e>. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) k A O V. y. ^ ^ 1.0 !?:«- ilM I.I 1.8 1.25 1.4 M 6" — ► % ^ /a ^ '-^i G / Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. H580 (716) 872-4503 ^^^ :<' c<»x iV CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiquas The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D D D D D D D D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pelliculde Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manaue I I Coloured maps/ Cartes g^ographiques en couleur Coloured init (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bieue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ PlancSies et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reild avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serrde peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes lort d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 film^es. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires: L'Institut a microf ilm6 le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a At6 possible de se procurar. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sent peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la m6thode normale de filmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ D Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagies Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurdes et/ou pelliculdes Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d^colordes, tachet^es ou piqu6es Pages detached/ Pages ddtachdos ~7| Showthrough/ }lJ Transparence I I Quality of print varies/ Quality in6gale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel supplementaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont dt6 filmdes d nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X I tails ( du odifier ' une mage The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity off: National Library of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"), whichever applies. L'exemplaire film6 f ut reproduit grftce d la g6n6rosit4 de: Bibliothdque nationals du Canada Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformit6 avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimte sont filmds en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont fiimds en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une tells empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole —*- signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". 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 filmds d des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 A partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. irrata to pelure, n A D 32X 1 2 3 : i 2 3 4 5 6 m r BY HENRY PATTERSON. PRINTED BY JOHN LOVBLL, ST. NICHOLAS STKEBT, 1812. ■Mi PS 242 1 69766 ,.**"■ Entered according to the Act of Parliament of Canada, in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy-Two, by Henry Patterson, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. > y 1^" r ? ]|diali(>tt» BY KIND PERMISSION, THESE "SONGS OF TRAVEL," ARK DEDICATED TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE BIGHT HONOBABLE EARL DUFFERIN & OLANDEBOYB, OOVERMOR-OBNERAL OF THE DOMINION OJ" CANADA, AND OOVERNOB« GENERAL AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OVER THE ISLAND OF PRINCE EDWARD, BY HIS LORDSHIP'S MOST HUMBLE AND OBEDIENT SERVANT. THE AUTHOR. " Life's noblest action is Life's noblest Poem." CONTENTS. PAOS. Echoes of the Heart's Best Mood. 9 TrueCoarage 12 Circumstance 18 Love 16 The fieautiftil and True 16 The Old Familiar Faces 16 The Rebuice 17 Fear 18 Poet's Thoughts 18 Poets 19 To the River St. Lawrence 19 Loss 22 Fickle Fortune 23 A Goodly Name 23 Apostrophe to the Poets 24 Song 24 To Canada— An Ode 26 ^n Despair 29 To False Women 29 Success — A Sonnet 30 Voluptuousness— A Sonnet 31 Sonnet— What is Poetry? .... 31 Prayer for the New Dominion. . 82 Cordelia, the Beautiful..^ 33 Fame 36 Excelsior 37 Life's True Import 38 Forbearance 39 The True Tiew 39 Aim 41 TotheDaisy 42 Inventor of JEvil^ 42 Warnings , 43 Drink while ye may 44 On hearing the Skylark sing... . 44 SummerSong 46 Tbe Maia I lore 47 vxan Lucinda— A Portrait 60 What Poetry should be 62 Life a Dream 63 False Regret 63 Poets— Fools 64 My Deary 64 One Kiss 66 Dotage 66 The Departure 66 The Question 67 TheBug 67 The Nightingale's Song 68 We Change 69 InJuly 60 Charity 61 The Beggar Man 62 In the Storm 64 These Songs 66 To the Serpent 66 The Mask 69 Grumbling 69 Song for the Times 70 The Shadow 71 Angels 71 The World 72 Favours 74 Prayer and Confession 74 Evening 77 Politeness 78 Lightsome Beauty 79 LovoDitty 81 The Sabbath 88 The Trumpet 84 Envy— A Sonnet 87 To Kate 87 Epitaph on an Unbaptized Inftnt St A Soliloquy in Sadneis 89 6 CONTENTS. [ ' FAQB. Musio'a Power 90 Life's Sad Story 91 Encouragement 94 Nature's Power 94 Life a Book 96 Nothing Perfect 96 A Lament 9h A Song 97 Women's Fal8eneB8 97 If Love is Yours 98 The Momentous Question 99 Unsatisfied Longings 100 Voices in Cburcli 101 Tlio Unsympathetic 101 Tlie World ofFasliion 102 Little Feet 103 Birth not to bo Worsliipped. ... 103 Virtue, the Source of Safety. ... 104 Tliought not to be Kestraincd. . 106 Cliarity— A Sonnet 105 True Beauty 106 Liberty 1(>7 Opportunity 108 Faces— An Ode 108 Mind's Power 110 Evil and Good Ill Music's Quickening Power 112 The Days that are No More 113 Lilehath Work 114 The Singing Bir; 114 Oblivion, the Grave of Many... . 115 A Similitude 116 Ambitious and Wanton Plea- sures 116 False 117 The Real 118 Symbols 119 L'Envoi 120 AHymnofLife 120 The Betrothed One's Song 129 My Love 131 Love for Wished— An Elegy.... 132 Apostrophe to the Tear , . 185 pAoa. Poverty 188 To Woman 137 Work 188 June Days 139 The Name of Jesus 142 Love 143 Woman's Praise 143 Command to Sing 14* Lines l*** Love's Power— A Ditty 146 The Radical- A Sketch 147 To Patriots— An Ode 149 To Night— An Ode 150 Maid Marian— A Sketch 161 Change l'>3 Spring 164 Epitaph for a Soldier's Tomb.. . 166 Care and Suffering come to All.. 165 Bards' Epitaphs 166 Mother Earth 167 Farewell, written in a letter.. . 167 On seeing Children come out of School 158 Life's Brevity 159 Rest thee, Beloved 160 Apostrophe to the Kiss 160 Cards 161 On Plucking a Lonely Rose 161 Emily on her Bridal Day 162 Sonnet to the Moon 163 Sonnet to the Alps 164 To May 164 Progress 167 Soroethinj; Wanting 167 Reflections 169 Song— The Thoughts of Home. . 170 MISCELLANEOUS. Ode to the Brave 172 Hymn— Trust 173 A Thought 174 Musings 174 Pleas for Temperance 182 An After-Thought 186 ^' k PREFACE. i 4 . These Songs are chiefly rhap«odieal, though in the main fiubordinato to the laws of rhythm, rhyme, and metro. Truth and Suffering have been their chief inspirations — a doniro to enlarge somewhat the sphere of thought, the incentive of their publication. Poetry has many mansions, and is universal in its application : — to me it has been a solace for many a long day. I trust nothing in those pages will shock the feelings of any one; if I am outspoken, it is because I have " the courage of my own oiDinions," and feel the burden of a most solemn duty pressing upon me, and which I must bear as well as I may. I appeal to all thoughtful men — to all not blinded by thf mists of prejudice, to give me a hearing. They say Poetry is at a discount in this country: I trust our men of letters will wipe away this reproach) will efface this stigma that brands Canada's fair fame. I must allow that a great deal of rhythmic bosh has in many instances usurped the place of genuine and sterling verse, till our critics have given up poetry as a bad job. But they do not sufficiently encourage the genuine and the true. 8 PREFACE. I ask them all for justice and sympathy. Should they give such to mo, I will ore long give them another taste of the waters of Helicon. I wrote because it pleased me to write ; because I could not help it; because I felt I could help the cause of Pro- gress. " We learn in euffering what we teach in song." In those words of my own, I can truly say, Poetry has been to me A source of pure delight ; In all my hours of misery An Angel blessed from the height Of some diviner sphere afar. Than this cold world of ours, A cherub from some happy star That rained on me sweet flowers. I trust in asking bread of the good people of Montreal, they will not give me pebble stones. I have now done. I tender my sincere ^thanks to those ladies and gentlemen who so kindly subscribed for this work before-hand, and enabled me to launch it upon the surging billows of humanity. And now, wishing the reader a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, I remain, truly his, Montreal, December 20th, 1872. I THE AUTHOR, D. J]choo8 of the heart's best mood, Blithe f"'* 'ing of a fancy rude, Mntur'd in pensive solitude, With something of life's best blood hued : Go forth beloved Song ! 3 \ Go forth! a source of welcome glad, To those who suffer, and are sad ; Whom t}Tant Wrong almost drives mad, Though in the garb of justice clad : Go forth, impeach the ^roug ! Fear not ! attack the well-paid Lie Endiadeni'd in places high ; Though thousands stand approving by, To truth there is no sure reply ; And self rifles coward Fear. rr ■i^ I'-i < I!!: I 10 SONQS IN TRAVEL. Go forth ! The battle is begun, A hundred odds or more to one ; Great fights at odds were ever won ; It were not so men were undone : — The path of duty '5 clear. ? Ill How much of work undone remains, How much to tax the hearts and brains Of Titan souls ! Stark Error reigns A king still yet o'er vast domains, And many hoj)eless groan : Nor prayer him with weak bended knees ! To gilded Power, no truce to please. To down life in the lap of ease : — The wheels of progress help to grease, — Prefer the aching bone ! Compare the present with the past. The sight makes one stand all aghast : A sky with blackness overcast ; Earth wrack' d and torn with fury's blast ; Most men, worst fools or slaves : How changed now ! but better still Life can be made if we but will, To level that obstructive hill Of prejudice, which oft doth kill The best of merit's braves I SONGS IN TRAVEL. There was no sense of liberty, And wanting that, men cannot be Or great or good, — love's children free Can only measure this by thee, Thou source of manhood true ! And one man's whim enough was creed ; Thus follow blindly one fool's load : Ah I count it then life's noblest deed^ To make men how or suffering bleed : Believe such holy too f O call it not the good old time, With all its fooleries sublime, Its lust for blood, and nonsense rhyme ; Its ear for pomp' d religion's chime : To death, 'twas cruel e'en ! Ah me ! I am so very weak Truth's burning eloquence to speak ; That hardly know I what to seek ; And malice will on me aye wreak The vengeance of her spleen : II A I do not know — but prayer is mine ; I ask the Spirit's aid divine, E'er humbly, at great Nature's shrine ; Into God's hands I me resign : I bow me to my fate. 12 SONGS IN TRAVEL. I Then wing swift song along tho world, By treachery and force down held : Where serpent wiles around are curl'd ; Till Freedom's flag o'er all's unfurl'd ! Love's work to consummate. TRUE COURAGE. ' I N I. Be not dismay'd though ill success Thy efforts crown ; But ever onward nobly press In spite of Fortune's frown : — Though thou art fighting at odds great, Success some day will on thee wait, And claim thee as her own ! ^!H > f .'i II. Full well I know, the sick'ning thought Of cold despair Has havoc in thy bosom wrought, And laid it bleeding bare : But heed it not, and do thy best, ^nd stand, in trying brave confest, Ji more than winner here I \l SONGS IN TRAVEL. 13 III. And though on earth no one shall write Thy history, A victor in life's trying fight, (By Heaven's own just decree Enregister'd, as one that did Thy best in spite of Earth's forbid) Thy name shall surely be ! CIRCUMSTANCE. I. Two bonny, buxom, blithesome lasses; All happiness they trijD along ; Amid gay weeds and tassell'd grasses : And this the burden of their song, ' We rove to-day the woodland wild, The landscaped hill, whose lawny side Has oft our truant feet beguil'd, When ill the distance clear descried.' II. Tlie rose of health blooms on their faces. And lightning joy gleams from their eye. As one the other laughing chases Or tries to pass the other by. — O youth 's the season of romance, The heyday of enjoyment true, When all the young blood seems to dance And leap in rapture their veins through. 14 SONGS IN TRAVEL. iii m. One sad and broken-hearted maiden Slow following a funeral train, Her soul with heaviness deep laden — Gloom fills the chambers of her brain ; ^ Health's rose has fled the wan, white cheek, Her eyes are dim with misty tears ; Her every look doth mute bespeak One thought that uppermost appears. IV. Ah ! mournful thought, for she is dead. The sister of her youthful hours ; And with her, too, all joy has fled, Fled, faded like the fragile flowers. Though not to idle sorrow given. Her tears fall thick and fast like rain ; Although her trust she puts in Heaven, She seems, as 'twere, to break in twain. V. And this the burden of her grief, The burden of her sorrow'd heart ; Her only solace and relief Perchance to balm life's aching smart : * O take me, God, f mce she has gone, And everything doth dark appear ; What e'er I cast my eyes upon, Like my own self, seems cold and drear.' 4 SONGS IN TRAVEL. 16 VI. * Hoar time but suffering to us brings ; The heart must bleed bereft of hoj^e;' This to herself si, ever sings, — Ah ! she now treads life's downward slope. O all so lonely on the earth, With none to help her, none to care ; No wonder dries the fount of mirth, For all seems dark, that once was fair ! LOYE. I. I little thought that love is madness, That bringeth it less joy than sadness : That lodged once, within the brain It proves a fountain-head of pain, From which there floweth like a dream Pale passion's ever troubled stream. II. I little thought, love ne'er had resting Although within the bosom nesting ; That flutters he his wings for aye As though he long'd to fly away : As though the bosom were a place Too poor for such a wild scapegrace I \rT}rr R' ii 16 SONGS IN tRAVEL. THE BEAUTIFUL AND TRUE. I. I love the beautiful and true, The ever passing fair ; Because my spirit they thrill through, And leave their blessing there. I love the rainbow-tinted flowers, Those woodland children wild ! Because they have such wondrous powers To keep thought undefil'd. II. I love the modulating breeze, Because a music sweet, My v/ayward fancies charm and please, And time my heart's sad beat. I love all kindly smiles and speech, Because they lessen woe ; And more than sermons to us preach All self to then forego ! THE OLD FAMILIAE FACES. Gone, the old familiar faces ; Gone, the chosen friends of youth ; Gone, and none to take their places Knit, by the bonds of love and truth. SONGS IN TRAVEL. Gone, the true, the tender-hearted ; With whom I could so sympathise ; With whom I on life's journey started ; The mists of death cold in their eyes ! Gone, and left me all so lonely, To mourn their melancholy fate ; Gone, and left me breathing only To walk the world disconsolate ! 17 ■i THE REBUKE. Knowest thou the way of a man with a woman, A maiden beautiful and young ; A strong and handsome yeoman, Who has his heart's hymn to her sUng ? 'Tis love dissociate from lust, 'Tis sweet and pure confiding trust ; A something weaning from th« dust Of sordid circumstance ; A pure and noble feeling ; A spiritual revealing j A wholesome balsam healing To wounds that life's thorns make. A sacred pledge and sealing Of all that can enhance Life's interests, for all time to be ; When they such sacrament partake And from restraint their spirits free. 18 SONGS IN TRAVEL. FEAE. I ever fear, I know not what, — For life is full of fear ; Its ^host familiar haunts each spot Of this world's universal bier. I moody walk along the world ; This world is ever sad to me ; — I seem by sorrow so down held That it were better not to be. Oh, not to be ! and yet suave Hope, Bird-like this sings to me : * Thou shalt one dayunlniot the rope That binds thy heart to misery. Though thou dost sicken with the strife And falsehood of all things that are ; Thou shalt soon triumph over life, And swing the gates of death ajar.' POET'S THOUGHTS. The lips may wear a smile, although the heart do break ; And breathe their sweetest songs, to soothe its dull sad ache ; — As from the darkest clouds gleam lightning's brightest charm So from dark, troubled minds, the tjj^ghts that thrill and warm ^ SONGS IN TRAVEL. 