IC-NRLF 
 
 SB 
 
 
 TRJUTH 
 
SONGS OF TRUTH 
 
 BY 
 
 CLARA ELIZABETH CHOATE 
 
 h 
 
 AUTHOR OF MODERN SCIENCE OF BODY 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 
 LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS 
 
 10 MILK STREET 
 
 BOSTON 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1894, 
 BY CLARA E. CHOATE. 
 
brvsc bill fwfc fjtm 
 a sermon fltrs. 
 
 M191790 
 
(Content* 
 
 PAGE 
 
 MY PEARLS 7 
 
 FOREVER 9 
 
 LIFE S \VORK ii 
 
 MY APPEAI 15 
 
 LOVE 19 
 
 RETROSPECTION 23 
 
 SPEAK THE WORD ONLY 27 
 
 BENEFICENCE 31 
 
 MY PETITION 35 
 
 DOWN BY THE SEA 39 
 
 LIGHT 43 
 
 TRUTH 45 
 
 MY MESSAGE 47 
 
 CONSOLATION 5 1 
 
 WORK 55 
 
 RECOGNITION 57 
 
 THE HEART 61 
 
 TRUST 65 
 
 NATURE S SONG AND STORY 69 
 
 AN ANSWER 7 1 
 
 LOVE S WILI 75 
 
 A MEMORY 77 
 
 A STRAY THOUGHT 3 
 
Jttu 
 
 THESE are my pearls, 
 
 Gathered on the highway 
 
 Of life s immortal thought ; 
 
 Precious jewels in the pathway, 
 
 Like angel message brought. 
 These are my pearls. 
 
jForrbrr 
 
 LOVE is the grandest truth of life, 
 
 Forever, oh, forever. 
 Love toils for duty without strife, 
 
 And wearies never, never. 
 Love is the sunshine for all tears, 
 Love is the strength o er all the fears, 
 Love is the goal of all the years, 
 
 Forever, oh, forever. 
 
 Love is the harmony of the soul, 
 
 Forever, oh, forever. 
 Love is the great and wondrous whole, 
 
 And changes never, never. 
 Love is the heaven earth will find, 
 Love is the spirit of mankind, 
 Love is the triumph truth will bind, 
 
 Forever, yes, forever. 
 
UttVs Bffiorfc 
 
 IT matters not so very much 
 
 Where the great work of life begins, 
 
 If only love shall lead the way, 
 
 Since love s grand law forever wins. 
 
 To follow up the high desire, 
 
 Nor falter by the wayside lone, 
 For truth s conviction guides aright, 
 
 Divinest gift true souls must own. 
 
 The falsities of earthly hopes 
 
 May ever tempt and plead their claim, 
 But steadfast purpose disinthralls, 
 
 And faith s pure light makes all things plain. 
 
 Truth s royalty will clothe with power 
 
 The soul s sublime ideal ; 
 Earth will defend and heaven will guard 
 
 Love s mightiest guest, the real. 
 
Firm trust and patience oft renew 
 
 Their vigil watch for truth and right ; 
 
 That life s immortal work may move 
 In love s full measure of God s light. 
 
 True love must underlie all work, 
 Must override all doubt and fear ; 
 
 Life s inspiration must be truth, 
 
 Life s conquest gained when love is near. 
 
COME listen to the words of Christ, 
 Whose truth is peace and health, 
 
 Unfold thy heart to things divine, 
 Whose gifts are greatest wealth. 
 
 Bow down thine ear to love s sweet strain, 
 Sung through the life of Him 
 
 Whose glory shines in lifting up 
 From sickness, weakness, sin. 
 
 No thought He gave to humankind 
 
 But thrills the world to-day ; 
 Love s law the heavens must emulate. 
 
 Love s law man must obey. 
 
For thee His blessings freely wait, 
 His faith, His truth, His might ; 
 
 So lay aside earth s doubts and fears, 
 Receive His wondrous light. 
 
 No measure unto thee is given ; 
 
 Seek though thy strength is tried ; 
 Make Christ thine own, thyself a Christ, 
 
 Then shalt thou be satisfied. 
 
ILobr 
 
 LIVING in the sunlight forever 
 Of love, is the crowning of life ; 
 
 Tis the hope human hearts sweetly cherish 
 Mid the seeming of weakness and strife. 
 
 And the fulness of love s joyful birthright 
 Beams clear on the vision of man, 
 
 Revealing the highest conception 
 Of spirit, and God s wondrous plan. 
 
