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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmis d des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd A partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ■ -,'. i NORTHLAND LYRICS NORTHLAND LYRICS BY WILLIAM CARMAN ROBERTS THEODORE ROBERTS & ELIZABETH ROBERTS MACDONALD SELECTED AND ARRANGED WITH A PROLOGUE BY CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS AND AN EPILOGUE BY BLISS CARMAN BOSTON SMALL MAYNARD & COMPANY MDCCCXCIX c 2 16197B Copyright, fSgg, by Small, Maynard & Company (^Incorporated') Entered at Stationers' Hal! The E'verett Press, Boston, U.S.A. To Emma IVetmore Roberts i XI CONTENTS A Foreword to Northland Lyrics Charles G. D. Roberts I Beyond the Golden Gates of Song I A Dedication 3 The Poet 4 Kinsfolk 5 The Night's Comfort 6 A Song of Climbing 8 In an Old Garden 9 The Journey 10 Another Company I I The Quiet Port 12 To Goodridge Bliss Roberts 13 The Conqueror 14 The Wine 15 The Window of Dream 17 A Song of Her Singing 18 Andante 19 The Chamber of the Dream 22 The Watcher 23 Love's Inclusions 24 The Tower 25 A Prayer in a Garden 26 To Lilith 26 At the Last 28 ** WinterWarms His FreezingHand ' ' 29 A Whispered Word 29 Sunset VII E. R. MacD. W. C. R. T. R. E. R. MacD. T. R. E. R. MacD. W. C. R. T. R. T. R. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. T. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. T. R. T. R. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. T. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. T. R. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. Contents 29 The Voices 30 Ex Umbris 32 In the Night-Season 32 The Last Furrow 33 "On the Hills a God Lies Dead " 35 To W. C. R. 36 Socobie's Passing 37 Estranged 38 Autumn Dream 39 Haunted 40 The Wind in the Garden 40 An Autumn Night 41 The Wind-Cry 42 Beyond the Years 43 The Wanderer 43 A Secret Song 44 Thanksgiving 45 The Fading Year 46 Heimweh 47 Surprise 47 Greeting 48 Spirit of Spring 49 March- Waking 49 Beyond the Hills 50 From the Earth 51 The Shooting of the Moose 52 Olaf's Bowman 53 The Shadowy Tide 54 To an Old Ship's Figure-Head VIII E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. T. R. T. R. T. R. T. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. W. C. R. W. C. R. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. T. R. T. R. W. C. R. T. R. i Contents 5 5 Inscrutable 56 Harold 57 Grey Garry 58 Smoke-Wreaths 60 The Deeps 61 Before the Gate 62 The Loup-Garou 63 Kathaleena 64 Rosemarie 65 His Whim 66 After 67 To the Lord of fhe Years 68 Toasts 70 Before the Duel 71 The Novice 72 At the Heart's Cry 74 Alien 75 At Twilight 76 Slumber-Song 77 Berceuse 78 The Garden 79 The Men of My Heart's Desire 80 A Lament to the Memory of Archibald Lampman 81 Dargai Ridge 83 The Bugle-Call W. C. R. T. R. T. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. W. C. R. W. C R. W. C. R. T. R. T. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. W. C. R. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. E. R. MacD. T. R. T. R. T. R. E. R MacD. 85 At the End of a Book Buss Carman IX A FOREWORD TO NORTHLAND LYRICS To E, R, MacD,, W, C, R., T. R. Sister and brothers, not by blood alone Kinship inalienably dear we own, Nor hearts close-knit in common joys and tears And memories of sweet, familiar years That pledge the deep endurance of our love ; But also by the fellowship of song, — One art, one aim, one impulse, — we belong Each to the others ! Therefore let this word. Though poor, amid your Northland notes be heard For craft and kin and the loyal warmth thereof. Charles G. D. Roberts. m NORTHLAND LYRICS BEYOND THE GOLDEN GATES OF SONG Beyond the golden gates of Song Who treads with reverent feet shall find The dreams and visions cherished long, The loftier longings unresigned ; The sacred memories that wake Our lives to noble yearnings still, The quiet love no years can break Nor any earthly hour fulfil; And many a dear and distant hour When gladness flooded land and sea. And many a word whose tender power Yet stirs our souls to victory ; And so to win our lives' release From out the world's tumultuous throng, We pass, with lips that sue for peace. Beyond the golden gates of Song. A DEDICATION These foolish rhymes of a foolish rhymer — One who has laughed and cried, I Northland Lyrics And dreamed at times of a mood sublimer — I send, this Autumn-tide. Not quite a thinker nor quite a poet, Thouo-h touched with the whims of each: With much to learn and fain to know it, But never a thing to teach, Except some rune of the gold leaves lying In the arms of the whispering frost. While under the stars the geese are flying And the frozen winds are tossed; Or the far, sweet word of the Spring-winds calling Our brothers out of the sod. With the gold-bright drops of the Spring rain falling, And joy in the heart of God. Poor scraps of dream from a heart world-weary, The rhymes vou '11 find within; But take at their hands the message, dearie. Of love from your kith and kin; And say to yourself when you see them after. There is one who is foolish and fond, Whose heart is moulded of tears and laughter And dust, and a dream beyond. ^^ Northland Lyrics THE POET God, give me breath for one brave fight — For one great deed that the world will hear; If not, then God give me night. Night, with a candle to light the gloom, And the comfort shadows and twilight cheer, Crowding like friends in the room. God, give me valor, and courage, and breath For one great fight that the stars will see; If not, then God give me death. Death, with one candle to light the gloom From the church to the door of Eternitv — Where, Lord, Thou wilt portion my doom. Better the death, ere the beard be grown. Than the idle waiting with sheathed sword — Uncheered, uncrowned, unknown. God, give me breath for one fight more — For one great fight in Thy name, O Lord; If not, then close me the door. Thus sang the Dreamer, with hands along The clanging strings — then, loosing his lyre. He flushed with the pride of his song; 3 ^. Northland Lyrics For he was a poet, and lived in the gleam Of the wonderful deeds that he touched to fire ;— How brave he was in his dream ! KINSFOLK Oh, fame may heap its measure, And hope its blossoms strew. And proud ambition call us, And honour urge us through — But kinsfolk, kinsfolk. My heart is all for you. When stately halls are ringing With mirth and light and song, Among the mazy dances The forms familiar throng. And speak above the viols The voices loved so long. When wandering far I visit Grey tower and haunted stream. Beyond the storied casements Those earliest hearth-fires gleam, And dear Canadian forests Grow dark around my dream. w^ Northland Lyrics No strange and lovely countries Men venture far to view, No power and gifts and glory Are worth one heart-beat true ; Kinsfolk, kinsfolk, My heart is all for you ! THE NIGHT'S COMFORT I think the power of dream Is the power the spirit knows Over the crushing of fate, Over the grinding snows ; The strength of the Galahad-heart, Stronger than barbed spears — The soaring of Chatterton Beyond the beggarly years. il. I think the power of dream Is subtle and fine like song — Like essence of harvest fields When harvest days are long ; Gold and strong and rare. Healing the dreamer's brain — Filling his shadowed heart With softened laughter again. I mmm ■PHBBWSaHBP' W t Northland Lyrics III. I think the realm of dream Is true as the realm of day -, The houses our souls have built Border the dreamland way ; The love that we may not reach. The heart that is bitter cold, Soften, when night comes down With white stars manifold. IV. When the sunset fires are out And the ashes blown abroad, I throw aside day's rags And follow my dreamland god. He leads mc into a place Where dreams are woven me; Valour and love and joy Like a wonderful tapestry. A SONG OF CLIMBING Dim questionings of Fate and Time Beset our souls on every side ; Clouds thicken round the path we climb, Yet strive we to the height sublime. Or perish if the worst betide. 