19 Tho siiiforing race of man, bow'd down with griof and woe, To raise their drooping spirits, as they onward go, Upon the road of life all sorrowful and sad, To make them onward push once more in heart made glad ! POETS. Poets are a wayward race, Like comets, wander to and fro ; That none their airy path can trace Or their swift nature know. And yet they are the men who keep The fire of mind a-glow ; E'en while they for the cold world weep, That scorns them e'er to know ! TO THE RIVEE ST. LAWEENCE. Great St. Lawi^ence, mighty river ! Speed thee on thy rapid way ! The waves that from thy heart up quiver Tell of the strong and ceaseless play That lies about thy waters deep, Like my own heart in its broad sweep ! ^ 20 SONGS IN TRAVEL. I gaze on thee, — thoughts rush through me, Thoughts which will not be restrain'd ; And fancies swift almost subdue me Till thou hast over me soft gain'd A strange wild power of mastery. Which aye impels me sad to be. And often too there come before me, Dark doubts of good and native worth ; Perplexities half-triumph o'er me. As I then try to body forth The reason why such things are so : Mute watching thy swift ebb and flow. I muse of many things and places ; Much of the hopes and fears of life ; Delusions oft which leave broad traces Of that most dire, relentless strife, Enwag'd with sorrow, thought and years, Around that soul which in me stirs ! But speed thee on, O mighty river ! I love to see thy flaked spray. From thy green bosom strong up quiver, And sparkle in the eye of day ; The sight of it doth calm the pain That stirs the river of my brain : . SONGS IN TRAVEL. And other joy and other sorrow My musings rivet thus alone ; And from them oft I sweetly borrow A something which doth soothe my own ; I think with rapture half-divine, Of that which one day will be thine ! 21 A mighty empire near thy marge, A people glorious and free, That will their duty grand discharge Such as was never known to be. Since this poor tortur'd world began And man enslav'd his brother man ! I think of this with conscious pride, And pray for Canada's dear sake ; Pray Heaven to stem grief's foolish tide ] Even though my very heart should break : When pondering of the empire great That by thy banks has fix'd its state I So flow thee on thy i-apid way, Thou great and mighty river grand ! And may my thoughts be like the spray Thou tossest smiling to the land ; Then they will wake in men a thrill When I am in the cold grave still | ■k 22 SONOS IN TRAVEL. LOSS. 'Tis only by the loss of things Wo find their greatest worth : The poet's music sweetest rings, When ho has fled the earth. They truest know a mother's love Who have lost a mother ; Who thought to be all such above Yet never found another, Like her so pure and tender-hearted. So sovereign in distress ; Ah ! only when she has departed Her children such confess. So when a mighty statesman dies, Eevil'd when he did live ; His loss admits of no disguise A.nd men him honor give. Alas ! and seems it ever so In this blind world of ours. Their benefactors men ne'er know Till death upon them lowers I i^ SONGS IN TRAVEL. FICKLE FORTUNE. TruHt not Fortuno, hIio is fickle ; P'icklo as an April sky ; Fickle as that jade call'd woman, With lightning laughter in her eye :- Tempt not Fortune, though she tickle Thy fancy — charmed then thorehy ! Though by every friend forsaken Bear bravely on ! and trust her not ; Steel thy I jora, for smiles only From her and hers were ever got : And thy struggles will awaken, Help sympathetic for thy lot ! A GOODLY NAME. There's something in a goodly name. It is the corner-stone of fame, That honest won and well deserv'd. By one who has no base ends serv'd, Is worthy e'en to glory in, Without the boast — which leads to sin :■ Though Time destroys, it also makes ; Though Time doth give, it also takes ; But take or give, a goodly name Is the fairest heritage of fUme ! ;.■ i I 24 SONGS IN TRAVEL. APOSTKOPIIK TO TIIK I'OK/rS. TTail ! votnricH of tlial swool ploasuro Tliat knowH nor liino, nor slinl, nor nioasnrol Hail! 80u1h inntinol with itH Mand powiM' divine! SniilNl kindly on by all llio '' Saerod Nino." Hail men with l)ravo lari»;c hearts who fool ilR forco, Within their hosoni! — PooHy'H purent Houroo ! — Enthrilling with its ra])t and swill emotion, To of^cr at the altar ol*a ^ranii devotion, Aims, deeds, and iruitt'ul thoughts, that over sjii'injL From all that's noblest in lilb's influonoing. Hail brotherhood that sign unflinching The vital bond of truth, — all goodness clinehing For all time, j)laoe, and power, — if needs must hv, (But this we hope) to ali eternity : Nor blush like guilty things, to j) it it to the jiroof, Though some may doubt, and ory itdowii forsooth, They seal it with their blood and bitter tears: That mock the sense of worldlings in their fears. Hail ! hail ! all hail ! forgive what's in me WH>ak, For I with you lov'd kindredship would seek! NG. M}' love she is a bonny girl, As sweet as sweet can be, Though ofl she makes my boson\ swell Jviko waves upon the sea. flONaS IN TRAVEL. I c'ftnnol for my iifo got (tohh With lior, the frolic thing, Though ol'toM Hho (hioH cuiiwo mo Iohh With hor nly caporing, Tliough ] foiihl cruHh Jior liico a flower, Could eruHh hor whore 1 Htand ;— But when Hhe gotn into my power •She then doth me oommunrl. Ah me ! tliou torment find (hVlightl Thon knowewt, Elt; thy Hkill Thou tortnr'Ht mo with wv)ndrou8 night 01' frolic mood and will. 25 Thou art a maiden hi-ight aud fair, All wiuHome, fresh to view: For by the H])lendor of thy hair, My Houl goes longing tiirough; My w^hole of heing charmed HO, Wiien thou doHt look on me : And over mo thy lov'd H])ell throw To cJiase, I?ogue aftej* thee, And clanp thee with a warm enfold; And fingerB ncntle in Thy flowing curlH of threaded gold Aud then sweet kisscy win; c T^mKmmammimmmmmmKmmmm 26 SONGS IN TRAVEL. In spite of all thy frowning airs And pouting of reproof; They are but undisguised lairs To make me kiss forsooth. So I will clasp thee in my arms, And kiss thee when I may ; Until my bosom thrilling warms When thou with me dost play. I cannot, girl, forego this thought, That seetheth through my brain ; When thou my presence hast so sought To let thee go again Unkiss'd, sly puss, — I know th}' ways. Thou comest for a kiss ; Thy very gait thy wish betrays, And so seals love in this. TO CA1V4DA.— AN ODE. On thee grand destiny awaits. Thou fairest, youngest of the states ! More grand than that which consecrates The lands of hoary ages. Fates propitious ope thy gates ; Nor one jot of hope abates Thy youngest of thy sages, Of grand, historic pages I ^ SONGS IN TRAVEL. Such pages as will sweet contrast With the black leaves of circles past ; Crime-stain'd and torn with fury's blast, And blood of sad hearts broken : Of human beings chained fast To scorn's fell posts, or headlong cast Down death's rocks— cause brave spoken Their lives of truth the token I 27 Canadians now we all are ; Let no false pride this feeling mar ; But be this word our guiding star To light us onwards cheering ; And then our progress nought shall bar To where true greatness drives her car :- No factious hindrance fearing, To that grand haven steering ! «p Canadians one in heart are we, Before all things this thought must be, The symbol of our liberty, If we would prove a nation Worthy of the name of free ; From farthest point of sea to sea : And take our projier station In th' whole world's estimation. ! - ' , f 28 SONGS IN TRAVEL, Not that we love old Britain less-- We her grand institutions bless ; But that this thought must us possess To gain the goal of glory ; Nor dreams of failure let distress, But on and onwards ever press, To gain a name in story Untainted by feuds gory I The wisdom of the ages ours, To guide aright our mind's best powers ; And ample space to plant the flowers Of freedom, truth, and love: Such plenteousness us largely dowers. Such blessings God upon us showers, That with His help above We on to greatness move I U But let us to ourselves be true, One common noble aim pursue ; One object worthy keep in view ; Canadian first in feeling : And God shall teach us what to do, All dangers safely us bring through Our sacred cause be sealing With His pure grace all healing I __.^fc SONGS IN TRAVEL. 99 IN DESPAIR. The light of hope is fading, The darkness of despair My bosom is invading, And clouding all things there :— My spirit sinks within me ; My thoughts rise ting'd with gloom ; A demon seems to win mo To where Hell's shadows loom. Stark terror broods above me Like night's ill-omen'd bird, As if the sprite did love me, Before all things preferred. And I but dreary wander Sad up and down the world ; Or ever pensive ponder By demons fierce down held ! TO FALSE WOMEN. * O women are as false as hell,' I said in sore distress : ' Their bosoms like the treach'rous billows swell, And overwhelm no less. • 30 SONGS IN TRAVEL. * Poor simpering things, so very frail ! They know not wisdom's ways ; E'er fixing men with their eyes' lightning spell Which like the lightning slays !' SUCCESS.~A SONNET. II I gauge it not by what it bringeth in, What showers of gold are rain'd upon it, — men Were ne'er yet paid according to their merit ; Earth's brightest sons but empty names did win Whose lightning thoughts swift flash'd from tongue and pen, And made us heirs to all that wc inherit Of Letters, Art, undying Song and Hymn : To die and rot, neglected, scorn'd and hated (Because truth's works were ever consummated With blood and bitter tears, and aching limb ;) Seems proudest genius : — melancholy fated To all dread things ; as 'twere misfortune waited On them and theirs, and to the harsh world prated, Of faults, in its cold eye far worse than sin ! 1 SONGS IN TRAVFL. 31 VOLUPTUOUSNESS.— A SONNET. " Scorn not the Sonnet." Wordsivorth. And there she sits, a woman wondrous sweet, Her sunny locks with blushing roses twin'd , All naked to the carved navel she, As beautiful as beautiful can be : — White polish'd skin, a subtle bloom of charm Set in her bosom's rounding ivory ; Then from her swelling waist drap'd loose around Soft folds '' en negligent" trail to the ground ; From out their gauzy sweep, her veined feet And legs stand forth, from curved knee complete ; Her moulded arm uprears a golden cup From which a mailed serpent deep does sup, As she entranc'd at it does charm'd look uj), And in that gaze, life's greatest joy does find ! SONNET.— WHAT IS POETKY ? The beautiful, and all of things' best part, Love's vestal tire, which burns aye brilliantly. The voice of Truth. The breathings of the heart, The still sad cry of our Humanity : O pathos strong ! thou 'rt more than half-divine ; Thy silvery tongue speaks virtue's purest theme, Which moves the breast where feelings stir benign, I^ike panoramas of a pleasant dream, fll li lt< 82 SONaS IN TRAVEL. The eddying of Fancy's rapt delight That stealeth through the mind like niiisic deep, And overfloods, with its swift surging niiglit, The spirit's region in its onward sweep. Those dulcet strains which gloomy thoughts disperse That eloq^uence which thrills the universe. PRAYER FOR THE NEW DOMINION. I. God bless the New Dominion ! God bless the nation young ! May the shadow of thy pinion Over her be flung ; Ever to protect her, In the way of nations set ; Never to neglect her, She never to forget Thee, God, her King and Ruler, Favoui-'d of Thy hand : In wisdom's lore deep school her Till she can it command. 11. O make her value honor As strong men value life : The world's eyes are upon her, Give she no cause of strife j SONGS IN TRAVEL. Then sho will gain a station, From pure and true respect ; A young and ardent nation May older ones correct. And may she love her mother, Britannia, still the Great ; Become just such another, — Freedom's proudest, grandest state ! 33 COBDELIA, THE BEAUTIFUL. I. Cordelia, the beautiful ! the gentle one is dead ; Too pure for earthly sojourn, her sainted soul has fled To join her kindred spirits, in the realms above, Where nought can dim the lustre of angelic love. . n. Cordelia, the beautiful ! has fled this recreant world, Kill'd by the vij)er sneers that round men's lips were curl'd, Who envious hiss'd at her, till sorrow laid her low, And then they cried, astonish'd, 'Can such dr^ad things be so ?' 84 SONGS IN TRAVEL. III. Cordelia, O beautiful ! I mourn thy virtues rare, They were so sweet and holy, none could with them compare; But thou didst trust too well the hollow tales of man Whose fair and sanguine promises have e'er his acts outran. IV. Cordelia, the beautiful ! — thou didst so fond believe The honeyed words of falseness, with which he did deceive Thy too confiding bosom, in its fond yearning trust. Till thy young virtue's blossoms were trailed in the dust. V. Alas ! the heart's best treasures were lavish'd all in vain; Alas ! the lava thoughts that burn into the brain, Till madness whirls it round, and sinks it into nighty And not a ray remains of reason^ starry light. VI. I rtiark'd thee in thy prime of youthful gladness sweet. Of all the village maidens, none triptwith gayer feet ; Of all the. village maidens, none could so graceful charm; Of all the village maidens, none had a heart so warm, SONGS IN TRAVEL. 85 VII. But now thou art beneath the daisy-sodded earth, And birds there come t*^ warble and breathe their soul in mirth ; But seems in all their songs a sadness and a woe, For her, the darling one ! that sleeps in peace below, VIII. And often, too, the winds, with solemn wail and wild, Sweep by with dirgeful voice, as if they moan'd the child, As true a child as ever smil'd the wastes of life. And caused Peace' flowers to grow, where grew the thorns of strife. IX. Cordelia, thou beautiful ! I ever think of thee, When weaving fancy's web by woodland, grove and lea; I think of thee as one that never, never more Shall lighten with glad presence life's dark and stormy shore. X. And ever fondly sweet thy memory shall twine, And garland with its blooms, heart's desolated shrine. The memory of thee shall nerve me on aright ! To take a foremost place in life's eventful fight, w SONQS IN TUAVEL. XI. Tho memory of theo, thou Hphordd chorub dear, Shall make me dash anide the unavailing tear ; — Make me endure in silence the fever'd fret and pain, That is the lot of those that strive truth's crown to gain. XII. For thou didst bless dear one, my youthful efforts first, When others took scant note or look d at them and curs'd, And tried to choke the fount from which my pensive muse First drank her inspirations in copious draughts profuse. FAME. Think not their life sad or ill-spent Who never come to fame ; If purpose good in it were meant, 'Twas all indeed the same. How many bards have sung unknown, How many more still sing, Whom this cold world will never own, Or honor to them bring 1 PONGS IN TRAVEL. Thoir name is legion. Glad arc they, Their souls e'en to content ; And though they pass unknown away, Such life is not ill-spent. It cannot be all shoul' possess The means success to woo ; — ■ The greater 's only in the less : Fame's for the lucky few. 'Twere no less wrong to scorn fame's meed. Because it is not ours ; 'Tis nobler far to sow worth's seed, Let cull who will fame's flowers. If not all fam'd, all can be good ; And good is better still ; — In that all duty's understood : — All duty does fulfil I 87 EXCELSIOE. Go on, go on, be not dismay 'd Fresh vigor gain from envy's slights : The really brave are ne'er afraid To scale opposed steep duty's heights. Go on, and. hear of no delay ! Worth often feels neglect's cold hand ; Press on and on, nought may him stay Who does a dauntless will command I imiiiii 88 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Onwards, and nobly do and dare I Shrink not life's earnest battle strong i For life is real : courageous care Must mark it all in all along ! LIFE'S TRUE IMPORT. Life's not a time to careless spend Or pass in selfish ease ; But life's the time to all befriend And God our Maker please. Heart-throbs should ever regulate The precious passing hours ; 'Twill tend to nobly elevate The soul's aspiring powers. We live in actions from the mind, In thoughts which breathe the soul ; In feeling's flow towards our kind That from the heart-springs roll : — He truest lives who warmest feels ; Who acts his very best ; Who ever tries to lessen ills. And spotless keeps his breast. SONGS IN TRAVEL. 39 FORBEAEAKCE. Be not o'er-hasty to condemn Thy brother's faults, though e'er so many ; The harshly treating may of them, If he have wholesome virtues any, Poison his being's deepest wells, Till only hate from them upswells. Due forbearance teach for ever. Let heart's heart it centre in ; The more so that thou art so clever, The more the need of it to win : — Deep probe thou to thy bosom's core, There's much, too much, there to deplore. Learn thou ever to speak kindly ! — The power of import's in the tone Thou may'st do good though talking blindly If kindness guide the v:ords alone : — O look around — a word of thine May cheer sad hearts that now repine. THE TEUE VIEW. I glory in the thought that we Are born to rise, not fall ; That what of worth we daily see Is open to us all. hja ! 