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 V
 
 MINOR MELODIES
 
 MINOR MELODIES 
 
 LYRICS AND SONGS 
 
 BY 
 
 J. M. STUART-YOUNG 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY 
 T. Gf A. CONSTABLE LIMITED 
 
 UNIVERSITY PRESS, EDINBURGH 
 1921-
 
 Copyright 1921 by the Author
 
 TO THE ONE FRIEND WHO UNDERSTANDS 
 
 When my soul, with sin oppress'd, 
 Took love's burden to its breast; 
 Sweet, you made life sweet for me 
 Lost to all save love and thee ! 
 
 A 
 
 '6-
 
 For permission to re-use an earlier title (cf. Minor 
 Melodies of 1904) the author extends his thanks to 
 Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner & Co., Ltd. 
 
 A few of these lyrics have appeared in Pear- 
 son's Magazine, Westminster Gazette, Poetry, John 
 0' London's Weekly, Chambers'* Journal, The People's 
 Friend, West Africa, United Empire, Saturday Even- 
 ing Post, Occult Review, etc. ; and the author begs 
 leave to thank the Editors of these several periodicals. 
 
 Composers can send communications either care of 
 Messrs. T. and A. Constable Ltd., University Press, 
 Edinburgh, or direct to 4 Tinubu Street, Lagos, 
 Nigeria, where the author is resident during each 
 English winter season. 
 
 Roughly : the author's terms are, a small royalty 
 (under the same conditions as the composers' own 
 royalty agreements with the publishers) but details 
 can be discussed when the songs are ready for 
 publication. The text of any lyric can be altered 
 within reasonable limits.
 
 THE AUTHOR'S ARGUMENT 
 
 As Foreword to this volume of lyrics, I had originally intended to reproduce, 
 by courteous permission of the Editor of John o' London's Weekly, an essay 
 upon the Art of Lyric Writing. But, as the majority of users of this book 
 will be Composers, an action of 'this kind might have savoured too much of the 
 ancient adage about Grandmamma and the Eggs ! 
 
 I should, however, like to say, for the edification of the general reader, 
 that I have no present intention of offering a prize to the earliest dis- 
 coverer of the most frequent use of words like ' golden, ' ' dreaming,' l roses' 
 ' moonbeams,' ' sweet,' ' silver,' ' memory,' ' garden,' ' dawn,' f dew' etc. 
 
 It might be obvious, to even the most captious of purely literary critics, 
 that the constant use of these (and similar] epithets is, in greater or lesser 
 degree, inevitable to the song-writer. As each lyric must, necessarily, seek 
 to become a perfect entity in itself with absolutely no relation to either its 
 predecessor or its successor every writer of verse, meant for musical setting, 
 is compelled to (or, rather, let us say, should not lightly be dissuaded from] 
 the adoption of all such jewelled ornaments of his thought. 
 
 There are innumerable lyric-writers popularly known as ' poets' and 
 regarded as such by that musical, but generally far from secluded, section of 
 the public that concerns itself not one whit about the Laureateship of the 
 Realm ! who have, for a very long time past, wallowed in the utmost 
 extravagance of metaphor. ' A kingdom of love ' is found in i somebody's ' 
 eyes, or a ' garden of memory ' is discovered in * somebody else's ' heart. But, 
 going nmch further, it is now nothing new for the music-hall lover to asseverate 
 his conviction that 
 
 ' the light in your eyes makes the bright stars grow pale,' 
 
 vii
 
 or to assert bis belief that 
 
 * the sun even envies your smile ! ' 
 
 Bits of the anatomy of the Beloved are compared to all manner of weird 
 objects in the surrounding landscape, until the brain fairly reels again. 
 
 Of course there are many perfectly justifiable exaggerations, although, 
 sad to tell ! Mr. Locktorfs ' moon of golden roses ' a superbly beautiful 
 phrase, but actually nothing more than a phrase ! will not stand the test 
 of analysis. For the imagery of 
 
 * land of the golden day,' 
 
 * dawn where the skies gleam gold,' 
 4 gold on the sunset clouds,'' 
 
 i golden moon in the midnight skies," 1 
 
 etc., there is ample poetic excuse, even as the universally favourite diminutive 
 is only slightly demonstrated by the ubiquity of 
 
 ' Little Winding Road,"* 
 
 ' Little Grey Home in the West? 
 
 ' Little Place for Tou? 
 
 1 Little Grey Lane, 7 
 
 etc. Nor need one be a deep student of Freud the Preposterous to understand 
 the psychological insistence upon the value of our sleep fancies : 
 
 ' Land of my golden dreams,' 
 
 1 Come back to Dreamland and me? 
 
 ' Lost sweet dreams divine? 
 
 ' Life V just a wonderful dream,' 
 
 etc. The whole human race calls for these thne epithets (golden and little 
 and dreams) with an insistence which cannot be denied ! Composers and 
 lyric-writers merely meet that demand. In all these aspects, then, of the 
 popular needs, it should be sufficiently obvious to every one that each lyrical 
 neophyte must frankly, and without arriere pensee, accept a threadbare 
 
 viii
 
 1 Tradition? But be will also recognise quickly enough that this 
 Tradition, although admittedly threadbare, is by no means exhausted. 
 He will find that there can be incalculable Beauty in a mere Echo, pro- 
 vided, let it be added, that the said lyrical neophyte has certain genuinely 
 sincere and personal cadences, with which to enrich the said Echo ! 
 
 For example, if my present readers (who are presumed to be unaccustomed 
 to the monotony of phrase which I am now seeking to explainfor the 
 Composer needs no explanation /) were to plod through the catalogues of 
 half-a-score music-publishers, and were to count the number of 
 
 Old-Fashioned Gardens, 
 
 through which the Muse of any single one of their favourite lyric-writers 
 had strayed, they would stand almost aghast. The revelation would meet 
 them unprepared the, no doubt, almost unsuspected disclosure of Man's 
 infantile infatuation with the charms and fascinations of Horticulture. 
 
 But, reader mine, that endless iteration, that honeyed insistence upon 
 the fragrance of rose or pansy or lily or violet (the violet making a very poor 
 runner-up indeed, in reality merely an ' also ran ' /) that sweet-voiced 
 monotony of phrase would make no sensible argument for an abandonment 
 of the glowing flower-beds and the cool arbours of this old-world retreat I 
 There would be no occasion for the poet to make an original departure toward 
 fluent lyrical ecstasy in a description of the confused wealth, and the odori- 
 ferous magnificence, of the garden dust-bin / 
 
 Throughout life, in all the Arts, man is confronted by this rightly- dreaded 
 possibility of a descent into Pessimism and Realism. For the two terms are 
 interchangeable. It is the eternal and fragile Hope of a 
 Land where all Dreams come True, 
 
 that stands as the soul's panacea against despair. For does not each fresh 
 morning place silver dewdrops upon the rose and its companion-fiowers ? And 
 is there not always that kindly golden sun, which shines with never a setting 
 
 ix
 
 . . . Somewhere ? Is there not Faith for our sad hearts to dwell upon ? 
 Hope and Abnegation, and tender Mother-Love to sing about and to praise ? 
 
 Life, the ever-youthful, the never-old, is very sweet ; and it is offered 
 as a free gift to all who will. l None will be denied ' and the material 
 prospect before each and every one of us is made sparkling and joyous by a 
 spiritual Hope ! We need only train our tired eyes to see, and strain our 
 weary ears to catch the far-off starry symphonies ! 
 
 Another impediment to 'freedom of speech,' so far as the lyric-writer is 
 concerned, is that of unsingable consonant-combinations : th, sh and ch being 
 especially objectionable, and withal most difficult to avoid. I have never 
 heard a church called a kirk south of the Tweed, and yet Mr. Weatherly has 
 such a rooted aversion from the good old English word ' church ' as to drag 
 in the kirkyard, even so far south as Somerset : 
 
 ' 'Twas there we kissed and said good-bye 
 
 Beside the kirkyard wall, 
 And the song the blackbird sang to us 
 
 Was sweetest song of all. 
 the green hills of Somerset,' etc. 
 
