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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 fiim6s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film6 it partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'imagps ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^IIIWPM^' [ THE McMASTER MUSE: t P0^ma SELECTED FROM "THE McMASTER UNIVERSITY MONTHLY. T »' jfor private Circulation. MAY, 1894 TORONTO: WILLIAM BRIGGS, WESLEY BUILDINGS. Hi6 152730 V i CONTENTS. V SO XX El TifK Xhjmt-Bloomini; Ckkbus Hkartskask . ArTl'MN . D.VKKNKSS AM) DaWN KVKMNn . TlIK Pk AIR IKS Srx.sKT . TwiLroiiT XlGHT . XJoRNlNiJ A VVkki'ini; Willow in (^ri Alma Matkr . Is TlIKRK A KrIKND? TlIK Sin Fame AfKDE ICi s. MSHY (Jk.mktkk PAGE 7 8 *} 10 1) ]2 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2() 21 22 cm IV Contents. VVoNDKR .... A Wayside Ruin . June .... The Sea Undine . O LovE-iJT Heart Sea Fo(} .... In the Mayflower Copsk The Nkjiitingalk . The Vast, Kternal ! . Undek the Bhe<"hkh OTHER POEMS To Poesy . . . The Pahsin(j of the Laitieate Fairy Glen . . . . Winter Mar hod's Oratio ad Dominum Christmas Morn . rh Knvra Iv xpi^~^> (TvvearyKev . In the Bay .... Shadow Sprites . My Sister .... A VlRAOK 24 25 20 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 .34 37 3« 40 42 43 45 46 48 50 Contents. V . A Birthday in Hkavkn Skater and Wolvks Playmates The Pkri'j.kxed Poet . Now, AND Then . Secret Sin . The Perspective of Years The MAKiMi ok the Niohti The Pantheist The Telephone 61 avrf/c aTroOavtn' in /a/ie? Love and Music . The Frost-Kino . Celeste Lcmiere . My Ain Land Quest Bunyan . To T. T. Recoonition . Ben Shalom . (tod's Paintin*! Resentment . Nt. Old Year, I love thy waning grace ; All thy dear days in patterns fair were wrought," I cried, as boding fears my heart distraught. "Perchance this stranger, with the veiled face. Brings to my portion sorrow-burdened days, Whose weight shall crush my cherished hopes to naught." This, midnight's mood ; but dawn saw the young year Robe soft the scarred old earth in sparkling white, Till pure and fresh it smiled with promise bright. Then hope's glad chime rang out the knell of fear, And life's fair future hid the past from view. "Farewell, Old Year, true hearts must greet the New." Eliza P. Wells. • \ Evening 11 /lit EVENING. All d.vy the lake baa j)lained upon the sand, Flashing with whitening wings adown the beach, And, like a yearning soul that lacketh speech, Finding itself cast on a foreign strand ; Has beckoned from the blue with snow-white hand That ever seemed for treasure new to reach, Or, all unheedeil, some lost joy l)eseech From the still summer sky and dreaming land. ear e. w >» ' But now the day dejjarts, and all the West Ablush like .some deep-hearted vermeil rose Whereon a single lustrous dew-drop glows. Breathes on the tossing wave and brings it rest, Till, like a weary child with tear-flushed cheek And gentle sigh, the waters sink to sleep. Eliza P. Wells. 12 The McMaster Muse. THE PRAIIUES. Fai'-stretching earthy seas ye seein that wave Your wreathing billows to the western skies : Your flowerets multi-formed of myriad dyes, Seem stars sea-shadowed that your Maker gave The mariner, to cheer and brightly pave His wandoring through the trackless deep. There rise Your solid breakers ; and between them lies, Deep green, an ocean's trough or dim-sunned cave. Afar your surge sinks to eternal calm ; Silent, soul-tilling, intinite, sublime : > " In vain, "deep calleth unto deep"; I Am Hath stilled, transfixed thee, ere all time — Creative brooding o'er thy wastes — hath said "Be still I until the sea gives up its dead." B. VV. N. Griog. I J. Sunset. 