40 SONGS IN TRAVEL. I think of men, their varied ways, What some, or most, desire ; I deem that right which does them raise To something pure and higher. Not downwards — no — 'tis Ill's design To level all for some ; But that is right and half-divine, Which welcomes all who come To wealth and honor fairly won, Then to their children leave. The winnings of the race so run. As was theirs to receive. If rise we not, whose is the fault ? (True Will is ne'er denied,) His object true, e'en to the vault Of heaven, when clear descried. And time 's with them who spin and toil. And like a Trojan labour, But not with them who waste life's oil, And then beg of their neighbour : By patient industry and worth Life's heroes all are made ; Not hands in pocket, eyes on earth. Awaiting Chance's aid. SONGS IN TRAVEL. 41 AIM. Aim makes men great and marvellous. By all that's sacred, pure, and true ; We must confess, 'tis little less Than madness, nought to have in view. An object worthy to engage Attention honest more and more ; From youth to age, us find a stage Advanced farther than before. And then, perforce, life's onward course Will not us then disturb, or frighten j Because resolve becomes a source Of pluck, that does us cheer and heighten. How men would start could they but see The end of those without a calling ; Worst misery and shame will be Their thankless lot and sure befalling, Then warning take while there is time, And to a noble purpose gain you ; To he heroic and sublime Faith must nourish and sustain you ! rr m II ; li 42 SONGS IN TRAVEL. TO THE DAISY. Hail 1 starry jeweller of the green, The lawny hills and woodlands wild ; Everywhere a smiler seen : — Flora's never-fading child ! Hail ! favourite of youth and age ! Beloved by all, and fondly sought : — Thine are charms that aye engage ; For all to thee are pleased brought. There is a magic in thy flower. To charm a poet's dreamy sight, More than the roses of the bower When pearly with the dewdrops bright. How well thy modest presence cheers. The lonely truant in the way ; And to himself again endears : And those from whom he thought to stray. INYENTOE OF EYIL. For ever curs'd, from light shut out ; The realms of dark to wander through, A prey to what he brought about Which did him in the end subdue : — Blind image of despair I Abandon 'd utterly of God ; Hell his portion and his care His kingdom and abode I SONGS IN TRAVEL. 43 WARNIKGS. One warning, and no more : — The glimmering of a star ; A beacon on a craggy shore Flashing near and far ; A pastor's prayerful whisper ; Voices on the fitful breeze : Truth from a baby lisper Dandled on his father's knees. A floweret's blossom broken Fresh from its parent stalk, An emblem and a token In life's pure moraing walk. — Two banners gaily flaunting Eed in the glorious sun, With bullet-holes not wanting To tell of battles long since won. A poet's golden rhyming With something of his heart ; Together sweetly chiming When death two loving friends does part Then take my warning only ! Death comes nor soon nor late : And in thy travels lonely Read thine own in other s\faie. For much the same is common, Common to us all ; And when cold death does summon, No stranger then — his call. 3i 44 SONGS IN TRAVEL. DEINK WHILE YE MAY I .1. Drink while ye may ! Old Time is on the wing ; Drink ye both night and day, From truth's eternal spring : Drink while ye may I 'Tis sweeter far than wine : It calleth into play The faculties divine. ' m IQ I Learn whai ^^e will, For little do y-. kn .vi' : Learn, foolish tongue to still. Would ye in knowledge grow : Learn what ye will I Nor fear when scorners mock : Learn heart and mind to steel : Be steady as a rock ! ON HEARING THE SKYLARK SING. I. The lark sings blithe above. Such sweet delicious lays, As makes me all things love Where'er I cast my gaze : Bowitch'd I cannot move From here, his spell all progress stays. SONGS IN TRAVEL. 45 11. The frolic breeze is sweet ; The air is full of balm : The flowers all smiling meet My look of raptur'd calm : Such joyance holds my feet, Charm'd by that sprite's pure heavenly psalm. III. What charm is thine, sweet bird ? That does me so enchain, That has so deeply stiiTcd The fountains of my brain. That I have now deferr'd My journey, list'ning to thy strain ? IV. Teach me thy music too ! That I may charm the world. To love the sweet and true, Long by brute force down-held : And rally the brave few. Who freedom's flag have aye unfurl'd. V. Nerve me to noble task, With thy pure liquid song : This all I fain would ask Amid this world's blind throng, To tear the painted mask Fvom of the dragon face of Wrong ! ill 46 SONGS IN TRAVEL. VI. Inspire e'en mo and mine With something of thy power ; Thou spirit-bird divine ! That from this happy hour, True pluck may intertwine. With truth, to wreath my muse's bower SUMMEK SONG. Up in the morning early ! An early hour for me, When dewdrops glisten pearly Upon the gi'assy lea : When all around is glowing With many a purple hue ; And Cock's shrill clarion 's blowing A tootle, tootle-too : When zephp's fresh and balmy, Scarce kiss one as they pass ; And all the waters calmy Are like a sheet of glass : And like a ball of fire From out the distant main, Slow climbing " still and higher. King Sol begins his reign. SONGS IN TRAVEL. And flowerets start from aleeping, And ope their bloomy eyes : And lift them, joyous, peeping Up at the kindling skies : And minstrel birds go singing Unto the list'ning earth, And right and left are flinging The lyrics of their mirth. Though many feel no pleasure, To rise at glint of day ; Nor time, nor purpose measure But sleep their brains away : An hour in the early morning. Two 's worth in the afternoon : And heeding nature's warning We can't get up too soon ! 47 THE MAID I LOYE. This is the maid I love. As gentle as a dove : Her eyes, twin-stars above ! With lustre all its own Her skin shames polish'd stone ;■ Her cheeks, red roses blown. V^ '! i hsi ■''[ I ' ■ 'i fi I 11 48 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Ilor teeth are milky pearls ; And golden are her curls "Which, wave-like, flows and swells, There's beauty in her smile, That charmeth you the while, Like sunbeams on an isle, An isle e'er lawny seen, Upon the ocean green, From window-decks between. Her mind it shineth bright With intellectual light ; Which captivates you quite ; To list her speaking when Such s'^nse in it you ken, As honor would most men ; Such magic 's in her voice, It makes all hearts rejoice, Like music sweet and choice. She careth not for dress Save that it does possess Her actions kind to bless : So with hope's patience mute She wears a sober suit ; That fools no pride impute, SONGS IN TRAVEL. With modest drab content And one gold ornament, Fi'om her dear brother sent ; And one plain velvet cape Perforce completes her shape, When she from home does 'scape, With all its bustling toil- Too much indoors does spoil And waste life's precious oil : — To have a quiet hour, Amid some sylvan bower ; — Recruit mind's flagging power. 'Tis then I catch her sweet. Within her green retreat, And myself by her seat : And talk, when we shall be Afloat on Hymen's sea : — That day in vision see. Time fleets then quickly by, Just then we scarce knew why ; Love's winged hours so fly. Then in my thought I pray Heaven her to keep away From ill, in life's fierce fray, 49 8 I i i 'I I ti } 50 SONQS IN TRAVEL. My dear and gentle dove ! My sweet and only love ! Ye Powers that dwell above, Protect her from all harm, She has a heart as warm — As ever beat to charm A man amid the strife And cark and care of life. My jewel, and promised wife ! LUCINDA. A PORTRAIT. Lucinda, with the pensive face ; With the soft and quiet grace Of womanhood, smote on by grief: — Of sainted sorrow from that day, Thy heart's young love was snatch'd away When on the verge of grand career. To thee this votive lay ! Alas ! thou didst so love him dear ; — It was to see a noble sight ; For hopes beat high, as well they might. Of one who would have clomb fame's steepest Jieight ; BONOS IN TRAVEL. For nought to geniuH is denied — And his wore talents of large promise rare ; A courage grand to do and dare Groat things and lofty deeds ; All other men beside : — Alas I anticipation huing bright The present with its rosy light : — Vain golden dreams of wedded bliss, All that ecstatic hope aye breeds : — Such once were thine — thy lov'd one dead, With him too those joys lie buried ! Maiden brave, so young, so fair ! Thou that dost the black weeds wear, That sober suit which brings relief To breasts that nurse the calm of grief: Well hast thou prov'd thy woman's worth : To him who reads thy purpose clear There's nothing nobler here on earth ! Repining not, with cdlm resign E'en making loss a thing divine : — What more beautiful or sweet Than of love's grave make hope's retreat ? 51 All glittering toys she puts aside Save one that, fashion'd like her heart, She weareth near its warmest place : Its virgin gold doth treasure in The portrait of her dead love's face In youthhood's flush and pure begin ; 52 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Wonld 8he too had died I — Ah ! nought can balm love's ciircIosB smart, Save charity's all-healing grace : — Self-denial of time, and wealth, and ease ; — In action blest, kind thanks the only fees. What lady form is that, Flitting from door to door. And each goes in thereat. The homes of people poor ? The sick and needy world-forsaken, The bow'd and dreary, want-o'ertaken : To bring relief and them condole In their cold misery of soul ; Aye, losing thought of her own grief in this, She brings to others bliss ; It is Lucinda, I WHAT POETRY SIIOULI) BE. Poetry should be The offspring of the soul ; In all things swift and free — Like rivers onward roll ; Or fanciful and light Like song-bird's lji*ic lays, That take us captive quite, Beneath the bowering sprays. SONGS IN TRAVEL. 63 LIFE A DEEAM. Life's a dream within a dream, A wheel within a wheel : 'Tis more and less than it doth seem, E'er seen yet puzzling still. Immortal in its principles To increase and renew ; It never for a moment fails, In proving true to what is true. FALSE REGEET. She's gone to heaven fresh and fair, As pure as anything, As ever skimm'd love's purple air With hope's ecstatic wing. She's gone — too good for this damu'd earth, Which hardly used her well ; She wakes to life at second hirth For over fair and hale. The cherub's gone, now dry your tears xind cease that humdrum sighing ; For self in it the most appears, And not a little lying : You cared her not in times gone by Although you said you did ; You let her like a stranger die, And now tears puling shed, 64 SONGS IN TRAVEL. ■ ',1 it ! ! 1 ■'.!• , ■'T >1 f H POETS— FOOLS. Poets, I ween, are a comical race ; Asses at times altogether, In quest for houi^s (with melancholy chase) Of scented winds and fair streaming weather ; But they find instead fierce gales ; And blustering storm unkindly Them and theirs all rude assails, In that they trust so blindly ; — Ah ! all too well they trust aye warm, The most of things call'd human, And find them one remove from hell — So finds it every true man I MY DEAEY. My deary is a singing-bird, And trills such dulcet lays As seldom are, if ever, heard Beneath the clustering sprays. Sweet notes divine ! gush of the heart, Upspringing ever brightly. That make me with such joj^ance start The hours then pass me lightly : The winged hours ! the magic hours, Like nymphs trip gay before me, And garland me with such rare flowers, Slumberous dream comes o'er me, SONGS IN TRAVEL. With breathing sweet of them and theirs, In trying to divine mo, Of love that comes, aye unawares As I to love resign me : Till calm the brooding dove ! Comes hovering over me Like God's own Spirit from above My soul from pensive care to free ! 55 ONE KISS. One kiss, one kiss, my pretty miss Is all I ask of thee ; Thou canst not sure refuse me this I And it is all to me. Give me but one, a burning kiss And I will straight depart ; For it will cause a fount of bliss To spring up in my heart I DOTAGE. There was a man, and he was old Who won a maiden young, With less of love than gleam of gold ; Then, after, himself hung: — ^mem 66 SONQS IN TRAVEL. He could not please her that I ween, So could not please himself; And so such horrid straits between, Woo'd death — left her his weallli. And then a youth came by that way All blest with ruddy health ; He woo'd and won her, then did sway This woman and her wealth. — So take good heed ye lovers old When nymphs are standing by ; Your blood is like the marble cold Beneath a wintry sky : Your veins are wither'd like the leaves Pale Autumn has breath'd o'er ; And smit with such a strange disease No skill cart e'er restore ! THE DEPAETURB. Love 1 1 am going out to-day, And you can romp with the kittens ; Or on the harp, sweet harp ! sweet play ; Or mend my old socks and mittens : Or trim the flowers, the sweet silken flowers ! They will all labour repay ; A good time too to pass the lone hours And keep the blue devils away I iHil SONGS IN TRAVEL. 67 THE QUESTION. Loves me my love to kiss her sweet ? Love her rose-lips mine own to meet ? And does her heart with rapture beat, When circle I my arm in hers ? O tell me true, my angel dear ! O tell me true, my bosom's cheer ! . O tell me true, and have no fear, For pensive sadness its depths stirs. O I have lov'd you fond and well ; Far more than cunning words can tell ; For you I've risk'd e'en heaven for hell ; O how so fond and warm sincerely ! Then let me kiss you, my sweet love ! And fondle you, my turtle dove I By hell beneath and heaven above. Thy fragrant kiss is welcome dearly ! THE BUG. There climbs a bug upon the wall 1 A bloated bug, that sings God's praises ] His glory seen in great and small, O how the thought my spirit raises I— Si n f" 1; -l ■ i 58 SONQS IN TRAVEL. See I there ho crawls as red as wine ; — He suck'd my juicy vitals — brute ! No wonder breathes he songs divine, Like gleaming stars, in rapture mute : The sphered hosts, no doubt, down look From out their dim up-deep'ning height, With admiration warm through shook Of buggish transport and delight \ THE NIGHTINGALE'S SONG. Comes my sweet love this way to-night ? She comes — O I am glad ! The moon is up, the stars shine bright ; The heavens in glory's dresia are clad. All silently they downward look, The beautiful pure stars ; And gem the waters of the brook With golden studs and silver bars. The nightingale begins her song, A sweet though sadsome ditty. That pierceth through my brave heart strong Like lovely woman's soothing pity I T; SONGS IN TRAVEL. The melaucholy of her strain Awakes in me such answer, As scares away the spectre — Pain ; Yet leaves a something like in transfer. 69 Yes, leaves in me a mournful sense Of something sadder still, Than any of the pains intense That make the sum of human ill. Such feelings as I've never known From immemorial days Come in her strain, so soft and lone. Beneath that old oak's charmed sprays. Such echoes to her pensive cries. As melancholy sweet, As ever caused the tears to rise From out the heart's embosomed seat ! WE CHANGE. The golden blooms of flowers, When sleeping in the sunny noon, Assume a hue like oui*s ; Then change as soon, — ail soon ! ■rr' 60 SONGS IN TRAVEL. And as we look on thom, Charm'd by the beauty of their hue, If we but pluck one gem Such aspect to prove true, We find 'tis but a dream, A dream of idle, vacant thought : — Things are not what they seem, For wo ourselves ai*e not. ?! 'i m JULY. 'Tis warm, so very warm ! The air is muggy — thick ; — Despite my Love upon my arm, Despite her every look and charm, My brain, it groweth sick In thinking of the weather : — These sweltering July days ! Such as I have known never, So full of glow, and murk, and haze ! O there is ever A sympathy between the mind And weather ; — We grow oft unkind Or cheerful with the wind : — • ' We seldom leave behind All thoughts of self : — A wretched elf SONGS IN TRAVEL. 