IPS ''^"' WAYSIDE LYRICS GEORGE W. BRADFORD Class rb"55"D D CopightN^JAii COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. WAYSIDE LYRICS Wayside Lyrics By George W. Bradford 192 1 The Stratford Company, Publishers Boston, Massachusetts Copyright 1921 The STRATFORD CO., Publishers Boston, Mass. The Alpine Press, Boston, Mass., tJ. S. A. ©CU611091 To The Memory Of Theresa Irene Houk Contents My Poems • 1 My Mother 2 To Waldo Hilary Dunn 3 The Traveller 4 A Child's Death 5 Happy Pair 6 My Love and I '^ The Question 8 To a Maiden 9 My Love 10 Love H Two Spartan Boys . 12 At the Shore 13 The Poet 14 To Henry Van Eman Brown . . . .15 To H. H 16 To Our Lord 17 Forethought 18 Wild Lily of France 19 From the Peyrou 20 On the March 21 On Board a Troop Ship 22 Heroes 23 CONTENTS Waiting ^ . 24 By the Loire . . . . . . .25 Provence 26 By the Mediterranean 27 At Nice 28 A Song from the Chinese . . . .29 Repining Love (From the Chinese) . 30 A Spring Morning (From the Chinese) . . 31 The Approach of Winter . . . .32 In the Woodland 33 The Seasons 34 Night and Dawn 36 A Sunset .37 Rain 38 At Evening 39 Where We Walked 40 A Forest Fancy 41 Summer Joys . . . . . . .42 To a Bird .43 To an Ivy Leaf . . . . . .44 Fantasy 45 The Vain Rose 46 Lily of the Valley 48 An Impression . . . . . .49 On Perilous Seas . . . . '. .50 Theresa 51 Sunset Lands 52 My Poems MY poems are the children of my soul, Born from my heart And fashioned by my mind And pictured for you in this folded scroll. [I] WAYSIDE LYRICS My Mother MY Mother has the sweetest face Of all the persons that I know — Not like the Mona Lisa there, But lovelier far than art can show. Her heart is good, for she has toiled Through all these years and sacrificed For husband blind, my father good, And for us children ^ — and all for Christ. [2] WAYSIDE LYRICS To Waldo Hilary Dunn TO you, my friend, I owe more than I know; For you have given Me vision, and the glow Of spiritual flame That comes from noble life Where white truth dwells Unshaken by our strife. [3] WAYSIDE LYRICS The Traveller A dying day And a cry in the heart for home Sunlight a-glimmer 'er the land where I would roam. Nearer to Heaven And Eternity's moonlit fields I seem to be, As the sunlight to darkness yields. [4] WAYSIDE LYRICS A Child's Death THE child was dying — His face was lit with a smile : We were crying — He implored us to stop for a while. His face shone lovely From the light of the heavenly gate We tried to smile, But alas, it was too late. [5] WAYSIDE LYRICS Happy Pair 'rip WAS in a mountain dell I found her I Pretty maid; She lay among the violets, In the shade ; I kissed her till she wakened, Quite dismayed; And, alas, I found her angered — Lovely maid! Yet I smiled and gazed adoring At her there : She had blue eyes, blue like azure. And her hair Was bright and gold like sunbeams In the air: And we walked into the hamlet ^ — Happy pair ! [6] WAYSIDE LYRICS My Love and I WE walked adown the winding road, My love and I ; We came upon a rustic bench And passed it by. We longed to walk and talk of love Through all the night, Until the dawn should fade the stars With morning light. [7] WAYSIDE LYRICS The Question IT may not be That I was meant for you ; It may not prove That you were meant for me; Yet how can we Decide it now, forsooth? Must we not try That we may know the truth ? [8] WAYSIDE LYRICS To a Maiden PRAY excuse me, gentle maiden, If I call thee but a child; 'Twas last night that I first met thee And perhaps you may have smiled At my rather rude composure; Yet believe me, for I mean it, That I ne'er have met before Just the same glad child of sunshine, Filled so full of sunny lore. [9] WAYSIDE LYRICS My Love I MET her where the orchids bloom In a shadowed dell; I held her little hand in mine ; I loved her well. A gentle pressure told my love — With nothing said; She sighed and turned her blushing cheek And lips of red. [10] WAYSIDE LYRICS Love THE Primrose sighed and gently turned her head As Zephyr sweet came stealing through the wood ; She sighed again, he caught her where she stood And warmly kissed her brow, a-blushing red. [II] WAYSIDE LYRICS Two Spartan Boys TWO Spartan boys Fought bravely on the plain; One of them fell, And he smiled through all the pain. When the war was done The two came home again: One on his shield, And both, victorious men. [12] WAYSIDE LYRICS At the Shore I WAS pacing