VACATion wm LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Shelf. ./^.Z/K^ _ /^f/ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. VACATION VERSES ALICE m: dowd ^^ BUFFALO CHARLES WELLS MOULTON 3 vlV COPYRlLiHr, 1890, Alice M. Dovvd. PRINTED BV C. W. MOULTON, BUFFALO, N. Y. TO MY SISTER I GIVE THIS HANDFUL OF WILD-FLOWERS GATHERED DURING SUMMER RAMBLES AMONG THE HILLS. CONTTENTPS. PAGE Au Revoir 9 Midsummer Rest lo Leaf and Branch 12 Rose-Bay 13 Dalibarda — Found in the Adirondacks 14 Bluebells 15 Our Journey 16 Heart' s-Ease 17 Fallen Leaves 18 Immortelle 19 In a Stormy Night — Translated from the German . . 20 Golden-Rod 21 Pearls — From the German of Ruckert , 22 The Grave in the Busento — From the German of August von Platen 23 Children's Worship — From the German of Karl Gerok 25 Wrong Reckoning — From the German of Joh. Nefo- MUK VoGEL 27 Eternity — From the German of Robert Waldmuller, 28 A Sonnet — From the German of Ruckert 29 Sea and Sky — From the German of Schultz 30 On the Death of a Child — From the German of Uhland 30 6 CONTENTS. PAGE The Heart — From the German of Hermann Neumann 31 An Aphorism — From the German of Julie Burow . . . 31 At Night — From the German of Ernst Scherenberg 32 Love-Song — From the German of Wernher 32 The Prize — From the German of Johann Fischer . . 33 Consolation — From the German of Karl Batz .... 33 Crying for the Moon 34 Cloud-Thoughts 3c Time • 37 Class Poem — W. S. N. S 38 Triennial Poem — W. S. N. S 39 The Sea-Shore 40 Sunset 41 Upon the Heights 42 Life 43 Since She is Dead — From the German of Moritz Hartmann 44 Parting — From the German of Spitta 46 Whither — From the German of Julius Sturm 48 Exception to a Natural Law — From the German of Frederick von Logau 49 VACATION VERSES, AU REVOIR. TTTE greet the glad vacation ^ ^ That comes with flying feet; Its pleasant recreation Will make our year complete. Yet mingling with our gladness Are thoughts akin to pain; Farewells are said with sadness, And loss is blent with gain. But memory will cherish The days that come no more, They will not wholly perish When they are days of yore. If, when they have departed With all their hopes and fears, They leave us stronger hearted To meet the coming years. VACATION VERSES. MIDSUMMER REST. ^ I ^HE calm of lakes and woods is ours, ^ The beauty of late-coming flowers, The peaceful sky Whose light glints down to us between Pine trees of solemn, tender green, Upreaching high. The splendor of the sunset glow Lies trembling on the lake below Where drifts our boat. And music-measures from the shore Come to us faintly, as we o'er The waters float. In our horizon, far away, The lightning flashes seem at play, In grandeur bright ; They add new glory to our world. We reck not of the storm unfurled Beyond our sight. MIDSUMMER REST. For us to-day is rest and peace, The blessing of complete release From toil and care ; But life moves on ; our world is round We float toward this horizon bound, Though unaware. A store of strength for future days Comes to us in all unseen ways, Above our ken ; In future days we will be strong, And distant echoes of a song Shall reach us then. VACATION VERSES. LEAF AND BRANCH. * I ^HE leaves grew fair •^ In the Summer air, But they faded, one by one. Where leaves grew fair The bough is bare. Now Summer's work is done. My days were fair, — I wrought with care, — I toiled beneath the sun. The days are fled, — The past is dead, — What lives when work is done ? Where leaves grew sere New buds appear. When leaves are lying low ; And reaching high To air and sky Next year the branches grow. ROSE- BAY. The past is rife With latent life, Not lost, the long ago. New buds unfold From out the old, And some are sure to grow. ROSE-BAY. ACROSS the field the fire had sped - And turned the green earth black ; Its breath brought death, and where it spread. Destruction marked its track. But beauty with the Summer came, The "fire-weed" found its place, And crimson flowers, like ghosts of flame, Re-clothed the field with grace. They spring from soil where fire and strife And pain prepare the way ; They find in loss a claim to life, They crown the hill with bay. 14 VACATION VERSES. DALIBARDA. FOUND IN THE ADIRONDACKS. IVTO dear pet name thy blossoms know, ^ ^ Like those which greet the passing feet, And by the wayside love to grow ; Yet are thy flowers as sweet As those which garden walls enclose, And thou art sister to the rose. Alone within the mountain glen, In solitude thy life must be, Remote from busy haunts of men ; Their praise is not for thee. Like stars thy pure white blossoms rise With dewy faces toward the skies. Thy heart-shaped leaves fulfil their trust. Take earthly dole and heavenly dower. And from the dew-drop and the dust They mould a perfect flower. Dear plant, that dwellest here apart. Thy leaves are fashioned like a heart. BLUEBELLS. 15 BLUEBELLS. CHILL November winds are sighing, And the fallen leaves are lying On the ground ; Restless wailing of the breeze, Wanderino- amono- the trees. Is the only sound. Golden-rod has lost the glory Of its sunshine, and grown hoary In the frost ; And through all the dreary day Mountain-tops lie cold and gray, By the shadows crossed. Bluebells in the rock's protection Still give back in fair retieclion Heaven's blue, Which, between the clouds of gray, In the dark November day, Ever shineth through. 