61 Man is — on acted by the weather. And when shall we glad sever Ourselves from dreams of balmy air ? — When wo have learn'd to bear and to forbear : When we have learn'd to wear The snnny smiles of love ; When wo have learn'd with all to shai-o God's gifts — gifts from above ! Stewards of love's own treasure ! Ambassadors of hope ! To those whom fortune's scantest measure, Has been life's length of drear despair ! CHAEITY. A something give, a something give ! That starving ones like you may live ; Though little — yet that little may Bring some one to the light of day : The gi'eat good God who reigns above Will sure reward your deeds of love I A little sure you cannot miss, To some it may be more than bliss ; A means to win them and reclaim From the foul haunts of sin and shame. O give, and prove your self-denial, How soon may come your day of trial I r i i 'm 1 ^ 1 1 1 iff 62 SONGS IN TRAVEL. How many of your help have need ? How many have life's thorns made bleed ; And you enjoy both strength and health, The blessing further, too, of wealth : And still unmoved by do stand And not so much as lift your hand ! Do you affect to love another, Regard him as a friend ? a brother ? And yet then see him destitute. And far worse cared for than the brute ? Youi' love is nought, and t) yon shame, The heathen more can truly claim ! I Do good ! — the bliss of doing good Is far more felt than understood ; — A pleasure and a something done ; A victory in God's name won ; A deed that glads the angels' sight And fills them with a sweet delight ! h THE BEGGAE-MAN. There goes a beggar, lean and poor ! Give him a single penny. Or a bright six-pence, if not any Copper — vile— <}opper ! you have got. SONGS IN TRAVEL. Think not to set great store On actions of this kind : — Yet comfort his sad heart, That beggar grey and blind ; And you yourself may find ea Some comfort in the future years — Although your veins swell joyously no more To drink joy in at every pore ! — He leans upon a crab-tree stick And hobbles slow along ; And in his rheumy eyes no love-lights flick, His lips breathe forth no song : His hands are cold and skinny, Like a miser's, shrunken, itching for a guinea : No miser he — poor man ! He does all he can To eke a living selling matches ; — Who cares for shreds and patches ? A human being garb'd in rags, That reeking stink : In hue more black than ink ; More soil'd, greas'd than a brothel hag's ! ill:,' If Ml A dog, a starveling brute 1 stands by This beggar-man — more fit to die Than live ! — but that the ghastly fear of death, Takes away, I ween, one's breath j 64 SONQS IN TRAVEL. And He too waits, I plainly see, For death to come quite lawfully : "When all his trouble and despair Shall in the grave bo buried there : And he shall rise as bright, as fair As any spirit of the air : No more a grovelling, tortured thing That for support to others cling ; But with the cherubim glad wing The universe ! h f m THE STOEM. My God, my God ! to thee I pray 1 Red lightnings lurid round me Flash threatening, as if to slay : Pale fear in his strong cords has bound me ; The thunder-clouds all blackly frown, Their bosom heaves with fuming sulphur ; The raindrops big come tumbling down Upon the earth, as 'twere all to engulf her. And I am all alone to-night Beneath the groaning, lab'ring trees ; Ah, not alone ! — for pale Aifright And Thought with me do as they please. 5jC JjC ^ *T^ ^ See ! lightning's forked tongue has lick'd That blooming beech to ghastly carbon ; And singed that oak's green locks — it flicked Near me — ere downwards it was far gone. SONQS IN TRAVGt. 65 The waves are wreathed with foamy Rcoru, Wind's scourge has lashed them into fury ; Alaek-a-day ! to-morrow morn Sad work for coroner and jury ! — Totjt, tempest-driv'n, there goes a shi])! She drives on rocks, hid, hrine-enwonih'd ; My God, she strikes 1 O devils skip And dance a hornpipe for the doomed : — O treachery ! a black imp there, A horse and swinging lamp ; — It wrings my bosom with despair To think of that cold bloody scamp. O God I and can such dread things bo "When terror holds the cowering world around, When fiery tempests scourge the sea. To ruin's rocks men on ships hound ? THESE SONGS. Perhaps these songs may cheer Some lone soul in the way, When I am on my bier A lump of senseless clay ; Perhaps these songs may start, Unconsciously the tear, From some young loving heart Unwarp'd by selfish fear ! ill 66 SONGS IN TRAVEL. ft iti Is! i" TO THE SERPENT. " Dust shalt thou eat.'* O dastard imp ! away ! a'\vay ! O sei'pent guile ! What I would not thou mak'st me say Then sickly smile. Cast not on me thy glittering eye ! That subtle leer Aye roots me down, when 1 would fly Thy forked sneer. Well, shoot at me, since thou wilt, Snake ! I car it bear ; I did the fatal fruit partake — But unaware : I did not di-efim the price of it ; I did not know : — I gave no one a slice of it But hugg'd my woe : Ah ! years gone by — I was o'erthrown ! Thou boastest well ; With fraud thou tempted me — dost own ? O spawn of hell I SONGS IN TRAVEL. In slmplenees, I did believe Thy flowing speech : I did not dream thou could'sr deceive And overreach. For I, alas ! did take thee in, As some sweet thing : But thou didst then the mastery win, And my soul sting, t Alas ! the shadow 's on my heart, — A lurid ray ! And never will, I ween, depart ; Till Death's dark day. I feel within thy snaky twine Coil'd round my Soul : That threats to crush the Maii divine, Past God's control. But my Immortal Mind shall ne'er To thee bow down ; And should'st thou crush me with despali' I'll still disown 67 151 i:- Thy power without and from wilUiu, Despite of woe, Despite the bitter gall of sin That lays me low; i fj./i m 68 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Low in the dust and ash of shame, To shrink all eyes ; — Unquenched, yet my soul shall flume Up to the skies ! O give me strength, O God, to tear This serpent black Prom out my heart! — so numbing there I As on the rack Of penitence and grief I stand Me to repent, My madness, Sin ; — stretch out Thy hand And circumvent This Devil, and his horrid crew That ever glad, All goodness try to swift undo, Or change to bad. I Thou thrice-bruis'd Clirist, help, help me now ; To tear away This brand that burns into my brow ; This dragon slay. In Thee and only Thee I trust, Thou Dlessed One 1 O raise me from the grovelling dust. Once more Thine own I SONGS IN TRAVEL. 69 ■I THE MASK. Did we but know, — This world is mask'd from top to toe : A hollow show ! A mournful woe ! Could we but lift the veil, Could we but look below Its sui'face thin, The surface of this mockery Men call real life : Our eyes would strike As with a fatal withering daze : For life is but a bloody strife Of passion in its ebb and flow ; And none would dare to raise Their heads in r iked cold deformity : — None would dare meet another's gaze — And for the most part men are all alike. 'fl GEUMBLING. Grumble not ! for where's its use ? Grumble not, my friend ! Grumble not — it will produce More grumbling in the end ; tl [! I 70 ^^ SONGS IN TRAVEL. O whero's tho senso to rave and shout, And like poor madmen grow ; And like stark fool be sad put out, When dunghill cocks loud crow ? Grumble not ! for where's the use ? Grumble not, my friend I Grumble not — mere abuse Did never matters mend ! r SONG FOE THE TIMES. What are men without a feeling, But ministers to selfish pleasure ? Well skilled in phrase or double-dealing, That passes all belief and measure : But snobs as such I How they sip their wine so gaily. And bask in beauty's smiling ray ; The best at their command sure daily : For their poor brothers what care they ? Why, not a rush. There are men who have no other Thought, but for their dastard selves ; And all of conscience, feeling, smother ; Love's duty shirk,— these sordid elves— Without a blush. SONGS IN TRAVEL. 71 TIIE SHADOW. There Ib a shadow on the wall, 'Tis like that in my rcstlosH heart, Which shrouds it like a funeral pall And me in agony makes start ! I see that shadow lurid gleaming — All di'eams of joy have long since fled ; For that dim shadow o'er me streaming, Tells me of peace, — cold, stricken, dead. My God ! I see a shadow only Set stark about my life and fame ; That I sad pace the cold worth lonely, To hide me from myself and shame ! * ii ANGELS. " Our acts our angels are." There are angels round about uh ; About us in the viewless air, That beckon on, or coldly flout us With a numbing, chill despair : — Angels from the realms of ether, . And from the farther starry space ; Unseen set about to watch us Bunning life's e'er-trying race : Beaumont. !Si 72 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Do we slacken ever They are there to cheer ; Bo we onward madly, Check us in our mad career : Check only — nothing more. The glory ours alone, As they about us soar, Or perch, bird-like, on Eeason's throne. Then listen to their warning Before it be too late : — Thy thankless self be scorning. And cursing God and Fate ! O there are blessed cherubs Round about us nigh. That point us how to live ; — And as we live we die ; But terrible in silence, In that they aye point true (Whose truth we cannot fly hence) The what we ought to do ! THE WOELD. The world is full of snobbery, Mad whim, and vain delight ; The world is full of robb y That turns to wrong the right ; SONGS IN TRAVEL. 78 I it, •The world is full of jobbery — Away one's breath takes quite. Sing heigh ho ! truth 's misunderstood, Men's hearts are stone, their heads a lump of wood. NoTv flourisheth prim flunkeyism With braided vest and cape ; The pet delight of monkeyism, G-reat joy of grinning ape ; The chuckling glee of sKunkeyism, And terrible red tape : — Sing heigh ho I truth 's misunderstood, Men's hearts are stone, their heads a lump of wood. The world it is a boiling pot. Scum-seething at the top ; The world it is an oiling pot To grease the dandy's mop ; And scented shams a-moiling rot In that they act the fop : — Sing heigh ho ! truth 's misunderstood. Men's hearts are stone, their heads a lump of wood. The world it is a common liar, And I go sad my way ; And brave its grovelling ire — I care not sordid pay : Voluptuous attire — I care not what men say : — Sing heigh ho I truth 's misunderstood, Men's hearts are stone, their heads a lump of wood. t n Ill ; ^1 f ;iv \ I t. i \ t 74 SONGS IN TRAVEL. FAYOURS. Whene'er we ask a favour, If but in semblance it may be, Our feelings seem of fear to savour, We hardly deem us free ; Our thoughts then are bitter. — We ourselves can punish more Than any can ; — it is far fitter The world's we may deplore : — Ah ! oftentimes a burning Sense of shame comes into play, And what before we would half-yearning We fain would then delay I PRAYER AND CONFESSION. God 1 Have mercy on my pallid soul ! My sins are black and grievous, — manifold — Destruction's billows threat'ning arou iid me rll : 1 seem unto the Devil sold : — I am a sinner, worst of men 1 And I confess it to my burning shame, — Have mercy. Lord, by Thy great name Of sweet, and pure, thrice-hallow'd love — The Pascal Dove — The once bruised Christ — and I then shall it prove, While yet some little good doth hold SONGS IN TRAVEL. T5 The spirit in the aching brain. Have mercy, O my God ! shut not Heaven's fold Against thy foolish sheep : Leave me not out — out in the deadly cold To wail and bitter weep, Because the sly old Snake did once around me creep, And got the blind side of poor me : So cunning he 1 I could not see His fell intent ere he with poison did my spirit steep. — Black, foul, like Cain's With crimson, lurid stains, My heart aye seems ; I stand aghast upon the Past ; The hope which feeds despair Low breathes, * for sin untold aches, tears, and pains.* Remember not my guilty youth, — For when young we are foolish, cold to truth ; Deaf to duty's sacred voice ; forsooth Till suffering's sharp, envenom'd tooth Gnaw e'en to the quivering heart And put it to the proof. And we from di-eam awaken'd start, Convulsive, fiU'd with the worst of pains 76 SONQS IN TRAVEL. Forgive me, Lord, for this digression I I must make full confession : — Confession's nought without a witness : And so I saw the Muse's fitness To bear the burden of the same : — Besides I own in each man here a brother Whom I would save from brimstone flame ; E'en though I'm bundled there myself And can I all compassion smother For those who do near kindred claim ? — Were I to go to heaven And know my brother dear in hell, I should long to be, I trow, With him, and heaven's own joy forego : Would join him there right well 1 In every man, God, I see A something far surpassing me, I own with bitter thought — however that may bo. My sins uprising scorn, — Like clouds upon the front of morn That gloom the moaning sea : — My dreams of good ; — I wish I never had been born, Than to have wander'd thus so far from Thee I Forgive me. Lord, for thy dear Son 1 A grovelling worm I crawl : Eemember not my work undone ; For Thou art all in all. I do believe, — in mercy lead Thy prodigal aright ; Before Thy throne I humbly fall Hide not from me Thy gracious sight i BONOS IN TRAVEL. 11 )0. rn, EVENING. The rosy splendors of the day Are fading one by one away ; And one by one the silver stars Are peeping 'tween clouds' fleecy bars. In calm of majesty reveals The moon above the piny hills ; Serene and beautiful to view, The sight of her my soul thrills through I The solemn presence of the night Is filling all the woodland height; — The stealthy darkness seems to creep From out the bosom of the deep. I hear night's rustling wings afar, I hear the rumbling of her car. In which she comes in state to reign, And shadows in her dusky train. The wind is dirging soft and sweet ; From distance too the last faint bleat Of sheep returning to their fold With my heart beat, does cadence hold. The flowerets have closed their eyes ; The tender dewdrops gently rise, To bless and bathe the grass and herb And jewel them with pearls superb. m 78 BONOS IN TRAVEL. One bird of all the feather'd tribe My swift attention now doth bribe ; It is, 1 know, the Nightingale, Her plaintive strain so soft doth swell. And I go, calm, my way along, Fill'd with the music of her song ; A pensive, sweet, sad monotone. That thrills me to the very bone ! i POLITENESS. Politeness well becomes ua all. All on kindness have a call ; Nor think us thus e'er overtask' d, If we for much of it is ask'd ; The greater shows the worth of Man In doing all the good he can ; Such answer making without fear As well becomes his judgment clear. The simple yea or nay, the word So seldom now in answer heard : — Though suave excuse may serve a turn We sacrifice oui^ self-esteem. In that we do not manly learn, To speak our mind, but fear and scheme ! SONGS IN TRAVEL. 79 LIGHTSOME BEAUTY. Lighteomo Beauty, you may pass, With all your airs and jaunty ways ; Lightsome Beauty, you may pass To those who will you praise 1 You are so proud, poor silly girl, Some only are too glad To praise and flatter you as well, So fast and fashion-mad j But know their flatteries are lies. Though music to your ear ; 1 would that you could such despise, I would you such could fear ! Lightsome Beauty, you may pass, With all your airs and jaunty ways ; Lightsome Beauty, you may pass To those who will you praise ! For I will not, poor spoiled Dear; With all your charm of grace, I cannot see a pui'pose clear Writ in your pretty face. Y'our words are saucy, pert and vain ; You scorn a friend's advice ; How like a queen's your cold disdain Does chill his heart like ice. ii 80 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Lightsome Beauty, you may pass, With all your airs and jaunty ways ; Lightsome Beauty, you may pass To those who will you praise ! Because his words brave in the truth, And cannot well deceive ; You scorn as stuff his kind reproof And call them " make-believe :" — No doubt to you all this is fine, A pleasure nice indeed ; — But that like him you may re2)ine. Like his your bosom bleed ! Lightsome Beauty, you may pass, With all your airs and jaunty ways ; Lightsome Beauty, you may pass To those who will you praise ! How ill-disguis'd the tempter's smile ! Attentions overpower : Your purity too soon defile, To pluck your virgin flower, ■' 1 Is his, who follows vou about With such enslaving grace ; But once affected he will flout You to your very face ! I SONGS IN TRAVEL. 81 Lightsome Beauty, you may pass, "With all your airs and jaunty ways ; Lightsome Beauty, you may pass To those who will you praise ! — Then leave you in your shame to mourn Such folly all youi* days ; How hard the burden will be borne, By one who dotes on praise ! But that for you I sometimes feel, And grieve and love as well, I would not thus to you appeal, You light and foolish girl ! (■ !i^ il LOVE DITTY. I. Fresh and low Let the breezes blow. The breezes of the South ; And cool the glow My spirits know Fi'om the kiss of her rose mouth W ¥ ■ft; ftii SONGS IN TRAVEL. 11. Dimpled smiles, Pouting frowns and wiles, With such she did allure me ; ' My own,' me styles, Then sly beguiles With kissing to secure me. III. Mute surprise Half fiU'd my eyes ; Alas ! the sweet sprite knew me : The feign'd disguise Of my replies. Told plain, such love thrill'd through me. IV. Me she fann'd With lilied hand, And comforted with kisses ; — Few can withstand Maid's glances bland ; And fewer red-lipped blisses. V. Not I forsooth ! To tell the truth, I must her homage render ; Alas ! warm youth Is never proof To maiden's least word tender I 71 SONGS IN TRAVEL. 83 VI. O Love cruel ! Thou mak'st a fool Of men — strong in things other ; Once in thy S'ihool Thou dost them rule Till they all scruples smother ! THE SABBATH! I. Hiul ! day of prayer and blessed rest ! Pledge of a distant goal I Beloved by every Christian breast : Dear Easter of the soul ! — All hail ! sweet day, of days most fair ; Hail ! after brawl and labour's care, With thy attendant — Peace ; — To heart and mind most dear indeed ! For we of calm have sovereign need ; Fi'om toil, a due release. II. 