6 Northland Lyrics What worse could happen than to lie Here in the valley leisurely, To watch the clouds go drifting by, And feel our powers grow faint and die To one tame, weak monotony ? To see our mountain's shining gold Gleam far above us height on height, And know the comrades loved of old Yearn from it vainly to behold Our upward strife, our deeds of might ? Nay, — face the terrors of the way. The rock-pierced torrent's angry roar. Grim walls that blind the eyes of day. Sharp, swift descents for feet that stray, And awesome birds that swoop and soar. Ah, better steadfast-eyed to scale The awful hillside hand in hand. For never yet without avail Did one true striving soul assail The barriers of the Mountain-land. Rouse we our spirits to the race. Friends ! Brothers ! From the walls above Leans many an unforgotten face 7 f Northland Lyrics Sfill wearing through its new-born grace The old sweet look of human love. On ! On ! A hand for those who fall, For those who droop a song of cheer, Ears quick to catch the Leader's call, Stout hearts the gloom shall not appal, P'or lo ! the towers of Home are near ! There watching by the open door Shine Cuthbert's heavenly eyes of blue, There Muriel waits to meet once more The earth-born loves she hungered for. To clasp our hands and lead us through. There shall our lost ones wait, and there The height, the dream of our desire. Supreme fulfilment, answered prayer From lip to lip the watchword bear. The cry of Home ! Through flood and fire ! IN AN OLD GARDEN Sir Gold-Plush Beetle, in your crimson rose With you how goes This life of perfume breeze and pollen gold Above the garden mold ? 8 Northland Lyrics Does any thread of longing in vour heart At criss-cross start, When some strange, wandering, bourneless thing goes by Beyond, against the sky ? — A wide-winged moth, or twilight-weaving bat But what of that ? — Perhaps it set some wild, quick chord athrill Only the stars can still. THE JOURNEY When will I have to go ? Morning, or noon, or night ? Will the lilies be white or the snow When I buckle the girths all tight ? When will I have to leave This roomy old house and gay ? Will my roistering fellows grieve When they hear me gallop away ? Gallop away in the night From the light of the mirthful room With their faces still in my sight As I set my face to the gloom. 9 T Northland Lyrics How long will the riding be Through the sunlight and fog and blur ? Friends, whisper a prayer for me When I buckle on sword and spur. For the road will be rough to the ford And the spirits will shout in the gloom When I gallop and beat with my sword At the narrow door of my tomb. ANOTHER COMPANY Do you not know, my friends, that sometnnes here In this dim room with books along the wall I entertain another company — Where no wine gleams, no circled ashes fall ? The merry jests we know — the narratives Of brave adventure, which we tell to cheer, When uttered by these other guests of mine Ring, through their wide smiles, like a falling tear. Last night they ail came in. Ambition, Doubt, Care with his heavy eyes and broken dream. Life with his cynic smile and dainty hands, And Memory, too, with her dear eyes agleam. Ambition, golden-haired, was all agog •, Doubt sat there moping at the window-pane, 10 n ^ M Northland Lyrics And Memory leaned against my dusty books And counted her bright treasures o'er again. I loved Ambition, for he promised me Great things — green wreaths — a name to belt the world ; I glanced at Life who sat beside the hearth And saw his cynic lips with laughter curled. But as the night advanced Ambition left, And Doubt and Life and Care, those brothers three. So I sat on, until the dawn came in Beneath the tears of wondrous Menory. Do you not know, my comrades, true of heart, That I pledge other eyes at other times ? That heavy-shouldered Doubt has his own chair And brave Ambition fires my little rhymes? THE QUIET PORT There lies a quiet port across the sea Where the proud sail is furled. Where the bright banner flares and flaunts no more That once waved round the world. There the brave ships that steered for other shores, That fought the bitter blast 1 1 Northland Lyrics And dared the unknown straits, the frost-hung bays, Find harbourage at last. And those white barques that sought the isles of dream, The lands of love's report,— Thev too, though steering gladly otherwhere. Have found the quiet port. There the dark night comes down around them, there The weary captains rest. The homesick voyager bows down his head. The sage forgets his quest. But yet, ah even while we fall on sleep. We are content to wait ; Comrades, the land of our desire is near, This port is but its gate. TO GOODRIDGE BLISS ROBERTS All night the crickets sing among the flowers That watch beside you, sleeping on the hill, And low winds whisper through the lonely hours^ That though we sleep our love is with you still. 12 Northland Lyrics of Some respite slumber brings us from our pain, For bygone days and hours of lost delight Come back, and you are with us, dear, again — Though by your grave the low winds singto-night. em, 1, still. THE CONQUEROR Where are the eyes we loved. Tender and full of light ? Where are the hands we held Stumbling on through the night ? Gone — they are gone as a lamp Dies, blown out by a breath ! What have you done with our dear ones. Death ? Where, from our eager eyes Withheld for a bitter space. Do they wait till our hasting feet Have brought us face to face ? Let us on to the Land That shines at the end of the quest. Where they who passed from our side Rest. Death, who took them away. Now they are yours no more ; He who went through the vale 13 n Northland Lyrics And drank of the cup before Is Master even of thee, Yea, thou shalt fall at His word. For He is over us all Lord. On in the storm w^e strive, And thou dost lurk in the strife. Ever subtle and strong In the very midst of life : A touch and the face we love Loses the mystic spark ; We are left in the lonely night Dark. Yet we strive in the way, For out of the gloom a voice Comes to us, clarion-sweet. Bidding our souls rejoice. " I am the Resurrection," — Hear what the White Christ saith j He is thy Lord and Master, Death! THE WINE He breaks the seal, he pours the wine; We find the flavor somewhat hard, But the color is divine. 14 Northland Lyrics And we must drink it to the lees : See yonder coward lift the cup And drain it on his knees. If we must down it, hard and sweet, Bitter and mellow, we will up And drink it on our feetj Drink it like men of giant race — Pledge to our host, who stands not far With smiles across his face. He knows the flavor and bouquet. He forces it on every guest. Grinning the same old way. He keeps the flagon on the shelf And gives us each a mighty glass, But will not drink himself. He will not drink, but we must drink; So let us toss the stuff and bow — Only the cowards shrink. THE WINDOW OF DREAM On the edge of the deep grey sea of sleep Between the veils of the rain A casement gleams with the light of dreams, 15 i^H PI I ^-i- ■■ Northland Lyrics Glimmers, and fades again While my heart goes keening out to it Through the volleying gusts — in vain. The window is set (O heart, forget) In walls of looming stone. And she is there, of the shadowy hair. Waiting so long alone. Whose eyes my soul would perish for — love, desired, unknown. Now and again through the streaming pane 1 see her longing face — O love, I come, and my lips are dumb And wan with many a trace Of hungerings unsatisfied For your eternal grace. The long waves lift and the great winds drift My heart to the sands of night. Where the end of all is the looming wall And never a door in sight. While over the breaking sea there lies The casement's lonely light. i6 Northland Lyrics A SONG OF HER SINGING The wind at the casement enters, like a child's soul into the dusk, With the cool, fresh scent of the garden, a fragrance of roses and musk. -I M»!