 After referring to the 
 
 * thrill of your tender tones ' 
 
 in a recent lyric, I had resort to the psychological fact that the lover felt the 
 presence of his beloved 
 
 * within his very bones.' 
 
 From the view-point of poetry that image was quite good but no composer 
 would look at it, and ' tones ' had to be debased to the much-overworked 
 ' voice,' while the objectionable reminiscence of Professor Owen became an 
 innocuous claim about ' making the heart rejoice.' 
 
 Several of the most brilliantly-gifted of all our modern lyricists (and they 
 are legion) writers who are universally acknowledged to be past masters of 
 Song Technique, and, what is of infinitely greater importance to life, all of 
 
 x
 
 them devout lovers of beautiful language have each been responsible for 
 upwards of a thousand lyrics and songs. Imagine it, unsophisticated reader 
 of this Apology for a mere two hundred and fifty pages of verse ! And still 
 new thoughts, new modes, new aspects, new impressions are available. 
 
 No more adequate testimony to the lyrical possibilities of expression in 
 the tongue of Shakespeare to the infinite elasticity of musical and literary 
 art could be given. I beg my readers to believe that these passing notes are 
 not written in any grudging spirit of tribute to Hubi-Newcombe, Weatherly 
 and Lockton. For the work of these three famous lyric-writers I have the 
 keenest possible admiration, not, however, unmixed with a feeling of awe and 
 wonder. It seems so easy to write for music ; but it is, in point of actual 
 accomplishment, the most difficult poetic task in the world ! Only its 
 fascinations, only its returns in moral self-satisfaction (not in pounds, 
 shillings and pence) make it ( a joy for ever.' 
 
 Enough for all of us, great and small, who seek to work for the uplift of the 
 English-speaking public, that Life is made beautiful again, whenever such 
 accomplished rhymers as Weatherly, Lockton, Oxenford, Hubi-Newcombe, 
 O'Reilly, Salmon, Simpson, Seton, Taylor, Glanville, Marsland, et omnes, 
 tell us of ' memories sweet and long? and when their rhymes are set to the 
 music of our most gifted and accomplished composers. 
 
 Of this subtle art of lyric-writing is there, then, a psychological side, upon 
 which I am not fully competent to arbitrate ? The study of psycho-analysis 
 is by no means new to me, and I have long recognised that our greatest 
 versifiers are rarely lyrical, inside a sufficiently compressed compass. The 
 great poet wishes to tell you his life-story in rhymed couplets, but the ballad 
 composer merely demands a lyrical anecdote. 
 
 Par exemple Tennyson's * Break, Break, Break / ' is admirably suited 
 for musical setting ; so is Kingsley's ' When All the World is Toung ' ; and 
 so ' also are numerous short poems by Robert Browning. Mr. Granville 
 Bantock has set a dozen or more of these, in excellent and inimitable style. 
 
 xi
 
 But a greater poet, Wordsworth in spite of bis undeniable lyrical afflatus 
 was rarely articulate in concentrated/om / 
 
 Were it not for these sudden geysers of golden thought that well up from 
 the wide sea of Poetry, we might have reason to doubt the philosophic truth 
 behind great verse. A little gem like ' Sigh no more, Ladies,' in the midst 
 of a Shakespeare tragedy, or a soft whisper like ( Sweet and Low? among the 
 web of a long play by Tennyson, sublimate the heart's hunger for Beauty. 
 The lyric-writer or composer repeats and repeats his effort after Per- 
 fection, until something like an ' Absolute Entity ' is found. Each new 
 effort is the farther proof of an indomitable desire to ' get there this time / ' 
 
 James Thomson (the second poet of that name] found out that no creator of 
 beautiful things can live and create at one and the same time. Indulgence in 
 any form of bodily pleasure must imply mental inertia : unless this physical 
 indulgence be the deliberate survival of a ' complex 'from the subliminal self. 
 
 Only real hard work, genuine effort to produce something of beauty, can 
 bring all the accumulated knowledge of the sub consciousness into activity. 
 The result is then a work of art : 
 
 ' I too will something make, 
 
 And joy in the making, 
 Although to-morrow it seem 
 But the empty words of a dream, 
 Remember'd on waking ! ' 
 
 In this sense the world of Faery is not the world of Unreality that it is 
 popularly supposed to be. The Realm of Faery is the only real world, in an 
 environment that is as unstable as the sands of the Sahara Desert ! This 
 tendency of the human mind to seek for a Land where our Dreams come 
 True, should be encouraged at all costs. Who knows but that the imagery of 
 ' A Midsummer Night's Dream ' has a basis in actual fact ? For what- 
 ever is possible in the realm of thought is practicable in the realm of 
 actuality. And to-day we have begun to photograph the Little People, and 
 
 to hold the Sylphs against our very hearts ! 
 
 xii
 
 Let us believe that the life of the spirit (the life of creation) is most 
 splendidly expressed by the combined lives oj music and verse. Both 
 faculties obey the same laws, because both have no insistent need of verbal 
 detail : both can express themselves emotionally, and will dwell nearer 
 Ideality the nearer they stand to Silence and Suggestion. The Jazz-Music 
 of our period is the antithesis of the real world-melody, inasmuch as it has 
 to depend mainly upon noise ! The real music of the future, shadowed 
 forth in the present in many subtle directions, is to be purely suggestive 
 and allusive. It builds so much upon what it suggests that it can dispense 
 with the obvious, and can rely almost wholly on a response from the cultured 
 spiritual ears of the entranced listener. 
 
 I know few words nearer to this soul-silence than the lyrics of Ernest 
 Dowson. Whether any modern composer has set them I cannot say, but I 
 commend them to our esthetic creators of simple harmonies : 
 * Exceeding sorrow 
 
 Consumeth my sad heart, 
 Because to-morrow 
 
 We must depart 
 Now is exceeding sorrow 
 
 All my part ! 
 ' Give over playing, 
 
 Cast thy viol away, 
 Merely laying 
 
 Thy head my way 
 Prithee, give over playing 
 
 This one day ! ' 
 
 Yet literary fame, in relation to the art of song-writing, might be 
 roughly based on an assertion that not one singer per hundred of Tostfs 
 immortal ' Good Bye ' has observed the words to be from the pen of White- 
 Melville, the Australian poet of a few decades ago. And the composer fares 
 almost as badly, outside purely musical circles ! For I remember, 
 when Tosti himself died, and when I remarked on the news to an (unmusical) 
 
 xiii
 
 acquaintance, his immediate ejaculation was, * Dear me, what a great loss ! 
 I always thought his novel Resurrection a very fine piece of work ! ' 
 
 In the preface to a recent collection of his lyrics Ford Madox Hueffer 
 has some really penetrating remarks to offer upon the subject of writing for 
 music. He protests, quite reasonably, that the instinct is uncontrollable, 
 and that the writing down of ideas hardly appears to him as a matter of 
 ' work.'' The result is altogether fortuitous. ' As for knowing whether one 
 or the other is good, bad or indifferent, 1 simply cannot begin to trust my- 
 self to make a selection? 
 
 He describes how he gets a vague rhythm of some kind, I believe we all 
 do the same thing. 
 
 * * * * * SV 
 
 etc 
 
 There are no words at first ! Presently a single idea presents itself 
 anything it may be utter nonsense : 
 
 I blow sweet sounds upon a flute, 
 
 For Love is far away ; 
 Te-toot ; te-toot ; te-toot ; te-toot ; etc. 
 
 The rest follows : and the successful lyric-writer is he (or she generally 
 she /) who can mould the resultant chaos into Beauty and Form ! 
 