'Tis morn — the silver voice of bells Breathes soft the hour of prayer ; The solemn pause at intervals Seems then to say — ' beware, 4 "^ u m ii .11 Hi SONGS IN TRAVEL. And loiter not, or idle stay, But haste direct upon the way, To he in right good time, To take our usual place or seat, And hear the service all complete, Of our old Church sublime I ' * III. We take a walk, how mark'd this day Prom others of the week 1 A pleasing awe doth mark the stay Of each fond spot we seek : And like a dream a rapture steals Us through and through, and warmly thrills The tendrils of our souls ; — Eeflection brings this wealth of joy "Which does the sense of ill destroy ; And us for all consoles ! THE TEUMPET. I. The trumpet sounds along the shore An angry blast and loud ; Commingling with the ocean's roar, Up — piercing deep the cloud : ♦ The Church of England. ! i SONGS IN TRAVEL. To arms ! to arms 1 the meaning chill Is felt in its dread note ; Prolong the cry from hill to hill Till it all ears has smote ! II. The ruddy glare of beacon fires Pours on the startled air ; — O first of each and all's desires To danger mee t and dare / The lover to his bridal love Sighs trembling, * Love, adieu,' And breathes a prayer to heaven above The coming fight to get safe through. III. The soldier from the camp anear, The peasant from the farm, The workman from his home most dear With right good heart and arm, Are met in concert for to meet The foe who dare would tread Their saorod soil with damned feet, Bale conquest's net around to spread. IV. The priest, unmov'd by fear or age Does feelingly address, In cheer words of the deadly wage— And does them warmly bless j 85 86 SONGS IN TRAVEL. And bids them on God's errand speed Their duty like men do ; And never stop till once more freed From fell invasion's bloody crew. V. * O Liberty I thou art confest The first and chief of things ; In value more than all the rest From which true manhood springs : — For when the threaten'd loss of it Pale glimmers on the mind, To what would we not then submit Than let us curs'd fetters bind ? ' VI. * For liberty we'd sooner die Than suffer its dear lost ; And thus the warning trumpet's cry Meets answer at all cost j At any cost of life or limb No matter when or where ; — This thought inspires life's noblest hymn ; 'Cause all in libertv can share.' r-i SONGS IN TRAVEL. ENYY. A SONNET, 87 Alas ! none aye get on but Envy pale, The archer I shoots at them with poison'd arrow ; Perchance to slay or leave a festering wound Behind : — nor time nor skill can cure nor balm. Here no reputation's safe ; such spirits narrow And malicious in this curs'd earth abound. 'Twould freeze one to the very marrow To dwell on such — or try hate's depths to sound ; More deep than Biscay's haj. — Truth gives us calm, As we sad take in hope life's daily round. That Hate true Merit never shall d'erwhelm , Upon this thought good men their best faith ground ; And sing in his despite, love's holy psalm. Though like once Chrisfs their brows with thorns are crown' d / TO KATE 1 O for one sweet willing kiss, One kindly smile of thine ; The thought indeed were source of bliss Less human than divine I O I could then take heart of hope — • A new lease take of life ; And with its many dangers cope And joy e'en in the strife : ■ ! ■i! I I. i I i 88 SONQS IN TRAVEL. With none to love I have no car© Or thought for anything ; I yield me to that chill despair Which freezes action's spring :— ' Dies Interest as soon as born. In bitterness I smile ; I seem to have a very scorn For that which charm'd erewhile. For whafs success with none to share And glory in the same ? A gilded phantom of despair ; — A soulless, empty name / EPITAPH ON AN UNBAPTIZEB INFANT. Underneath this mound, ah, mark it well ! An infant's body lies ; Where went its soul, to heaven or hell ? None did the same baptize. Methinks to heav'n, for Christ did die For all, e'en such as this ; And therefore Christ himself would lie Went not this child to bliss t Some people think unbaptized children after death turn into hobgoblins — even clergymen of the Church of England hold to this damnable trash. It is to be hoped SONGS IN TRAVEL. 89 I t !I1 such heathenish not* ohh will ere long be consigned to the limbo of oblivion, where many more ecpally per- nicious beliefs have been sent ! A SOLILOQUY IN SADNESS. What little talent I have got I use for men's dear sake ; Though that it will me not Much bless, Never-the-less It may ease many a secret ache And pain of theirs — 'tis all I ask — That all would do the same 1 The dearest wish of my sad heart, — T'would medicine the world's great smart, And savage melancholy tame ! — My heart is sad for ev'ry one, I love my fellow-man : Though I'm, alas ! in much undone, I'll do what good I can ; Though I myself can do no good , I'll try to comfort them impart ; Though I may be misunderstood ; Although it break my heart I i ill ' II 90 SONGS IN TRAVEL, I could have wish'd to have been as pure As I have men ennobling seen ; — life's tasks With them lov'd duty straight and sure ; — And they have their reward — that inward calm ! — Look with a rapt assurance e'en to death : Their words aye sweet and comforting, like balm : Whose trust doth float in ev'ry breath : Their speech imbu'd — low and subdu'd : — A music sweet ! — rich variations of hope's psalm | The Bible, that mysterious tome. They point to and are glad — their Jesus there : The promise bright of an immortal home ; The faith sublime which puts to rout the hosts of cold despair : — I own in them an ever-secret power. True happiness is theirs — I sympathise, Yet chew the cud of bitterness from that same hour ; — For me, alas ! — I fear no Paradise ( MUSIC'S POWEE. Breathe ! Breathe those chorded notes again. But once again I My spirit on their wavy spell raj)t floats From out the throbbing brain, A light and joyous thing :-^ A charm 's set in their music clear, worm SONGS IN TRAVEL. 91 That drives away the mists that clog thought's at- mosphere — There's magic in their airy spoil That lulls the aching sense, Of that abiding hell, And mournftilness intense, That grows within the shrinking heart Of him who learns to deeply think ; Which makes him oft convulsive start When drinking at Wit's hidden well ! f LIFE'S SAD STORY. Mournful and slow The story proceeds. Long-drawn with woe ; Black fume of misdeeds : The story of life Aye awful to know ; Cancerous strife And bloodied throe, Suffering and sori'ow, Wild shrieks on the ear ; Granct^hopesj)/ thelmorrow That never appear J IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I «ii||||IM 1115 lillU IIIIIZ2 12.0 1.8 ':« |l.25 u 1.6 -m 6" — ► Va ^ /a /a ^. '^. 1 'V '/ s Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ I < BONOS IN TRAVEL. THE DAYS THAT ARE NO MORE. The days that are no more I When we were young and innocent, And ev'rything a sweet smile wore, That harmonis'd with heart's content, And senses swam as in delicious dream, And joy was all in all, a thing of life supreme ! The days that are no more I O mournful sad the strain ; For nothing can restore The lost, the beautiful again, Di'aw mem'ry's curtain back And what shall we there see ? Athwart life's hazy track ? — Angelic purity : No more, O never more, To call that cherub ours ! The cloud has lower'd o'er life's shore : The canker wasted beauty's flowers ! And naught remains but sadness, And naught remains but pain, Or melancholy madness, Or sick'ning sense of stain ! Alas I the days that ai'e no more The lovely and the lost : That nothing can restore ; — Life's purpose met and crost I 113 7 114 SONGS IN TRAVEL. LIFE HATH WORK There's ever something to be done Ev'ry day beneath the sun : Some work thine aid doth ask And not for thee a weary task. Interpret'st thou aright, Life's mystic symbols veiled bright Aye dazzling to the blmJdng sight ! THE SINGING-BIRD. Sweet Birdie, sing ! I love to hear Thy sweet familiar strain ; It does my heart with rapture stir And soothe its sense of pain t For from it aye is born that cheer Which calms the throbbing brain ! Sing, Birdie, sing ! No care is mine When thou art warbling nigh ; My soul then floats on waves divine, The hours go quickly by : — As I me to thy spell resign The wizard, Thought, does die ! I 7 ■■■I SONGS IN TRAVEL. 115 I only hear a music swoet, A pure delicious tone, That keeps wild time with my heart's beat, And thrills me to the bone : Which does my dreams of joyance meet Such as I've never known ! Thou art no bird, but soriie charm'd 6i)rito, A spirit of the air ; Or how couldst thou bring such delight, All things beyond compare ? That goes me through and through swift quite Ere I am unaware I OBLIVION, THE GKAVE OF MANY. Many names are now forgot, - And many, weed-like, die and rot; And hasten to the goal, The dim goal of forgetfulness : Who were the gods of their proud time. Who deem'd themselves wiih pride sublime. Immortal— Demigods no less ! ' 118 SONGS IN TRAVEL. A SIMILITUDE. The waves, like children, leap and play. And ruHh towards the shore, Endiadom'd with gloamy spray, And kiss it o'er and o'er : How beautiful are they ! And my glad thoughts like those waves wild, Aye rush towards the strand Of something pure and undefil'd That bards call Fancy's land ; And kiss, by love bcguil'd ! AMBITIOUS AND WANTON PLEASUEES. ii: t ii i I Ambitions (ever mad ! ) themselves enlarge To their destruction swift, like circles on A pond, which boys in sport, by throwing in Of stones, e'er make, or at poor ducks discharge ; Approbation from by-standers pleas'd to win At happy luck of aim, safe on the marge Of green — or pot shots ever and anon At hapless frogs or mottled lump-like toads Do take, rare game for such young imps — a targe That writhes on which to glut their mischief mirth : Too thoughtless, wild, alas ! to know that goads Of pain and death have their ungodly birth In frolic ease — discounting hours by sport, When at the shrine of wanton pleasure they pay court ! «H mmmmmmmmmmmmm BONOS IN TRAVEL. FALSE. 117 Sweetest drip by traitor shed, Hail I rank salt tear that smarts the eye ! To purpose ill when mind is wed, How killing is the bright blue sky To pleasure 1 Ah I think of it and weep to know Men reap according as they sow, Which is not glad'nii either, When prone to evil measui'es : And neither Shall we the power have to kill A greater with a lesser ill : The greater must be greatest In compare. — In all thou ever hatest, Beware ! Thou canst not great become by killing great : Nor stem the torrent dark of fate. Ah 1 shed the bitter scalding tear I Hope's a corzo upon the bier. Beneath the turf fit to be lain ; Or cast into the hungry main Like a loathsome leprous dog, That fest'ring in the sun soon proves a bane To all the passers-by. — One — to sting the life out by poison — Forsooth — 'twill large increase thy foison : 118 SONGS IN TRAVEL. And that is all to thee, — To thee and thine how very dear Not dear enough to reign : Thy fierce desires like dust do clog The fissures of the soul : So pray to Christ to wash away that stain, More lurid than that which Cain Did wear upon his brow. Seek Christ, ere dark oblivion's waters roll O'er what remains of thee, For He, and He alone can free All from fell guilt's control ! THE REAL. % The fear of being known What we really are. The fear of being shown From perfection far, Is agonizing woe ; And thoughts fell monsters make : Which do our bodies bow, And our spirits break I iiiniiRMPiiiiipiinHRiilMpil SONGS IN TRAVEL. 119 SYMBOLS. \ A little power, a piece of tape ; A little grief, a piece of crape ; A little imp, a human ape ; A little thought on such things waste I A little wrong, a senseless lie ; To flatter one in company : For men will talk, not knowing why And pander to a vicious taste I A little witch, a giddy girl Whose ringlets golden shine and curl, Her purpose answering full well : And can we for a moment hlame ? So thoughtless yet so full of thought ;- A little wisdom dearly lought, And to a purpose daily brought Is more than idleness of claim. The shadow of a smile faint plays About her mouth, and half betrays A heart's young fire all in a blaze j We can't but smile, love's artless scheming I- A truth to future ages born A twilight heralding the mom, To those who do not symbols scorn But realise their golden seeming : I I 120 SONGS IN THATBL. True mirrors of life's chequer'd ways To Truth's enthusiastic gaze, As He doth pierce the mist and haze That dim life's bright and pure surroundings : With his swift, strong and searching eyes When upwai^s springing to the skies On eagle wings, like light he flies ; — For Truth's sweep knows nor stop nor bound- ingsl L'ENYOI. Oftentimes the best of men Trip a little now and then : — He is a fool who thinketh otherwise ; Who the contrary has held Has no set knowledge of the world : For all are human 'neath the pitying skies. I:: A HYMN OF LIFE. " Rien de beau que vrai." Voltaire* A hymn of Life — ^who runs may read. Truth 's crystalline as streaming light ; There's in the Mind all we may need To set our erring footsteps right i SONGS IN TRAVEL. So tanght the wisest of all time, — The prophets and the priests of old ; — In Hallow'd music, — ^words sublime : They did the self-same truth unfold. Dame Nature too, with face of love, Beads us such lessons full and well ; And Wisdom — bom of heaven above— Deigns in the soul guest-like to dwell : Stern monitor ! the mind, his place ; The si less oracle of God ! That with his finger sui'e doth trace The true, however sad or oM ! Who loves not truth has life betray'd ; In all we think, or dream, or feel, We forward must, or retrograde ; There is, O man, no standing still : For know, each deed's influencing Has untold power for weal or woe ; And makes more pure or foul the spring Of Life in its swift ebb and flow^ 121 Nay more — the lives of others are Cross'd and affected by our own ; And when we think not, make or mar.- Wt cannot stand, man, alone I 122 SONGS IN TRAVEL. No safety's in a middle course, — Though its fair suasive ways beguile, 'Tis but at best a covert source Of backwardness, the fooling while : So tear thee from all idle sorrow, And fretting griefs that mind corrode ; Let present action pledge the morrow, Advancing o'er life's rutted road ! |s I -I For where's the use, O man, repining, And brooding o'er the thankless Past ? — ■ 'Twere life's death-warrant puling signing To breathless stand thus all aghast. Take manful heart of hope, and earnest, Prometheus-like, exert the will : The more in suflf'ring's school thou learnest The more thy power to fight and kill. The low and baser sense war-waging, With that which nobly doth aspire Amid this mad world's brawl and raging To something hallow'd, pure and higher ! There's much of good and bad in all, As wisest bards and sages tell : Then why not hold the bad in thrall, And let the good prevail ? ^mm SONaS IN TRAVEL. It can, and grandly has been done By men than us by far less blest ; Who o'er themselves the battle won While ruthless foes without opprest : The brave and worthy of our race ! Who suft'or'd for their truth and worth ; Yet never flinch'd worst death to face, To prove the same to all on earth : Those grand old heroes, worthy, true ; That left us as in solemn trust In all things here, the what to do To raise us from the clogging dust 123 , And dirt of luckless circumstance ; Nor for a moment deem't too hard The cause of progress tc advance More so than life itself regard : Than sin — to suffer — better ! earc — Life's but a passing pilgrimage ; With Job-like patience here endure Wrong, — words indignant cannot gauge. For principle is more than life ; Is more than blood, or blist'ring tears ; With longings and with visions rife Of being new, beyond the spheres : ! 124 SONQS IK TRAVBL. A life hereafter, better far Than we can dimly dream or trace : Life ! — shining like a golden star, With God eternal face to face ! Immortality, the moving thought ! Subliming all our truth's endeavour : With its most glorious spirit caught Naught can change Life's purpose ever. No, naught can change the Christian true. Though doctrines strange like clouds arise ; He knows the truth and does it too : And that is more than mere surmise. Believe, O man, these wondrous things ! 'Twere bliss ecstatic to believe ; And give to mind her eagle wings, Than doubting — idly mope and grieve : Than feed on wind, and ffeed on air. And like a wild beast piteous roar, When chill and comfortless Despair To thee, hope's gates shuts evermoro^ : The rather choo^* t/ rih'ty learn Bight's simp' \^uhf N uoldly tread ; To cherish truth a • 1 spurn The gilded evils- rouna us spread. •■ ■iHliHiJilBi SONGS IN TRAVEL. 