the shore alone one day By the lashing, angry sea, When a wave broke with a mighty shock And flung my child to me. His lips had still the happy smile That he had smiled to me — My heart broke, and I buried him Close by the sea. [13] WAYSIDE LYRICS The Poet A poet's breath Is perfumed sweetly like the rose, And like its flower, oft fading goes In early death. [14] WAYSIDE LYRICS To Henry Van Eman Brown TO you, my friend, I write these few, short lines, In token that In you I find there shines A warmth of friendship, I covet more than signs Of outward acts, Which malice oft with bitterness combines. [IS] WAYSIDE LYRICS To H. H. HE is gone, my friend is dead ; In his grave he lies alone On the hillside where the dripping rain Weeps down, and sad winds moan. In his eharnel house of clay His pale, cold form lies low — A youth of beauty, struck too soon By death's fell blow. [i6] WAYSIDE LYRICS To Our Lord OUR Lord with thorn-crowned brow Humbly bore the sin, That we His children might somehow In penitence come in. [17] WAYSIDE LYRICS Forethought A LITTLE thought of Thee, dear Lord, Each day we live; A consciousness of that great love Which Thou dost give; A little care against a sin Will help us when we near the gate Of death, to enter in. [i8] WAYSIDE LYRICS Wild Lily of France WILD LILY of France, In the meadow we found thee, Hebe 's fair goblet of lavender hue ; Fresh, slender floweret. Unguarded yet faithful. Cheering the torn hearts Of those marching over; Wantonly crushed By the feet trampling on thee — Lavender Lily, sweet Lily of France. [19] WAYSIDE LYRICS From the Peyrou IT was the dying of the day, And in a splendid burst of golden glory, The tired sun Flooded the low Cevennes, castled and hoary. Far to the north of the town. Old Pic St. Loup as a silent warder grim Loomed in the twilight, Guarding the hill towns, nestling close to him. [20] WAYSIDE LYRICS On the March AS a phantom army through the gloom Of a moonless night, we marched ahead, And heard the low, incessant boom Of cannons belching forth their lurid red. Our voices hushed, our only sound Was the steady tramp of marching feet In rhythm over the frosted ground Of a highroad or a darkened village street. Though unafraid, we did not speak: Because it seemed that death was nigh, Stalking by our line to seek Which ones of us were ready soon to die. [21] WAYSIDE LYRICS On Board a Troop Ship THE troubled ocean heaves in sighing swells ; Its waters dark rise grim across the deep ; The wind, its ancient foe, beats ever on Its rugged visage, wrinkled and careworn. The tale of sorrow which its murmuring tells Is long and sad, and never wont to end. [22] WAYSIDE LYRICS Heroes IN Flanders' land Where poppies tinge with red, A thousand hearts In loyal service bled. There they lie; But their souls have fled the earth To walk with God, Having suffered a glorious birth. [23] WAYSIDE LYRICS Waiting DARKNESS fell As Night stalked through the woods ; In our dugouts damp We found what cheer we could. The news of peace Was mocked by a cannon 's roar ; We waited on As we had done before. [24] WAYSIDE LYRICS By the Loire 'np WAS down the valley of the Loire we came JL On a sunlit afternoon, Through the dark green vales and the shadowed hills Flowered by June. [25] WAYSIDE LYRICS Provence HEATHER hills and gently rolling plains Of old Provence, the land of Roman walls • — Dusty roadways, trod by Spanish swains, And heavily wheeled by lumbering carryalls! [26] WAYSIDE LYRICS By the Mediterranean DUSK of twilight settles o 'er the land ; Behind the far west hills the sun sinks low And stains with rose the rifted, golden strand; The south winds from the sea their sighings blow. [^7] WAYSIDE LYRICS At Nice THE mountains rose like monarclis from the sea Of azure blue. The sea stretched far To the ocean of molten gold where spirits free Mingled their glory with the gold of the west- ern star. [28] WAYSIDE LYRICS A Song from the Chinese I DRINK red wine from the wine stained cup In the shadows of lilies fair ■ — The moon, my image, and I alone In our starlit vale, Nowhere. I offer my cup to the low, round moon, But she turns away her head; And my image mocks, as I taste again Of my love-cup brimming red. My image recoils when I dance and sing As the moon sails the deep night sea ; We are merry until I swoon away — My companions then leave me. But soon I forget these friend of mine. For