LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Chap. Copyright No.. Shelf.Al-ii3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. JULIA CARTER ALDRICH, (PETRESIA PETERS.) HAZEL BLOOM, BY / JULIA CARTER ALDRICH. (PETRESIA PETERS.) ''Mother! O, holy music in the sound Of that dear word — Mother! O, visions sweet That crowd the mind and thickly cluster round, To drive out tempting wiles, and leave replete The soul's most lofty plans, and purest thought! * * * * * * * * * Could man have known the part divine, repressed Through youthful life, for noblest womanhood, When she should pass to dear maternity — Had he the Christ, in Mother, rightly known, Kind Heaven had spared the pains of Calvary. Through her the Grst of Heavenly love is shown — Through her, Srst glimpses caught of Christ, of God. B. F. Aldricb. ^ BUFFALO: Charles Wells Moulton, 1899. 2781.8 Copyright by Julia Carter Aldrich. 1899. TWO COPlfb ?it.GCIV£D. (( MAn231899 /*f r^i-s; ^ ^ . /^ /I In memory of that sainted one, My Mother, This volume is inscribed to the Mothers— The Home-makers of our land, By one who has known The breadth and depth Of maternal hope and joy — Whose soul has continually drank, Thro^ all the years of Motherhood, From that well-spring of Blessing — Unfailing, hlial devotion. J. C. A. INDEX 111 l^ iL-i i\.m The Weaver 9 Mystery 11 In Childhood's Years 14 In the City of Suffering 15 Heliotrope .... 18 Constancy 20 Estranged . . . . . 22 My Inkstand . . . . 25 History of One Life 26 Evening 27 Rondeaux 29 Solace of the Flowers 30 Regret 32 Hazel Bloom . . . . . 35 Life's Shuttle 38 Springtime' . . . 40 For Insomnia . . 42 Mother 45 Eoline's Dream .... 48 Our Own ..... 52 Wounded Faith . . 55 Destiny . . . . 57 Unclaimed .... 60 VI IKDEX Death 61 Mght-Blooming Cereiis 64 My Muse 66 We Never Know 68 A June in Childhood . 70 Uoldenrod 74 An Evening in June . 75 Yosemite 77 Blight or Blessing 80 0, For a Rainy Day 82 The Ureat Poet . . . . . 83 Love's Riches . . 88 Complainings .... 90 Questionings .... 92 Persecuted .... 94 0, Kindly Speak 96 He is Risen .... 97 The Christ .... 99 Feed My Lambs . 102 The Kingdom of Heaven . 103 Supplication 106 The Portrait .... . 107 Out in the W oods . 109 Unforgiven .... 112 The Evening and the Morning 114 The Unseen . . . 116 Painting . 117 INDEX. Vll The Christian's Armor To My Friend Hill-Crest Home Lilies of the Valley Pearly Shells Courage Trailing Arbutus Encouragement . Faith Nirvana Heredity Pebbles Words Mother Hands Endymion Calypso — The Lover's What is Love Sleighing First Love Man . Trust of Childhood Alone . . . Night Disappointment Love's Ideal A Legend of the Lily Pocket 120 121 124 135 138 140 141 145 147 149 150 152 157 159 161 163 167 171 173 175 176 177 180 183 185 186 187 Vlll IKDEX To James Newton Mathews 190 The Great Hereafter . . 191 Late October 195 On the Beach . 198 Hidden 200 My Robins are Gone . 202 Winterbloom . 204 The Old Home . 206 Thought . . 209 Columbus . 212 HAZEL BLOOM YY' ITH warm desire to please the captious ones, Whose fervency the finished fabric suns, With ardent conjurations she besought The thronging sprites, that feed the loom of thought, To gather shining woof, from climes afar — From lands where all things bright and won- drous are — To seek the dame whose tireless hand doth hold The distaff yielding threads of fine spun gold, And bring the gathered treasures in to her. All sweet with far-fetched frankincense and myrrh : Instead of quest in distant lands for woof From near they brought, and with it sharp re- proof. **The glow and flame of thy desire Is lit by an unholy fire. (9) 10 HAZEL BLOOM We bring thee shreds for needs of life With which its ways are ever rife ; Weave these as we shall bring them in (None leads with Lotus-charm to sin) - And when the web falls from thy care, Who needs takes self- apportioned share. If one is girt by it for storm, Or one lone home, made glad and warm — If one bruised heart finds through it balm, One groping soul, up -lifting psalm. Then, thank thy God that thou hast wrought The humble shreds that we have brought." HAZEL BLOOM 11 7\ LL the earth's history V«) Is mingled n^ith mystery; Thrid its long pathways thro' Time's gathered pages, Struggle with theories, — delve as you will, Wrapped in uncertainty, mystery still, Baffling the lore of philosophy's sages. Wishes ungratified, Longings unsatisfied; Search is untiring and effort is eager. Reaching for aye for the far, unattained, Feeling the spirit to narrowness chained, — All we may know, to the ?