125 . Examine oft our little selves Than burn to set the world aright : The bosom's mind, one seldom delvea : And that enough for us is quite. Why should we helpless sigh and groan ? Grief is not healthy, here or there : By our own selves thus overthrown ! Know — Action is life's saving prayer. . There's nothing better than to work The only fount of bliss below I And he who doth such duty shirk Shall never happiness true know ! And then we may be ever blessing, By giving kindly love for hate ; By like a monarch, stern repressing The rebel passions of our state : By Heav'n's own sacred name refusing The selfish gifts of time's base slaves ; With calm that lasts, be gladly choosing The path which golden virtue paves :— I There is no other road to bliss, Think what we may, or dream, or do ; Subordinate all things to this We must to ever prove it true j 126 SONGS IN TRAVEL. And gain for us, swoet peace of mind And thoughts that soothe — a brimful store ! For any fate prepar'd, resign'd, The duty more, the honor more ! Find beauty then a spell of might, True genius of life's fickle hour ; Animating like the purple light The sleep-enfolded flower ! I could weep for those that dream Life's but a summer gay that smiles ; Afloat upon destruction's stream. As pleasure's glittering eye them guiles : By lurid fascination kept, A-languish in life's brittle boat ; One moment past, away then swept Into death's foam with none to note : With none of all their former friends, To heave a sigh or shed a tear, — 'Tis thus the life of folly ends :— Enough to make the boldest fear ! I Now turn us round another way, View pamper'd wretchedness and bane. And paint in colors clear as day The evil fruits of self's dread reign ; t SONGS IN TRAVEL. There is no worser state than this, That man who lives alone for wealth, Believing such can purchase bliss E'en when it cannot purchase health. • I tell the man, a fool thou art ; No good thy stagnant bosom stirs, — The poorest with a feeling heart The honest sense of all prefers ; For he's a man, and thou a beast B}^ ignorance and passion led ; Thy greatest glory, some gross feast : — 'Twere better thou wert with the dead ! Now note the cynic cold, that sneers At ev'rything that's said or done ; A prey at last himself to fears, He deem'd for aye he had outrun : — 127 Notes.— Worser, is used by Carlyle and Shakespeare, which must, I think, shut the lips of the most captious critic. The metre is octosyllabic,though here and there varied with a shorter measure and female rhymes. The rhetoric, though a little forci- ble, is true to the ideas and the metaphors it embodies. The author trusts he has avoided all shoddy and slipshod dance of words ; and though there is not an even flow of rhythmic verse thoughout, it has the merit of a smooth continuousness, so desi- rable in compositions of length I mmm 128 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Or trace the miser in his lair, In mis'ry steep'd up to the chin, The sordid pelf, his only care, His only thought some more to win ; Half starveling brute I with cold paw skinny, Low cunning lodg'd within his brain : He shrinks at nought to eke a guinea. Unmoved at fellow mortal's pain ! " Yet dies at last a very scorn, E'en to those flatterers adept : Who wake up rich some lucky morn, When he into the grave is swept. And now my song is nearly spent — My heart with thine, to make begin Love's work, let's pledge ! — all ill repent ; For those who watch are they that win. — Let's do what's right, and good, and true ; For good alone is only grand : And Heav'n will see us life safe through ; Though we but little understand The seeming contradictions here ; That chase us ev'rywhere about. And to our very depths us stir, And torture us with awful doubt : SONGS IN TRAVEL. 129 m For men the same before have gone And feared not, — good by their side ; The naked truth to look upon, E'en though they for it cruelly died.- . Example brave from them and theirs Till manhood nobly rides sublime. The tamed steeds of worst despairs Yok'd steadfast to the car of time. God ! give us grace to do the same, Nor hark what trait'rous Doubt's tongue saith : But put to rout the hosts of shame ; " Be faithful unto Death" ! THE BETEOTHEB ONE'S SONG. I. My Love is going with me to-night, With me to night ; When winking stars shine clear and bright And twinkle overhead ; To take a sweet and quiet walk, A quiet walk ; And have some confidential talk : And name the day we wed I i 3 Wii'mfifim 180 SONQS IN TRAVEL. II. For we grow fonder of each other, Of each other : More than a sister or a brother, The more the walks we take : With him alone I ha^^py feel, I happy feel ; More than my lips would dare reveal Unless for his dear sake I ' III. For he's a man, a fearless man, A fearless man ; He can protect me, that he can. Which him endears the more : For many sought my heart and hand, My heart and hand ; But all were cold me to command. And make my heart's wealth poor, IV. And worthless in my haughty eyes, My haughty eyes ; Till he did come and me surprise, And my attention gained : And after that I know not how, I know not how ; His spirit did my spirit bow : My heart's king since has reign'd ! , SONGS IN TRAVEL. 131 MY LOVE. My Love is very fair, And has two star-like eyes : And such a wealth of golden hair The sunbeam it outvies : And tooth'd with pearl her pretty mouth ; — • Her lips, a coral thread ; Her balmy breath, the scented South, That on sweet spices just has fed : Her neck, the bloomy peach ; Her cheeks, the comely rose. When blushes faint o'ermantle each Ere their full charms disclose; And native is the marble hue Of her smooth polish'd skin ; Pure-veined, like those clear rills of blue, That through the snow their cold way win. ; Her voice, the thrilling sound Of song-birds on the wing ; That takes us captive at a bound. When they begin to sing : But her sweet words more thrilling far Than songsters' airy spells. Because like magic they unbar, The palace gates where young love dwells ! But best of all her heart Throbs ever warm for me ; As deeply tender, pure, in short. As woman's heart can be : 132 SONGS IN TRAVKL. For charms of looks arc notliing worth f'^'thout tliat truth (livinc, Which consecratOiS thorn here on earth, When kneeling at Jjovo'h votive nlirine f ' LOVE FOR WISllKD: AN ELEGY. I. O bury n\e beneath the fragrant Hod, Where fresl\ly spring the grass and flowers, Aye nourish 'd by the dews ana showers : Where sweep at will the winds of (Jod ! II. Wliere nestling violets, lurking, })eep and smile, Half hid beneath the delling green ; And many a wilding blossom's seen The listless fc^troller to beguile. III. WLere star-like blooms the daisy's modest flower That braveth winter's icy scowl, Or frost's keen breath, or tempest's howl ; When skies like angiy faces lower. BONOS IN TRAVEL. ir, 188 Whoro minstrol birds with pure, glnd, lyric voice, Breathe out their houI in muRic sweet; Till iist'ning Echo doth repeat The name, and all the woods rejoice. V. Where tranquil shades of groves embosom'd lio Within the hollow of the hill : Meet spot for bards an hour to kill, Blest with June's blue up-deep'ning sky I vr. Or near the forest's leafy solitudes Where mother Nature only rules, And teacheth more than all the schools Of Art, — despite his cunning moods. VII. Where waterfalls at soft'ning distance roar, And in their glee go tumb'ling down, O'er boulder rocks and ledges brown : Then into some swift torrent pour. vni. And from the seething torture of their foam Spray-gems are born, then melt away : And rainbows rise in wreathed play As bright as from the rain-cloud's womb. II ;^ 1- 134 SONGS IN TRAVEL. IX. Or by the shore of Ocean's sounding wave So beautiful and grand to view ; So awe-inspiring our soul through : — What place more meet to make one's grave ? X. In some such holy places bury me, A green repose beneath the ground : "Where flowers, gay weeds, and grass are found And all to wander there are free ! XI. Near some such scenes lay me to dream in peace, Far from the shock and hum of those By blinding passion made blind foes : Where brawls tumultuous never cease ! XII. f II I O lay me not in dim cathedral vast. Where fashion's crowds troop in and out. And palpitate with fear and doubt When priests at them truth wholesome cast xni. Nor in the sculptur'd marble's costly stone So melancholy on to gaze, When we chance take our pensive ways Through churchyards — epitaphs to con, J nd 0, SONGS IN TRAVEL. XIV. 135 And trace the end of Wealth's or Glory's son The favor'd of dame Fortune's eye : O how sad then, thoughts underlie Our musing of life's race so run ! XV. O bury me beneath the fragrant sod, Where freshly spring the grass and flowers, Fed by dew-beads and pearls of showers ; Where sweep the viewless winds of God. s APOSTROPHE TO THE TEAR. Sweet trickling gem of tender love. Regret for unrewarded Worth ; Warm prayer for grace to God above : Bedewing pearl of sacred birth ! Ecstatic joy's imijassioned charm. Kind pity speaking from the heart; Fell guilt's hot pledge of true reform : Relieving bliss when death friends part ! O haste the time when weeping grief No more shall dim frail mortal eyes : O hail with joy pain's last relief; For souls in tears gain Paradise ! II ! 136 SONGS IN TRAVEL. POVEETY. T. Poverty's the worst of ills. ' Tis that which often chills The glow of grand endeavour : 'Tis that which soonest kills The life of men's best faith, and makes them bad for ever ! II. O hard and cruel's the lot ' By poverty begot ; When good men friendless wander : And those who've plenty got, Sit at their selfish ease, and tens of thousands squander ! III. E'en Charity is cold. — A something to be told, And column 'd in due honor. The world may charm'd behold, And men may talk about and praise the generous donor ! IV. What man would beg his bread When the very dogs are fed And house'd in regal splendor ? Their looks would strike you dead Who to their poodle curs are aye so kind and tender ! rONGS IN TRAVEL. V. 137 Were you to ask for aid, Dar'd you to once invade The proud ones' sanctuary; Too soon, depress'd, dismay'd. You them would flee,-of help to aught they are so chary. VI. Because that unbelief, In aught of sweet relief Save in the pauper fashion Would soon destroy their chief Delight of sneering at poor love's hated passion ! TO WOMA^^! Man's good angel here below, Who lightens all his load of woe With sweetest smiles : Who makes him good, when he is bad ; Who comforts him, when he is sad- Worst care beguiles ! Who deemeth thee of little worth, Has never felt thy charm on earth :— Love has no part Of his cold soul:-how wondrous strange, Xo never come within the range Of beauty's dart I 138 SONGS IN TRAVEL. i! There's nought to envy in that one, Though fortune his, that has outrun Wealth's race of old : The priceless gem of woman's hearty Can more true happiness impart Than power or gold ! WOKK, I. A health to all who toil, Drop blessings on their head Who wrestle with the soil To win their daily bread : And each co-working brother Who handleth brave the pen j May all love one another As well becomes true men ! 11. Success to honest labour To honest hand and heart ; Cui's'd be each idling neighbour Who acts the coward's part : At something lab'ring not Though humble it may be, Despising that true lot Which lends life dignity \ SONGS IN TRAVEL. III. All work is sacred. God In mercy will'd it so ; Though cursed is the sod Charm'd work can turn the blow A largess in the ground ; A sweet and just reward, Is surely ever found By those who labour hard ! IV. Then work ye with a will ; Some task o'er have to do If ye would sorrow kill, And health and strength renew • Sweat from the throbbing brow. There's pleasure in the flow ; ' Its streaming beads ere now Have wash'd away much woe ! 139 JV:SE DAYS. These are the days to make our own. The blithe and sunny days ; Amid the musk of roses blown And twines of scented sprays ; ^^m^nmimmm^m .-* I| w 140 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Amid the groves and alleys green Starr'd with a thousand eyes Of blossoms over smiling seen Up at the kindling skies : Amid the em'rald shade of trees High-towering in the wood : That sway them to the frolic breeze So sweet and balm-imbued ! Each leaf a miracle bright seen, A living perfect gem ; A-twinkling in the golden sheen That bathes each branching stem : Amid the meads so soft and swai'ded, Like velvet to the tread : Which nature boon — oft unregarded — Has in profusion spread ! And where her orchestre's wild notes, (No instrument can match,) Impassioned gush from feather'd throats And ear delighted catch : Or by the dimpled slopes of hills Half dotted o'er with sheep ; Where no cold sight the spirit chills As eye around doth sweep SONGS IN TRAVEL. 141 And note each landscap'd scene and spot,— How large-ey'd ox haunch 'd sits ; As 'twere with some strange fancy caught That 'fore his vision flits : Note silv'ry brooks that flow with ghe Like serpents in their play ;— The path track of tJie rover bee, As lapse the hours away : View in the distance, spreading wide, Asleep, the ocean wild ; With all its majesty and pride, Like some sweet infant child : Or ken a gleaming sail appear, Then swift melt into space : How like a dream of some one dear We for a moment trace ! Or close at hand, as does beseem— The busy swains at toil :— How cheerful with their plough and team, Despite wealth's glittering foil, Not theirs to boast !-how wish we then To share their simple ways : They seem the happiest of men. As we on them charm'd gaze. m ilif 142 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Hail I rosy June — for we can rove By meadow, lake, and stream ; By lawny hill and wilding grove Where nature reigns supreme : M' When thou dost come with purple wings And brood upon the ground, New joys as from a thousand springs Our waking sense swim round. A day with nature pleases more. And to the heart doth reach, Than all the proverb wit and lore That wisest sages teach THE NAME OF JESUS. Ever gracious, ever dear, The name of Jesus doth appear ; Ever smiling and beguiling The Christian in his hope and fear : Sweet as music to the ear ; Religion's meaning rend 'ring clear ; Ever soothing and reproving, The sinner heav'nward drawing near. SONGS IN TRAVEL. 148 LOYE. Love doth ever wake to bliss ; — For life is naught without it : Life's chiefest end and aim we miss Do we a moment doubt it I And this should be our cheering thought Though pains like prickles hedge it ; The more life's love with pain is fraught, The greater need to pledge it. • WOMAN'S PRAISE. How sweet is woman's smile, How musical her voice ; How her loving looks beguile Our sad hearts to rejoice ! She's fairer than the flowers, Embath'd in golden dew ; More ardent than the hours That all day long them woo : A gloss is set about her Limbs, like polish'd stone : — Man cannot do without her, Or think her to disown : \r^ 144 SONGS IN TRAVEL. For Horrow fiiidH an echo In her most gentle breast ; No fear from what doth follow Ih in her looks exprest. Thcre'H magic in her whisper, Such winning in her ways ; That words are cold to lisp her Wondrous worth and praise : Her eyes are full of meaning, Lit with love's beaming trust : From self man's spirit weaning And cleansing from the dust And dirt of coarser feeling, That clog our being's wheels, Caught from the world's forc'd dealing, Our working intervals I COMMAND TO SING. '' Wail for the World's Wrong." Sing to the breathing world the songs Of guiding love and death ; Sing to the world, of human wrongs With unabated breath i SONGS IN TRAVEL. Sing on, and sing, till winging Charm men to yearn for truth : Sing to tho world, notes ringing With a world'H reproof! Sing to the world, there yet iw life, And hope, though dim with tearful woes ; Sing on and sing, 'twill case the strife Of men, by folly made blind foes I Breathe forth the minstrel teaching, 'Twill not be breath'd in vain ; 'Tis searching and heart-reaching ; T^^^re's pleasure in its pain ! Command to sing, for duty's holy, The poet's lyric wisdom pure : Song tames the savage melancholy Of hopes and fears v> e here endure. 145 LINES. Reciprocate a friendship, Reciprocate a love ; Give a man your honest hand And trust in heaven above : ii ! 146 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Think not this life all pleasure, Think not this life all woe ; Deem it a mixed measure Changing to and fro : — Consistency, that jewel Wear glorious day from day ; Actions echoing sweetly What the lij^s do say ! LOYE'S POWER. A DITTY. I. Hearts warm must break. When wealth's at stake, And hands go join to gain it : When love's not there Two souls must pair Though bitter they disdain it. II. For Beauty's sold And bought with gold ; Yet that hath never wlain it. True love does last When life is past : No power can whole restrain it. SONaS IN TRAVEL. 