 I have preferred to mention Hueffer, because many of our most capable 
 composers have found in his lyrics a spontaneity which is conspicuously absent 
 from the poetic output of more cultivated rhymers. For it must be admitted, 
 as a preliminary postulate, that the writing of a lyric is ' the expression of an 
 emotion,'' and that ' the writing of verse should not be an over-conscious art.' 
 Perhaps this is the reason why the works of Walter de la Mare, and those of 
 John Masefield, have such attractions for the composer, and withal remain 
 so excessively hard to set ! A rhythm like this, from Masefield 
 
 ' Going by Daly's shanty, I heard the boys within 
 Dancing the Spanish hornpipe to Driscoll's violin, 
 I heard the sea-boots shaking the rough planks of the floor, 
 But I was going westward, I hadn't heart for more ' 
 
 xiv
 
 may be as easy as Lockton or O'Reilly. But which composer likes to face 
 a complicated rhythm like the following from Walter de la Mare : 
 
 ' Far are the shades of Arabia, 
 
 Where the Princes ride at noon, 
 '^f id the verdurous vales and thickets, 
 
 Under the ghost of the moon ; 
 And so dark is that vaulted purple 
 
 Flowers in the forest rise, 
 And toss into blossom 'gainst the phantom stars 
 
 Pale in the noonday skies.' 
 
 / cannot pretend to understand what the last four lines may mean : 
 but I have many youthful friends, who are quite willing to vouch for both 
 their fascination and their intelligibility ! La jeunesse salt et peut ! 
 
 There is a ' simplicity ' that the composer insistently demands. And 
 I have in mind, as I write these words, an amazingly clever little 
 lyric by Marion Osborne. It has been set by Frank Lambert, under the 
 caption of ' I gave my heart to you? In this lyric occurs the line 
 
 * With fluttering garments, and with footsteps fleet.' 
 
 / think I can safely challenge any one of my travelled readers to scan 
 that phrase, and not to conjure up an instantaneous vision of that world- 
 famous sculpture in the Paris Louvre, known as l The Wingless Victory? 
 Who among such travellers does not adore that headless female form, with 
 soft garments billowing to the breeze : a wind that seems to hold the concen- 
 trated energy of all Created Life ? 
 
 What then is this lyrical gift of picture weaving? Swinburne had it 
 in such excess that his poems are almost all ' unsettable? because of their 
 intrinsic beauty of phrase. The music of the written word is apt to quarrel 
 with the melody of the singing word ; and that is one of the main reasons 
 why so much twaddle finds itself into print, with the generous remark, ' May 
 be sung in public without fee or licence? 
 b xv
 
 Apropos of Swinburne, I remember my first exquisite thrill upon 
 hearing 
 
 ( Where the red was, lo ! the bloodless white, 
 
 And where Truth was, the likeness of a liar ; 
 And where day was, the darkness of the night 
 This is the end of every man's desire ! ' 
 
 My keen admiration of that verse had so little to do with its meaning that 
 I had it emblazoned upon my library wall for several years, and never once 
 minished my admiration of its wonderful music. 
 
 Then I met a German translation of the poem. The instant result was 
 (a) disappearance of its beauty, (b) revelation of its thought. German is 
 the language of the street ; the German poet writes exactly as he would 
 speak ; and Swinburne almost inevitably becomes a nightmare in that 
 tongue. For the first time in a decade, I saw that the verse I have quoted 
 was an insult to our common humanity a lie, a denial of all the intrinsic 
 Beauty of this wonderful world of ours ! I repudiated the lines for the false 
 coin that they indubitably are ! What! Truth a liar? Beauty a snare? 
 Life a hopeless illusion ? Ambition mere Dead Sea fruit ? Jamais ! 
 
 There can, however, be found the cunning craftsman who is also healthily 
 sure ; who has l faith in love.' 1 As an antidote to Swinburne's decadence 
 let me quote this lilting tribute to an Irish wife and I feel confident that 
 all my readers will acclaim William Watson's fine verse : 
 
 * Oh, England is a darling, 
 And Scotland is a dear, 
 And well I love their faces 
 
 At any time of year ; 
 But on a summer's day 
 My heart went astray, 
 And I gave it all away 
 
 To bonny Ireland ! ' 
 
 This glorious gift of invoking a picture by a few felicitous phrases is the 
 
 xvi
 
 song-writer's inalienable gift. But it is rarely the absolutely 'professional ' 
 worker who has it ! Generally it is the gifted amateur. We ' professionals ' 
 can console ourselves with the reminder that the muse of Eileen Newton gave 
 the world ' Somewhere a voice is calling.' For sheer magic of atmosphere it 
 would be hard to beat those eight little lines ; Miss Newton has been guilty (as 
 I and others, alas! have ofttimes been guilty /) of sheaves of uninspired verses. 
 The point at issue is that felicities come oftenest when they are unsought ! 
 We all know, further, how tremendously difficult it is to avoid clumsy 
 images, blurred outlines, uncouth rhymes. I recall my shock of surprise at 
 meeting 
 
 ( All that you love 
 Away to shove ' 
 
 among the lyrics of Richard le Gallienne. This was certainly eccentric, 
 from a poet who had delighted the eighte en-nineties with dainty images. 
 
 An even more ludicrous lapse of taste appears in a lyric which I revised 
 for a youthful and gifted War Poet : 
 
 * A fog breath'd on the window pane, 
 And hid the blinking stars from sight.' 
 
 Now the adjective italicised is perfectly correct, and also artistically 
 appropriate, did we not possess a Gallery Spirit, both in the Music Hall and 
 the Concert Room. The Gallery Spirit would have been convulsed by the 
 word ' blinking? bad it been allowed a place in the texture of the song 
 proposed. 
 
 As Mr. Huejfer remarks, apropos his own occasional infelicities, t the 
 an&mic shop-girl, with her bad teeth and her cheap black frock, is safer than 
 Isolde. She is more down to the ground, and much more touching ! 9 
 Provided, cela veut dire, that the poet has the stark and honest sincerity 
 of a Heinrich Heine or a Paul Verlaine I Take, for example, this im- 
 
 xvii
 
 promptu and unfinished translation of Heine's Warum sind denn die 
 
 Rosen so blass ? 
 
 Why do the pansies gloom 
 
 So wan, so pale ? 
 Where is the roses' bloom 
 
 What do they ail ? 
 
 Why is the sun obscur'd 
 
 In gloom forlorn ? 
 What has the earth procur'd 
 
 A joyless morn ? 
 
 The larks sad music make 
 
 To sullen skies ; 
 From all around there break 
 
 Deep, throbbing sighs. 
 
 I wander sad and lone, 
 
 I cry to thee : 
 " Oh, why, my own lov'd one, 
 
 Didst thou leave me ? " 
 
 It is the simple directness of this sort of work which makes its appeal. 
 When I once visited Paul Verlaine, in the grimy garret that the great 
 French lyricist occupied at Paris, before his lonely death, I saw upon the 
 table a wonderful little poem in manuscript. It was replete with exquisite 
 fancy. Humorously, the poet pointed to the winter sunshine gleaming upon 
 a half-emptied tumbler of absinthe. ' Behold the gems ! ' he cried ; to a 
 faded pot of mignonette upon the sill : * Behold the flowers ! ' ; to a tatter- 
 demalion on the pavement below : ' Behold the faun ! ' 
 
 This is the only genuine poetic attitude toward Reality ; and in this 
 intensely Ideal sense it is infinitely better to be ' vulgar than affected* 
 But the beauty of poetry is that it cannot be vulgar. Lend the true poet 
 your ears, and he will unreservedly give you his heart ! 
 
 On the whole, then, I am afraid (and indeed, afraid is the only really 
 
 xviii
 
 appropriate word /) that I have frequently foregone the apt use of the many 
 jewelled joys which I first set out to enumerate, for the benefit of the un- 
 enlightened reader. Quite often, in the stringing together of these lyrical 
 pearls most of them selected from the flotsam of an African beach, beneath 
 a tropical sun ; or found on the palm-shaded reefs of an island lagoon, where 
 from the distance came the sonorous beat of the great Atlantic rollers / 
 have most stubbornly refused to cloy my thoughts with what one of our fore- 
 most musical journals delights to call l love-laden words' 
 
 May I suggest, therefore, in all seriousness to my prospective composer- 
 collaborators, that it might not be very difficult to add, or substitute, a few 
 more of these apparently-essential l adjectival substantives ' ? 
 
 That is, needless to say, if they do not already find far too many of these 
 gems abounding in my pages ! I can only state, at this juncture, that 1 feel 
 somewhat conscience-stricken (perhaps because of an inadequate sense of 
 humour ?} as I protest my belief that the only true literary touchstones 
 are those of sincerity and personality. I venture to state unequivocally, 
 that I am not to be called upon for an assurance that I have taken my task 
 seriously that I have not been merely ''playing ' with my themes ! 
 