} J Sing me a song, my love, and plead with the ivory keys Till the soul of the organ wakes, astir with such vi- sions as these. While the golden day fades slowly among the garden trees And I hear the robins coining their hearts upon the breeze. I ."i Sing me a song, my love, of joys more sharp than pain, Tne sweet, wild heart of dream athrill in the Autumn rain. The pleasure that crowns us now, the joy that will find us again. O love, with the beating and rapture of the spirit of life in your eyes, Sing low of the passionate yearning, the heart's first faint surmise; IS' • I'll 'is ii't-t Northland Lyrics Of the fairy quest, and the capture; the silence, the rapt replies; Sing softlier, love, sing lower, till the hush on my spirit lies. ANDANTE Your fingers sweep the keys, and then By river reach and iris fen The long dead days come back again. Smile on me once again, and so Waft me on music soft and low Down the far hills of long ago. Where lonely sunsets blow and fade For one whose haunted heart has strayed At evening to the upland glade Where he can hear the wild geese cry Across the solitary sky, And the cold sweeping winds go by With broken words that laugh and weep Like some one troubled in his sleep By visions of the calling deep. Strange forest-girdled lakes, whose moods Lie hidden in far solitudes Where no irreverent foot intrudes; i8 , the I my Northland Lyrics Black, tossing rapids, through whose roar A vague, great voice forevermore Goes echoing from shore to shore; All phases of that urilderness Whose close communion used to bless My boyhood in its loneliness; All these across my spirit's ken Sweep by on waves of sound, and then — A sharp, sweet chord — they fade again. The wandering ghosts have found their tomb ; And here, within this shadowed room. Your gold hair glimmers through the gloom. ■«'■ ■ m 4a} THE CHAMBER OF THE DREAM I did not build a lordly house Here in my heart, to stand through time. I only filled a little room With joyous scraps of rhyme. And pictures that no brush could trace. And music that no harp could make. I hung the walls about with joy And gold for my dream's sake. 19 iliiO **^^^ Northland Lyrics I pierced the walls with openings One for each season — windows four. I wished to hold it through all time So did not cut a door. A workman from the goblin world Carved me the ledges, fine and rare, And bars of sunlight I had set To hold my vision there. With wonder of old tapestry I hung the ceiling and the wall. A clock, as every hour went past, Rang a sweet madrigal That some young poet wrote, years gone, To some sweet lady, ages dead. I had mock stars on either hand And a gold sun overhead. One window faced the April-time; Grey poplars in a golden sheen j Blue rivers breaking joyously Like pictures on a screen. One window faced the beautiful Ripe Summer over all the land; 20 ■4 I Northland Lyrics The clouds that drifted in the blue Were white as my dream's hand. One window faced the Autumn hills Where maples set the world aflame. There the Red Hunter built his fire And cried his lady's name. One window faced a dreary place Where spruce-trees crowded the low sun ; Where Winter set his spotless seal On all that joy had done. And thus, not in a lordly house, I housed the dream I had of love I kept it there between four walls With a mimic sky above. And thus live I in my small room With tricks of rhyme and my sweet dream, Watching the suns of all the year Across the casement gleam. Sometime I think the walls will part And some one enter— then I 'II wake To know the room and dream were made For some real maiden's sake. HI m m i at Northland Lyrics THE WATCHER My heart is like an empty house, The hostess being gone : The halls are laughterless at noon, The beds are cold at dawn. My heart is like an empty house That has not revel there, With ashes on the hearth at night. And winds upon the stair. The glasses on the buffet stand Unused for many a day, The brazen fire-dogs grin and grin A new, forsaken way. The spiders weave along the wall The sunbeams in a thread. The echoes of old times drift by Like shadows of the dead. My heart is like an empty house With all the windows down — Save one, high in the cupola. That looks beyond the town : And ever at the window there My soul looks out to see 22 Northland Lyrics If Phillada, my heart's desire, Is coming back to me. When she comes back the fires will light — The guests will all return — The wine will fill the cups, all night The scented candles burn. The halls will glow with light of love The shadows slip away. At noon our laughter will out ring Across the golden day. LOVE'S INCLUSIONS When your lips to my hand you press Lowly, my dear one, A moment out of the daytime stress Swift-snatched, my dear one, I am a princess, and you my knight Seeking a guerdon, armed for fight, (And the palace of Love looms near one !) When we linger, while hours go by. Where woods are lonely. With garnet leaves and a mist-blue sky Dream-deep and lonely, I am a dryad that you have found 23 Northland Lyrics And fast to the life of mortals bound — (Love's bonds are his young arms only !) When your head on my shoulder lies Weary, my true heart, I am your mother with watchful eyes. Dearie, my true heart j With only a mother's passion then For the boy so weary of strife with men, — (For love has ever a new heart !) When in your sheltering arms I rest Safely, at gloaming, I am a child on its father's breast Hushed in the gloaming, With all the rapture the child-hearts know, Cradled and sung to, soft and low, — (Love's heart is the hearth for homing !) THE TOWER Thy love for me is like a tower Whe-eto from strife and storm I flee; High o.i the rock its steadfast walls Are set above the bitter sea. Within its shelter safe and dear I hear, and smiling dread no more, 24 I Northland Lyrics The mockery of the ghostly wind, The time-waves breaking on the shore. A PRAYER IN A GARDEN Where this garden's walks are strewn With the scarlet hopes of June — Poppy-petals, rose-bloom tears — Sun-dreams of a thousand years j Let me lie till time is done, Soft wrapt in dusk oblivion. Let me lie, and dream, perchance. Dim dreams of olden-time romance. Let every golden lily blow With some old tale of long ago Some lilt of swords, some song of love. Some ballad to a lady's glove. So let me sleep till time is done — Till all the varied sands are run, And Life forgets to turn the glass. And drops his jester-bells, alas ! So let me dream, till these are done, Soft wrapt in dusk oblivion. 25 jmt.. V 'i-i -r^iN "'*'" ■ V Northland Lyrics TO LILITH Behind such various vesture of strange dreams Abides my soul, I know not its true form; Nor have I faith it is the thing it seems — Now hushed in calm, now crying of the storm. Forevermore the dreams are as a veil Of strangely-wrought enchantment to my ken, Wherethrough my soul's eyes make my being quail, Or bid me wanton with my joys again. I have no knowledge of the thing it is. Whether it be of fiend or angel born, This much I know, beloved, only this : Beneath thy touch, of all its power shorn, It yields glad captive to the jov that lies Sweet on thy ruining lips and laughing eyes. AT THE LAST When all this trouble of life is past, This prating of honor and fame and sin. The cry of mv passion will find vou at last, O love, and our life will begin. 26 1 m ail, At Northland Lyrics When God has broken His colored globes And crumbling ruin is wide and far, Our love will flame through the wreck of things And build us a lovelier star. The pigmy shadows which stand and leer And rob my soul of its strength to do; The little duties which earth makes clear To hold me far from you ; The abnegations, the fears, the dooms. That immure your heart from my soul's great love ; These things will shrivel before God's eyes And fade in the fire thereof. Then through the tumult of shattering dreams, The shriek and blur of the starry tides, My love will lead you by quiet streams Where our wild joy abides. O'.'