147 THE RADICAL. A SKETCH. There late was One, A Radical by name, A Radical by nature : — Though, to kill with spiteful name Has ever been fell Falsehood's aim ; His trusted arrow poison' d I And all who know not shame : — He burn'd with rare honesty's pure flame. In deeding thought, and word and feature :— His was a large and stalwart frame Fit house for such a soul ! His brow two arching lines full spann'd, And trenched it deep With curved sweep, For Care had smote him with his iron hand : And, here and there, lines did declare The dews of sorrow did him steep E'en to his bosom's core, oft unawai'e : Aught else, he was as others are. Save that his eyes did seem To sometimes wondrous dream : — His was a lion-heart whom none could tame, And few could understand ; Before your face he spoke his mind, Nor fear'd to hear your own ; In manner rough, yet not unkind. Which amply did atone :— 148 SONOS IN TRAVEL. i'i! Ill I A large rude polish'd gem ! — He cared not your smiles or frowns, He knew the worth of them : Life's many ups and downs Had taught him more Than Wisdom's many-volum'd lore : — "With all his might he did detest, Humbug and canting in the best ; And all the rest Of bland convention's hollow shams : And that hypocrisy which damns All young warm souls to hell, Because they will not sell, Their birthright of free thinking. For custom's mess of pottage stinking : For cake and comfort, tea and wine ; And call the shameful act, heroic and divine. In God and only God, he placed his trust, As creature of the dust : And actions good heliev'd exprest, Religion's meaning best ; The man in all his actions shone : For he was One I Hi SONGS IN TRAVEL. 149 TO PATRIOTS. AN ODE. Ye bold and brave defenders, Who guard our native land ! To keep which is your glory With right good heart and hand, From insult and dishonor, From legion'd treachery and hate, When they would seize upon her Ruin worst to consummate : Should war ensue, be firm and true ; And work them all their bloody due ! Raise high that glorious banner 'Neath which ye loving live ; And prove yourselves full worthy, Such proud prerogative, By rallying bold around it. That flag without a single stain ; To keep it as ye found it. Amid war's crimson rain : Its streaming sight, a source of might. To nerve and aid ye in the fight ! Then let them come and welcome : The being well prepar'd Is mora than to have spoken With words ye've only dai'd j t 150 SONGS IN TRAVEL. In battle ye will meet them And test them with the trenchant sword ; With cannon ye will greet them, Who justice have ignor'd : If hither led, with hostile tread. Their hellish ruin hero to spread ! TO NIGHT. AN ODE. I. I wait for Thee, beloved night, As for an only friend ! I hail thy coming with delight, And smile with joy, to spend A few delicious hours Alone with thee ! For then mind's earnest powers Genial employment find That all to sweetness tend : — Such calm imbues the mind ! II. V' 'U Shadow and companion ! Spirit from out the sea ! Dark Presence true, have me in view f Till beats my heart more free I — Could I in words expree" That ardor that I for thee feel, SONGS IN TRAVEL. I should never rest Till it I did fulfil— This pleasui-e sort of duty ! But know, my helplessness Forbids me to reveal Such love, thou star-crown 'd beauty ! Less charm perhaps to sleep than muse, To most of human kind But that thou dost no boon refuse ' To those to fancies calm inclin'd ! 151 MAID MAEIAN. A SKETCH. I. Modest, sweet, retiring Maiden of the lea ; Whom, all eyes admiring Are aye so glad to see ! What magic in thy featui'es Can thus captivate So many of thy fellow-creatures, And make them cui'se their fate ; Despairing to possess thee And winning thee for wife ; Esteeming to'caress thee The greatest pleasiu-e of their life ? ;l'h: ii u i; I: !:i!: 152 SONGS IN TRAVEL. II. Perhaps thy golden curls, Or orbs of melting blue : Or two fine rows of pearls, Thy ruby lips seen through. As fresh as any bosom'd rose Unfolding to the Morn's soft kiss As swift its petal'd charms disclose Unto light's streaming bliss : Not that in truth I may say so Or ivory of face ; Yet forsooth, I hardly know. Such witchery of grace, Has something e'er to make a spell Which few can long resist ; And suits some persons wondrous well Who on mere empty charms exist. It may be so, but what is that To thee or thine ? Thou art not pleased, Maid, thereat, And so all such resign. III. Thy gentle voice bespeaks A gentler still, and ardent soul. One, who in a lover se^ks A heart complete and whole : That will for good and evil cherish His mind's ideal for ever : Like a torn flower thou wouldst perish Wert thou from him to sever, ii I SONGS IN TRAVEL. Once wedded and surrender'd, To find him less so true Than what thou to him tender'd, 'Twould love's true work undo; Because thy inward beauty Is equal to thy outward ; And thy sense of duty, Soldier-like, does mount guard To save thee from invasions Of puling beaux, with love-sick staves ; With all their fine persuasions, A pack of fools and knaves 1 153 CHAIS^GE. Beauties new are ever springing From the wreck of things' decay ; Grander glories are replacing The old — envanishing away : — Nature's music's deeply ringing With the praises of swift Change \ Nothing's lost ;— the all of wasting Renew'd e'er is in forms more strange. All is life. All is motion ; All with subtle fire doth burn ; The signs of ceasingless devotion Are seen at every step and turn : ilii! 154 SONGS IN TRAVEL. The golden stars in silence tell it ; The vocal winds it wild proclaim ; The flowers with bloomy symbols spell it ; The deep-voic'd waves confess the same. The very water-drops are teeming With countless beings of endless form : The mosses in the woodland gleaming, The leaf that quivers in the storm : Within life, — life in fulness beating ; Wheel within wheel a-going round, Myri ad-function 'd, all-completing : Perfect— ^in perfection found 1 I i i m ii! . ii ill I !. SPEmG. The forest trees are growing Blossomy and green ; The laughing streams are flowing With wavelets crisp'd and clean : The Spring his trumpet's blowing O'er continent and isle ; And all around is glowing 'Neath warmth's expanding smile I The husbandman is sowing ; — All nature's out of doors ; Ocean, lover-like, is throwing Spray-gems toward the shores ! SONGS IN TRAVEL. 155 EPITAPH FOR A SOLDIER'S TOMB. Here lieth one more honor'd at his death Than when he drew his living breath ! CARE AND SUFFERING COME TO ALL I I. Think not your life so very sad, Or by worst suffering held in thrall ; O there are thousands quite as bad : For care and suffering come to all. II. For some are apt to think that they And only they are bow'd by woe; And pine, and fret, and wear away, In letting all the world it know.' III. Aye gloomily they walk the earth, As if it were a noble thing To dirges hymn, and banish mirth ; And over all griefs shadow fling : IV. The world has troubles of its own. To care its time and sober thought j Than tend to them and theirs alone And let the many be forgot. ii'll ii'-l i ^! !!;! 1 ;■ ■■ i ; i ; ] . i ! It i' ■ 1 ii 166 SONGS IN TRAVEL. V. Be hnsh'd your peevishness and grief, Be up and doing, that's the plan, To find the balm of sweet relief; Prove worthy of the name of man ! BARDS' EPITAPHS. As sparkling as the jewelling dew ; As fragrant as the musky flower ; To art and kindred nature true, Love — sacred warrant, pledge, and dower. Yet such to few befalling I Bright stars whose fine and searching beams Pierce through and through that subtle dark, Enmisting oft truth's purest streams ; 'Till grandest souls e'en miss the mark — The mark of their high calling : Strong songs Divine that broaden o'er The minds of all who, feeling, read : Then with hot haste men more and more Honor and weep the noble dead : Redeeming — as they ought I Then let them rest, their fame is large ; True fame increases after death : And proves men's worth who were the targe Of darts blown by hate's sickly breath Through tubes in silver wrought. SONGS IN TRAVEL. 157 MOTHEE EARTH. Mother Earth, O graciou8 mother Take me to thy green bosom fair ; We are dear to one another, I long thy lawny calm to share : I sprang from thee, a fragile flower, Time seem'd to pity for thy sake ; But dark and colder grows each hour, Thy child once naore to thyself take ! i . it FAREWELL. WRITTEN IN A LETTER. O let the simple word farewell, (What other words are cold to tell), Express that aching grief of heart When friends from friends are forc'd to part : That chill regret and moui'nfulness. That sense of loss which doth possess The feelings oft like some spell dread When musing on friends severed : — Ah me, dear friend I I do deep miss Your company ; and that sweet bliss Of converse born when mind to mind Communion held, and e'er did find In it the ecstacy of joy, Which nought can dim, much less destroy II m 158 SONQS IN TRAVEL. In golden mom'ry of the same Till death hIiuU quench oxistonco' flame. Though smooth-tongu'd Hope would whinpor fain, Together wo may meet again ; 'Ti8 well her ne'er to lend an ear, For Hhe'H at best a flatterer. It is the curse of life that when A something's most endeared, then We must it lose or separate, And Change is all mortal state ! Then let the '' sad Farewell" express The sense of loss, that loneliness ; That void which e'er forms in the heart, When friends from friends are forc'd to part ! ON SEEING CHILDREN COxME OUT OF SCHOOL. niii ' I What pleasure pure to see the young Come trooping out of school, When all the music of their tongue Bespeaks the heart, of gladness full. The sunny mem'ries of the past Revive again once more. And o'er the feelings gently cast A warmth of bliss long known before. O truly touching is the sight, — A something sweet and dear : The prattle of their young delight Calls forth the tribute of a tear. fnin, SONGS IN TRAVEL. Yet an with them wo RympatluHO, Sad though t« tho mind imbuo; And sternly bring before tho eyoH The sequel of such joyanco now : For all too soon they'll bitter know Life's grief and fretting care : That sorrows like ourselves swift gi*ow And our most golden moments share : And in our secret mind we pray That virtue may be theirs ; Brought to the living light of day While young—unwoo'd of dark despairs! 159 t! HOOL. LIFE'S BREVITY. We all do fade as the flower ; We perish like tho leaf; Life's little hour Is all too brief: — Passing like the smoke away, No one knows where : Whon all is bright and gay And we would fain most share, The ' 'vely day, — What shadows are we all f What wasting things, what shades ! Our ow^n, we annot for a moment call ; The brightest soonest fades. 160 SONGS IN TRAVEL. EEST THEE, BELOVED. Best thee, belov'd, with God to protect thee, Nought can come near thee to startle ox* harm ; In mercy 'tis His to over correct thee : In mercy 'tis God's, to ever pm^e charm The heart bowed down and stricken with sorrow, Andyouthhood's brave strength en wasted witli strife, Grand hopes of the best, fair set in the morrow Beloved, to encourage thy still onward life. ;iiJ APOSTROPHE TO THE KISS. Velvet touch of soft emotion, Pure nectar'd pledge of love divine ; "Warm caress of deep devotion : — First offering at affection's shrine ! Fond desire — inhaling treasure. Ennobling fervor of the soul : Feelings speaking — thrilling pleasure ; Sweet herald of the nuptial goal ! — ■ Pensive joy in deepest sorrow, When lingering lips are forc'd to part ; O for Heaven's own pen to borrow. And write the language of the heart ! 1 SONGS IN TRAVEL. 161 rm L'OW ill strife, CARDS. What devil's thoughts fine forms have ta'en to please f Sure pleasing to betray — dumb paper imps, That lead the young aside ; accurs'd of God And man : — time-killers ! peace-destroyers ! Dishonesty's blind playthings ! virtue-slayers, Companions of the all inglorious bottle 1 Fill'd with seductive poison, slow but sure. Misnamed wine — fierce liquid flame that stings The throat, and fires the angor'd blood ; of lust And filthy thought, and worst, attendant guests ! Their paramour ! incentive fierce 1 their spur I Trust not the cards — thrust them from you as you Swift would the rank envenom'd snake ! — They are No good. — Scamps, sharpers, thrive by them alone ; And who would be a knave ? Should e'en men play "Fair and square," — blind chance rules the hour; — true men Fight shy of chance and never to her sue ; And cards will beat their maker. — Never touch The imclean things, and time shall see you bless it ! 11 I rt ; ON PLUCKING A LONELY ROSE. Sweet tiu wer of my heart's delight, Most beautiful fair one ! Tears dim the glow of my sight, Seeing you thus bloom alone ; 162 SONQS IN TRAVEL. li'i 1:1 ill I 1!;!' I I Thy brother-buds enmould'ring Ho In leaflets here and there ; To look at them, is but to sigh, Knowing what they once were : — Sweet cause of melancholy dear, I'll pluck and wear you near my heart ; Perhaps it may cheer, Some little joy impart : For why should cold or scorching beam Steal thy life cunningly away ? * Tis more than bliss to pensive deem A love when in decay : Nor such is thankless fate ; Sweet flowers that soothe man's pain, Tho' Death does on them wait In mem'ry's garden spring and bloom again And such to thee, shall my thought be Sweet flower of my heart's delight I II EMILY— ON HER BRIDAL DAY. A SONNET. I see her now ! — O blue seems best young love's attire : — Breathing the music of rapture's soft sigh : A smiling playfulness beams from her eye. So blushing with the glow of passion's fire : — A sight to make the coldest breast desire ! — ■^ SONGS IN TRAVEL. 163 I gaze, and am the more -^ntranc'd thereby, For something of a wild joy iseems me to inspire ; The sweet perfection other witching grace, Sublimes the beauty of her lovely face, As blushes burn, and leave a rosy trace Along the marble of its polish'd purity : The light of happiness 's around her shed And welcomes greet her ; yet a pleasing dread Pervades her frame — this day she will be wed ! SONNET TO THE MOON. So placid, pale and cold ; how lonely there In that vast space unbo winded ! Aspect fair Seems ever thine ; the silver of thy smile. The prospect harmony of things which share The mystic balm of sleep soft hues — beguiles The starry lustre of sky's supernal isles ; And yet how far from thee ! — how recoi lies Man this of thee and them, but to declare The power and majesty of Heaven ? The learned wiles Of sceptic Hate,^the falseness show of his own snare. — But why these thoughts ? — 'Tis mine to gaze again. Nor would I once this pleasure sweet forbear ; All love to gaze above : the troubled brain When musing thus forgets its present pain ! ^^^mmmmmo'im i 1 11 I 1 164 SONGS IN TRAVEL. SONNET TO THE ALPS. Hail f stupendous array of Alps, ice-crown'd I A-down your sides fierce waters headlong pour And noise the music of a mighty sound, That fills the hollow vastness circling round Deep as the bass of some dread earthquake's roar, Ere ope its jaws to swallow in the ground : — 'Tis mine, to hear and muse, O monarchs hoar ! What time the giant throbs of nature vast Puls'd through the veins of ye — her mountain limbs, 'Tis vain of mine to gather from the past : — Unknown the language of your awful hymns. — An aw'd delight makes me stand half-aghast, As wonder through my spirit's channels swims, Enviewing ye — the calmer reason holding fast. TO MAY. I. O welcome to the flowery May 1 Set in green rejoicing ; The beauteous face of nature gay ; Song-birds at distance voicing | SONGS IN TRAVEL. 11. This is the jocund month of May, All sights and sounds delight men, And rule with such a gentle sway, — It takes us captive quit© then ! III. This is the merry month of May, The fairest of spring's daughters 1 When balmy grows the opening day, And glance the polished waters ! IV. This is the blithesome month of May, The sky comes forth to meet her With blue advance — with lambent ray The yellow sunbeams greet her. V. This is the glorious month of May, Hill, grove, and valley smile ; And milk-white blossoms scent the way Down by each leafy aisle. VI. This is the comely month of May, The grasses, lush, grow greener ; And daisies beautiful as they With starry crownals queen her : 166 ■ M i ,il ll 166 SONGS IN TRAVEL. VII. This is the sunny month of May, The bee hums mellow tender : And sportive butterflys, winged gay Blaze past us in their splendor. Viii. This is the charming month of May, The winds breathe sweet and lowly, And wanton with the jewelling spray - That forward dancesi slowly. IX. This is the frolic month of May, I saw the young deer yonder Bound with nervy speed away, Half lost in joy and wonder. X. This is the happy month of May, When we enraptur'd oft see. The lambkins like young children play, Upon the lawney soft lea : XI. And man, enamour'd of the May, Partakes her genial pleasure : But few learn wisdom by the w.iy, Or nature's lessons treasure I 1 SONGS IN TRAVEL. 