 In these times it is a daring thing to be natural. It needs even more 
 audacity and self-confidence to be artificial ! Tet I may truthfully state 
 that these flowers have all been culled from special periods of my life, periods 
 that were marked by some form or other of emotional stress. In sending 
 them forth as they now stand, I am compelling them to carry upon their 
 innocent heads all manner of imperfections. But, whether they be grave 
 or gay, whether they be airy nothings or attempts to solve a few of the age- 
 old problems of our mortality, they are every one of them my children and I 
 have loved them all as such. 
 
 To that composer who prefers the fullest possible concentration of 
 honey, as apart from literary spontaneity in his musical subject-matter, I 
 can only remark : ' These verses have been, of a set purpose, left FLUID. 
 
 xii
 
 They are open to such alteration and improvement as may be found necessary, 
 when the appropriate musical settings shall have been made ! In that 
 spirit of willingness to be guided and moulded, I now offer them / ' 
 
 For reading the proofs of this volume during my long absence in Nigeria 
 / am indebted to the friendly interest of Alex. Ward, L.R.A.M., of 
 Glasgow, to whom I am also grateful for several valuable suggestions regard- 
 ing rhythm and accent. If there has been a genuine poetic loss, in the 
 elimination of unsingable words (ruth, for example, compelling a tame sub- 
 stitution of fear, or pain, or another equally-open vowel sound} my readers 
 must understand the limitations imposed by the vocalist's demand for 
 clarity of sound. 
 
 Mr. Ward has promised to perform a like service for The Seductive 
 Coast the volume of more tropical lyrics which is to follow the present one 
 and I am very pleased to have this opportunity of acknowledging his critical 
 gifts, and the keen interest which he invariably displays in everything 
 artistic and beautiful, whether in verse or in song. 
 
 The composers 9 names, which occasionally appear throughout the volume, 
 imply that these particular lyrics have been(while the book was in preparation, 
 and while the lyrics were circulating in manuscript form) already reserved. 
 The inclusion of these poems in the volume is entirely without prejudice to 
 their future copyright. The musical copyright can ultimately accrue to 
 the various music-publishers, whenever the songs shall be ready for public 
 presentation, by the composers whose names have been mentioned. 
 
 As the Author (literary organ of the Authors' Society} has been pointing 
 out in recent Notes, it is scarcely fair that a publisher should hold a strangle- 
 hold upon the copyright of a lyric, if that lyric has not yet met its deserved 
 and adequate expression in music. Two, or even three settings of the one 
 lyric would be no offence to Reason. 
 
 J. M. S.-T. 
 
 IN NIGERIA, March 3, 1921.
 
 AFTER TWENTT TEARS 
 
 A room near Ardwick Green one time I rented, 
 
 In dingy Wootton Street ; 
 Its three-score stairs I used to climb contented. 
 
 Because of Toutfts glad feet. 
 
 At the high window of this lonely attic 
 
 I scribbled, morn till night, 
 Quaint boyish fancies, songs of hope ecstatic, 
 
 And lyrics, frail as light. 
 
 I marked young children in the gutters playing 
 
 Till day was overcast, 
 Or watched them, in the dance, with lithe limbs swaying. 
 
 Whene'er an organ passed. 
 
 I owrfd a bed, a sugar-box for table, 
 
 A dozen books, a chair ; 
 Yet, when I woke each morning, I was able 
 
 To breathe a thankful prayer. 
 
 My hosts were poor : a toil-worn washerwoman, 
 
 A carter, and their brood ; 
 But they were homely, made intensely human 
 
 Because they understood ! 
 
 xxi
 
 This screed I pen in beauty-drench? d Nigeria, 
 Beneath the surfs warm glow ; 
 
 And Life to-day I know is cleaner, cheerier, 
 Than twenty years ago ! 
 
 My desk has liquid glory rippling on it, 
 
 Where Jrangipanni flowers 
 Entrance the air : but, could I in a sonnet 
 
 Embalm the golden hours ? 
 
 Ill 
 
 Sweet this new life ! Tet, somehow, I am haunted, 
 
 Till all my pulses stir, 
 By dreams of those glad days, when youth undaunted 
 
 Could love e'en Manchester 
 
 Dull, murky Manchester ! 
 