 For goodness chases the shadows 
 Called sickness and sorrow and sin, 
 
 Beyond the hills of earth s morning, 
 Till love s glory and splendor shine in. 
 
Transforming the earth into heaven, 
 Translating the human and weak, 
 
 Till love alone is the living, 
 
 And love only the words men speak. 
 
 For love is the soul and redeemer, 
 
 And love is the Christ men must find ; 
 
 And love, pure love, is the saviour, 
 Life s helper, and health of mankind. 
 
EctrosprctiDit 
 
 WHAT would I have, 
 
 Of all that could be given, 
 To make my life more sweet, 
 
 A truer song from heaven, 
 
 If fortune, friends, and fame 
 Were easy prey to win, 
 
 And every joy of earth 
 Like magic could float in ? 
 
 What would I seek, 
 
 More eager to possess, 
 Than poet s genius of the soul, 
 
 True touch of holiness ? 
 
 What would I know 
 
 Of life, humane, divine, 
 
 E en though the mystery of death 
 Dissolved by thought of mine ? 
 
Tis surely this, 
 
 The truth, the life, the way, 
 That perfect spirit of the Christ, 
 
 Whose light makes endless clay. 
 
 His power sublime 
 
 To comfort, heal, and bless, 
 My own must be, if work 
 
 Will bring such worthiness. 
 
 This Christ-like love, 
 
 My own, thy own, can be, 
 
 Tis life s immortal hope, 
 And crowns eternity. 
 
Sprafc &f)C aHorlr nig 
 
 SPEAK the word only, its presence is health, 
 Unto all people, tis life, love, and wealth ; 
 
 Breathe it so grandly, other voices are still, 
 Silenced is evil, the word is God s will. 
 
 Speak the word only, speak without fear, 
 
 Till the dumb too shall speak, and the deaf they 
 shall hear ; 
 
 Speak it so plainly, the lame leap for joy, 
 
 That the bondage of sin its truths may destroy. 
 
 Speak the word only, in magic or rhyme, 
 Simple its language, its tone is sublime ; 
 
 For the word is God s truth, its balm, and its might, 
 Is the healing of nations, the triumph of right. 
 
Speak the word only, with spirit and power 
 
 Of the soul s deep conviction, born of the hour 
 
 When the light of the word fills the heart with the 
 
 love 
 Of manhood s divinity, the Christ from above. 
 
 Speak the word only, till all night is done, 
 Till day shines forever, heaven s glory is won, 
 
 And all nations in truth and in spirit shall see 
 
 Man s oneness with God, the word that makes free. 
 
Bcncficrncc 
 
 ONLY a word so kindly given, 
 
 What then ? 
 Only a look this side of heaven, 
 
 Just when 
 The heart with lingering sigh 
 
 And tear, 
 Entering that city strange, 
 
 Did hear 
 
 A voice so strongly sweet, 
 In tones of love complete, 
 And words so fitly meet 
 
 With sympathy. 
 
 Only a touch of tender hands 
 
 So true, 
 Only a graceful smile in lands 
 
 So new ; 
 There in the far-off scene 
 
 Of light, 
 
Filling the day most sweet 
 
 And bright, 
 A face did so impress, 
 Its kindliness did so caress, 
 Nor time nor distance can repress 
 
 Love s memory. 
 
 Trifles only on the highway 
 
 So great, 
 Seeming incidentals in the by-play 
 
 Of fate ; 
 Dream was never known more fair 
 
 Nor sure, 
 Never was kindness seen more rare 
 
 Or pure, 
 
 Never could soul more richly feed 
 With measure full of heaven s meed, 
 Or give more love for human need : 
 
 Love is divine. 
 
JHg petition 
 
 LIFT me up, O heavenly Father, 
 Till I feel thy strength sublime ; 
 
 Let thy spirit be my spirit, 
 
 Let me have no will but Thine. 
 
 Bring into my life, O Father, 
 Just the music of thy soul ; 
 
 May the radiance of thy power 
 All my words and deeds control. 
 
 Wake within my heart, O Giver 
 Of divinest good and gain, 
 
 A response forever quickening 
 Into action love s refrain. 
 
 Open wide of thy hid treasure, 
 Priceless more than pearl of sea; 
 
 Meet my earnest, soulful longing 
 For thy truth, earth s mystery. 
 
Fill my soul with revelation 
 
 Yet awaiting humankind, 
 Teach me of thy boundless loving, 
 
 How the Christ all men may find. 
 