13 n SUNSET. Tlie sJuuUnrs of the evening are stretched o)it. An Adria of clouds yon sunset world ! There azure breakers fall on silvery isles, There crimson lightnings shoot up fr IS THERE A FRIEND? Is there a friend ? one who may ken my heart, The inner surge and swell, the pulsing pain, The swelling tumult and the calm again, Who will not break the secret I impart? Is there a friend ? in all the feigned array, One sweet and sacred— where my faith may bide— A bosom where my fevered head may hide — Who will not spurn nie in the weaker day ? Is there a friend? t fear, I hesitate, ' " "They seek their own," suspicion crouching cold Lies grim below. I fear the beck and nod Of fawning friends whose soul is sad ingrate. Man cannot long a loving friendship hold. Be thou my constant friend, "strong Son of God !" 0. G. Langford. • > 20 The McMaster Muse. THE SUN. O goklcu glory, banner of the world I L()n<{ hast thou known the searching gaze of man. Yet never, through thy history's unknown span, Hast paled thy lustre nor thy splendors furled. " i! Pi Earth shows her beauty 'neath thy brightening rays j^nd thrills man's soul anew with love and light. The lily pale and "glowing violet" By thy bright aid appease our longing gaze. Without thee Earth were blank. But yet untold Thy greatest mission ; for as, with shaded eye And timid brow, the Moon doth thee unfold, So thou, abashed, dost point to higher sky Where dwells th}' source, a brighter Sun, unfelt Save by those who in God's pure light have knelt. H. McNeill. ^ » . t i. in. '8 Fame. 21 FAME. T looked, and far upon ,a mounti\in height ''Mid spk^idor rare of brilliant beauty cold, I saw a luring crown of flaming gold Girt round with crags and peaks in garments white. Could I but gain yon crown I Climbing I might. I climb the steep and rugged pathway bold, Till in my eager grasp the crown I hold ; Then down I look far through the fading light. '!' Lo, all the way was strewn with wrecks of those Who, toiling ever uj)ward for the same, Had perished, falling there amid the snows. T climbing over them had gained the crown. And thus, when we would seek to make a name, God only knows what hopes we trample down. John V. Vickert. i, 22 The McMaster Muse. i ■ti '«'■{ ACEDE. By sleeping mere, by winding murmurous stream, VVhicli through the whispering reeds doth slowly steal, Where all day long weird tones in stillness peal, And stands the heron ever in a dream ; In shady wood, where playful sun-shafts gleam And drowsy insect-hum makes spirit reel And totter to oblivion, J feel A Presence strange and all things only seem. O Muse, thy radiant form divine reveal I Why e'er in witching wantonness dost veil Thy beauty's grace? For once thy burning glance Transfixed me, and, O ecstasy I didst seal My spirit's eyes, — since, with wild longing pale, I follow thee as ever in a trance. H. T. DeWolfe. (• Wonder. 23 WONDER. As speeding years were told, I came to know The wings of boyish wonder weaker grown ; The phantom cIoikIh were only mists wind-blown, Eve*s sheaf of golden-shafted light a show, — And oriflambs of dawn, and iris-bow ; The mystery of tides and stars was flown, Tnb rose was clay, and life itself was known — A bud whose secret was about to blow. Again down through the gates of God to me Swift wings each strange new day, and my soul wakes At dusk aglow with awe-gleams morning gave, — So living light hid in the leaden sea, When boding darkness broods resplendent breaks In stars and suns from out the bursting wave. T. H. R. 24. TJie McMaster Muse. • A WAYSIDE RUIN. A ruin quaint with purple liv.!ieiis stained And open wide to salt winds rough with rain, O'er whose uncindered hearth have waxed and waned -- A thousand niooas yoked to the crested main ; %, Whose leaning walls are propt with clinging vines, Whose o'ergrown garden walks e'en yet disclose Stalks of sweet briar and soft- winged columbines, — A scene to stir the calmest mind's repose I , Ah, this was once a Home of trustful hearts. Mother- and father-love were here unsealed, Children's bright laughter blent with passing tears. And the sweet ministries that love imparts Found here alone their blessed balms which healed. Alas, what stroke fell here in long dead years ? T. H. R. i June. I » r 25 i -% JUNE. Now weave the winds to music of June's lyre Their bowers of cloud whence odorous blooms are flung Far down the dells and cedarn vales among, — See, lowly plains, sky-touched, to