 xxii
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PA61 
 
 WITH LOVE AND You ........ I 
 
 INGLE AND CANDLELIGHT ........ 2 
 
 THE MOUNTAIN-SIDE OF DREAMS (May Brake) ... 3 
 
 LOVE'S BEAUTIFUL BEST ........ 4 
 
 UNTIL You CAME TO ME . . (Herbert J. S. Carter) . . 5 
 
 MY OWN MARGOT ......... 6 
 
 IN MY HEART ......... 7 
 
 A HAPPY THOUGHT ......... 8 
 
 IN ABSENCE . . . . . . . . . .9 
 
 THE SPINNER OF MOODS . . . . . . . .10 
 
 YOUR LOVING BREAST . . . . . . . . II 
 
 GOLDEN EYES . . . . . . . . .12 
 
 HIDDEN TREASURE . . . . . . . . 13 
 
 FAR AWAY AND LONG AGO ....... 14 
 
 LOVE'S LITTLE HAUNTING SONG ...... 15 
 
 BLEAK WINDS .... (Dorothy Forster) . . . 16 
 
 IDENTIFICATION ......... 17 
 
 FAERY l % 
 
 THE CALL TO TAMELE* ........ 19 
 
 COMRADE o' MINE 20 
 
 DARK DAYS .......... 21 
 
 ASPIRATION .......... 22 
 
 LOVE OF MY HEART 23 
 
 WONDERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL ....... 24 
 
 CATANI'S INVOCATION . . . . . 25 
 
 LOVE'S MAGIC GARDEN ........ 26 
 
 LOVE'S GIFTS ......... 27 
 
 OLD RED FORM IN THE ARDWICK GREEN 28 
 
 xxiii
 
 TRANSFIGURATION 2 9 
 
 COME, PLAY TO ME . 3 
 
 CHRISTMAS MORNING 3 1 
 
 LOVE'S PLEADING ......... 3 2 
 
 IN DREAMS (J- Ord-Hamiltoti) . 33 
 
 MA JEWEL 34 
 
 LOVE'S PALACE OF DREAMS 35 
 
 EACH TO His OWN ....... 3^ 
 
 HEART'S-DESIRE ......... 3^ 
 
 STAR-ORBITS .... (Celian Kottauri) . . 39 
 
 THE MOTHER-CALL 40 
 
 YOUR LOVE IN EVERYTHING ....... 41 
 
 HOW VERY MUCH I LoVE You 42 
 
 LENGTHENING SHADOWS ........ 43 
 
 ' KELHAM '......... 44 
 
 DAISIES . . . . . . . . . 45 
 
 SLUMBER SEA ......... 4^ 
 
 ENGLISH MAY ......... 47 
 
 JUST ONE SMILE ......... 4^ 
 
 LOVE'S HESITATION ......... 49 
 
 I READ You ON MY KNEES 50 
 
 A JOY FOR EVER . . . . . . . . 5 1 
 
 RENUNCIATION 52 
 
 SILVER AND GOLD ......... 53 
 
 MA PICKIN' DONE DIE 54 
 
 PERFECT BLISS . . . . . . 5^ 
 
 EXULTATION ....... 57 
 
 WHO WILLS MUST DARE ........ 5^ 
 
 PAYMENT .......... 59 
 
 AN INVITATION ......... 60 
 
 FAITHFULNESS . . . . . ... . .61 
 
 GOD 62 
 
 HER LOVE is MINE . . . . . . . . -63 
 
 LOVE AND LUST ......... 64 
 
 ECHO AND RESPONSE . . . . . . . . 65 
 
 xxiv
 
 DREAMING OF You .......... 66 
 
 To YOUTH AND BEAUTY ........ 67 
 
 I COUNT IT WELL ......... 68 
 
 ROSE OF GREY ......... 69 
 
 ' ALL is WELL ! ' 70 
 
 SOLACE ........... 71 
 
 SUN AND MOON ......... 72 
 
 MURMURS OF LIFE AND DEATH ....... 73 
 
 WEST AFRICA (J. M. Stuart-Young) ... 74 
 
 A CHURCH IN THE BUSH ........ 75 
 
 YEARNING .......... 76 
 
 A LITTLE SONG OF THANKS ....... 77 
 
 LAD'S-LOVE .......... 78 
 
 OVER THE HILL ......... 79 
 
 PRECIOUS THINGS . . (Florence Aylward) ... 80 
 
 IN THE TWILIGHT ......... 81 
 
 LOVE'S TIDES .......... 82 
 
 I CANNOT TELL ......... 83 
 
 LITTLE EARTHLY THINGS ........ 84 
 
 MOVEMENT .......... 85 
 
 THE LESSON OF THE ROSES ....... 86 
 
 MY PALACE OF DREAMS ........ 87 
 
 I LOVE THE FOREST ........ 88 
 
 THE LITTLE WHITE HOUSE (Charles Mortimer) ... 90 
 
 A THOUGHT .......... 91 
 
 IN DREAMS .......... 92 
 
 GEMS ........... 93 
 
 POETRY AND DESIRE ........ 93 
 
 STARRY WATERS ......... 94 
 
 SHINING PROMISE ......... 95 
 
 THE DREAM CHILD ......... 96 
 
 LIFE'S SUNSHINE AND DANCE. ....... 97 
 
 ' FOREVER ' FANCIES . . . . . . . . . 98 
 
 I WILL RETURN . . . (Herbert J. S. Carter) . . 99 
 
 MOTHER, SLEEP !......... 100 
 
 xxv
 
 PAGE 
 
 IN HER SWEET NAME ........ 101 
 
 LOVE'S CANOPY ......... 102 
 
 TALISMANS .......... 103 
 
 RETURN ........... 104 
 
 WHERE is THE GLORY ?........ 105 
 
 BEHIND us LIE How MANY MILES ...... 106 
 
 ADMONITION . . . . . . . . . 107 
 
 THE BELOVED 108 
 
 JUNE AND JOY AND You ........ 109 
 
 LOVIN' ON . . . . . . . . .no 
 
 RENT in 
 
 THIS GLAD SWEET DAY . . . . . . . .112 
 
 A CITY SPARROW . . . . . . . . .113 
 
 BACK TO ATHLONE . . . . . . . . .114 
 
 SOLACE . . . . . . . . . . -US 
 
 WHO 'D BE A CHILD . . (Laura Williams) . . .116 
 
 COMPENSATIONS . . . . . . . . i J 7 
 
 ENTREATY . . . . . . . . .118 
 
 THE MESSAGE . . . . . . . . . .119 
 
 WHERE THE SWALLOWS FLY . . . . . . .120 
 
 THE LOST YEARS . . . (Cecily Kneeskaw} . . .121 
 WHISPERS .......... 122 
 
 BY THE FIRESIDE ......... 123 
 
 AT TWILIGHT . . . . . . . . . .124 
 
 COMMON THINGS ........ 125 
 
 THE EARTHLY PARADISE . . 126 
 
 FADED FLOWER OF LOVE , . . . . . . .127 
 
 LITTLE BOY WITH THE TOUZLED HEAD . . . . .128 
 
 LA VIE EST VAINE ......... 129 
 
 LOVE'S PLEDGE OF A DREAM COME TRUE 130 
 
 THE LUTE OF ORPHEUS . . . . . . . .131 
 
 OUR SECRET .......... 132 
 
 LOVE AND DEATH . ....... 133 
 
 THE GOLDEN SONG ......... 134 
 
 LOVE IN IDLENESS ......... 135 
 
 xxvi
 
 MY LADY'S HANDS . . . . . . . . .136 
 
 THE WIND'S TRIBUTE . . . . . . . .137 
 
 WHITE ROSE (after MELEAGER) . . . . . . .13? 
 
 OUR LOST HEAVEN . . . . . . . . .138 
 
 LOVE'S PALACE . . . . . . . . 139 
 
 THE NECKLET OF CRIMSON CORAL ...... 140 
 
 BY FLOWING WATERS ........ 141 
 
 OLD-WORLD GARDEN OF SUNBEAMS ...... 142 
 
 TROPICAL SOLSTICE ......... 143 
 
 MOONLIGHT AND STARSHINE ....... 144 
 
 HOME You KEEP FOR ME 145 
 
 YOUR DEAR HEART ......... 146 
 
 LOVER'S JOY .......... 147 
 
 SKYLARK .......... 148 
 
 AT DAWN AND DUSK . . . . . . . . 151 
 
 HAVEN OF LOVE IN YOUR BREAST . . . . . .152 
 
 IF DREAMS CAME TRUE . . . . . . . 153 
 
 LOVE'S OFFERING . . (J. M. Stuart-Toung) . . .154 
 FULFILMENT OF DESIRE . . . . . ... . 154 
 
 SECRETS ........... 155 
 
 SEA SERENADE . . . . . . . . . .156 
 
 SORROWS .......... 157 
 
 ILLUSION . . . (Herbert J. S. Carter) . . .158 
 
 THE CONFIDANT . . . . . . . . 158 
 
 WILL You COME BACK ? . . . . . . . . 159 
 
 WAKING .......... 160 
 
 GREEN PASTURE AND FIREGLEAM ...... 161 
 
 THE COMING YEARS . . . . . . . .162 
 
 A SONG IN THE SILENCE ........ 163 
 
 LOVE'S FLOWER A LITTLE CHILD 164 
 
 How GOD MADE You FOR ME . . . . . . .165 
 
 ANGEL OF STARSHINE . (J. M. Stuart-Toung} . . . 166 
 YOURS AND MINE ......... 167 
 
 LOVE'S VANITY 168 
 
 SOUL OF REJOICING 169 
 
 xxvii
 
 SWEET LITTLE NEST OF LOVE . . . . . . .170 
 
 CASUAL PLEASURE . . . . . . . . . 171 
 
 ALTHOUGH ... ...... 172 
 
 YOUR INMOST SOUL ......... 173 
 
 JUST ONE . . . (J. M. Stuart-Young) . . 174 
 
 FORGETFULNESS . . . . . , . . -175 
 
 THE ONE HEART I LOVE ........ 176 
 
 ANGEL-CARESSES . . . . . . . . 177 
 
 MATE OF MY HEARTHSTONE . . . . . . .178 
 
 LAND OF YOUR LOVE-LIT EYES . . . . . . .179 
 
 WHO SAILS FOR ARLECAN ? . . . . . . .180 
 
 EYES OF LOVE .......... 181 
 
 FLOWER ORCHARD ........ 182 
 
 POPPIES AND CORNFLOWERS ....... 183 
 
 DECEMBER AND MAY . . . . . . . .184 
 
 COME BACK AGAIN . . . . . . . . .186 
 
 DEAR SON o' MINE ......... 187 
 
 ROSES ON THE PATH ......... 188 
 
 LET LIFE BE LIKE A FLOWER . . . . . . .189 
 
 KINGDOMS .......... 190 
 
 You AND ME . . . . . . . . . . 191 
 
 LOVE'S MIRACLE ......... 192 
 
 DESIRE ........... 193 
 
 MY BOOK .......... 194 
 
 LOVER'S JOY .......... 195 
 
 ONLY ONE HOUR . . . . . . . . . 196 
 
 SOMETIMES .......... 197 
 
 SORROW AND SONG 198 
 
 LYNETTE I99 
 
 BY THE WATERS BLUE ........ 200 
 
 SWEET LOVE .......... 201 
 
 REUNION 202 
 
 OUR HOME BY THE SEA-GIRT HILL 203 
 
 LOVE'S INNER SHRINE ........ 204 
 
 GREY EYES OF DREAMS 205 
 
 xxviii
 
 (Claude Sutherland) 
 
 (Dorothy Forster) 
 
 SWEET SEVENTEEN 
 CONNEMARA'S FAIRY GLEN 
 LIOSHA .... 
 