1 6 VACATION VERSES. Ah ! the bluebells vainly linger ; Soon the frost-king's deadly finger Proves more strong. Earth's sad winds are wailing still, And the shadows on the hill Grow more dark and long. OUR JOURNEY. A PATH that leads amid Spring blossoms sweet, ^^^*^ Where buttercups and daisies line the way, And, bathed in morning dew, we idly stray, Till onward lured, with half reluctant feet. By promises of blessings more complete; The path grows wider with advancing day, Rugged and steep, but yet we can not stay, We have no choice, no turning, no retreat. A Voice has said to us : "This is the way. Walk ye therein." We would not disobey, We know not where the journey's end may lie, What rest and welcome wait us by and by, But dimly we discern, and far away. The mountain summits mingling with the sky. p HEARTS-EASE. 17 HEART'S-EASE. URPLE and gold — Royal the hues that thy petals unfold Why should these colors be Emblems of royalty, Purple and gold ? Regal is orold ! Sign of earth's riches, resources untold ; Many a door may be Opened with golden key. Regal is gold. Purple as well Has its own story of blessing to tell ; " Blessed are they that mourn," Holy, the crowns of thorn ; Purple as well, Though it means grief. Shows us a royalty passing belief. Was not earth's greatest King " Perfe6f through suffering," Vi6for through srief ? VACATION VERSES. Heart's-ease must hold Blended the colors of purple and gold, Colors of joy and pain, — Thus royal hearts must gain Heart's-ease to hold. FALLEN LEAVES. "TTTHEN leaves are sere beneath our tread, ^ ^ When Summer blooms and birds have fled, And sad winds sigh in branches high A requiem for the days that die, Look up, dear heart, see overhead The arching branches widely spread, The work of leaves and days long dead. And o'er them bends a peaceful sky, When leaves are sere. Though hopes like withered leaves are dead, Let not too bitter tears be shed, For life has nobler grown thereby. And wider skies above us lie. Look up, dear heart, be comforted. When leaves are sere. IMMORTELLE. 19 IMMORTELLE. TT lined our path that Summer day, -^ As throug-h the fields we went ; "It shall 00 with us, far away," We said, in glad content. " Not like the other Summer flowers, That wither in our hands ; This blossom shall be always ours, It surely understands "The secret that it keeps so well When brighter bloom departs ; The blossoms of the immortelle Shall reassure our hearts." That Summer day is gone for aye ; Its passing pleasure told : No more among the fields we stray ; The year is growing old. VACATION VERSES. But blossoms brought from Arcady We love and cherish well ; Fair flowers of hope and memory, Blossoms of immortelle. T IN A STORMY NIGHT. Translated from the German. HE sky is gray, no light of star Shines from the heavenly host afar, But hurrying clouds assemble. Tempestuous breaks the storm anear. The billows roll and toss in fear. The bells are sounding deep and drear. And human hearts must tremble. Lord, God, protected by Thy hand Be every ship upon the strand By tempest tossed and driven ; And every throbbing heart, we pray, That like a ship on stormy way Bears burdens through life's troubled day, To it Thy aid be given. . GOLDEN-ROD. GOLDEN-ROD. COMMONPLACE, With an unaffected grace, By the dusty road unfolding, Sunshine into blossoms moulding, Every careless, nodding plume Bountiful with golden bloom: — Common faces thus seem fair For the sunshine that they wear. Bravely bright. Catching and refle61ing light. In earth's barren places living, Getting little for its giving. It unconsciously bestows Heaven's light, whereby it grows, Adding to the weary way Its fresh grace for every day. In the frost Will its blossoming be lost o VACATION VERSES. When the plumes, with silver hoary, Slowly fade from golden glory ? Not if in our lives the grace Of the beautiful finds place. Sunny lives, its blossoms say. Have brave hearts for every day. PEARLS. From the German of R'uckert. LOOK above, if e'er the world thy thought confuses In the eternal sky no star its pathway loses. If thou wouldst first thank God for all the joys that bless thee. No time were left to mourn the troubles that distress thee. Learn this, O heart ! 'tis easy, upright and true to be. But to appear so maketh a heavy task for thee. Before each stands a picture, his life's ideal, sweet ; As long as he unlike it is, his peace is incomplete. THE GRAVE IN THE BUSENTO. 23 THE GRAVE IN THE BUSENTO. From the German of August von Platen. TN the night Busento waters hear the sound of mourn- ^ ful singing, And the river voices answer, echoes from their whirlpools flinging. Shadow-like the Goths assemble, who for Alaric are weeping. Alaric, their brave young leader, in the arms of Death is sleeping. Far his home whom they so sadly now within the grave are laying, — And upon his shoulders lightly golden ringlets still are playing. On the banks of the Busento where the reeds and rushes quiver, There they made another channel, turned aside the ancient river. 