^ nps will recapture the first dear kiss, And life's long fever which burned unquenchcd Your eyes will blot from my heart forever — A brand in the wh'te Hews drenched. a; I- m I. Northland Lyrics "WINTER WARMS HIS FREEZING HAND" Winter warms his freezing hand, Bends his head and leans low down, Where the sunset fires the land Just behind the hills and town. Winter melts his freezing heart What time the screaming geese take wing And the willow-blossoms start Up and down the creeks of i* ; ring. Once I warmed this heart of mine By the light of her sweet eyes. Firing my horizon line — Firing all these Winter skies, And in dreams I scent the Spring. Dreaming still, she beckons me And with wild birds we take wing Down the creeks of mystery ; Down where willow-blossoms blow — Dreaming thus, I kiss her cheek. Waking, I can see the snow Lying cold above the creek. at Northland Lyrics A WHISPERED WORD To-night a word, a whisper, Through long, long miles there thrills. To you beside the river. From one among the hills. Above the town's sad turmoil Your listening heart shall hear The murmuring sound of alders, The whispered word of cheer ! '?J SUNSET The hearth-fire of the universe To-night burns kind and deep ; We warm ourselves before it In converse ere we sleep. For Love, the mighty builder, Makes boundless space a home ; We nestle safe and fearless, With infinite skies for dome. THE VOICES " Lonely, lonely," over the hill Wails the wind at its restless will ; Close to your shoulder my head I lean, 29 ■'•H i lit- tmm li:: I!* < ii li il Northland Lyrics No wind so sharp it can blow between : (" Only the bitter wind of death; " — Hear what the whisper saith.) Swift, surely, the ominous night Quenches the sunset's coloured light; In vour eyes the star of love is lit, — No darkest hour can banish it : (" Only the cold, cold hour of death ;" — Hear what the whisper saith.) Nay, not the darkest night can part. Or bitterest wind, true heart from heart ; Hjld me close that we hear no more The taunting voices without the door: (" Love shall be conqueror over death ! " Hear what the whisper saith.) EX UMBRIS Dear heart, the storm cries at the door, the snow is blown about the eaves. The wind from some wreck-drifted shore around my lattice window grieves. And ghosts of happier hours go by across the dark tempestuous sky. 30 11 Northland Lyrics The spruce-trees crowding up the slope toward the lonely dwelling lean, Forgetting all the songs of hope they crooned us when the fields were green ; The wailing voices of the blast mourn for the golden summers past. The firelight dancing on the wall and lighting many a pictured face, The wavering shadows quaint and tall, the carved chair by the chimney-place, Have each some wistful word to say of one beloved and far away. And yet how longing brings you near ! Just now, I almost thought I heard From out the bitter darkness, dear, your voice and that most tender word. The sweet new name you murmured low, that Autumn — was it years ago ? A shadow on the threshold stands — O love, can this be fancy too ? — With pleading lips, and outstretched hands, and those sad eyes by time proved true ! — Now gladly, faithful heart, I come to these dear arms that take me home ! § f: § i h§\ :l: ' ii: W: . f ! i Northland Lyrics IN THE NIGHT-SEASON The joy of my art And the love of my heart And the lost, lost garden of young delight, I came to these Through the shadow-trees By the gate of dreams in the night. The daytime was cold, And the world had grown old, And bitter and lonely the light of the sun, And life was chill With the dread of ill And sorrow of works undone. Came night, with its tears For the severing years, And its gift reluctant of weary sleep; And then — your hand In that clearer land. And your word for my heart to keep ! THE LAST FURROW Mellow the grapes are. Purple as gloamings that free. Yellow the corn in the husk. And scarlet the haws in the tree. 32 i 11. ■ 41 Northland Lyrics Wide winged the geese go, Swift, and crying, and crossing the stars, Foreseeing the snow. The hoar-frost lies white on the bars. This is the royal time — The partridges out of their covers — Each morning a rhyme, And the sun and the hill are as lovers. The cattle in stall — The pastures forsaken and lone — Firelight in the hall. And the thistle-seeds withered and blown. The last furrow turned. With the great moon watching all white. The oxen can rest now, For the ponds will be frozen to-night. "ON THE HILLS A GOD LIES DEAD" On the hills a god lies dead — Carl, the girdled one, With the white stars for his bed. For his shield — the sun. 33 'iir 11 Northland Lyrics Brother to the crawling wind And the sweeping snow ; With his hair adrift behind, Forehead to the foe. J'ii On the hills a god lies dead With his sword in twain : Down the East his grey soul fled With the shifting rain. Centuries it has been so Yet I knew it not — Still the hills mourn, and the snow He is not forgot. Gnarled pines in the wind rejoice — " Carl, the girdled one, Gave to us his god-like voice ; To the sky, the sun." if On the hills a god lies dead. Centuries have gone Since his soul rose up and fled From the crimson dawn. 34 Northland Lyrics TO W. C. R. The very thought of it moves me here — The thought of April coming again To our Mother St. John. Excuse this pen; And the blot there looks like a tear. How you will stand in the snow and note The first faint odour of willows in bud — The Indian-willow will flush with blood And the robin will clear his throat. The ice will swing at the brink, and flow Seaward — a hundred miles let it travel. The battered logs will hang on the gravel — The islands will strain to go. The geese will return to your hills — and the loon ; You will find themall,some day, when you wake, Trying the depths of a woodland lake Or feeding in some lagoon. A week will pass like a breath, and then Up and along the creeks I know The pussy-willows will scent and blow — The catkins will thrill again. Then you will slip from the bank and drift In your slim canoe, and her gunwale's gleam 35 M\ 1 1 Northland Lyrics Will come to me In a happy dream j And your paddle will dip and lift And speed her along, and through it all The red-bud maples will burst and lean — The swollen waters will snarl between — Then I will awake, and call And find that the valour of April and sun On our Mother St. John and the Nashwaak there Is not for me — so I '11 snufFthe air And dream how the thing is done. SOCOBIE'S PASSING Socobie, aged and bent with pain. At the time of the year when the red leaves fly Crawled from his tent door down to the river. " I will try my wrist and my skill again And sweep a paddle before I die." Time falls — the windfalls — the grey geese draw on. There is silence and peace on our Mother St. John. Socobie, once a king of his tribe, Once a lover, a poet, a man. Launched his sun-scarred craft to the river. " I will try my strength where the rapids jibe — I will run her sheer, as a master can." 36 I so 3 on. Northland Lyrics At the time of the year when the pass is blue And the spent leaf falls in the empty wood Socobie put out on the merry river ; The brown blade lifted the white canoe — The rapids shouted, the forests stood. Down in the village the hearths were bright, And the nig.ht frost gleamed in the after-grass. And the farmers were homing up from the river. When out of the star-mist, slender and white A birch craft leapt and they watched it pass. Time falls — the frost falls — the great stars draiu on. What voice cries ^'''' Far ewelV^ to our Mother St. fohn? ESTRANGED In my dreams I returned to my hills ; for the life that I left, The life of my waking, was drear as the pipe of the winds through a cleft Of the mountains of old held sacred, but long of their godhead bereft. When pitiful sleep drew I'^ar, and laid cool hands on my brow. And kind dreams led me away, where my hills, like a great ship's prow, 37 11 II Northland Lyrics Stood forth to the northern wastes, my heart remem- bers how. With the dreams I returned to my hills — and they were not the same ! Yet the winds went by as of old, and the red spruce murmured her name, And down bleak alleys of pine the sunset quivered in flame. Then I opened my heart and cried to the hills to know A touch of their ancient kinship, their solace of long ago. But the voice of the wind grew str?nge, and a hush fell over the snow. !*1 J r''' I III AUTUMN DREAM I overheard the Wind to-day Telling the Stream The tragedy of Falling Leaf And Autumn Dream ;, And when the Wind had finished it He laughed and fled. With never any thought of all He left unsaid. 