^?iknown is meager. Yet, human pomposity. Rich in verbosity. Leads us afar, thro' the limitless spaces. Parting so boldly the cometal robes. Shows us their bodies, as infantile globes, Sportively seeking maturity's places. It measures Infinity, Questions Divinity — 12 HAZEL BLOOM Talks of the nniverse at its inception ; Theory, feeling the pulse of the Earth, Tells us how long since the planet had birth And when we may look for its utter disruption. Yet Life's remote decimal — The infinitesimal. Puzzles the agnost for JSTature's great mother; Never a blade without fertilized germ, — Never a seed without blossoming term, — Each is a subsequent unto the other. ******* Most wondrous, mysterious. Throned and imperious. Mind, in the beautiful temple of Being, Eules o'er its realm with absolute sway Till, broken and crumbling, the structure of clay, Then swift on the wings of the silences fleeing. Thought, strained to intensity, Eanging immensity. Asks for their home — for the spirit's bright heaven ; A speck in the universe — our little earth, 'Mong millions, all grander and greater of girth — Will God's central glory to this one be given? HAZEL BLOOM 13 Ah ! Safely He has hidden it, From earth-gaze forbidden it : Humbled and weary the bold Thought, return- ing, Nestles down closer to God's written word; By grief's parching thirst its sweet foun- tains are stirred; Its pages yield balm that will soothe the heart's yearning. There, Heaven comes near to us, — Those who were dear to us. Safe in its mansions — we'll question not where, — Live in the light of an Infinite Love ! Faith sweetly whispers — "They beckon above, — The loved ones, who've left us, are waiting us there." The hidden earth -histories — The sought-after mysteries Are veiled, but in blessing ; — we seek for them ever; Wisdom hath woven this mystical bond, Binding the soul to God's greater Beyond, Enlarging, enriching, thro' constant endeavor. 14 HAZEL BLOOM TJ^ childhood's years, what dreamy days ^In spring's soft airs or autumn's haze! How golden bright the sunset skies Where just beyond our heaven lies ! Each dawn the sun has merry plays With Eosy-mist, who veils his rays To shield us from his glory blaze, While she paints morn such lovely dyes In Childhood's years. We tread but joyrlit, sunny ways, Nor dream of dread, that is decay's: — No sorrow comes but quickly flies — No love is known that cools and dies — No crafty selfishness betrays In childhood's years. HAZEL BLOOM 15 TN the city of suffering souls grow large, And money-greed languishing lies ; 'Neath the hurrying feet, of God's messengers there, That pompous, old Selfishness dies : Ambition, so eagerly climbing to heights Where glory, alone, is the prize, Forgots his wild dreams at the shriek of distress And goes where Humanity cries. In the city of suffering, sympathies blend As valley rills, blend in a stream; The high, and the low, all forgetful of rank, Are thrilled by calamity's scream. There Wealth's jeweled hand and the toil-har- dened palm. Have neither a preference in claim, But agony ardently stretching them forth, Makes common appeal, in His name. *"There was a puff— a muffled roar, and the tower was literally rent by an explosion. A moment later the flames burst out thro' every rent and fissure, and the men, away up there, in mid air, fighting the fire, were cut off from the world below, by an outpour of smoke and flame, soon to become a mighty conflagration." 16 HAZEL BLOOM In the city of suffering hearts grow warm — Aye, flame in the darkness of woe ; The spark God gave, from His infinite loye, Neath the hot breath of pain is aglow. There, swift to the rescue, goes valorous strength. Surprising the world with his deeds — There, Courage will struggle with death for a life. While yielding his own up, if needs. In the city of Suffering, Avarice hides In the gloomy old vault with his gold, Nor dares to meet Charity's love-lighted face, His own is so pitiless and cold ; There, cowardice, envy — all drosses of soul In the crucial test are consumed — Dark altars, once glowing with brotherly love, In the shadow of sorrow, relumed. The city of Suffering is Heaven's wide door For victims its horrors enthrall ; E'en martyrs have sung when the fagots blazed high — So ever He heareth our call ; HAZEL BLOOM 17 And those who, with fellow-love prompting their deeds, Fought there, with the mounting flame fiends, Have wrought in the plan, for ennobling the world, With God's own, mysterious means. In the city of Suffering souls break the bonds That indolent selfishness forged in the womb. And lives, that were dwarfed by their mammon- cut groove. Find growth in Love's labor, and sunshine in gloom. "When raven-winged Sorrow sweeps over the land, An angel attends where its shadow may fall. And, out from its darkness, brings heavenly light, And faith, in the Wisdom, that's over us all. 18 HAZEL BLOOM ThEEE'S a charm in its fragrance bewitch- ingly sweet — A something that binds with a magical spell; E'en silence, thro' this, to the heart can repeat The message that's sent in its purple fringed cell. 