24 VACATION VERSES. In its bed they laid their hero, with his steed and armor laid him, Where the rushes keep the secret, bending o'er the grave they made him. Back again the stream is guided, to its former channel flowing, So that ever o'er his slumber music of its waves is going. And his warriors sang the chorus: "Sleep in honor never broken ; Roman greed shall not be able of thy grave to find a token." Thus they sang, and through the army of the Goths his praises sounded. Roll them on, Busento waters, onward unto seas un- bounded ! CHILDREN'S WORSHIP. CHILDREN'S WORSHIP. From. the German of Karl Gcrok. q-VHE sweet Sabbath bells are all ringmg, i And calling the people to prayer ; At home sit three little ones singing, While sunshine gleams bright in their hair. Too restless and small and unruly Are they to sit still in a pew ; Yet will they observe the day duly, In the way that the older folks do. A hymn-book each one of them carries. And holds upside down, with great care ; And the singing of these happy fames Is as clear and as free as the air. What you're singing not one of you dreameth, Each sings in a different tone, Yet sweetly some melody seemeth To rise toward the heavenly throne. 25 26 VACATION VERSES. There ever your angels' pure faces Behold Him, the Father above, But sweet through the heavenly places. And dear to the heart of His love Are the songs of the little ones sounding. Sing ever ! In rivalry free, Bird-songs, through the garden resounding. Are rising from every tree. Sing ever ! We sing, older growing. Presuming that we understand. Yet often, we also, unknowing Hold the book wrong side up in our hand. Sing ever ! From earth's grandest altar. The music most noble and clear, — What is it ? Child-accents that falter, — A breath in the Infinite ear. iv/^OjVG reckoning. 27 WRONG RECKONING. From the Genua 11 of J oh. NepoDiuk V'ogel. A SHREWD accountant, contented to stay Alone with his figures by night and by day, Allowed not his pen to be out of his sight ; Where others met failure he brought results right. But over his reckoning the swift years sped ; Already their fingers had silvered his head ; Already Death asked him : " Friend, art thou prepared ? 'Tis time for our little account to be squared." The old man feebly crept from his place ; He would gaze once more on the earth's fair face. The roses were blossoming everywhere, — He saw only figures clouding the air. The fields were rejoicing with song-birds' trill,— He heard but the scratching of his quill. The clouds were gleaming in golden light, — The blackness of ink-drops blurred his sight. 28 VACATION VERSES. Remorsefully now a glance he cast Upon the mistakes in account with his past ; The last page was reached in his day-book fair, And showed him a life mis-reckoned there. ETERNITY. From the German of Robert Waldui'uller. IN heavenly peace serene they circle yonder ; No sound from them may greet our mortal ears Forever on their peaceful way they wander ; Unheard, the mystic music of the spheres. The winds speed swift from earth's remotest places ; World-messengers, they hasten to and fro ; Yet bring they, from the realm of star-lit spaces. No tidings of the lands to which they go. No sound to listening ear of mortal reacheth ; The soul alone o'er space and time soars free ; To it the far-off spheric measure teacheth One word of its grand song — Eternity ! A S0AW/t7: 29 T A SONNET. From the Ceniiaii of Ri'ickcrt. HE sky, a missive held in hand divine, Has ever kept its color, bright and pure, And to the end of time will it endure, — This scroll of blue, where golden letters shine. Within this missiv^e is contained a line Of God's own Scripture which might well assure Our hearts if we could read it, but obscure Eor very brightness is the grand design. But when the sun's round seal is torn away, At night, we see, traced up and down the sky, This writing, hidden from the eye of day: " Our God is Love, and Love can never lie ! " This word alone ! Yet human wisdom may New depths of meaning evermore descry. 1) 30 VACATION VERSES. SEA AND SKY. Fro)ii the Geriiian of Schiiltz. THE sky looks down upon the sea ; Yonder he woukl so gladly be ; He dreams that in the watery deeps His stars are buried, and he weeps. But skyward, wistful, looks the sea ; Yonder she w^ould so gladly be ; She knows not that within her breast The shining stars have found their rest. ON THE DEATH OF A CHILD. From tltc German of I 'hlaiid. SO lightly didst thou come and go, A fleeting guest in earthl)' land ; Whither? and whence? we only know, Out of God's hand, into God's hand. THE HE ART.- AN APHORISM. THE HEART. From the German of Hermami Neumann. TWO chambers has the heart, For Pleasure And Sorrow set apart. If Happiness awakes Brief respite In shimber Sorrow takes. O Happiness, beware ! Speak Ughtly, Lest Sorrow waken there ! 31 AN APHORISM. From the German of Julie Buroiv. 'HO has not suffered knows but half of life ; Who ne'er has failed ne'er entered on the strife. He never has rejoiced who never grieved ; Who never doubted, never has believed. w 32 VACATION ] 'ERSES. AT NIGHT. From the Geniian of Enist Sc/iciriiber,