 Breathe through me thine own perfection, 
 Till my heart no more shall see 
 
 Aught but thy divine expressing 
 Of love s grand eternity. 
 
Bofon iw the Sea 
 
 THAT was a beautiful day, O friend, 
 
 Down by the sea, 
 When the wind s whispering brought love in its trend 
 
 For you and me. 
 Then my heart rose from its sorrow and woes, 
 
 Blessing the day, 
 That its sunlight had given a foretaste of heaven 
 
 On earth s highway. 
 
 That was a glorious night, O love, 
 
 And stars looked down, 
 While a sweetness reigned with the silence above, 
 
 Like the hills dark frown. 
 And with faltering sigh life s pleasures go by 
 
 A farewell is said. 
 For shadows will come, and souls must grow dumb 
 
 When love s light has fled. 
 
But a morning will come so fair, my own, 
 
 When we shall meet, 
 Heaven s portal be gained, the darkness o erthrown, 
 
 Joy at our feet. 
 While the splendor of love will shine from above 
 
 In gladness free, 
 Filling day and the night with love s morning bright, 
 
 Down by the sea. 
 
iigftt 
 
 OH, the Light ! Immortal radiance, 
 Flung across life s stormy wave, 
 
 Burdened souls will feel thy cadence, 
 Hearts distressed thy love will save. 
 
 Oh, the Light ! Divine forever, 
 Blessings rich thy ways unfold ; 
 
 Grandest hope of man has never 
 Compassed all thy truth untold. 
 
 Oh, the Light ! Thy brightness beaming 
 Rescues man from every fear ; 
 
 Gone the shadows and the seeming ; 
 Light of day comes full and clear. 
 
 Oh, the Light ! Supreme, eternal, 
 Waking human hearts to see 
 
 Thine own goodness reigns supernal ; 
 Changeless bonds link them to Thee. 
 
Strut!) 
 
 OUT of a golden silence 
 
 Comes ever a voice of love, 
 
 Bringing us thoughts of heaven 
 And the angel life above. 
 
 And the tones so full of sweetness, 
 Make memory still more dear, 
 
 Picturing forms and faces 
 
 Of the lost who yet are near. 
 
 For death is only a curtain 
 
 Hiding our loved ones from sight, 
 Which truth and science will open, 
 
 Revealing God s way as right. 
 
 And right is forever spirit, 
 The life of love bestowed, 
 
 Is the music sweet of angels, 
 The sunshine of man s abode. 
 
fttg Jttcssagc 
 
 O CHILDREN of earth, God is speaking 
 In the music of love s power divine, 
 
 His spirit, the eternal unfolding, 
 
 Chant s the measure of life s song sublime. 
 
 To the hungry, oppressed, and faint-hearted 
 His truth he pours out full and free ; 
 
 His bounty and mercy are endless 
 
 As the white sands tossed back by the sea. 
 
 Neither wish, tear, nor sigh is unnoticed ; 
 
 O children of earth, do you hear ? 
 Not a pulse-beat of joy or of anguish, 
 
 But finds answer when love is so near. 
 
 O hearts, bowed down and so wearied! 
 
 O eyes, oft filled with sad tears, 
 And with longings forever unuttered ! 
 
 O souls, burdened ever with fears ! 
 
O dreamers of pain and of pleasures ! 
 
 O champions of right over wrong ! 
 Love s law is ever the conqueror, 
 
 Love s music the only true song. 
 
 Listen then in the stillness of spirit, 
 All good is thine own, truth will say ; 
 
 Its love-tone thy life will enrapture, 
 Till the shadows of earth fade away. 
 
 Rejoice, be glad, in the freedom of truth ! 
 
 Rise, live, in the strength of God s will ! 
 The might of the Christ is ever thine own, 
 
 Every need of thy soul Christ can fill. 
 
Consolation 
 
 A HUSH is over the house, 
 
 And a silence reigns supreme, 
 
 For the presence of one beloved 
 Is gone like a bright day dream. 
 
 To join the great forever 
 
 Is the joyous soul now flown, 
 
 Into the realm of eternal life, 
 Where spirit shall know its own. 
 
 Vacant the place, no greeting 
 
 For the loved ones left in sorrow ; 
 
 Narrower grows the circle here, 
 
 Less planning for earth s to-morrow. 
 
 Hearts wrung with anguish still bless 
 The dear one whose earth-work is done. 
 
 Ah ! life seems of sadness so full, 
 So rough seems the pathway to run. 
 
And yet above all there is comfort, 
 Christ leading revealeth the way, 
 
 True faith illumines the darkness, 
 
 And God s love turns night into day. 
 