heaven aspire ! Now flash the golden robin's plumes with fire, The bobolink is bubbling o'er with song. And leafy trees, loolian harps new-strung, Murmur far notes blown from some starry choir. My heart thrills like the wilding sap to flowers. And leaps as a swolii brook in summer rain Past meadows green to the great sea untold : O month divine, all fresh from falling showers, Waft, waft from open heaven thy bdlm for pain, Life and sweet Earth are young, God grows not old I T. H. R. I 26 The McMaster Micse. /" 1 1 I- i; ii THE SEA UNDINE. Exquisite thing soft cradled by the tide, Sprung not from lathe or wheel or human wit, Wonder of whorls which touch the infinite, Frail shallop of some brave undine's white bride ! Within, the smooth and sheeny walls are dyed With the pure pink of autumn dawns alit ; Without, with stories of the deep o'er-writ, — How fairy slight the thunderous seas to ride ! The massy tides gride over reef and ledge, And sudden waves from fell Euroclydon Dash to swift death the sailor in the Bay ; ■ But this, all lipt with pearl, and on the edge Of doom — the fingers of a babe might slay — Sleeps in the stressful surge at Blomidon. T. H. R. Minas Basin. ' i- " Ji ■ ' 'i. fi „....,&. Love-lit Heart. 27 O LOVE-LIT HEART ! [au revoik.] love-lit heart, my laureate of the night, Unchiding, though the clouds veil deep the stars ! - Thy heavenly patience evermore debars. With angel pleadings, every path of flight By which my tempted soul would leave the height ; Thy earnest voice has accent caught from Mars — Nay, not from him, but One who bears the scars Of conflict sore, whose brows are crowned with light. Now are the bridals of the leafy wood, O'er dusky brooks the golden sunbars fall, • Birds fan the moonbeams in the balmy dark- Look me ! the banners of the Holy Rood Shake in the bpttle's roar ; sweet duty's call Wings all my spirit like a soaring lark. July. T. H. R. ■\ i '1 28 The McMaster Muse. SEA FOG. Here danced an hour ago a sappliire sea ; Now, airy nothingness, wan spaces vast, Pale draperies of the formless fog o'ercast, - And wreathed waters gray with mystery I The ship glides like a phantom silently, As screams the white-winged gull before the mast; Weird elemental shapes go flitting past. Which loom as giant ghosts above the quay. The vapor lifts ! Again the sea gleams bright ; The heavens have hid within their chambers far Cloud-stuff of gossamer, from which are spun To-morrow's skyey pomps inwove with light, The belted splendors for the rising sun, And rosy curtains for the evening star. T. H. R. C A „ h V « /;/ the Mayflower Copse. 29 IN THE MAYFLOWER COPSE. With gladsome note the robin debf)nair Heralds bright May. Pale sky and earth-stained snow Warm at the touch of south winds as they blow Their wafts of life through Winter's lingering air. Hid, like some laughing child, shy MayHower"*^ fair. Beneath thy leafy shield, with face aglow. Thy pearly self the coy Spring's tirst tableau, Come to the day and yie'd thy fragrance rare ! Ah me 1 while thrushes pipe and plumy winds Fan northward all their balm}' fervors sweet, And groves are misty with the reddening bud, A gentle spirit from the past unbinds The peace of Lethe, and with quickening beat Stirs to divine unrest my fevered blood. T. H. R. The Trailinj,' Ailnitus. 30 The McMaster Muse. i THE NIGHTINGALE. r/pof (lyye'koi; Ifxepdcjuovog ar)(^u)v. — Sappho. O seraph bird who on God's altar- stuirs Dost ring, in showers of silver peals, thy bells Of song which ceaseless flows like dropping-wells, And sprinkles all the dusk with holy prayers ! O welkin glad, shot through and through with song, As upward springs the spirit tipt with iiame ! 'Tis not to Itys dead nor Dian's shame These joy-pangs witli their hint of tears belong. The life which pulses in the bursting year A thousand choirs hymn on the sunlit globe ; But, lest the living flame to ashes turn, Thou, in the voiceless night, O priestly seer, Interpreter of nature, tak'st thy robe. And fil!''