38 Northland Lyrics And still the Stream went murmuring Of her own grief Without a thought for Autumn Dream And Falling Leaf. HAUNTED It is a weird that cries across black water, And in my heart there is no rest at all, But dim, unquiet dreams of ancient slaughter — Spring, Summer, Fall. Sometimes only the wind on the frosty reaches With the low cry my heart has learned to know j — But in its voice that other voice beseeches Through wind and snow. Sometimes night, with the hush and the starry glamour, Allures my feet to uplands far and lone ; Over the dark horizon drifts a clamour Of words unknown. And then I dream it is my own soul calling Through the blind urge of life's eternal deep. Across the sobbing sound of spent dreams falling On death and sleep. :r**^ i 8'.! Northland Lyrics THE WIND IN THE GARDEN A wind is astir in my garden Who spills the rose to death. I will not, will not hearken The bitter thing he saith. A sinister, strange intruder, He chills mv heart with fear; Wrecked dreams and ruined visions At his approach draw near. By the dial's menacing finger The sweet hours wither and fall, And the shadows leer and whisper Along the garden wall ; For they know the viewless stranger. With colder eyes than dawn. The rustle of whose footstep Tells me that youth is gone. AN AUTUMN NIGHT The night is like a mystic dream; Slim alders bend above the stream Wherein the last faint daylights gleam. 40 Northland Lyrics The sere autumnal meadows rise Smooth-sloping to the neutral skies; Far off the lonely night-hawk cries. The world is sad and dark the night, And I who ever loved the might Of Nature, whether dull or bright, Am lonelier, sadder, than the chill Slow stream that wanders at its will Through these grave meadows bare and still. THE WIND-CRY O weary wind, be still, be still ; Such bitter woe is in thy cry ; All the lost dreams of all the world On thy dark wings go bv. Thou voice of heart-ache, let me rest ! Lo, thou hast gathered up the tears, The sobs and manifold despairs, Of earth's unnumbered years. Art thou the voice of Nature's pain — Or bearest thou, with dawning day. The message of a lonclv heart Too many leagues awav ? 41 ?iil : 1 |!i|l » Northland Lyrics BEYOND THE YEARS The work to which his hands were set Went down with scorn and jeers ; His look grew deeper : " Even yet We '11 build — beyond the years." The vision that his faith had wrought, Touched by the bli . that sears, Fell shattered. But he said : " My thought Will live — beyond the years." The dream that in his heart had rest Wrought bitterness and tears. His eves grew tender : "Now, the quest; Then joy — beyond the years." He smiled to know his strength was gone. His eves among the spheres Saw strength and beauty at the dawn — In dreams — beyond the years. Then the Great Silence covered him Too deep for dreams or tears. Now the wind scatters at its whim His dust along the years. 42 Northland Lyrics THE WANDERER Across the lawn the leaves are shed, The roses mouldered in their bed, And where their frosty shadows spread The gaunt trees watch and sigh. * The moonlight, like a ghostly pall. Casts its weird glamour over all. Where the great house stands grim and t?ll Beneath the lonely sky. Down the long path his hurried tread Rings like a voice among the dead, While by his side a stealthy dread Glides grinning like a gnome. Her window, with a vacant stare, Gazes across the garden square. Only some marigolds are there To greet the wanderer home. -!J|| A SECRET SONG O Snow-bird, Snow-bird ! Welcome thy note when maple boughs are bare, Thy merry twitter, thy emphatic call. Like silver trumpets pierce the freezing air What time the crystal flakes begin to fall. 43 ■I i ^11 1 '•fir Northland Lyrics We know thy secret ! When the day grows dim, Far from the homes that thou hast cheered so long, Thy chirping changes to a twilight hymn. O Snow-bird, Snow-bird, wherefore hide thy song ? O Snow-bird, Snow-bird ! Is it a song of sorrow none may know. An aching memory ? Nay, too glad the note. Untouched by knowledge of our human woe. Clearly the crystal flutings fall and float. We hear thy tender ecstasy, and cry : " Lend us thy gladness that can brave the chill ; Under the splendours of the Winter sky, O Snow-bird, Snow-bird, carol to us still ! " ! ; THANKSGIVING When beechen leaves are brown And barberries bright as coral. Let us forget the frown Of fate, and the longed-for laurel. Come where the maples burn In crimson and golden glory That Earth may hold in her urn The ashes of Summer's story. 44 so g Northland Lyrics Faithless the birds depart With musical chirp and twitter, And Nature folds to her heart Alike the sweet and bitter. Then sing in Autumn's praise, Nor shrink from the colder comer ; The joy of these shining days Is deep as the bliss of Summer ; Winter in graves of snow May bury, but hide them never, For safe in our hearts shall glow The light they have brought forever. The woods, the hills, rejoice, Each leaf a mute thanksgiving; We sing with grateful voice The pure delight of living. THE FADING YEAR Now fades the year, and in the sloping fields The clustering thin ferns are misty red, And in the wood red leaves are on the sod ; And down the paths among the dusky firs. And down the shore beside the shining stream. Come ghosts of other days and walk with us. 45 Northland Lyrics Shrill pipes the wind, and all our world grows cold ; The darkness closes round us ; on the hearth The fires of home are kindled like a star. m m Old voices call us, old ideals return ; The heart of childhood in us wakes and yearns ; Grant, Lord, it falter not again nor sleep ! "!''! I'.' Mr HEIMWEH The wind is just a far-off voice Beyond the pale-blue bound of sky ; Too weak to murmur or rejoice, I watch the moments drifting by. So large the world ; and ah, so chill The great pale sky, the shining snow; The lonely wind is calling still. With a voice like human woe. i:iw: S i Now all my high ambitions fade ; The things I hoped for seem so far ; From work once loved I shrink, afraid Lest some mistake that work should mar; And all my longings turn to this : To hold my Mother's hand, to know The rest of Home, the smile, the kiss, — And let the great world go ! 46 f:£l d; Northland Lyrics SURPRISE Blind golden buds, we listened yesterday, Somewhere where winds were cool and dews were tender, To hear what older buttercups could say Of skies blue-domed above the field's wide splen- dour. To-day we bloomed, and thought from out the grass To front the sun with half-closed yellow eyes. But faced instead a white-draped toilet-glass, And opened every petal in surprise. GREETING O glad brown earth, we greet thee. Freed from the shrouding snow ! Soon shall the shadowy forests wake To starry bloom for thy dear sake, Soon where the rivulets flow The crumpled ferns their sheaths shall break, The slender rushes grow. O glad brown earth, to greet thee The skies of Spring lean low. O sad brown earth, we greet thee ! Hushed on thy mighty breast 47 if'^ Ill i' J i Northland Lyrics Thy graves lie bleak beneath the sun ; In vain the silver rivers run On their unending quest : Strange grows this life, since death has won Lips that our lips have prest. O sad brown earth, we greet thee For those who lie at rest ! i I'M ,\ . 