'Tis an odorous breath, from the heavenly heights — An angel hand, beckoning to the bloom scented fields. Where the soul in its freedom may taste the delights That the garden of Paradise yields. Like childhood's sweet dreams of the holy and true, That float thro' Life's dusk in the ether of Thought, Or morn's rosy blush, melting into the blue. With tint of the beryl and amethyst caught. HAZEL BLOOM 19 'Tis an exquisite messenger, given the heart, That winsomely speaks to the spirit, alone, And whatever sentiment sent, will impart — Will tell it so sweetly, in language its own. When souls must needs pass thro' Grief's word- less abyss. Then heart unto heart, through it, uttereth speech — Tne sympathy, seeking expression through this. Is told with a tenderness words never reach. If you've aught that's too sacred for words to express, Too tender to breathe in a wish or a hope, 'Twill be fittingly draped in the delicate dress, And borne in the perfume of Heliotkope. 20 HAZEL BLOOM HE Fates have decreed thou canst never be mine, Yet, constant, my soul turneth ever to thine With love that outreaches Time's cruel de- cree. Too holy the passion with others to name — Thoughts deepest and purest feed ever the flame, That burns on the altar, kept sacred to thee. As ocean in silence embosoms the light That beams from the gems in the crown of the night. Yet dimming its purity never, So thou, in my bosom a presence shalt be, As stars shining down in the depths of the sea — Unsullied thy brightness forever. Like a verdure-girt spring in the wide desert plains — Like the stroke, bringing freedom, by the riv- ing of chains, HAZEL BLOOM 21 Aye, Life's every essence of pleasure Had been love's requital, that long ago morn; Still ever I'll count, (yet this rose has its thorn) Having loved, though I lost, as a treasure. Tho' hopes were all blighted that haloed my youth. And withered the flowers I deemed rooted in truth, — Tho' sunshine will brighten no morrow, Yet never accusing's deep bitterness stirs The heart, that would only pour joy into her's. And the tenderest soothing for sorrow. Her spirit dwelt ever in dreamy ideal, While mine was so earthy and chained to the real. With the heavens all brazen above me : — All nature to hers echoed hymnings divine, While doubts of a future, stirred ever in mine — No marvel she never could love me. But somehow, with Destiny's mystical skein, My love has entangled my infidel brain And bound it with hope, to a heaven; I dream of a sphere, we may find beyond this Where — blessed fruition! life's coveted bliss To the purified soul will be given. 22 HAZEL BLOOM OTO be near to you! — Oh, to be dear to , you ! — To feel in my heart, that your heart is my own. All days have been dreary — my soul is aweary, And still, must I walk in this dark way alone? 0, fond was my dreaming, when hope's star was beaming. When fancy's bright web like a mantle of gold, Lay over life's losses — its trials and crosses, And hid them, in splendors, of fold upon fold. I thought then to follow (Oh, heartless and hollow !) Where Fashion's throng led, and to kneel where it knelt — Thought Love's nectared chalice was found in a palace — Li princely halls only, true happiness dwelt. HAZEL BLOOM 23 But Fashion's vile brew, is of wormwood and rue — It prays where the virtues are trampled and dead — The bane we thought gladness, has led to this madness ; Dissipation came in, and the Peace-angel fled. No wandering emotion e'er sullied devotion, But anger's hot lava my reason o'erran; In the coolness of pride, (that love's fervor belied) The sorrows and pangs of estrangement began. Be rashness forgiven, bring back to us heaven — Our Eden-like home, with its love-lighted skies; Tho' parted forever, affection dies never — 'Tis knit into life with indissoluble ties. The rills that have mingled, can never be sin- gled— They'll flow on as one in their course to the sea ; By love, early plighted, our souls were united, And ever — forever united must be. 24 HAZEL BLOOM Entwining each thought — with tenderness fraught — Is loving, enduring remembrance of thee, And, deep in your heart, in its holiest part, I know there's a hidden affection for me. Shall life be all nighted — Love's flame ne'er be lighted. While I — by its altar with ashes o'er strewn — Must ever remember thro' constant December, The balmy bright days and the roses of June? 0, desert, Sahara! — Oh, waters of Marah! I tread the hot sands — press the fount with my lips — In sorrow, go roaming, thro' the shadowy gloaming That falls, o'er a life, with love's sun in eclipse. fiAZEL BLOOM 2o HIS new one is thought both convenient and nice — The atmosphere forcing the ink to the brim ; I question the worth of this modern device, For seldom great thoughts on the surface will swim, But something like whales, when they find themselves sought, Down, swiftly from sight, in the depths they will sink — At the bottom, the angled for ideas are caught, And only by multiplied thrusts in the ink. 1855. 