-' wiili vocal fire the sacred urn. T. H. R. '- f {,'-., The Vast, Eternal I 31 \\i 'igi THE VAST, ETERNAL! The Vast, Eternal 1 these are living bread To feed imagination all divine ; Yet dotli the hihoring soul by l)oundary lino Mark otf the infinite in thought, — thus tied. Forever doth the universal wed The limited, that so it may detine And tell itself in characters that shine — Like throbbing stars through boundless azure sped. .\\ , As rising waves, rich jewelled by the sun. In movement link their brilliants each to each^ And flash their glories in one crest of light^ E'en 80, unveiling, the Eternal One Did show Himself by s.igns and glimmering speech, ^ Then flashed in Christ His love-lit glory bright. T. H. R. 32 The McMaster Muse. I I f UNDER THE BEECHES. The Sibyl's speech breaks from these leafeii lips, Moved by soft airs from shadowy spaces blown : "We rear these giant ))(>les amid eclipse, We workmen die, the work abides alone." The day has met the night beneath the sky, And the hot earth put off its robe of flame ; Sweet peace and rest come with the night-bird's cry, Sweet rest and peace the herald stars proclaim. . . . 'Tis very heaven to taste the wells of sleep. The founts of supersensuous repose ! . . . The Sibyl's rune still murmurs on the breeze, The purple night falls thick about the trees, And blessed stars, like lilies, white and rose, . Burst into bloom on Heaven's far azure deep. Auqud. T. H. R. ;^" To Poesy 83 . \ OTHER POEMS. ry, . , TO POESY. I envy not the sordid clown v/ho drives His callous ploughshares through thy purple meads, — Who in his sheaves sees all the breath of lives, And counts that nothincj worth that n(»thini; feeds. He better loves the lowing of his kine, That in their stalls are fattening for the mart, Than the strm The moon's light shimmered on a group who bare Upon a bier the figure of a knight Who had broke lance in field and tournament From Camolot to Windsor's palaces, Yet never tarnish diiniiicd his shining blade. Upon the violet and white and rose The queens spread out the garlands that they bore, And as the mourners laid him at their feet, The three fair women broke into a song : - ** Do they call our warrior dead? Is there weeping on the shore Know they not for such as he Death is life for evermore ? " Never truer knight wo knew, Had we sought one, vain the quest ; Love and Truth and Purity Guard him to the promised rest. 36 ' . The Ale Master Muse. " Larger life and broader view Shall our King bestow on him ; Eye to scan the star-i^enimed blue, Thought to pierce the utmost rim, *' Where far islands Hoat the bloom Of the broad-browed gracious trees, Where the light of former days Glimmers on the golden seas." But as the white boat glided- o'er the mere The song grew fainter, and I only heard The lap of waters breaking at my feet. And lonely whispers of the midnight wind. Irene Elder Morton. Fairy Glen. 37 „ FAIRY GLEN. ' / Hid in the virgin wilderness, The fretted Conwiiy's Fniry Glen This summer day reveals its charms For painter's brush or poet's pen. The air is flecked with night and day, The ground is tiger-dust and -gold, The rocks and trees, enipearled in haze, A soft and far enchantment hold. The place is peopled with shy winds Whose fitful plumes waft dewy balm From all the wildwood, and let fall An incommunicable calm. Through cleft rocks green with spray-wet moss, Deep in the sweet wood's golden glooms, The amber waters pulsing go. With foam like creamy lily blooms. 38 The McM aster Muse, Shuttles of shadow and of light In-gleam and -gloom the watery woof As rolls the endless stream away Beneath the wind-swayed leafy roof. So life's swift shuttles dart and play, As ceaseless speeds its* flashin'/ loom ; Our day is woven of sun and cloud, A figured web of gold and gloom. ' God's arbor, this enchanted Glen ! The air is sentient with His name ; Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, " 1'he trees are bursting into flame ! ^ T. H. R. ' f-' J ■ ' IVtn^er. ^ ''.'