 DEAD ROSES 
 
 BECAUSE I LOVE 
 
 CHILDHOOD DREAMS 
 
 LOVE'S GIFTS . 
 
 THE PROPOSAL 
 
 GLORY OF THE WORLD 
 
 LOVE WOVE A SONG . 
 
 GOLDEN JOURNEY 
 
 THE DAYS OF LIFE . 
 
 A LOVER'S QUEST 
 
 LITTLE HILLSIDE COTTAGE 
 
 FOR YOUR SWEET SAKE 
 
 MORNING ...... 
 
 LOVE'S NEEDS ...... 
 
 LITTLE Six- YEARS-OLD 
 
 HOME AGAIN ...... 
 
 WIND AND REED ..... 
 
 JUST You ...... 
 
 AN ISLAND PARADISE .... 
 
 You BROUGHT ME ROSES .... 
 
 SUNSHINE OF MY WORLD .... 
 
 A LITTLE SONG OF LIFE .... 
 
 BY OUR OWN FIRESIDE .... 
 
 MELODIES OF \ViND AND WAVE . 
 
 LITTLE NIGHT-FACE . (Albert Joweti) 
 
 A SONG OF Music AND BEAUTY . 
 
 OLD DESIRES .... 
 
 KIRRY, OF MONA'S SWEET ISLE . 
 
 THE BLUE SUN-BONNET .... 
 
 FLEETING JOYS ..... 
 
 EYES THAT SHINE FOR ME 
 
 LONDON TOWN ..... 
 
 xx ix 
 
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 2 2O 
 221 
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 223 
 224 
 225 
 226 
 227 
 228 
 229 
 230 
 231 
 232 
 233 
 234 
 235 
 236 
 
 237 
 238 
 
 239 
 
 240
 
 WHAT MATTERS TO-MORROW 
 LOVE, THE DEATHLESS ! 
 LOVE TURNED ADRIFT 
 CHILDHOOD FANCIES 
 SMILES .... 
 FROM MY BALCONY AT LAGOS 
 MARMOSET AND MAIDEN . 
 
 242 
 
 243 
 244 
 
 245 
 246 
 247 
 248 
 
 XXX
 
 WITH LOVE AND YOU 
 
 COULD I but pray as you pray, sweet, 
 
 From fears and doubts apart, 
 My life with Hope would be replete, 
 And pure my heart ! 
 
 Could I but dream as you dream, sweet, 
 
 In maiden ecstasy, 
 I 'd lay my dreams low at your feet, 
 For all to see ! 
 
 Could I but love as you love, sweet, 
 So glad, so fair, so true, 
 
 My Heav'n would then be all complete, 
 With love with you : 
 With love and you !
 
 INGLE AND CANDLELIGHT 
 
 I LINGER in the starshine, I loiter 'neath the moon ; 
 
 I pluck the wayside blossoms, I greet the joys of June ; 
 
 I hear in ev'ry bird-song the heart-thrill of your voice, 
 
 And then I feel your presence that makes my heart rejoice ; 
 
 I reach the racing river, and watch the morning skies, 
 
 But they can only mirror the love-light in your eyes ; 
 
 I hunger for the home-call, the words that bring in sight 
 
 Your sweet face in the gloaming, Ingle and Candlelight ! 
 
 I go down to the city, and you are even there ! 
 
 Deep surge of noise is round me, harsh clamour ev'rywhere, 
 
 Yet in my heart your spirit beats like a glad refrain, 
 
 And each keen pulse is quicken'd to throbs of honey'd pain ! 
 
 Soon, soon I '11 claim your kisses, drink deep your eyes of grey, 
 
 And clasp your hands in welcome at sunset of our day. 
 
 I '11 answer to the Home-Call ! I '11 haste to claim my right 
 
 To Love Dreams in Life's Gloaming : Ingle and Candlelight !
 
 THE MOUNTAIN-SIDE OF DREAMS 
 
 WHEN the golden sun is setting through the yellow coppice yonder ; 
 
 When the first faint stars are rambling, and soft-shedding down 
 
 their beams, 
 There 's a mystic road of whiteness that my spirit loves to wander, 
 
 As it climbs into the distance, up the Mountain-Side of Dreams. 
 
 How I love that Winding Roadway, each swift rise and sudden hollow, 
 Where the fragrant rose-fill'd hedges dim the eyes with reds and 
 creams ; 
 
 For one fair form flits before me, and I 'm fain as fain to follow 
 
 As she leads me nearer Heaven, up the Mountain-Side of Dreams ! 
 
 'Tis my Angel, my own Heart's Love, pain and peril lightly scorning ; 
 
 And 'tis O my happy bosom with deep joy and rapture teems, 
 For I follow in her footprints, from cold night to Love's Own Morning, 
 
 Fairest Flow'r of my Ideal : up the Mountain-Side of Dreams ! 
 
 May Brake,
 
 LOVE'S BEAUTIFUL BEST 
 
 I SANG of my love in the sunshine of May, 
 And the garrulous bird on the sycamore spray 
 
 Warbled his song to the nest ; 
 
 Come, sweetheart, the flowers are a-bloom on the lea, 
 The blossoms are breaking on bramble and tree, 
 And, all through the odorous Spring we can see 
 
 That Love is Earth's beautiful Best ! 
 
 I sang of my love in the scorching July, 
 And the ruddy-brow'd sun in a radiant sky 
 
 Uplifted his golden-hued crest ; 
 
 All the clam'rous-tongu'd land was melodious with song 
 4 O, the world shall be merry, the days shall be long, 
 For love i' the sunshine is manly and strong 
 
 The Love that 's Earth's beautiful Best ! ' 
 
 I sang of my love in the wane of the year, 
 And the sheen of the sunset hung luridly drear, 
 
 Far down in the lowering West ; 
 Each home seem'd forsaken ; each throstle had fled ; 
 All music seem'd hush'd ; ev'ry blossom lay dead : 
 When a voice through the silence and solitude said, 
 
 * But Love is Earth's beautiful Best ! '
 
 Still warbles my heart in the wind o'er the snow ; 
 ' There is rest after sorrow, and joy after woe, 
 
 And love that is tried is the Best ! ' 
 O, I care not, though tempest be black in the sky, 
 Though the sun may be fickle, though frail flowers die, 
 A day surely comes when the soul can descry : 
 
 ' Love, Love is Earth's beautiful Best 
 Ah, Love is Earth's beautiful Best ! ' 
 
 UNTIL YOU CAME TO ME 
 
 I NEVER knew how sweet is life, until you came to me ; 
 I never dreamed how clear the sky, how blue the magic sea ; 
 I did not hear the lark's glad song, nor see the Spring aflame, 
 I did not bless the perfumed flow'rs, until, until you came ! 
 
 O voice that sings alone for me : O eyes that softly shine : 
 Lead onward to Life's topmost peaks, until I call you mine : 
 Tell me of dreams that all come true, whatever may befall, 
 Lead me from darkness unto light, where Love is lord of all J 
 
 Herbert J. S. Carter.
 
 MY OWN MARGOT 
 
 I ALWAYS know with my Margot, 
 
 Margot so shy and fair ; 
 And in our cot existeth not 
 
 A joy we do not share. 
 'Twas God and Love Who made her, 
 
 That 1 might do and dare ; 
 And ne'er have I b.etray'd her, 
 
 Or caus'd her one small care 
 For I always know with my Margot, 
 
 Margot of the golden hair ! 
 
 I always know with my Margot, 
 
 Margot so clean and neat ; 
 And in my heart she has a part 
 
 That Space nor Time may cheat ; 
 She craves nor silk nor laces : 
 
 Her beauty is complete, 
 For very dear her face is, 
 
 With love and joy made sweet 
 So I always know with my Margot, 
 
 Margot of the dancing feet ! 
 
 I always know with my Margot ; 
 
 She is love's peerless prize ; 
 And while I live my soul shall give 
 
 That love a richer guise. 
 6
 
 My flow'r that blooms for ever 
 My constant new surprise 
 
 My friend that changeth never 
 My angel of the skies : 
 
 For I always know with my Margot, 
 Margot of the love-lit eyes ! 
 