only in spring we love; And then I shall be at the high cloud home In that blue sea far above. [29] WAYSIDE LYRICS Repining Love FROM THE CHINESE THE blind of pearl is gently lifted By a lady fair, She sits alone, profoundly sad, Her arched brow lined with care. The wet tears slowly trace their way Cold on her cheek; Whom does she hate, this lady fair? . . She will not speak. [30] WAYSIDE LYRICS A Spring Morning FROM THE CHINESE I WAS roused from the darkness of sleep By the song of a morning choir Of birds that sang as the fair dawn broke, And my soul was set on fire. While I slept, the patter of gentle rain And the sighs of the whispering wind Lulled me into the land of dreams Where my beloved one spinned. All about my bed with old leaves strewn Where the young grass kissed the sun. The petals of cherries had fallen low, Their life's thread nearly spun. [3-] WAYSIDE LYRICS The Approach of Winter I HEAR the sighs of winter As the winds blow through the oaks Can it be that lingering autunm Must now leave her woodland folks ? All about our campus coverts, Wildly leaf-strewn everywhere, Autumn colors all have vanished Into grey — and trees are bare. [32] WAYSIDE LYRICS In the Woodland WHEN the cowslips yellow the river marge And the lilies dapple the way, When the catbird whines and the redcoats fly And the streamlet murmurs at play, I want to wander through bush and fen In the haunts of the wild wood things ; Find beetles and bugs and flowers and birds And hear when the woodthrush sings. I would break through the thicket of thorny briers To find a wild woodbine ; I would climb a tree to the topmost boughs, I would hunt for the eglantine. In earliest spring ere the snows are gone I would hunt arbutus rare ; I would live and love in my woodland wild — I would build my cabin there. [33] WAYSIDE LYRICS The Seasons WHILE yet the snows of winter may be traced Along the north bank of the creek and mound, Spring steps forth, her filmy garments flaunting And prints arbutus on the leaf -strewn ground. She lightly touches with her roseate wand The blackened branches of the forest trees Till they begin to green with growing buds And blossoms filled with nectar sipped by bees. It is not long till Summer's tanned form Is seen to pace the meadow, wood, and vale ; In shadowed nook she paints the lovelier flowers — The scarlet rose and the summer lily pale. With golden wand she changes wheat to gold — Its heavy heads droop burdened in the heat; At night she sleeps with tired eyelids closed While zephyrs guard her in her still retreat. [34] WAYSIDE LYRICS Then Autumn, somber child with crimson face, Takes up her reign as Summer leaves her field ; She touches every fruit with garnet wand And swells them luscious for a bounteous yield. The vintage press is then restained anew With crimson wine from grapes grown on the hill ; The apples blush, the graceful pears grow tan ; The wheat is threshed and taken to the mill. And now the winds of winter wing their way, Whirling the snowflakes from the frozen lands ; And Winter's child in robes of sparkling white Locks up the streams with flashing, diamond bands. For long months all the earth is wrapped in quiet — The only birds, the snow-birds of the cold. Wide plains of white, that glare in the winter noon And glimmer rose from the sun, as the day grows old. [35] WAYSIDE LYRICS Night and Dawn THE night is dark And the Lady Moon has gone to rest Through the twilight portals of the west In her silver bark. She leaves the stars To guard the night deeps till the dawn Touches with rose the close-cropped lawn And the meadow bars. [36] WAYSIDE LYRICS A Sunset A SUNSET of rose, the gateway Into night, banked by the pearly grey Of the twilight's darkening mist; Mantled hills of snow, and woods — Soft, dark woods below the tinted sky ; Fair Evening, thou hast painted well. [37] WAYSIDE LYRICS Rain RAIN-drops Fall on the lawn All through the night Until the day dawn. Thirsting buds Drink while they may ; The dews that ara left Sparklingly play. [38] WAYSIDE LYRICS At Evening INTO a clear and sapphire sea The blood-red sun sinks low — Behind, the clouds are floating free In a wondrous rose-red glow. The light fades into azure grey, And the restless evening star Begins again her night-time sway In her silver car. [39] WAYSIDE LYRICS Where We Walked THE valley where we walked lies veiled with haze, And autumn