*■■ ■'''■ -;:- WINTER. When winter comes earth seeks repose, And lest she feel the chilling storm, Go(i covers her with virgin snows, And tucks them in to keep her warm. ' That nothing may her rest disturb, And hushed be cataract and rill, God puts within their mouth hi.s curb Of mighty frost, and holds them still. Yet all abroad, roused from their calm. The unchained winds may sweep the sky ; God weaves their notes into a psalm, , And bids them be earth's lullaby. She sleeps her weariness away. And when the hours their signal ring, God marks unerringly the day. And wakes her with the kiss of spring. D. M. Welton. 39 "I 1 i»»fer.^ 40 The McMaster Muse. MARBOD'S " .. ORATIO AD DOMINUM. • (From the Latin.) O Son of God incarnate, High Heaven's eternal King, Around our burdening sorrows / Thine arms of mercy fling. ; \: .. ■ ■ ■ i . - To sin our nature leads us, And dust to dust returns ; Stay Thou, Christ, the ruin That all our eflorts spurns. For man, the seed of Adam, What is he but a worm Deserving death, defenceless Against the coming storm '{ ' I ^' — , Matbod's. 41 Deal not with him in anger Whose nature is unclean ; Do not, O God, condemn him Who cannot keep from sin. It were not meet, nor like Thee, Strict justice to demand ; For who, of hapless mortals, Could 'gainst Thy thunder stand \ As shadows or as vapors ** -. Or driven chaff are we ; Pity, King of Heaven, Pity our misery. J. H. Farmer. \ 42 T/ie McMaster Muse. CHRISTMAS MORN. Come happy morn, serene and fair, With outstretched hand, thy breath a prayer : Come with thy faintly smiling eyes, And brow whereon majestic rise Suns of eternal morn, Come happy morn, for see, and hark ! A world lies waiting in the dark, With throbbing heart and straining gazo, To catnh thy first up-springing rays. Oh hajjpy, happy morn ! The whispering stars will see it first, From star to star the tidings burat — Their paling faces earthward bowed. While men and angels worship loud The Christ who is the morn. Blanche Bishop. , Tcl navra iv Xpi(TT(^ (fiyvt^Ttjuev, 43 V-- |."er ; . ra Ttdvra iv Xfnarcp (rvytarr/Hsy.^ O Christ, in whom all things consist, The everlasting bond of ease In worlds around, in human thouj{ht. In life and death's great mysteries ! To thee, their Master, open wide The blinding cham})ers of the sun ; And earth no flower has, but, lo ! Its hidden life and thine are one. All that man is of mortal, Thou, His weakness, his temptations. Thine ; All that God is — yea, God himself Is not more gloriously divine. *McMa8ter University Legend: Col. i. 17. 44 The McMaster Muse. Thy breath outgoing giveth life, Returning, Lord of death Thou art ; O welcome life — niore welcome death That draws us to th' eternal heart ! O Christ, without Thee who would dare Truth's wildering quest with human powers ! But holding The^ wV ' holdest all, The mightiest '.L\\t''< Cod is ours. * Blanohr Bishop. Written for Founder^ s l^'f-y^ ?t "*. /;/ the Bay. 45 IN THE BAY. , 's ! The sun like a golden shuttle is Hying Straight through two webs of mist, And sails coming in, and sails leaving harbor Pattern what threads they list, Till the sky is a cloth of flame : In and out, in and out, > Till the sea grows over its frame: And the sea and the sky, now low and now high, Gleam each where the either hath lain. But one saileth not, one shi[) stays in harbor. Fast by the rotting (juay ; Her skeleton masts, her ro]»es hanging idle. Like unto dead men be. Sail thee, sail I spread the sail I While the sun still holdeth his way. Out of sight, into sight, ^ But the sailing must never stay ; For the sea and tne sky Will never come nigh To ships lying home in the bay. Blanche Bishop. 46 The McMaster Muse, SHADOW SPRITES. From the wan, white open spaces Fled the shadows to their shelter, Huddled, frighted, 'neath the tir trees, Till at dusk forthcoming, bolder. From their darkened hiding places, They emerge and fill the woodland - 'Neath a moonless starry sky. Sounds of music weirdly sighing, Pulsing faintly, slowly dying Into vibratory calm I 'Tis the weary wind a-moaning, Softly crying, low intoning Woes for which there is no balm. i See ! the shadows move to musit ; Slowly dance they in the starlight, In the wan, wide-open spaces, E'er responsive to the sighing Of the weary, weary wind. J-...