167 PROGRESS. There's much in little, did we but know; And men artj weak, tho' clever : There's much in lUtle — spite of woe : The world must onward ever ! In spite of wrong and gilded fraud, That would true Progress check, Break we the neck Of bigotry ! — unpower the god Of evil here : — Heav'n's scented winds will blow Such as they have blown never, And meek-eyed daisies star the verdant sod : — Truth one with Progress is — knows never over- throw ! And is helov'd of God t I SOMETHING WANTING. Man's glory often is] his bane. Opposites war with those that reign. Wicked are wo at the best, With fancies strange and dream possest i if'ew can stand truth's searching test. We fear man more than God. — Our feet have ever bleeding trod I ■ I III Pi VPS 168 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Life's thorny road — O agony !— True joy has fled the earth, And yet we do not believe ; With lies fed at our birth We do ourselves deceive, And idly grieve, For all of things best worth : And so wrong rules And teacheth schools, False wisdom, cant and bane ; And lettered fools. With chuckling glee, make fast the chain Of error, damning sin and pain. O hateful, melancholy sight 1 Despite pride's smooth disdain. To see men settled in that state. Which fear, not love doth consummate. Think not to look on any man As something worse or better : All life's trying race have ran With sorrow more than they would tell ; Circumstances all men fetter. Make them worse, make them better : The rather should we weep And sorrow deep ; And write with bloody ink life's awful letter : If write we must — and some men must ; Obeying sad they know not what : Yet feeling aye a duty thrust SONaS IN TRAVEL. Upon tliem, no matter what their lot, They cannot shirk— Belief comes not, Exce^Dt with work. 169 BEFLECTIONS. Written lolien sad / How cold this human lifo appears, How black with sin, how dim with tears ; With little that the brave heart cheers—- A dreary scene I How cold this big world seems to be, Look when or where we may to see : Fraught with worst vice and misery- Huge lusts unclean I How foul with crime and i-ank disease, - How sunken in the mire of ease: Decay doth gain by slow degrees, Then blasts the prime. How hopeless seems the cause of right, How sad, desponding, virtue's knight : How apathetic for the tight Of truth sublime !— M li I li 170 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Break forth once more, ye men of mind, And prove ye are nor cold nor blind : Prove that ye love your 8uft"ring kind, Nor faith diaown, In what ye will to consecrate ; — Love's sun will melt the frosts of hate, As ye haste onward to the great Of good alone 1 Lr'. \iot despair (that fiend !) seize hold Your purpose great — in all things — bold !- Your glowing trust in good turn cold With icy spell ! His darkest threats ye never move. Or turn ye from the works of love : — As your belief in Heaven above ; All will be well ! SONG. THE THOUGHTS OF HOME. I. How happy thoughts of natal land Come smiling in a foreign strand. To light the heart with hope's bright ray Amid the gloom of sorrow's day. Soft genial beams break on the sight Whicji warm the soul with sweet delight j Till fiU'd with bliss in mind we roam To scenes of our dear native home I SONaS IN TRAVEL. II. 171 With fancy's aid we sport awhile, And rove once more our much-lov'd isle ; Caress onr friends with breathing zeal Yet find no words for what we feel : And well-known sounds break on our ear That cause to melt the burning tear : The spell dissolves, we sadly roam, And chase away the plantom — Home. III. Though many thoughts enchain the brain With mingled links of joy and pain; The cheery thought of home's the best : It echoes warmly in the breast, And to the sad and loving heart A comfort brings for ev'ry smart : That where 'tis ours to pensive roam, We hail with joy the thoughts of Home 1 R. 172 SONGS IN TRAVEL. MISCELLANEOUS. ODE TO THE BEAVE. I. Pray for the noble brave, Who battle on the stormy wave, For Freedom's holy right, And for that valiant band, In ev'ry clime, in ev'ry land Who join them in the fight I II. Mourn for the fallen free, WIio have a grave found in the sea ; — They strengthen'd Honor's hands : And for their breth'ren slain. On many a bloody field and plain. Shame never knew their brands. III. Pray for the men who give, Their time and blood that we may live Calm, unalarm'd, content : The brave who both on land and sea Their lives have giv'n for liberty. E'er pray for and lament ! SONGS IN TRAVEL. 173 , HYMN. TRUST. We would e'er pray sincere, Lord, Yet know not how to pray ; Our thoughts arc vain, our hearts are hard : O teach us what to say I For what are we but jiilgrims here Far from the light of day ; "Without a hope our souls to cheer But lures us to betray I But thou, O God, can bring us light, And fill our hearts with joy; And set our erring footsteps right And all our foes destroy. For there are none whom we can trust Like thee ; — our only friend ! For thou art merciful and just, And faithful to the end. Teach us to pray sincere, O Lord ; We know not how to pray ; Our thoughts are vain, our hearts are hard ; O teach us what to say ! 174 SONGS IN TRAVEL. A THOUGHT. I saw two bcamw of golden light RcHplendent whine awhile ; Ajui then wing past the tranced sigiil Like love's seraphic smile : Till gliding on, each little ray Was lost amid the blaze of day. And then methought the best on ea*. th Have but as short a stay ; -i A little flickering of mirth, Like beams then fade away: — For man in life exalting free But lives to swell eternity ! . .: ■ "MUSINGS." " Shoot Folly as it Flies." O hasten Time till all the world The Gospel banner see unfurl'd ; And all the world become as one Beneath the Universal sun ! And all with heart and glad voice sing The triumph of love's blessed king, And truth and Justice iiand in hand The circuit make of sea and land : — The triumph of that love which shall Eventually o'er all prevail. I SONGS IN TRAVEL. 175 I do believe and hope for, pray : Though dark and dreary «eems life'.s way, For strife abounds here all too much That we are dull, cold to the touch Of fervency and love divine ; And virtue's lamps all feebly shine i And sin's black growth almost o'erpowcrs The garden of the mind's best flowers : That few but strive to enter in The gates of peace — sweet peace to win ! And monied men are cold at heart, And honesty deserts the mart; And seems success another name For deeds of infamy and shame : — And hungry mouths in ev'ry crowd Blaspheme both God and man aloud, And charity doth pass them by And leave the wretches danin'd to die : For doubt and dismal thought take hold The heart and purpose of the bold ; And rack them with such wild despair Till hardly know they w^iere they are ; As houseless ones run to and fro Not knowing where to turn or go : Without one cheerful hope or friend On whom they could an hour depend. — O union, too, which squalid want Has made a most congenial haunt ; Auspicious house ! where poor I'olk meet Their only refuge and retreat ! 176 SONGS IN TIUVEL. w J''. 1 I k\ I J i , r ■;!!, 't !:;| ■ ! And vet" i-aiis bow'd with 3'cavs and woe Oft to the place are forced to go : Whom for thoii* country dear did give Their time and }>Iood that (she might live In peace and safety, all serene : — Shame ! Ocean's pride and darling Queen ! Are life and limbs then reckon'd nought ? These long, long years ? sad to be cast Upon the rocks of chance at last; Lash'd by discomfort's bitter gale Tottering on to death's dark vale Unattended, — left to rot By all the world as 'twei-e forgot? — Their children too, brought up in dirt, Their youth but one continual iiiu't Of vice, and sloth, and ignorance: Sure road to ruin to advaT>ce ! — Was it for this strong men did bleed ? Deserted in their utmost need ; Pauperized, — a prey to scorn ; ' Their memories a piercing thorn That goadeth them in their sjui woe To think they thus should be serv'd so ! — 'Now, law is but a costly game, Arid honor not less slow than fame : While critics prate and sophists write Which takes the breath out of you quite;— Nor wonder much, my pensive friend, When these atrocities will end ; While sickly tales appear in print Coin'd from the morbid mind's rank mint ; ^ ■HIM RMiBi ■■liHHIIilHI 1 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Which 80011 becomes the garbage fo(jd Of him who revels in the \evv(l. — They glut the bloody maw of hist: Long since his soul's whee's clogg'd with dust, That he for them i)ays any price Not over scrupulous or nice, Provided they can feed the firo Of his unsatisfied desire ; The edg ) whet of his ap])etito With something of a new delight; And io from morn till night ho reads The stuff which sickly fancy breeds; Till by base force of mind o'erdrawn Becomes tb • risi ig he feeds upon ; Becometh he the veriest slave, That ever to pale Passion gave His soul and body bootless, vile, To bask in her poor thankless smile. That wholesome truth his sense offends And his rank breast convulsive rends. So totters on, till speedy death Quick steals away his venom 'd breath ; And he no more with ribald talk Makes hell on earth Avhere he did walk I Such is the awful fate of those who build Their castled hopes upon lust's rotten held. AVho pin their faith on gross and sensual joy Which does at end their lovely soul destroy : For like a worm within a goodly apple Outsided fair— wilhin— it switt does grapple, — 177 "IF 178 SONGS IN TRAVEL. it i i i5 Seize on the juicy vitals ; all that's sweet And pure, soon through and through doth slime and eat, Till soon the goodly apple's shining skin Gives proof of fell destruction's work within : And what before we look'd on with approval We fain would make a clean and blest removal ; So in disgust and hate without delay The bad and loathsome fruit we throw away : — And so corruption's maggots seize man too In lust's fell shapes, and all his strength undo : — Like that small worm by slow degrees, at first Unnoticed, till the painful truth doth bui'st Upon him through the medium of his skin. Then wonders he at what's gone on within : Ne'er dreaming he like many thousands more Disease deep drank, glad, in at ev'ry pore ; And when too late, bewails his beastly lust, — A bloated mass of vile polluted dust ! Eeyond the reach of scientific Skill ; Save that he may somewhat the pains fierce kill Ere sinking into nothingness and night. Ere soul's base husk be coffined from the sight. The loathing, shudd'ring sight of those around, Who faithful at the bedside still are found. Would you, my friends, avoid such shocking fate ? The tempter's snares flee ere it be too late ? Or in the shape of suave and spiced books, Or in the form of painted whoredom's looks; Or anything that ministers to evil: Be sworn they are the offspring of the devil. I ^w wmmmm HH SONGS IN TRAVEL. 179 and Photogra2)hs and pictures lowering on the sight, Cloth'd intlie baleful light Of nudeness, — ruinous to thoughtless youth, False friends to duty— cause called the works of truth ! The Ball-room grand where high born belles a-toe Their almost naked bodies proudly show ; And gentlemen with feign'd and sweet surprise Admire and glut their cui-ious sense and eyes, And flattery's low music gravely j)our Into their tickled ears,— and then their store Of scandal pleasing, spic'dwith something new; And no great matter whether false or true.— I grieve to think of them and theirs With all their boasted etiquette's fine airs, With all their pageant and show Of fashion's misery and woe : For there are noble souls who pine For something of the true divine; For help and courage to come out This Egypt of their slaving doubt. For Custom with his adamantine chain Enlinks them to these posts of pain : And false Opinion, with a curling sneer At all reform, doe> gibe and jeer ; And so these slaves to custom's ban Do all the little gpe tvK) little or too much,' So fep the croakers in their fear Wliat time things hopeless do appear : But truth's brave knight is ne'er afraid Though wrapp'd iu the chilling shade Of disappointment, — because that he Can bow to fate's most cruel decree, And smile at enemies around Though in the arms of vie' try found I mmmm i SONGS IN TRAYEL. Such viclorie.s as are sometimes gaiii'd By white-rob'd Honor being brain'd With millstones of deceit and fraud ; E'en though the world around belaud Such action worthy of renown, And on fame's roll to be mark'd down, That coming ages too may read Of such a captivating deed That took the world by strange surprise Cause for the nonce i)i honor's guise ! — We never do the times quite suit — Though bear the tree perfection's fruit.— Yet bear a-head my simple Muse, What's nearest thee ne'er fail to choose And sing, though artless be the lay, 'Twill help to bring the better day : Though clergymen of feeble mind Do patrons and rich livings find ; And curates poor like Trojans work And do what their proud brethren shirk f And such poor pastors stand no chance E'on pros]>octs poorest to advance : Influence has her signet set Upon the Church to rule her vet : And Genius and Merit find In her a mother cold and blind ; — While fools and dotai-ds gain her smile They perish with neglect the while; Or drudge in hopeless unconcern Within that Church that scorns to leurn 181 p w. w n *i 182 SONGS IN TRAVEL. Of nil her 8oiis such things down held As would vibrate through all the world ; Would raise the standard of her worth Above reproach of aught on earth — Its folds float o'er ^' many a rood" Where now but sin and folly brood. O hasten time, and sweep away These crying wrongs and evils gray : O bring us truth, and large increase Of love — injustice then will cease 1 \^.l PLEAS FOE TEMPERANCE. It is a melancholy sight To see the drunkard ])oor Lost to bright reason's sense of right, Grovelling, swine-like, on the floor ; So filthy in his vomit vile. And, Oh ! the viler tongue Blaspheming God and man the while; Or to idiot madness stung : ^ A danger to his friends around, And to himself as well ; A something to be curb'd and bound Or he may send his soul to hell With one fell stroke by rage inspir'd ; So easy in the soul. By drink's infatuation fired Once past calm reason's safe control. SONGS IK TRAVEL. Abstain from wine, abniain £1-0111 wine, Abstain from liquors all ; That cup indeed is not divine Which causeth man to I'al 1 : And O 80 low ! in very deed Far lower than the thoughtless brute ; It makes fond woman's lieart-striugs bleed, Her voice's music renders mute — When museth he— sharp, viper-like, His thoughts as surely sting, And all his resolutions strike With their dull poisoning ; But let him once the brave pledge take, 'Twill make him strong and free; From him will off the serpent shake That cramp'd his heart's best energy. Come, be a man, and drink no more ; To be a slave to drink Worst bondage is, worse ten times o'er Than ought we know or think. Thy talents are of no avail, Tho rather more disgrace, Thy damning vice to mocking tell ® Than trust in thee o^- thine to place. 183 The native flower of mind will ne'er To sw^eet perfection come. Breathe thou the tainted atmosphere That fills the low tajD-room : 184 SONQS IN TRAVEL. I' 'Twill dwarf the 80111*8 immortal powers ; 'Twill sap the body's strength ; 'Twill darken like u cloud life's hours, What's worse — set thee against thyself at length : And thoughts will come in sj^ite of thee, In si^ite of thee and thine ; And thou with heavy heart shalt see There is a law divine ; If thou do break, think not to 'scape, Due punishment, though late. That Nemesis in misery's shaj^e On vice and folly ever wait. ■|> ! ■ If thou wilt drink, and friends entice, There's sparkling water pure and clear; Or tea and coifee, Avholesome, nice ; And, best of all — no fear ; Or nectar's spiced and honied sw^eets, Mixed in a hundred tempting ways ; The choicest palate fully meets Where nature charms and sAvays ; But learn to say ''no, no" to those Who would so kindly lead thee in The public-house, or palace close At hand, where's sold the liory rum or gin, Or brandy, whisky, wine, or subtle ales, Or any other kind of l^^ing thing, Whose very names sad call to mind the tales Of woe, of which they are the bitter sjjring. SONQS IN TRAVEL. (Irunkonnoss, tliou social curse! Thou fountain dread of rank disease 1 Thou plague-pest of the universe ! More than the howling seas Thou hast swift drown'd and swept away, Chain'd more to Want's sad car Than despots of the olden day ; And orphayi'd more than hloody war. Thou art, methinks, the worst reproach In this woll-itivour'd land of ours. Though many are afraid to broach The same—the thought their mind o'crpowers 1 loathe thee from my inmost heart, I hate thee more and more I see ; There's not about thee one good part Though false and foul seem fair to be, Alas ! dear fr mds, it should be so, Alas I that few so own the fact; Alas ! for those who better know And do not better act I 185 "i These are my pleas for Temperance For Temperance Divine ; Could I the cause a step advance Some little joy would then be mine ; — Religion's handmaid ! blest to woo The drunkard from his sin and bane; Health and happiness in him renew ; Far more; inaugurate Christ's reign, N IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) ? ^ // // "% <% <^'^ A fc ^ fj 1.0 I.I 1.25 ^* IIIM IIIM .1 1^ IIIM ^ Itf IIIM 1.8 U 11.6 ';3