26 HAZEL BLOOM ^x^i0x^ of ®n^ gtfe* TTS MOENING dawned thro' penury's nar- ^ row pane — A noon of wealth, with glory's laurel crown — Human weakness — one mistake — a felon's stain — The evening gloomed with all his fellow's frown. HAZEL BLOOM 27 V^MILLION and gold In beauty unfold On the light, floating clouds of the West; The low, crooning sound Of all Nature around Is lulling the world into rest. Like a rover of Sin The zephyr steals in 'Mong roses and carnations rare — In ecstatic bliss Gives each one a kiss, Then scatters their sweets on the air. In the shadowy hush The linnet and thrush Have gone to their nests in the grove ; The blue pimpernell To the lilly's wee bell Is whispering his story of love. 28 HAZEL BLOOM Blest hour of delight That verges the night, What beauties and glories are thine, When the great car of day With its din rolls away. And silence seems Presence divine. Now the sparkle of dew And the rich violet hue Of the fast purpling clouds of the West, Hint of time's rapid flight And of life's coming night That shall lull into heavenly rest. HAZEL BLOOM 29 71 BRILLIANT thought leaps out and '^^V® glows, Or scatters fragrance like the rose, Nor needs an artizan's design To plan and shape to make it shine, — Not all is brilliance in rondeaux. The labored effort plainly shows The mind has passed thro' mighty throes To give the world, with stamp divine, A brilliant thought. The music wins which sweetly flows. Not that which falls like stunning blows, And ease and grace, with sense combine. To clothe with elegance the line, Where Genius gives, in verse or prose, A brilliant thought. 30 HAZEL BLOOM OFT a deep, nnspoken angnisli In the secret soul is stirred, And the wounded heart, though yearning For a kindly, loving word, Opens not its sacred portal, For the arts of friendly healing — Only God is told the sorrow, Through a mute-lipped, sad appealing. ''I am with you" — seems responded. From the hush of Nature's bowers. And the spirit feels God nearer Where He's strewn the earth with flowers; Nature's language, rich with blessing, For its unobtrusive words. Speaks through softly murm'ring streamlets. And the low, sweet trill of birds. E'en a tiny, bruised allyssum. Or a trampled mignonette. Teach the heart, by sweet example, That 'tis better to forget. HAZEL BLOOM 31 Like the touch of seraph pinions, Or a faintly whispered hope, Is the charm of perfume floating From a hidden heliotrope. Ah ! there 's soothing for the spirit Where the humid coolness lingers, Where the breezes touch us gently With their dainty, fairy fingers, — Where the woodland nymphs are gliding, Noiseless, o'er the mosses bright. Spreading Sylva's vestal altar With a cloth of violets white. All these tiny, fragrant flowers Speak to us in tender tone. Gently winning us from sorrow With a language all their own ; Little beauties, sent in blessing, — In our pathway angels strew them, That we hear, when joy is shrouded. Loving voices whisper through them. 32 HAZEL BLOOM " — if only it never had been All the world had been brighter and then — " \\/lLL a hope never throb, but it comes back a sob, Prom the echoing halls of the soul? Do the joy -bells stirred, by a low thrilling word, Eorever resound with a funeral toll? Will the roses we grasp, like the bite of an asp, Giye back to our sense but the stinging of pain? Can there float a perfume, from the lillies' white bloom. That blends with enchantment Tof ana's slow bane? Where but flowers were sown, has a thistle seed blown. To root in their soil, a vile bramble to grow? Doth each lovliest vine, 'round a hyssop en- twine? And out from sweet fountains must bitter- ness flow? HAZEL BLOOM 33 Does there lurk in each joy, a vile fiend to destroy All the pleasure and blessing it brought, With the stings of regret, as with thorns thickly set, That will pierce, as it turns, every retro- spect thought? Ay, there's never a spot, where this demon is not; Like a serpent he creeps in this Eden of ours, Where its pleasures are purest, its treasures securest. And blights with his poison its loveliest flowers. But we'll act for the right, as God gives us the light. Nor complain that the end from our vision is veiled ; 'Twas in blessing and love, that the Father above. Secured us from loss that prevision entailed. In mercy, dear Father, still veil from our sight, The dawn of a joy, or a grief's brooding night, 34 HAZEL BLOOM That we faint not, expecting the gathering gloom, Nor cease in the strife that ennobles the life, — That we cloud not our joys with a shadowy tomb, Nor a heart ever miss the delectalSle bliss. Of a sweet, unexpected delight. HAZEL BLOOM 35 "VX/hEN paths that in summer were fringed with lush grass, Are raspy with frost-whitened blades as you pass, When the arbor's denuded of clusters and leaves, And the Ivy's bare vines are entwining the eaves. When the bright tinted sumach has changed to a brown And the wind-shaken forest drops summer wealth down — The autumn's richrobings of crimson and gold In the path of