*.#- Shadow Sprites. And the wind in anguish moaning, Strikes with heavier, stronger fingers, Stern upon the boughs of fir trees ; Plaintive send they forth a sobbing, Louder, swelling into shrieking ; Fiercely crying through the woodland, See the shadurn'd for the sound of its song, And flew pursuing, and caught it at last, ' And embracing they in the horizon past, G. Herbert Clarke. 56 The McMaster Muse. THE PERPLEXED POET. The poet shades his eyes in keen, wild longing, And gazes out to sea, — Afar the sparkling foam is swift upsmitten, Lash'd into harmony. 1 "To-day," the poet sighs, "1 scarce can see it. Gleaming in pallid strife, Yon sail so big with purpose, seeking port in Yet undiscovered Life. "I see but dimly e'en the flashing foam-drops, The breeze's voice is faint, And too bewildered am 1 by the fading To quell my spirit's 'plaint." ' Flitted the sail in shadow ; — then, upspringing, Quivered in sudden glow^. ( The Perplexed Poet, 57 Leaping the waters, flew towards the headland, — How a poet's soul can grow ! " . gr And now he sees the pure truth and the beauty Of foam and wave and breeze, And with the calm-eyed Pilot speaking softly Sails o'er the steadfast seas. G. Herbert Clarke. 58 The McMaster Muse. NOW, AND THEN. 'Tis eventide ! Shadows deep and dark Creep o'er the landscape ; Silent the deep death darkness Covers all With his midnight pall. ' 1 watch amid The sable drapery of night, And wait returning day ; Darker and deeper yet, And yet more still. The hush has fallen On Nature's rosy face, — . For deepest is the gloom Before the dawn. < Now^ and Theti, I wait ; I know He will return ; The shadows of the night Will surely pass away, — For I shall see His face. And in the morning Gaze with raptures wild On Jesus. 59 So in the gathering gloom, My soul, be still ; The cloud shall break, And, parting, shade The light of yet A brighter day. 0. G. Lanoford. 60 The McMaster Muse. SECRET SIN. Within the secret tem|)le of my heart A little idol bides ; No eye can see, and no one knows but He In whom my soul confides. For Jesus knows the windows of my soul, And often looks within ; He knows, but, pitying, keeps the secret well, My darling sin. • He sees my idol, gently chides, and sighs : ^ That I should dare to keep A treasure there that is not mine, but his ; I only mourn and weep. I told him I would give my heart to him ; But then I did not know How dear this idol might become to me, I loved him so. And he was gentleness itself to me ; I scarcely ever dreamed He could be jealous of my faltering love, So dear to me he seemed ; Secret Stn. 61 ^11, And now 1 grieve him every day ; for oft In secret, silent hours I steal within, before my goddess fall, And offer flowers. Lord Jesus, help me ! Take away my god, I give it uj_) to thee ; It may be beautiful, my Lord, it is. But it is not for me. So take it from me. Lord. I cannot sav I willing let it go, But make me willing e'er to do thy will ; 'Tis better so. . And T will learn to say, 'mid silent tears, • Teach me, O Lord, thy will ; Fill thou the vacant space, my Saviour dear. With thy sweet presence fill. ^ *' Deal gently " with my little idol, Lord, I own it is not mine ; But take it to thyself, and for thy sake 1 own it thine. O. G. Lanoford. Beachvillcy Ontario, Can. 62 The McMaster Muse. THE PERSPECTIVE OF YEARS. I. Midway in the journey of life, 'tis said, The traveller pauses to rest : He shadows his sight from the noonday sun, And turns to the East and the West. He turns to the East, where life's morning broke, And down the long vista of years He sees all the joys and the griefs, and notes How little each one now appears. That loss is diminish'd that tilled his life. And poison 'd his moment of bliss ; Until he can say, with a sigh, ' ' That loss Was hardly as bitter as this." * And still they recede, all the joys and the griefs. The sins and their sorrow, in truth. His eyes wander down the vista of years, • And