tints are crushed from spicy fruits ; A forest goddess flings from chaliced vase The odors of the corn and dying shoots. Through endless days the sylvan fairies play, And Pan with all his troop in riot free Pours forth a song of happiness all day To be in tuneful, tearless melody. [40] WAYSIDE LYRICS A Forest Fancy THE darkened copses of the forest green, _ Enchanted by a shadow fantasy, There lingers in thy fretted, vernal sheen A symphony of rarest harmony. O I come to hear sweet tales of long ago Told by the oak in soft, prophetic strain, To listen to the brook, a-babbling low With childlike grace its gurgling soft refrain. [41] WAYSIDE LYRICS Summer Joys THE joy of living eddies amongst the trees ; Why should we gloom and waste ourselves away ? It is better to observe the laden bees The livelong day; Or sit and watch the lowing herds that graze Upon the uplands where the grass is green ; Or read the thoughts of seers and poet lays, And rest unseen. [42] WAYSIDE LYRICS To a Bird SWEET bird that singest in the wilderness The rare flute melodies of the forest wild, Sing to me, wild thing, that I may leave this earth And with thee bide as Nature's happy child. Thy ruby throat will pour thee all away Into a song of pure, unselfish art, With free and joyous nature as thy theme, With pure and chastened pleasure in thy heart. [43] WAYSIDE LYRICS To an Ivy Leaf THOU waxen leaf of ivy brown, Frost-bitten by the autumn air We sorrow, for thou wert as fair As any leaf upon the down. The freshness of thy summer dress Thou hast put by for sober tints ; Of winter now thy grey wall hints ; Our hearts for thee are in distress. [44] WAYSIDE LYRICS Fantasy AMONG the shadows of the forest lanes, Where fairies dance in evening ^s dewy times, I linger where fair gods in rock-built fanes May teach me golden measures and soft rhymes. There I may hear those sweet, undying strains That soft winds play on mellow forest chimes. [45] WAYSIDE LYRICS The Vain Rose IN a garden where grew Sweet roses of youth, One rose grew the fairest ; Her petals were rarest Of deep, blushing hue ; Her stalk was most slender And graceful in splendor; She deigned not to glance On her sisters more humble, But reared her proud tresses To be gazed at in wonder. She loved her rich beauty And nodded most queenly ; Yet the shears of the gardener Put an end to her scorn ; She lived for awhile, "Wore a radiant smile In the vase by the window; But 0, how tormenting ! Her beauty fast faded ; Ere long she was old [46] WAYSIDE LYRICS And in shame she repented; She gazed with much sadness On the garden's fresh glory. [47] WAYSIDE LYRICS Lily-of-the-Valley LOVELY Lily-of-the-Valley Scenting my room — Thy delicate flower-bells glow While Evening's gloom Falls quietly about my cushioned chair, Veiling the paintings on the shadowed wall, Copies of Titian and da Vinci rare. [48] WAYSIDE LYRICS An Impression THE waves beat on and out upon the brine ; A tiny sail scarce moving on the deep, A speck of white out on the foaming sea That swells in endless billows to the winds. [49] WAYSIDE LYRICS On Perilous Seas PALE clouds are blown across the azure sky In fragments wildly scattered o 'er the deep ; The stars are frightened, and the mother moon Is troubled, yet can only watch and sigh. "When Aeolus in a fit of stormy wrath Unlooses all his blasts of rugged winds, They dash and leap and chase each other far Until the stars are frightened from their sleep. [50] WAYSIDE LYRICS Theresa BLUE-eyed flower in my garden, Loveliest flower a knight could seek, I had left thee in our morning With the dew upon thy cheek. Mine the part to leave thee waiting While I tried my battling might — Leave thee waiting in my garden While I helped my comrades fight. Every morning with the zephyrs Came sweet messages from thee, Breaths of freshness as of spring time, Gently blown from thee to me. Then one day the breezes hushened. Seemed a-wearied as with pain, And I thought it was the battle. Or the sorrow for the slain. But another breeze came sighing. Telling me that you had died; And I climbed into my dugout Where I laid me down and cried. [51] WAYSIDE LYRICS Sunset Lands THERE is a land beyond those western hills Whereon the rose of sunset lies, Where violet lanes and panting, laughing rills Thread sylvan ways, beneath calm, azure skies. [52] LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 018 603 522 7 #