 IN MY HEART 
 
 AT the gate of the garden of my lonely heart 
 Stands a grumpy old warden, whose task is to part 
 The stranger, the lover ; the friend and the foe ; 
 But to each laughing rover he never says No : 
 He never, ah ! never says No I 
 
 From the beds of my garden, at all kinds of hours, 
 Friends may filch, with full pardon, my choicest of flow'rs ; 
 But one of my roses I guard to the end, 
 'Tis the pick of my posies, just you, little friend 
 It is you, little friend just you I
 
 A HAPPY THOUGHT 
 
 A HAPPY, happy thought ! 
 I '11 sing a song, and let it tell of beauty : 
 
 Of all the wonders of this world of ours, 
 Show human hearts that dreaming is but duty, 
 
 When golden hours 
 
 Are full of flow'rs ; 
 And life is sweet, when gladness is most sought ! 
 
 A happy, happy thought ! 
 I '11 sing one strain, and let its cadence tender 
 
 Thrill noble hearts to clear this world of strife ; 
 Teach men in glad surprise a newer splendour 
 
 In Love and Life 
 
 Till souls are rife 
 For Peace that can be found, if only sought ! 
 
 Go, happy, happy thought ! 
 
 8
 
 IN ABSENCE 
 
 I KNOW a little, little town, 
 Where little men go up and down, 
 And O my heart is sad to-day, 
 Because I 'm far as far away 
 
 From that little, little town ! 
 
 I know a bonny, bonny lass, 
 Whose eyes are pools where day-dreams pass, 
 And O my heart is sad and sore, 
 Because I ne'er may see her more 
 My bonny, bonny lass ! 
 
 O little town, O bonny lass, 
 
 The lonely years creep on and pass ; 
 
 And O what little, little things 
 
 To stab the soul with sorrow's stings ! 
 
 My little town, my bonny lass, 
 My bonny, bonny lass !
 
 THE SPINNER OF MOODS 
 
 I TURN my wheel, my whirring wheel, 
 
 ' Hush, hush, my heart, 'tis the wind from the sea ! ' 
 I broider my moods ; yet I dare not feel 
 
 The pain of the sorrows that drift to me ! 
 
 My room is lonely ; a flick' ring flame 
 
 (* Did you whisper a name as I broke the thread ? ') 
 Is thrown by the fire on my fancy-frame . , . 
 
 And the latch lifts up and the Dead are dead ! 
 
 Screech and scream ! How man's blood runs hot, 
 
 While the waves are strawing life's shore with wrack ; 
 
 But I sit and loosen my tangled knot, 
 
 And I listen, at peace, to the howl and crack ! 
 
 Shifting pattern, this world's mad dream ! 
 
 * Oh, my weaving and dreaming bring happiness ! ' 
 For tangible things are the things that seem, 
 
 And no soul may know, only dimly guess ! 
 
 The vast night broods, alive with stars, 
 
 Below is the seething world's unrest ; 
 And I need not pass from my prison bars, 
 
 Where I wind and weave with a soul repress'd !
 
 YOUR LOVING BREAST 
 
 THE owls flit by, in the tender twilight ; 
 
 I walk through the starlit vale ; 
 And think of the days, now long, long vanished, 
 
 When you told Love's old sweet tale ; 
 The years seem wide since you held me to you ; 
 
 Since you scarce would let me go ; 
 Come back, dear heart, of my dreams enchanting, 
 Because I need you so 
 
 I need, I need you so ! 
 
 I know no place where the birds' glad voices 
 
 Sing not your beloved name ; 
 I dream no dream that the soul rejoices 
 
 But you dwell there, the same ! 
 Come back, come back, through this night of starshine, 
 
 Or ever I seek my rest ; 
 I know no place ; I shall know no Heaven 
 
 But your sweet, soft, loving breast, 
 Your loving, loving breast ! 
 
 II
 
 GOLDEN EYES 
 
 THE church-bells are ringing, the children are singing, 
 
 'Tis morn under magical skies ; 
 I wander the meadow, 'mid sunshine and shadow, 
 
 And dream of your wonderful eyes ; 
 O sun of this beautiful, wonderful world 
 You tell me of Eyes, where Love's flag is unfurl'd ! 
 
 Your golden eyes of glad surprise 
 
 Just haunt me wherever I go ; 
 They are tender and true ; they are windows of you, 
 
 And you love me forever, I know ! 
 'Tis spring of the year, and I would you were near 
 
 Your namesake shines bright in the skies : 
 
 'Mid sunlight and dew, 
 
 O, I 'm dreaming of you, 
 
 My Golden, my Golden Eyes ! 
 
 I 'm lonely, so lonely ; I long for you only, 
 
 O, hasten to join me again ! 
 Come spend the glad hours 'mid the fields and the flow'rs, 
 
 While Light and Love's Glamour remain : 
 Come, meet me, ah, meet me, while sun shines above 
 As Emblem and pledge of your wonderful love ! 
 
 12
 
 Your golden eyes of glad surprise 
 
 Just haunt me wherever I go ; 
 They are tender and true ; they are windows of you, 
 
 And you love me forever, I know ! 
 'Tis spring of the year, and I would you were near 
 
 Your namesake shines bright in the skies : 
 
 'Mid sunlight and dew, 
 
 O, I 'm dreaming of you, 
 
 My Golden, my Golden Eyes ! 
 
 HIDDEN TREASURE 
 
 THE richest treasures earth enslaves 
 Are open but to earnest men ; 
 
 As shells are cast up by the waves, 
 
 While pearls sink deep beyond our ken !
 
 FAR AWAY AND LONG AGO 
 
 I WOULD I had a child's glad mind 
 
 To ceil my little room 
 With stars a-dance in the summer wind, 
 
 And wee fairies in the gloom : 
 For little folk are the cheerful folk, 
 
 All magical together 
 While the older folk are the futile folk, 
 
 Who bother about the weather ! 
 
 I would I had a child's fair soul, 
 
 To dance through the meadow-land, 
 With eyes that see : sane, clean, and whole, 
 
 Fair flow'rs on my ev'ry hand : 
 For little folk are the friendly folk, 
 
 Knowing naught of pain or passion - 
 While the older folk are the foolish folk, 
 
 Who talk of the Arts and Fashion ! 
 
 I would I r^ad a child's sure faith 
 
 In God and in Beauty's thrall 
 A confidence deep in both Life and Death, 
 
 And in Love, who rules o'er all : 
 For little folk are the fearless folk, 
 
 Who are never tired of daring 
 While we older folk are the colder folk, 
 
 Who have lost the charm of caring I 
 
 H
 
 LOVE'S LITTLE HAUNTING SONG 
 
 IF I might curb these little ivory keys, 
 
 I 'd tell my darling all my heart's desires ; 
 
 I 'd thrill her soul to love's sweet ecstasies, 
 In one glad message from melodious wires 
 Love's little haunting song ! 
 
 No rose has fragrance like her dewy lips ; 
 
 No bird has music like her gentle voice ; 
 O touch these ivories with soft finger-tips, 
 
 And tell her maiden-heart how men rejoice 
 Love's little haunting song ! 
 
 Go, sweet, sweet song ! Console her lonely hours 
 
 O tender chords, on which my fingers hover : 
 Repeat the golden mem'ries that are ours, 
 And ours alone : / love her, O I love her 
 
 How very much I love her ! 
 Love's little haunting song !
 
 BLEAK WINDS 
 
 BLEAK winds against a sullen sky, 
 
 Drip of a tedious rain ; 
 Heart-gnawing thoughts of days gone by, 
 
 And lonely nights again ! 
 
 Sweet-scented nights and purple days 
 
 Hast'ning to happy ends ; 
 A heart that sings, a soul that prays, 
 
 And Love that Life befriends ! 
 
 Dorothy Forster. 
 
 16
 
 IDENTIFICATION 
 
 COULD I but rob my dear one's charms, 
 
 A thief I 'd stand confess'd, 
 To steal the warmth of her white arms, 
 
 The love-beat in her breast ; 
 To filch the faith in her clear eyes, 
 
 The laughter on her lips ; 
 The glowing Youth, without disguise, 
 
 That Time so slowly sips 
 
 And still my sin would be confin'd, 
 For I should leave more wealth behind ! 
 