the vanishing point is youth. I The Perspective of Years, 6a • ke, II. » Mi eyes T And the vanishing point is heav'n. Eva Rohk York, |s< ,5 64 The McMaster Muse, TFIE MAKINCi OF THE XKiHTTNOALE, Nightingale ! thy lyre is old, FiHinocl in past iwoiis yet untold The strings that float thy liquid gold. This Herce-beakod bird, linnied in the stone, Who heard its dying guttural moan / Who missed the giant undertone ( hushed that grating cry of thine — Unready yet with lyric wine — Imperfect yet to ears divine. Tiulled solennily his lordly loom : *' Some sweeter voice, some earth-wove plume, Shall till my house, and thrid night's gloom." Then re-began, with art divine, New tints and tones to intertwine. Till nightingales sang (m the vine. ^ B. W. N. Grigg. The Pantheist. (io \' * >iie. THE PANTHEIST. (ttckI is the boundless Sea ; and I one sobbing wave : (jrod is all Worlds ; and I, of stars — one, space, to pave. (rod is tiie Wand'ring Light ; and I one clouded vision : (jod is all motion ; 1 a short, ^swift, lost transition. God is the Heaven ; and I a skyward fluttering lark : The ('ircle ; I a fragment of its shattered arc. he. Im. (jod is the Sweeping Wind ; and I one short drawn breath. My God is Life : and I the play of " Life in Deatli." H. W. N. (iKioii. 66 The McM aster Muse. THE TELEPHONE. I. Speech is v 'bration : if the ear Of man, half sensate, leagues away Doth ken my whispers, heaven may My prayer-borne joy and sorrow hear. II. The wavelets [)ebble-born that float And lap at last the farthest shores, Prove distance naught, that pearly doors Ope to the suppliant's softest note. III. God he?»rs, God answers o'er that azure sea Whose ether waves responsive lave the strands Of planet isles : worlds thus an infant's hands May m mon Sauveur. III. Tu m'as fait jouir de ta presence, Oh I conduis-moi, .Je suis jieureux, plein de contiance. Oil ! con« L Celeste Litruiere. ' Souveiit les aiiges hux regards radieux M'Hppellent', vers le.s deiiieures des cieiix. 71 ■'**■ I fV IV. Cepeiidant, sur I'epineuse route, Suivant tes [)as, Comme un enfant cjui jamais ne doute ; Prenant ton bras J'irai joiiir au ce'leste sejuur Acquit par toi, men Sauveur, [lour toujours. S. D. P. 72 The McMastcr Muse. MY AIN LAND. O, for a sicht o' my ain land, Wi' its forests sae gran' an' fair ! For a smell o' the tields in hay-time, My heart is unco sair. O, for the soontls o' my ain land ! Its speech sae familiar and plain. That's prattled wi' rosy cheecked children — I'm list'ning for't fu' fain. O, for the blue lakes glistening Under skies sae Hashing and bricht, That coyly return the shy glances O' the bashful moon by nicht. Fair Canada may look desolate In winter sae rugged and cauld, But, oh, for a whifl' o' her fresh air. As in the days o' auld. . . R. Garside. '* / 'i'»>: i Quest. V\ ' QIEST. 1 thought to know thee. Life, aiul so have 8 'Vowed resolute I How vain I Thou, unrevealed. v% ' Mockedst 1 Befoohng, Hitting, fading glimpse ,,'■ Enticed, — 1 strove, failed, found thee worse concealed. / Assayed the task again, — sped, halted, searched I'nswerving, ardent, — ah, l)ut failing I Faint Loves liegemen found the burden, liftene, whose rugged features glow As some far i)eak above the cloud that lowers, The gates of Hell, like Dante, thou didst know ; fiod did not play with thee, nor thou with men. Beloved seer of life's advancing hours, Divinest soul denied the poet's pen ! T. H. R, 1 I k TO T. T. 1 said, " What if my sickness be to death ! " The thought fell sudden as the lightning's stroke, And shook my calm to tears without surcease ; , Lo, in my heart, as soft as angeFs breath. The thought, '' My babe, our babe, I'll see," awoke, And all my sold was lapt in God's great peace. T. H. R. :i Recognition — Ben Shalo m . 76 RECO(JNITI()N. Yes I when wifchin the heavenly homes shall meet Souls wliose communings touch the earth-live• M. W. I- The ocean huvHtu ;» , "uists 111 very M.ratJi, The waters rush and wliirJ A«^'^-haniy diver cleaves a 'path I>«^^^^ tc. the treasur'd pearl. ('. Herbert Clarkk. vv. ■■■''