 Lo ! the silence of death seems the counting 
 Twixt the measure of life s grand whole. 
 
 Life is God his song, man immortal ; 
 Each note is a deathless soul. 
 
BHorfe 
 
 OH, the glory of occupation ! 
 
 Oh, the blessing of work well done ! 
 Honest toil is the pride of creation, 
 
 There is nothing nobler under the sun. 
 
 Grimy faces, with souls pure and holy, 
 
 Hard, rough hands, with a purpose strong, 
 
 Shoulders bent, bearing earth s burden lowly 
 Fitting theme for heaven s own song. 
 
 Not more sweet is love than labor, 
 Not more true is its mission grand, 
 
 Worth enthrones, and with heaven s favor 
 Crowned is work ; it is God s command. 
 
 Oh, the glory of occupation ! 
 
 Oh, the blessing of work well done ! 
 Honest toil is the pride of creation, 
 
 There is nothing nobler under the sun. 
 
Recognition 
 
 I WALK no more alone, 
 
 Unseen my God is near ; 
 Divinely sweet, this love unknown, 
 
 Trust is sublime, faith knows no fear. 
 
 I walk no more alone, 
 
 Thy light dawns full and free, 
 The soul s deep echoes nearer home 
 
 Wake fullest consciousness of thee. 
 
 I walk no more alone, 
 
 Thou art forever here 
 With me, whose life no more can roam - 
 
 Love s true content can bring no tear. 
 
I walk no more alone, 
 
 The head, the heart, the feet, 
 Touched by the spirit s finest tone, 
 
 Move to thy measure, full, complete. 
 
 \ 
 I walk no more alone, 
 
 The whole of love is mine ; 
 No power of earth from dust to throne 
 Can separate my life from Thine. 
 
ffifjc Jicart 
 
 DEEP clown against my heart 
 
 So many lean, so many, 
 Scarce can I think how to impart 
 
 The needed strength to any. 
 
 Yet still a faith comes ever near, 
 I shall be more than ready 
 
 To ease their burdens, lessen fear, 
 While love will hold me steady. 
 
 Our hearts are greater than we know, 
 
 And love is never ending, 
 As truth, eternal truth, must show, 
 
 Tis life s great glory sending. 
 
And hearts grow really strong, 
 
 By calls to highest duty, 
 Their work can weave no wrong, 
 
 When filled with love s own beauty. 
 
 For hearts in purest light 
 
 Shine in the heart s best giving ; 
 Trust brings the power of sight, 
 
 And love is truest living. 
 
SOMETIMES the heart grows weary 
 
 Battling against earth s wrong, 
 Sometimes the feet will falter, 
 
 Though duty calls be strong. 
 Sometimes the eye looks downward, 
 
 And hope seems almost fled, 
 While watcher and waiter can only pray 
 
 For light, when truth seems dead. 
 
 Yet amid the seeming and doubting, 
 
 Amid all the wrong and the fear, 
 Stands forever the love of the Father, 
 
 Shines the light of His countenance clear. 
 For, born of His spirit, men conquer, 
 
 And, born of His love, men win ; 
 His truth is the anthem of triumph, 
 
 His strength is the victory o er sin. 
 
Truth, won by faith, is life s glory, 
 
 And the triumph, mid doubt and despair, 
 Crowns with power the eternal unfolding 
 
 Of the heights and the depths of God s care. 
 Till the soul in its glorious freedom 
 
 Transposes all power as divine, 
 Finding rest in the infinite oneness, 
 
 And on earth finding life is sublime. 
 
i-Latitrr s Song anti Storu 
 
 THE flowers in the grasses are singing, 
 
 Earth hears not the song ; 
 In the tree-tops an anthem is ringing, 
 
 Birds sweetly the notes prolong. 
 
 The rocks under foot are repeating 
 
 The cry of the stars unheard, 
 With the winds and the seas ever beating- 
 
 o 
 
 A chorus in unknown word. 
 
 While the sunshine filled with the splendor 
 
 Of that beautiful myst ry life, 
 Ever deep in the heart is the wonder 
 
 At the very absence of strife. 
 
 Could the human but hear nature s story, 
 Told by the flower, star, or stone, 
 
 And their wonderful love-songs of glory, 
 He would make them ever his own. 
 
I HAVE read thy poem tender 
 
 Of gray eyes soft light, 
 And of snowy christening glory, 
 
 Crown of hair so white ; 
 
 And thy lines in sweetest music 
 
 Tuned the air and sea, 
 Till the earth seemed only harp-strings, 
 
 Whispering love to thee. 
 