the years, to be trampled as mould — When the beauty of purple-hued asters is shed. And the glory of goldenrod faded and dead, When the song-birds, we loved for their jubilant tune. Have gone where they find a perennial June, When clouds that were downy on the summer's bright blue, 36 HAZEL BLOOM Have draped all the skies in a somberly hue, When the orchard has yielded its riches of fruit, And its life-feeding myst'ry is hid in the root — The Aftermath gathered — the last sheaves of grain — When Nature seems all in a funeral train. Then Hazel buds burst thro' their scales into bloom, And glow like the stars that rob midnight of gloom. When brooklets, unfettered, went leaping in glee, O'er rocks and thro' woodlands, adown to the sea — When the bloom-time of Spring, in its glory, was here, And earth all resounding with music and cheer, When asphodels loaded with fragrance the air And vied with the roses in loveliness rare, Witch-Hazel, from Nature, seemed standing apart. The wee, golden buds were asleep in its heart. And sunshine and shower besought it, in vain. To star, with its bloom. Flora's garlanded fane. HAZEL BLOOM 37 Oh, marvel of beauty— bright blossoms of gold ! They show ns the life leafless branches enfold. 'Tis the flower of hope with this lesson of cheer — 'Tis the season of rest, not "The death of the year," When, Nature, reposing in the bosom of God, Feels the throb of His heart 'neath her snow- mantled sod — At the soul of All-life with new life is imbued— At the Fountain of Beauty, enriched and re- newed. Aye, symbol of Hope and the star gleam of Faith, That give to Life's autumn a glow — A spirit revealed, while the seeming of Death Lies palled in the brown leaves below. A mission it has that was given of Him Who gave it its blossoming time ; Thus blooming alone — desolation around. Defying the glittering rime. It speaks to the soul — 'tis an oracle sweet. His token. His promise and bond That, tho' passing thro' change that leads down thro' the tomb. There's a beautiful Springtime beyond. 38 HAZEL BLOOM ^J^ Shuttle went flying With sympathy sighing, While it shot all the gold weft with threadings of woe. There was murmured complaining, The Shuttle arraigning — • That grief, with the joy, was unwound in the throw. A whispered regretting : — '*No blessing forgetting, God knoweth thy needs — it is His to bestow : — From Love I'm receiving The woof I am weaving." The Shuttle's reproof was subduing and low. And, blent with Time's beating, I heard it repeating The lesson it taught in love's tenderest flow. Aye, softly it chanted this simple refrain — " 'Tis wisdom that mingles the sorrow and pain. The sunlight, that gilds, with its glory the earth. HAZEL BLOOM 39 "Would blight with its blaze, but for clouds and the rain, And lives would be arid and smitten with dearth If beamed on forever with joy and mirth — In blessing I tveave in the sorrow and paiii. ' ' 40 HAZEL BLOOM ^^^ HEN meadows are strewn with the but- tercup's gold, There's gladness for childhood that song never told; The laugh of a child, bubbling up from the heart, la linked with the spring, a most beautiful part. A bevy of children — sweet far away dream ! — They trip o'er the sward, lit with dandelion gleam — We'll join in their sports with a heartiness true ; Our own vanished springtime, with them, we'll renew. The woods, (that are reached by a romp thro' the lane Where the grass is made velvet by sunshine and rain) Have infinite beauty, in blossom outspread — Delights for the gods in the fragrance they shed. HAZEL BLOOMS 41 Come, drink in the perfume of blossoming trees — Take lessons of patience from murmuring bees, And listen to brooklets — they'll sing you a song As, wild in their glee, they go leaping along. Come, watch the wild birds as they cheerily dart — Their music, with sunshine, take into your heart — Let the gladness of childhood thrill you, and be gay, Thus keeping your soul in perpetual May. When Nature is robing her forests anew, And heaven spreads over her loveliest blue — When earth is aglow with spring's ravishing bloom, Ingratitude only sits shrouded in gloom. 42 HAZEL BLOOM g0v ^n^0tnnin* \\^HEN Somnus is giddy and flies from my pillow, And care's elfin throngs come to vex me — When mem'ry, perverse, all the sweet things forgetting, Will mention but those that perplex me, I ask that monotony's rigid insistence Shall drive out the gibber ous crew ; They flee from his presence — will hie back to elfland, Where their Mght shade and astrof ell grew — Ask thought for a theme that's subduing in power — The sea, with its billows all hushed to a calm — Not mantled with darkness, but lit with the sunset, When Day, unto Evening, is chanting her psalm. All life's petty griefs in the grandeur evanish, The spirit is freed from its thrall, HAZEL BLOOM 43 And unto the faint heart a trustfulnesss whis- pers, ''Be brave — there's a God over all." In fancy I launch on the shimmering sea That's lighting with glory its waters for me ; Like a sprite of the ocean the boat seems to glide, As lightly the oars dip the opaline tide. Till out in expanses, afar from the shore, Away from life's din and tumultuous roar Where, gently I'm rocked on the breast of the deep. While symphonic waves woo the Lethe of Sleep. A broad, shining pathway is westward un- rolled — I watch the bright wavelets, with tresses of gold, Kun out in wild play to the visual rim Where the sky bends to kiss them in distance so dim, Till thought is enchanted — anxiety flees, And weariness slips into somnolent ease ; The silences seem to have rhythmical beat — 'Tis footfalls of wakefulness, now in retreat. 