1:1 I.i^i SPIRIT OF SPRING Spirit of Spring, draw near, draw near ! Let the glad voices of the brooks Sing anthems out of shadowy nooks, And adder-tongues appear. Bid all thy sleeping kinsfolk wake, The armies of the grass arise. White violets open fairy eyes, And crocus-flames outbreak. ; > .1 Bring hope to souls that long have lain In blank despair beside a tomb ; Let every resurrection-bloom Speak comfort unto pain. In hearts where sordid cares hold sway And world-love dulls the sacred gleam, 48 Northland Lyrics Re-wakc the longing, and the dream Of childhood's golden day. Spirit of Spring, draw near, draw near, — With leaf, and blossom, and the light Unspeakable on plain and height, High-priestess of the year ! MARCH-WAKING Before the dawn, when birds crouch close together, A voiceless silvery stir the silence breaks ; So through the greyness of this mid-March weather, Something wakes. No green has sprung between the withered grasses. No bio om stars the roadside's mossy miles. Yet from the fields the frozen bareness passes. Something smiles. Not yet, not yet the time of song's full cheering; Expectant silence all my heart entnralls ; Out of the woods and through the lonely clearing Something calls. BEYOND THE HILLS The daffodils fling far the flag of Spring, Their golden troop the garden-fortress fills, 49 ill I I I '■ Northland Lyrics And bird-throat bugles greet the days that bring The daffodils. Over the hills the Summer comes at last ; But sad the light and sad the laughing rills, And sad the golden flowers — since he has passed Beyond the hills. FROiM THE EARTH From the earth our bodies came ; From the sad brown whirling earth, Knowing death, though not by name, From the hour of their birth. From the earth our bodies came. And they shall return to earth. To the earth they shall return. To a sod kept green with tears, — Lips that sing and hearts that yearn. Stilled at last from doubts and fears. To the earth they shall return. The brown earth kept sad with tears. From the earth they shall arise Purified and strong and free, 50 ^g issed Northland Lyrics All of worth that here they prize Made their own eternally ; When from earth they shall arise Purified and strong and free. THE SHOOTING OF THE MOOSE All day through woodland stillnesses Of weighted fir and spruce We 've followed on our springing shoes The blood-trail of the moose, And now the moon swings clear, and black The shadows fall across our track. ■, I All day above the crunching snow Pierre and Dick and I, With lust of blood, have sped along To see the great moose die. And now the night has come, and dim The spectral drifts wreathe after him. We shot him at the cabin door ; The whisky-jacks cried shrill. And when the smoke moved up I saw The hemlocks waiting still — The ancient spruces bending low To his brave blood across the snow. II III «■ ^^F f h Northland Lyrics Yea, brave his blood as yours or mine And fit for better skill. The devil's luck, Pierre ! I know^ The sights were fixed to kill. To-night a bull-moose, plunging, dies Beneath the comfortless, wide skies. .6 1 ■■■•;( i OLAF'S BOWiMAN Here is a rocky cave ; "Where else could be fitter grave For Wolfgof, Olaf's bowman, Flower and soul of the brave. Asleep on the rocky floor He can hark to the ocean's roar, And dream that the Vikings muster Where the black tides tramp the shore. Here in his Viking bed, With his bow and spear at his head. He will hark to the voice of the wind And forget, for a while, he is dead. The waves will reel o^ ' >hore, And the seaweeds wi over his dc r. And he'll lie with hib hea i on his helmet And his brave soul dreaming of war. Northland Lyrics When the brazen trumpet of doom Shatters the gladness and gloom, Wolfgof, bowman of Olaf, Will rise like a prince from his tomb. THE SHADOWY TIDE ♦ Through the wide white streets of the little town The bitter tide comes stealing down ; The night is astir with the wings of woe, The shadows creep and cower low At the creak of the frosts in the frozen snow — And the aching tide drifts down. The women and children will wake and sleep. And the days will creep, and the days will creep. And the silent tide flood full and deep, And a shiver creep over hearth and kin. And the gibbering shadows dance and grin Till they fold us in, till they fold us in. And we feel the chill of that shadowy tide Which is cooling the world, and far and wide Is surging up to the stars outside. And in that day when the tide shall break And the fulness of pain shall all pain slake And the little city its rest shall take From the long toil of life, 53 It ■f i ! i ' I [ » Northland Lyrics The strong man out of his sleep will wake, From dreams of child and wife, To find his hair and his beard washed grey With the bitter spume of the frozen spray, And the dust at his lips that he may not pray. I feel it cold at my heart to-night ; It creaks the stair and dims the light, — A frozen breath before my sight. TO AN OLD SHIP'S FIGURE-HEAD You tasted the brine through the Viking years, And gazed wide-eyed on the lifting flood. With the measureless song of the sea in your ears Her pulse in your blood. And now from the corner of this old room You gaze wide-eyed at the curtain'd wall. Where the wood-lice tick all day in the gloom. And the shadows crawl. Behind that forehead, all brown and scarred. Do dreams of the wind-mad sea still move ? Dream on, for the harbor mouth still is barred 'Twixt you and your love ! 54 Northland Lyrics INSCRUTABLE Her gold hair, fallen about her face. Made light within that shadowy place, But on her garments lay the dust Of many a vanished race. Her deep eyes, gazing straight ahead. Saw years and days and hours long dead, While strange gems glimmered at her feet. Yellow, and green, and red. And ever from the shadows came Voices to pierce her heart like flame. The great bats fanned her with their wings. The voices called her name. \ But yet her look turned not aside From the black deep where dreams abide. Where worlds and pageantries lay dead Beneath that viewless tide. Her elbow on her knee was set. Her strong hand propt her chin, and yet No man might name that look she wore. Nor any man forget. 55 '."wr ^iif ! 'i i : < \m\ I f:" ir Northland Lyrics HAROLD Up from the trodden sands lift his red plume ; Shoot his maimed stallion, and sheathe his red sword ; Bury him there where the cliffs make a gloom And the cedars hang desolate over the ford. Helmet and cuirass and scabbard of steel, Gauntlets and top-boots and clatter of spur, — Dumb now the clashing from thigh-bone to heel, And harmless as dragon-fly mocking them there. Such a great fight there will never be more ; Harold alone there, with pistols and sword. Shooting them down where they rode to the shore, Cutting them down where they rode from the ford ; Twenty long minutes he held it, and then. Shouting, came down from the pass overhead ; He turned in his saddle to cheer on his men. And the grey rocks that saw it were spattered with red. Bury him there where the waters swing by, And the gloom of the mountain hangs over the ford ; With his feet to the rock and his face to the sky. And the grip of his hand on the hilt of his sword. 56 i ! ** ■MM Northland Lyrics Bury him there where the winds in the pass Will cry him the dirges the sere cedars know. No tear will awake him of comrade or lass, Where we leave him to dream in the grass and the snow. Only the flare of his singing red plume Like the flag of a hero will challenge the ford, Till the last great " To horse ! " will blare over his tomb. And he '11 lead us again with his hand on his sword. GREY GARRY Grey Garry stood in the dusky stall — Grey Garry, dapple-grey Garry. He heard the birds, and the wind's footfall ; He heard the sparrows flutter and call, Where the soft lights flush and tarry. He raised his head from the scented hav — He drew his lips from the yellow grain. For down the cool of the ending day He heard his laughter again. Nay, Grey Garry, 't was but a dream — The wind gone daft or the trees unstrung. Nay, dear horse, it was but a trick Of the Summer-wind, who is ever young. 57 fmr > I iii, \l Northland Lyrics The writer sat in his lamp-lit room — Weary and sad the writer. He heard the wind in the outer gloom — It held a tang of the woodland bloom, As it did when the world was brighter. He lifted his eyes from the scribbled proofs ; He dropped the pen from his weary hand, For somewhere he heard the clatter of hoofs — Galloping hoofs through a Summer land. Nay, good writer, 't was but a dream — The wind gone daft or thy nerves unstrung. Nay, dear boy, it was but a trick Of the Summer-wind, who is ever young. SMOKE-WREATHS These fading smoke-wreaths hold them all — The dawns and dreams gone by. The lights and shadows on the wall. The gleams of open sky. And all the vague, elusive things That haunt the halls of life With sense of vast o'ershadowing wings And rumourings of strife. How this small bowl of ruddy fire Can people all the room S8 Northland Lyrics With strangers from the realm Desire, Beyond the gulfs of Doom, Till all about me in the dusk The silence is astir With gleam of steel and breath of musk And frankincense and myrrh, While dream, adown the shifting breath Of myth and love and war, Lures from the hollow vault of death Wild hearts that beat no more ; And Roland's bugle, through the night Sends forth its far weird fall Where weltering and dense the fight Goes over Roncevalles. Joan of Arc, and Heloise, Swan Helen, fatal star, And Dante's deep-eyed Beatrice Go through the dusk afar ; King Arthur of the weary quest, Excalibur in hand. Flashes, where 'er is sorest prest His lion-hearted band ; •WIT f " I i;; ItH. Northland Lyrics The joy of battle fierce and strong Drifts through the deathly bars While clash and swing of sword and song Clang up among the stars, And strange wild sagas of the North Pulse fire through all my veins As where across the sky go forth The Weird Light's shaken skeins i Then slowly, as my pipe burns low Enchantments pale and fade, Till, in the ash of long ago The last dear ghost is laid. ii-li if; m .1 :i!; ^'■^';iiil THE DEEPS In mind's subconscious waters black and vast On which thought's lifting laboured spans are cast What blind germs wait the mystic touch at last. There, teeming, blind, below the coasts of dream. The pregnant voiceless currents drift and stream. With doom and dread and rapture in their gleam. With here, — to bloom when I shall touch your hand, — Through bourneless darkness drifting for no strand, A scarlet magic seed from some far land. 60 I i } I i -in Northland Lyrics And here, survivors from old worlds undone, Strange thought-germs latent till a fiercer sun Shall thrill them u^ith eternity begun. Valours and visions, impulse, dream, and strife. Old ethnic currents through the core of life, — With these the gravid sunless deeps are rife. BEFORE THE GATE A snow-swirl from the bitter blast of life, A wavering flame before the winds of death, A soul beat upward toward the feet of God. With blind desire he battered against space. And with the heartache of a child come home He shook with anguish at the frozen door. Sealed with the freezings of oblivion The looming shadowy gates of God's abode In awful silence stirred not to his cry. And then a voice woke very far away - Saying, " You may not win to that pure light Wherein the fulness of all joy abides " Till you have won its shadow upon earth, That white and strangest of all mysteries. The perfect wonder of a woman's love." 6i Northland Lyrics The grey and aching vision of the gate Wavered before him. With unuttered cry He shivered outward where the darkness leered. |i|f in ■ I i'i-' \m THE LOUP-GAROU The song I heard at the river's bend, Mellowed across the foaming " rip," That night in June when my pulses stirred To the dream my heart let slip, — This is all I remember now When the bees come back to the linden bough. The song I heard and the face I saw While through the dusk I loping sped Like some grey wraith the winds might draw Across the sunset's red ; — This is all I remember now When June has sweetened the linden bough. I heard her scream as I passed the door, — The low log doorway where she stood ; — It blended and passed with the rapid's roar As I plunged through the hollow wood ; And my heart grows wild with the memory now When the bees are back on the linden bough. 62 Northland Lyrics ed. Fierce gods who made me half man, half brute, Why add this bitter last touch to my pain ? Am I less than the reddening willow-shoot You soothe in the white spring-rain ? Yet me you torture to madness now With the bloom and the bees on the linden bough. gh. low i. KATHALEENA Kathaleena ! Kathaleena ! Through the green, bird-haunted valley, Through the brook-bright, windy meadow, Through the dim mysterious forest, All the birds are calling thee ; All the brooks their voices rally. Shout thy name through sun and shadow. Cry, " Bring back the light thou borest From our fields, Astorc Machree" ! Kathaleena! Kathaleena! Kathaleena ! Kathaleena ! In the land where now thou strayest Have the sombre hills grown brighter, Have the birds a richer singing. Since thy lovely soul is there ? Surely, surely skies the greyest. Hearts the saddest, must grow lighter, 63 ! ! I i ' f,Wii..« il' ti!?|{i Northland Lyrics Where thy tender voice is, bringing Blessed dreams and visions fair. Kathaleena ! Kathaleena ! Kathaleena ! Kathaleena ! Ah return to those who call thee, Come once more to us who wander Through the ways thou leavest lonely, Vales that wait for love and thee : Let no stranger-lands enthrall thee. Dream no foreign hearts are fonder Than the heart that longs for only Thy low voice. Ah come, Machree ! Kathaleena ! Kathaleena ! ROSEMARIE Rosemarie plays in the firelight's blaze. Her shadow is dark on the wall. Her eyes are dim with a dream of him ; (Ah how the storm-winds call.) He will come to-night in the storm's despite,- (Dark is the woodland way), — She hears the beat of his horses' feet. In her heart there is holiday. 64 ' ;■ ' .1!!' Northland Lyrics More rich, more clear, as the hour draws near. The clangorous keys rejoice ; In her jubilant heart such thoughts upstart, And music finds them a voice. Of those eyes she dreams where the love-light gleams Warm as the heart of June, On her lips the while the slow sweet smile Grows glad with the golden tune. What the white storm hides in its drifting tides Will the eyes of dawn betray ? The cold wind calls from the mountain walls, Dark is the woodland way. Ah sweet, dream on till the night is gone And the tender hope is dead ; In those dearest eyes the death-chill lies, There is snow on that shining head. HIS WHIM Because his dream was fair, His life not so, He turned from his despair, To go. Because his light was dim. The night so wide, 6s IHili 'SHij Northland Lyrics He yielded to his whim And died. But when his heart had rest Beneath the sod There came to him this test From God : The one he loved in vain To where he slept Came through the Autumn rain, And wept. Then all his fancied peace Returned to strife ; He groaned for his ielease To life. AFTER Though Death has claimed my dust For the earth's need, Lent me a while on trust By flower and seed ; Though Failure clutched me in His iron hand With that old look and grin I understand ; 66 ■li Northland Lyrics They neither can annul Nor make accurst The light that through my skull Sifts still, as first It did, when in my eyes (Which now are none) It woke some dear surmise Of joy begun. And those black frosts that stir In the deep wood Told me without demur That life was good. TO THE LORD OF THE YEARS This rolling sea of stars Is dust before Thy breath Whose pleasure makes or mars The halls of life and death. Thy least desire is heard Beyond the vasts of space, And being's core is stirred At turning of Thy face. 67 ^^WPr I ; m fi .;■ 1:' il Northland Lyrics The cycles of earth's years Are phases in Thy dream Unblurred by drift of tears. Untouched of shade and gleam. Yet of Thy will we are, And children of Thy word With every sun and star, With every flower and bird. Then grant we may not fail From out Thy vision vast When life's strong warders quail Before death's icy blast : But may we still aspire To things unknown, unguessed, More near the heart's desire Than this poor body's quest. TOASTS Gentlemen ! comrades and friends, We '11 forget our short purses, long woes- We '11 all fill with port to the brim. For I have some toasts to propose. The ladies — old sweethearts and new — The girls whom we once loved, and now : 68 Northland Lyrics Marie of the glowing gold hair And Lalage of the white brow ; Celeste, who was married last week, Blithe Nell, whom I 'd marry to-day If she would write " Yes " to my prayer And the papers would give me more pay ; The shoppiiig-mad girls of New York — The ladies of old Acadie — The girls who are dearest to you And the girl who is dearest to me. Next ! The ladies whose love is true love — Not a bubble, to break at a whim — Our Mothers ! God bless them ! and here 's Their health, to the stem from the brim. Next ! The pens that we shake at the world And butter our bread with — buv wine — Your pen, and your pen, and your pen. And your pen, and Will's pen, and mine. They have stuck to us through '97, And brought no more joy than gold-plate : If we work for the things that we dream of They will stick to us through '98. 69 Northland Lyrics And last ! with a clinking of glasses Here 's each to the hearts of the others, And we swear, by the pen and the ink-pot, To scribble, stay poor, and be brothers. ti^ iilr BEFORE THE DUEL \_London. lyjO-l To-night I am alone in my own chair Before the fire that good Janette has lit — To-morrow, ere the sun is in the east, I, who love life, will be all done with it. And so the thoughts that I have long hel ■ down, Of homely Dev on and the mother-face. Come surging bac.: across my stricken soul, And all these yiiars of ink and town erase. I know how tears will fill the mother-eyes. How agony will chill her heart's soft beat. When John takes up the news in Monday's mail Of death, behind Paul Rober's, in Grub Street. O God, is this reward for all her love ? That I should cause her grief, because a girl Who has no heart, nor soul, nor any good. Has set me at Lord Clare with her lip's curl ? 70 f : ■■ 3t, down, se. :at, 's mail I Street. I girl 5 curl ? Northland Lvrics I, who love life, and have my work to do, And joy to take, and little gift of rhyme. Will leave it all for honour, at one thrust. Before St. Paul's can see the dear sun climb. O honour, let me curse the shape you take — And love ! I see a lady smile next week; What matters it to her if he is dead Who but this morning kissed her glowing cheek r So here am I in my familiar chair. And, else Clare slip, I sit for my ^ast time. Good-night, thou dear, far Devon — mother-face — Good-night, poor laughter, finery, and rhyme. THE NOVICE O soul above my soul, Who art myself and more — The dream God gives to guide From door to door, — By thy averted brow And wistful, grieved disdain Teach thou this crying heart To conquer pam. When hungry passions wake Wild tears within mv breast .71 I I wmm i ! II Northland Lyrics The lifting of thine eyes Stills them to rest. My eager hands would grasp Desires fond and vain ; On the far hills a voice Wakes to restrain. O thou unnamed, austere, Make strong thy tyranny, That I may never more Long to be free j Else let my spirit go. Unconscious of a choice, Blov/n on by shifting winds. Deaf to thy voice, Until my life goes by In jcys more sharp than pain, A core of wild sweet fire And April rain. AT THE HEART'S CRY Till the black-crimson petals of that night Drew down to the gold vortex of strange dreams My soul and body, wearied of the fight 72 IS ' Northland Lyrics Of far ideals and clashing fierce desires, I was as one str ick blind by life's sweet light And deafened by a myriad singing fires. So was I glad when night's deep velvet rose Closed over me and hid me from myself; As on my northern hills the first soft snows From grey skies brooding like an angel's wing, Compassionate, where the last lorn maple glows, Blot out all sad remembrances of Spring. iEons it seemed the changing dreams went by Sphinx-like, or smiling-eyed, or dim with tears. While ages died along sleep's shaken sky Where flashing lights of f.r-off battles streamed And wind-swept clamors beat their way on high Then fell on silence — and I knew I dreamed. And then, across black solemn pools of fate, Was it some cry o:' your wild heart to mine That fading left the whole world desolate And me sob-shaken with a vain desire. As one who beats against a granite gate On marshlands icudv in the sunset's fire ? 73 r^W" iiJ: I ! k ill iff illl Northland Lyrics ALIEN Whom the great goddess once has kissed Between the brows His heart shall find no dwelling-place Wherein to house. The ragged mists shall be his roof Where mountains loom, And swirling winds about his face With words of doom ; The valleys when he walks therein Are kind and warm, Yet ever drift across his soul Strange gusts of storm. If weary, he shall stop beside An opened door, Dreaming, "This hearthstone is my goal. To wend no more." A tumult as of snows adrift Shall fill his ears. His heart-strings feel the old-time lure Adown the years. 74 Northland Lyrics And he shall turn from that warm light With still regret That dreams were made not to endure, — Nor to forget. AT TWILIGHT Out of the dusk, wind-blown and thin, The shadowy woodboats gather in. And twilight hushes the harbor's din, — Sleep, little head, on my shoulder. The gold lights wake through the evening grey In the little village beside the bay, And a few cold stars gleam far awav, — Sleep, little head, on my shoulder. The sailor turns his face once more Where his sweetheart waits at the opened door. The lone light washes the wave-swept shore, — Sleep, little head, on my shoulder. Here where the dancing shadows swarm Our driftwood fire is bright and warm j Beyond our window wakes the storm. Then sleep, little head, on my shoulder. 75 WW I II! Iti if! 'i Northland Lyrics SLUMBER-SONG Hushed, hushed the night comes, Day's cares are ended, Put by your heavy thoughts, Rest, dusk-befriended ; Softly my voice shall weave White webs of sleep. Soothing you, folding you, Peaceful and deep ; Doubt shall fade, pain shall flee Discord, and fear, — Just your love murmuring Low at your ear ; Respite and comforting Soul-deep, profound. Come while I build your sweet Palace of sound ; Gold through your drowsy brain Star-visions gleam. While my song makes for you Dim walls of dream ; Hushed, hushed the night comes. Heart-pangs are ended. Peace shall encompass you. Slumber-befriended ; 76 if 1 i Northland Lyrics Fear not, for love is near Ne'er to depart, O thou long-tried and true, Heart of my heart ! BERCEUSE All pain, all sorrow, seem to fall Behind us infinitely far. What time the sleepy robins call At Twilight's dusky bar. Lay down your head upon my breast, O rosy nephew golden-curled ; Boys, birds, and flowers hush to rest, So weary grows the world. As slowly as the branches wave. Singing, I rock you to and fro ; So tune be glad, if words are grave The baby will not know. Far off and faint the chirpings sound. Pale lights gleam out through dark'ning blue, Soft arms of silence fold us round. As mine are folding you. 77 I 1 11 Northland Lyrics /i 1 1* III ! ■ {{ Small voice that twitters like the birds, Grey eyes that hold the light of stars, Too sleepy we for tune or words ; Let down the dreamland bars ! THE GARDEN A fairy lamb as white as snow Through all your dreams shall come and go, And you shall follow where he leads, Through dusk-deep woods and blossomy meads. To where a little garden stands Laid out for you by fairy hands. Set round with red-coned tamarack, — Four walls to keep the great world back, — With lovely avenues, whose shade From eglantine and spruce is made. With oread ferns in shady spots. And shoals of blue forget-me-nots, With rows of crimson hollyhocks, And columbine, and spicy stocks. And other, fairer blossoms known To folk of childlike heart alone, — • The yellow lily whose romance Grew not on any field of France, One white, ethereal immortelle From those lost woods we loved so well, 78 Northland Lyrics And that Blue Rose whose petals gleam So richly by the paths of dream ! O Baby, let your wee hands keep Some flowers when you come back from sleep. THE MEN OF MY HEART'S DESIRE Where are the men of my heart's desire ? Of the British blood and the loyal names ? Some are North, at the home hearth-fire. Where the hemlock glooms and the maple flames, And some are tramping the old world round For the pot of gold they have never found. Oh, leal are the men of my heart's desire — Their fathers were leal in the days gone by — And their blood is blithe with the subtle fire The purple breeds, and their hearts are high, — Poor, and gallant, and dear to me. With a strong hand each, and a pedigree. Good men are bred in the East and the West, And ripe, true gentles in Boston town. But the men of my blood to my blood seem best — Who still hold the honour of Mitre and Crown. Though empty their cellars and worn their attire. These are the men of my heart's desire. 79 .%. i> %. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) /> :/. f/. :/> ^ a 1.0 I.I ;riM IIIIIM 12.0 1.8 m U£ 1.25 1.4 1.6 -• 6" — ► V] <^ /i /a s-%.:"^' / (Pi y -^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. M580 (716)673-4503 4,