 Just the flowing, silvery cadence 
 
 Of love s song divine ; 
 Just the burst in soul uplifting 
 
 Of love s thought sublime ; 
 
 Rippling melody of heart-chimes, 
 
 Given by love unseen, 
 Pulses sweet of soul unbounded, 
 
 Hope waves of a dream. 
 
Faithful is love s gentle memory, 
 
 Weaving holy strain, 
 Brighter earth for such pure singing ; 
 
 Seeming loss is gain. 
 
 And the sea of stars give answer, 
 
 I, thy love, am free, 
 But my freedom binds me closer, 
 
 Closer, love, to thee. 
 
 And the same deep, wondrous love-link, 
 
 Wide as crystal sea, 
 Will gather in the longshore line, 
 
 And bring thy love to thee. 
 
ILobc s 
 
 O UNIVERSE, so grand ! 
 
 The whole great world expand 
 
 In tenderness ; 
 Born of thy strength divine, 
 Caught up in strains sublime, 
 
 Of holiness. 
 
 Thy soul s deep heart-desire 
 Fills human need with fire, 
 
 Love s clearest light ; 
 Lifting earth s care-worn child, 
 Through Thy truth all undefiled, 
 
 In radiance bright ; 
 Till woe and sorrow cease, 
 That cry for unknown peace, 
 
 Is hushed and still, 
 And Christ s own healing power, 
 Like clouds of joy in shower 
 
 This is love s will. 
 
fHrmorg 
 
 TWAS a day to be remembered 
 
 When we climbed that mountain height, 
 When Corcovado in grandeur 
 
 With Tijuca rose in sight ; 
 Sister ranges robed in splendor, 
 
 Peaks few rival mountains know, 
 There, amid the southern breezes, 
 
 Where Janeiro s mild winds blow. 
 
 Air and earth were heavy laden 
 
 With the fruits own rich perfume, 
 And the rising sun rays melted 
 
 Into dreams of golden tune. 
 Subtle as the Eden glories 
 
 Stole their beauty o er our soul, 
 While with gentle lope the horses 
 
 Bore us onward to our goal. 
 
Baffled is all speech in telling 
 
 Of the varied landscape glow; 
 Baffled is all thought and feeling 
 
 As we gaze on scenes below ; 
 Silenced, deep in meditation, 
 
 Leave we all our world behind, 
 As if rising higher compelled us 
 
 More to reverence nature s kind. 
 
 Still we journey on and upward, 
 
 When, behold, I am alone, 
 Comes no answer to my shouting 
 
 Save the echoes of my own. 
 Visions wild of mangled horseman 
 
 Terror filled both heart and brain ; 
 Quickly I retraced the pathway, 
 
 Round steep curves my horse did rein. 
 
 There to find my fears outwitted 
 
 By the steed who fell behind, 
 All undaunted pressed we forward, 
 
 With uplifted heart and mind. 
 Horse and man took friendly parting, 
 
 For the roadway fast grew steep, 
 Still Tijuca s rocky summit 
 
 Seemed stretched into vaulted deep. 
 
High and grim in stern defiance 
 
 Towered the battling walls above, 
 But not stronger than our courage, 
 
 And not grander than our love. 
 Grasped we firm those chains of iron 
 
 Niched into that rocky side, 
 Till, appalled, we stood triumphant, 
 
 Trembling, weak, from very pride. 
 
 There protected from the sun rays, 
 
 Under bush, and brake, and fern, 
 Dreamed we of old Rio s offing, 
 
 Dreamed of love and our return. 
 All too soon our drearn was over, 
 
 And the swing of spreading sail 
 Beckoned, till our faltering footsteps 
 
 Bore us down midst heaven s veil. 
 
 Oh, the memory is entrancing, 
 
 Heaven itself seems resting there ; 
 Nor can future hold more splendor, 
 
 Nor dream visions be more fair. 
 Even though life is wrapt in sorrow, 
 
 Veiled in clouds of saddest pain, 
 Yet Tijuca s mountain glory 
 
 Speaks love s paradise again. 
 
Strag 
 
 IF we follow the right God s way we shall see, 
 From day unto day in the guidance of heaven ; 
 
 If we live near his love our worship will be 
 A trust so divine, and all else that is given 
 
 But unites man to God, a bond never riven, 
 And the truth that sets free. 
 
M191790 
 
 C* 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY