Weakness faltering in haltered step, Like gasping Death across the frozen snow ; Dark Doubts in viperous tangle darting fangs Of poisoned treason and congealing love ; [67] OTHER POEMS Lies blatant, or in purring gentleness Sweet-droning at the ear of innocence ; And Cowardice in pompous bombastry, Or pallid with the sickly tinge of fear, Scampering silly quick a breathless range And choking on the beatings of its heart. These come and more : — the bat-winged Jealousies, Blinded of hate-bleared eyes and slavish souls, Fluttering foul about the fane of love. And shrieking with the cry of murderer's lust, Or pining self-consumingly away. Then Pain, wide-swirling with the mists of night, Leading in leash her cohorts of dismay : — Foul wrongs, and friendless acts, and lonely days. Longing and Yearning bound in leaden chains. Dreams lost upon the desert wastes of life, And golden memories dimmed by solitude. These rise in w^ailing piteous and soft. Of their own frailty d3dng fast away. At last. Love soothing all to tenderness, And sweeping on with pure assuaging grace. Comes wreathing melodies sublime and sweet. — [68] OTHER POEMS Of sorrow and the vales of circumstance, Of sadness glimmering to the dawn of joy, Of tears that freshen all to purity, And sighs that herald fresh returning strength, Love sings, until the glowing harmonies Grow mighty in the triumph of their joy, And filling all the vast of sky and earth, Throb to the spheres their messages of hope. IV So soars my passion on the wings of dawn, And swells and triumphs on the rising day ; Until the dove-winged twilight brings the shades, And calm of hushing waters, and the stars. [69] OTHER POEMS Light of Ocean JIN the gray morning ; By the misty waters ; When one pale cloud alone Whitened to the rising sun ; In the gray morning; By the blue mist of the waters, I lay at the fold of my tent Where the light shone green at the dawning ; I crouched and endured the cold, And thought; And my thoughts went not from the ocean. Calm and subdued In thy faint robes of green, Foaming upon the complaisant sands ; Lighting their bosom smooth with thy kindling glow, Thy liquid caress. Calm and subdued [70] OTHER POEMS Amid thy emerald waves, Though the white foam dances and leaps On the curling crests ; Smoothly rolling in thy dark-billowing waves; Fawning upon the complaisant sands ; Kissing the smooth-bosomed sands. Reft of the sun-rise of life ! And yet thou too, Sadly rolling in thy green-twilight mist, Unpierced by the rose of dawn ; Veiled from joy As the nun from the glances of men ; Calm in thy misty cave, Barred from the golden light, Thou whom the dark-blue sky Shields from the eager sun; Thou, deep-curtained in azure, Lapt in thy twilight sleep ; Hushed in thy dreaming sleep, — Reft of the sun-rise of life ! Upon thy misty bosom all the day The hazy light shall fall,— The slow blue light [71] OTHER POEMS Upgathered from the ends Of the thick-vaulting heavens Robed in night. The joyless light all day Shall cling to thee ; And on the horizon's brink the purple mist Repose in rayless depth of sombre strength. Yet not in sadness dost thou roll Thy sheen- of might; And not in sorrow do thy waters move To their recess. But calm contentment in thy marbly waves, And smooth appeasement in thy glassy vales, Nor tumult even in the frantic spray ; But all quiessence, Motion self-sufficing ; As thou wert once When shone the infant light, So art thou now when far the world has ranged, And swept the darkling moods of grievous change. Oh why is friendship weary. Despairing, restless, fearing clouded eyes; Why art thou,— [72] OTHER POEMS Eternal flowing in thy clinging mists,- Never, never, weary? Dark is the light that should have been thy dawning ; Dark is the sky that must extol thy sunset; Radiance supreme might play upon thy Avaters; Burn in thy emerald manes with blushing fires ; Seeth in the brushing surf that sweeps thy beaches; Dart in the veiled spray that leaps the azure ; Creep in the lavender lappings of foam-tongued surges ; Sleep in the glowing breasts of purple billows ; Flow o'er the vastness of thee, swift glowing and dying. Why art thou still and contented ; Rolling thy calm-curved billow^s;- Still and contented and quiet, Hushing thy bellowing surges; Spoiled of the dawning of life ; Creeping to death unexhalted ! [7Z] OTHER POEMS Why is friendship so weary? Why art thou Never, never, weary? In the gray morning ; By the misty waters; When one pale cloud alone Whitened to the rising sun ; In the gray morning, By the blue mist of the waters, I lay at the fold of my tent Where the light shone green at the dawning I crouched, and endured the cold. And thought. And mv thoughts went not from the ocean. [74] OTHER POEMS ''Behold the shipwreck which is the world. Many threaten to sink the raft. Friendship is the raft." — Marias World WHEN I consider what the heart of man Is, how at every trembling shadow quaking', Of every shade afraid; and when I think Of this almighty power, this Love the world Has called All Great, and set above all ; — then I Despair to make these tremblirrg hearts the ark And citadel of that divine conception. II For look you, what a panting thing is the heart Of man : how soon engaged, how easily rebuk- ed, How eager to be wed, how hard to hold; How, ever aimless, veering with the wind, [75] OTHER POEMS Not knowing that which most it needs to know, Its mastery, and that all-ruling Light, Its Godhead, and its ministry of Love. Ill Yet men deluded, and with empty eyes. Or following phantoms of the false gods' mak- ing. Rule all the earth to frantic disarray, And lose their gift in froth of blasphemy : False Gods, false creeds, false thoughts, false enterprise, False suffering, false sorrow, and false sin. [761 OTHER POEMS Wreck BUT thou, my friend out of thy magic brain, Hast seen the wondrous spectacle, and found Colors to paint it for the eyes of man : — How all the ocean of the world is storm. How chaos sends its plumed darkness up To quench the last pale fires of the sun, How terror lights the pallid face of man. II Earth, sea, and sky forget their brotherhood. And man his saintship; fellowman his fellow man Forsakes. Self, hideous growing to itself Alone, looks round to ease its hatred. Love [77] OTHER POEMS Debased and shamed stands weeping, veiled, and dressed In mockery of its name. Eyes hateful, and The grasping hands of jealousy flock 'round. Ill Now power gluts itself, pain suffers prostrate ; And ruled and ruler give their blinded ways To the winds of night. Sin radiant shines in robes Of harloted Virtue ; and Wisdom trails its plumes In dust, and willful, blinds its eyes. What power May save these men who of themselves knoAv not The seed, the promise of their brotherhood? [78] OTHER POEMS Raft UPON the earth, and in the stormy heart Of the world's thickest evils lies the seed, its soil The love of man, its votaries, lovers. And by The kindly air and the pure light of friendship It nourished is ; and by the hands of friends Upraised, and by them tended. Yea, whosoever This marvel has embraced, he blessed is. II This race of brothers, these to whom the light Shines brightest over all the ways of earth. Wherever they have met have found their God ; Wherever they have dwelt have blessed the place. And they have girded all their powers fast, [79] OTHER POEMS And they have builded them inviolate Faith, And they have left the touchstone of our end. Ill It is the union and the mighty strength Of men who have not lost their brotherhood. Of such who are not masters of the slave ; Of such who grow not old in usury. Of such to whom the light of day is fair And glances of their fellows beautiful, Of such to w^hom the sacred truth is young. 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