44 HAZEL BLOOM Forgetfulness softly creeps into the mind, Suspecting no trace of resistance to find, But wakefulness turns back, commands and forbids — Yet, Slumber steals past her and touches the lids ; Then Morpheus bears me away in his arms To his realm that's swept of all fears and alarms Where, lulled with his stupors, of poppy and rose, I dreamily, dreamily sink to repose. HAZEL BLOOM 45 ^Vv^HEJS" evening falls softly, with far away dreaming, Oft steals o'er my spirit a rapturous seeming — I feel the light touch of her hand as of old, When bending above me with good night caresses. She lovingly pushed back the long heavy tresses, And smoothed out the tangles of gold. Touch memory's harp in the silence of even, And loved ones will leave e'en the raptures of heaven. And come to us then when the gates are ajar : With mother's face, ever most central and ten- der. They light all the Past with a rosy-hued splendor And the soul's secret chamber's unbar. From hidden recesses they bring out its treas- ures — Among them are shining youth's dream- lighted pleasures, 46 HAZEL BLOOM When mother-love blent with, and hallowed them all; The haunts that fche years with their sunsets have gilded, The castles of beauty that child-fancy builded. All come in the gloaming at memory's call. 'Twas down by the river, where bluebells were sweetest And swift-footed hours forever ran fleetest, Enthralled by the charm, that I loved most to roam — To watch where the sunshine and ripple wove wimples. Like smiles, on a rosy face, dancing with dim- ples. Forgetful of duty till mother called home. Kighfc-angled with the river-bank's water-worn ledges The forest and farm knit their raveled-out edges. In a brambled rail-fence. From the pas- ture's green field. Thro' the edge of the woodland, a path, fringed with mosses And bushy green tangles with clematis flosses. Half the charms of the deep wood revealed. HAZEL BLOOM 47 When sunset was tinting each shadowy hollow 'Twas gladness, the kine, from the pasture, to follow And dream, as I wandered, of fairy and gnome — To loiter 'mong ferns, with great trees spread- ing over. And breathe the perfume of wild roses and clover Enrapt, until mother called home. I'm i ngering now on the banks of the Eiver — The sunset of Time on its ripples a quiver — How peaceful the flowing — no turmoil or foam — A luminous mist o'er the landscape is falling — The evening has come, I hear a voice calling, — 'Tis mother's voice calling me home. 48 HAZEL BLOOM ONE long (lay of toil was ending, And my head was hot with pain When a thought, akin to enyy, Eacing thro' my throbbing brain, Muttered to my fevered fancy "Only wealth has power to please — Eocking in the lap of riches Life were fair as summer seas." Wealth for me would bridge the ocean, Open Europe's storied lore, Eome and Greece, with art and beauty, Each would open wide her door; These my hungering soul had longed for- 0ft they seemed within my clasp. But like gold beneath the rainbow ^ They escaped my eager grasp. How I spurned the homely hangings That in poverty were wrought, E'en the couch, whose dingy plushings Now in weariness I sought. HAZEL BLOOM 49 "Common things," I said, repining, *'Ne'er for me can blessing hold"; But the Sun, just then declining, Flooded all with molten gold. And a benison, descending On the wings of closing day. Soothed and hushed my wild complaining — Drove the evil sprite away — Brought before me my possessions, Eichest in the long array. Wealth of home, where all my dear ones Make it bright with love, alway. Lightly drooped the shining fringes Of the evening's twilight hour, While the playful, roving zephyr Gently kissed each folding flower; Softly gliding into dreamland On the sunset's gilded car. Soon for me, his golden splendor Wrapped all objects, near and far. In his grand effulgent shimmer "Common things," grew strangely bright; And my home became a palace All resplendent in the light ; go HAZEL BLOOM E'en the russet garb of labor, If unstained by deed of shame, There outshone imperial purple. With its throne and titled name. Sweeter than the grand exotics. Were my lillies, pure and white — All was beauty — all about me Whispered to me — "Life is bright," And its sweetest flowers are blooming In the toil-worn paths of earth, And its purest gems will sparkle On the brow of honest worth. Diamonds, oft, are but the tear-drops Avarice wrings from orphaned trust. And his gorgeous, gilded trappings Steal their hues from hearts he's crushed. More I saw in raptured dreaming — Seraphs holding crowns of gold. Beckoning up the shining pathway Where the gates of Eest unfold. Some whose wealth did bow them earthward Sought for this to enter in. Others, wearing robes of priesthood. Thought that these absolved from sin j HAZEL BLOOM 51 But no easier passed the portal, Those in purple, cowl, or gown ; — He who bore life's burden's bravely. Won the race and wore the crown. Then a touch of dimpled fingers Woke my heart with mother- joy — Golden head upon my bosom — Tired, sleepy, baby boy Poured a wealth of love and kisses On the lips that had complained. He (sweet angel ! — God had sent him) Quick the demon, Envy, chained. 52 HAZEL BLOOM IVOT all we name as friends, the soul re- ®-^ ceives as such, Nor ever those whose lip-born love weaves smoothest claim; Those only who, to ours, give genial spirit touch Can light that hidd en shrine with friendship's holy flame. 'Tis by this sign the friends God made for us are known ; Dear ones! We count their names as precious gems which lie Within the hearts most sacred place— its very own — A circlet bright that's bound by sympathy's silken tie. There's still another bond for which no word is found — A gift of His, so high the minds extremest reach HAZEL BLOOM 53 Doth fail to find it name, or ontologic bound, Tho' undefined— beyond the subtlest grasp of speech. This wondrous, unseen realm, to spirit sense, remains, And o'er its. lines the soul, to kindred soul, conveys Joy's glad, exultant flash, or sorrow's woeful pains, Which, thro' this gift divine, love's tender- ness allays. He Hs * * * * * 'Tis sweet in twilight's hush, when noisy day has fled And evening's azure glows with beauty's single star — When roses, gemmed with dew, their richest fragrance shed. To feel the silence thrill with signals from afar Feel the thought-lines warmly pulsing with a message from our own — To know the call of dear ones, as we know the breath of fiowers, And catch love's fond impulsion, thro' this mystic Psychephone, Trembling on the stillness of the dreamy, evening hours. 54 HAZEL BLOOM Thro' distance, o'er these subtile, sentient threads of mind. We feel, by finest sense, our answering heart-beats throb Till every fluttering, white-winged joy doth find Eesponse, and every grief a sympathetic sob. 0, blessed bond! It links us to the Life Divine ! Thro' this our prayers may reach the holy Fount of Love — The league of kinship which these spirit cords entwine, By fervent sway of soul, is felt in realms above. HAZEL BLOOM 55 "]1 yrlNE open enemy hath no power to ■^ V^ wound — His poison shafts fall hurtless to the ground ; He may wreak a treach'rous lynx-like deed And yet will never cause my heart to bleed. If he should glare on me in hottest hate, With tiger fierceness, plan the direst fate. With claws distended, lusting for the roon, I'd smile and do him kindness over soon. Or, give a sure nepenthe for his wrath By silent, strewing favors in his path. But when those to whom my heart is bound in trust, With aim concealed, make unexpected thrust, — When those I'd counted friends, as friends had served, Whose joy and weal my strongest effort nerved — If THEY shall stab and gaze with hungry eyes To catch my wince of pain, 'neath friendship's guise, 56 HAZEL BLOOM Then, a wound is made, that all the quivering senses feel — A wound, that only trusted friends could deal ; And, saddest hurt of all, the heart will find. The same stab struck its faith in human kind. HAZEL BLOOM 57 ^^HE freighted a tliistle-down once with a <^'"^^ wish, And gave to the breeze with her breath ; The Fates were to hold its invisible leash And, if to be granted ere death, Bring back, at her will, to her out-reaching hand This wealth-laden embassy sent. Unheeding her will and its pleading command, Up, up toward the zenith it went, Till will, it would seem, at the last had con- trolled. When, earthward it came, like a fairy rigged sail — Came straight toward the hand that was eager to hold The zephyr-tossed feather, whose course should unveil What Destiny held, in the Future concealed — Life's weightiest questions decide. Almost within grasp and it wavered and reeled. Then, mounting again the etherial tide, 68 HAZ^L BtOb]^ It floated — was lost in the depths of the blue. That thistle down, swayed by a pulse of the air, Had wrecked her heart's hopes on the rocks of despair, As billows of ocean rich argosies strew. Now listless and faithless she sits on the shore Where Time's restless surge casts its wrack at her feet ; She sees not the sunshine — hears only the roar Of dark, sullen waves as they ceaselessly beat. In Fate-ridden weakness she shrinks from all strife — Lets Destiny's elves to her fancy repeat The early "decrees" that have shadowed her life— No effort essays that might wreak a defeat — Just waits for the stroke of pale Atropos' knife. A faith in the hidden controllings of Fate, Enchains, with its might, even Eeason and Will: In wreakless inaction her devotees wait For the slow-turning grind of her mill — HAZEL BLOOM 59 Let circiimslance bind them with torturing gyves, Pass doors that would open to Industry's keys And when, with his braided pangs, Poverty drives. Receive all his lashings as "Fortune's de- crees." E'en tho' Opportunity's latch-string is out, They, shelterless, wait for events to compel. And deem themselves goaded by Destiny's knout While held in the toils of her mystical spell. Credulity, Sloth and their following throngs Forever are weaving entangling snares — 'Tis not till a victim is bound with their thongs. To thwart his endeavor that Destiny dares. Bring Will to the front — strike Destiny down, And throttle the Fate that would hinder success — You'll find that dame Fortune will put off her frown And yield, for past sufferings, an ample redress. 60 HAZEL BLOOM JUST beyond the reach of thought, Just beyond the grasp of mind Is a sense of Presence — fraught With blessing — felt, yet undefined. At times it seems a wondrous power — A strength, awaiting Faith'' s command — For trusting soul, a proffered dower. That's held by Love's omniscient hand. Is it the gift, reserved of God I'or those whom Faith brings nearest Him?- The power that smote the rock? — the rod That rives the fountain's brim. That all His thirsty souls may drink? "0, ye of little faith," He cries — So many faithless Peters sink, And the proffered power dies. HAZEL BLOOM 61 \J^^HEN thou, Death, art come to be the old man's guest Who, bowed beneath the heavy weight of toil and years. So longeth for thy rest, Or to the weary mother, looking through her tears. To the bright celestial shore Where her loved have gone before. Then, truly, thou art blest. To them the ties that bound are broken, all, 1 And they will stretch glad hands of welcome unto thee Who comes to break their thrall — To slip the leash of weary life and set them free; They, impatient, wait release To pass the golden gates of Peace And gladly list thy call. 62 HAZEL BLOOM But, in Love's young home, where Life is one bright, pulsing sea Of joy and hope, thy summons hath heart- breaking sound. Like cruel Fate's decree; As tho' alone, by stealth, she had thy gyves unbound. When thou hadst to this Eden crept And wrought, while guardian angels slept, What Envy's dream might be. We feel the surging depth of Sorrow's stifled cry, Yet in thy presence, helpless, dumb with grief, we stand And silent question — Why? — Why budding life is frozen by thine icy hand. Why yielded to thy devastating claim Are all the loveliest of earth, — . E'en God's sweetest, dearest gift of birth — A mother-love. Which is for life's most holy joys, the precious name. While cloud-depths veil in gloom the steely form of truth. The heart, athrob with grief, still ques- tions why : — HAZEL BLOOM 63 Ah, why Love's brightly burning flame Is ever smothered by thy breath, — Its altar, dark and cold, whereon dead ashes lie; — Oh! why are love, and hope, and youth, All left within thy grasp, 0, Death? 64 HAZEL BLOOM ®"^5!5^IETH of darkness! bloom of night! -^^Bringing me such rare delight; Floating charm, thy rich perfume Stirs the lagging, weary brain, Hushes all the thoughts of gloom, Soothes or dulls the pangs of pain. This floral wonder, glistening white, Scorning Day's broad, glaring light. In the sacred stillness now Beams in beauty on my sight, As the star on evening's brow Beams upon a moonless night. Like a rainbow on the skies. Looked for, yet a glad surprise — Like a meteor's flash and gleam Crossing midnight's sullen gloom, Like the fairy forms of dream Is this wondrous, starry bloom. Tell me lovely, mystic flower. Why you gem this gruesome hour? HAZEL BLOOM 65 Were the jasper gates ajar? Did the Night, from angel's crown, Pluck for us its brightest star. And cast the gleaming jewel down? 0, thou, pearly, radiant flower! Why give Night such wealth of dower? Why with anthers, dipped in gold, 'Bound a carpel, rosy red. Wait in darkness to unfold, And thy queenly beauty spread? Now a sentient presence seeming — Ah! it whispers, or I'm dreaming: "An evangel I'm to thee. With this message from the Past ; How e'er full life's joys may be, Like my bloom they may not last. Throngs are gone — the voices stilled That once these halls with gladness filled; Here, with thee, I stand alone Where, before Night's ebon throne, Silence holy, waits to bear From thy heart its inmost cry. Wrought into such fervent prayer As doth bring God's presence nigh," 66 HAZEL BLOOM v^HE wanders on, at her sweet will,