 The love-dawn in her blushing face, 
 
 The perfume of her breath ; 
 The pride, the purity, the grace 
 
 That lend a gage to Death ; 
 The voice that lilts at morning hour, 
 
 And fills the list'ning air ; 
 The unimagin'd starry power 
 
 That proves our Love dwells there, 
 Though criminal, I 'd still be free, 
 For I am her ; and she is me !
 
 FAERY 
 
 FORGETFUL of all around you, when the sunset skies are red, 
 
 You lie, where your dreams have bound you, one hand beneath your 
 
 head ; 
 
 Reading a volume of Fatry, your thoughts many miles away ; 
 And I that kneel down beside you have not one word to say ! 
 
 O, take me away to Dreamland, 
 
 To the haunts of the rose and the dew, 
 Where Love's joy-bells ring, and the sweet birds sing, 
 O, take me away with you ! 
 
 Could I but share the pleasure, that lives in your dream-lit eyes, 
 Our love would blossom at leisure, in a new-found Paradise ; 
 Come back from the Land of Faery, or act as my willing guide, 
 And lead me where day-dreams linger, on that mystic mountain side ! 
 
 O, take me away to Dreamland, 
 
 To the haunts of the rose and the dew, 
 Where Love's joy-bells ring, and the sweet birds sing, 
 O, take me away with you ! 
 Away ! Away, with you ! 
 
 18
 
 THE CALL TO TAMELfi 
 
 I KNOW a town across the sea, 
 
 On a long white road in Africa, 
 Where Nature's lavish greenery 
 Is sweet for aching eyes to see ; 
 And O, but it calls me ceaselessly, 
 On that long white road in Africa ! 
 
 O Tamele, sweet Tamele, 
 In the land of the palm and the skies of gold, 
 Where life is sincere and honest and bold, 
 And the days hold pleasures manifold 
 
 O Tamele, sweet Tamele 
 I '11 get me gone to Tamele ! 
 
 Green pigeons flash from tree to tree, 
 On this long white road in Africa ! 
 And tiny mocking-birds in glee, 
 Waltz, making rainbow filigree : 
 'Tis a world of Love for you and for me, 
 On that long white road in Africa ! 
 
 O Tamele, sweet Tamele, 
 In the land of the palm and the skies of gold, 
 Where life is sincere and honest and bold, 
 And the days hold pleasures manifold 
 
 O Tamele, sweet Tamele 
 I '11 get me gone to Tamele : 
 
 To my Garden of Dreams in Tamele ! 
 
 19
 
 COMRADE O' MINE 
 
 A SUNNY sky over sunnier sea, 
 
 And a great green wave that slouches in, 
 While we sit on the beach only you and me 
 
 And, around us, the others make noise and din ; 
 On the far horizon the gleam of a sail, 
 
 Which flames into gold on the ocean's blue, 
 While above us the clouds show purple or pale, 
 
 As the gulls speed past our enchanted view ! 
 
 Will you ever forget, 
 Can you ever regret ? 
 
 In the years that will gloom or shine, 
 How our hearts beat as one, 
 In the days that are gone, 
 
 Old comrade, comrade o' mine ? 
 
 The harvest field, in which reapers shout, 
 
 While far on the hill the farm-horses run : 
 The gleam of the scythes, and round about 
 
 The languorous heat of an August sun ; 
 Then, under the hedge, the smile of a rose, 
 
 And lunch in the shade of a leafy lime : 
 Of every Eden that Cupid knows 
 
 Had men ever an equal on earth or in time ? 
 20
 
 Will you ever forget, 
 
 Can you ever regret ? 
 In the years that will gloom or shine, 
 
 How our hearts beat as one, 
 
 In the days that are gone, 
 Old comrade, comrade o' mine ? 
 
 DARK DAYS 
 
 COME to me, dear, when the days are dark, 
 
 When life's roses lie hidden beneath the snow ; 
 Teach me your faith in the winter stark 
 Your faith in the Long Ago ! 
 
 Speak to me, dear, in the long dark night, 
 
 When our lamps are lit, and the day seems far ; 
 Teach me your trust in Love's marvellous might 
 Your trust in Love's Morning Star ! 
 
 Cling to me, dear, when we hear the Call, 
 
 The challenge that comes from God's Sentry Death ; 
 When our Past is foregone, and the Unknown all, 
 When Love seems over and Death's terrors appal, 
 Kiss me to Birth from Death ! 
 
 21
 
 ASPIRATION 
 
 FROM the sun's red golden rays, 
 
 When the first glad morning shone, 
 God made the glow of a Woman's Love 
 The essential gold all things else above, 
 O may the love in her true heart be framed within mine own ! 
 
 From the blue of the evening sky, 
 
 From the clouds, and the western wind, 
 God made while the world lay lock'd in sleep 
 A woman's honour, devoted, deep 
 O may her simple honesty be echoed in my mind ! 
 
 From the fragrance of the flowers, 
 
 When the Spring was sane and whole, 
 God made a perfume, rich and rare, 
 The cleansing breath of a woman's prayer 
 O may her glorious purity be mirror'd in my soul ! 
 
 22
 
 LOVE OF MY HEART 
 
 THE love of my heart I lay low at your feet 
 
 I have no great fortune to cast, 
 I pledge you my dreams, with their message so sweet 
 
 Of a love that will live to the last. 
 'Tis Spring of the year : will you bid me to stay, 
 
 Or will you entreat me to go ? 
 The love of my heart, I have brought you to-day, 
 
 Because 
 I love you I love you so ! 
 
 The joy of my soul I dare offer to you 
 
 'Tis radiant with rapture and love ; 
 Will you give me the right, eternal and true, 
 
 To claim you, all others above ? 
 'Tis noon of the day : the sweet lark 's in the sky, 
 
 And God 's in His Heav'n I know : 
 The joy of my soul will you take or deny, 
 
 Because 
 I love you I love you so !
 
 WONDERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL 
 
 COME, pleasure with me in this glorious Life : 
 Its glow and its glamour, its sorrow and strife ; 
 Its wonderful flow'rs, and its beautiful spoil, 
 Its prayers and its problems, its tears and its toil, 
 O this wonderful, beautiful Life ! 
 
 And share my deep joy in this wonderful world, 
 With the beautiful waters about it encurl'd ; 
 With birds, beasts, and men on its bosom so bright, 
 And magical stars in its temples at night, 
 O this beautiful, magical world ! 
 
 And will you not thrill to the wonderful glow 
 From passionate hearts that ebbs but to flow ? 
 W T hen life is in tune, and the wonderful skies 
 Are mirror'd in glory from ' some one's ' clear eyes 
 O Love's beautiful, magical glow ! 
 
 This world may be great, and its creatures but small, 
 But Love is the ruler and monarch of all ; 
 And the roses that garland heav'n's beautiful gate 
 Shall bless with their beauty all mortals who wait 
 O God's wonderful, beautiful Love ! 
 
 2 4
 
 CATANI'S INVOCATION 
 
 AND will you not come back again ? Nigeria has no snows, 
 
 But the glad, clean light, in the starry night, of the red and regal rose ! 
 
 Though soft as rain is your sad refrain ; though mem'ry haunts the mind, 
 The old peaceful days of love and praise are far and far behind ! 
 
 And will you not come back again ? Fruit-full is the orchard-close, 
 In this tropic land, where on etfry hand, the wealth of Nature shows I 
 
 No ! No ! For my song would all go wrong ; I may never, never find 
 The friends I knew, with fond hearts and true, in the land I left behind ! 
 
 And will you not come back again ? The fierce tornado blows ; 
 All, all too soon, from night to noon, each stealthy season grows ! 
 
 No ! I ne'er may see the rich revelry of Catani's happier shore, 
 Nor feel again the sad, sweet pain I knew in the days of yore ! 
 
 And will you not come back again ? The weird, wild orchid knows 
 Her perfumed sleep in the forests deep, where the rapid river flows ! 
 
 No ! A vain regret must haunt me yet ; you call, but you call in vain 
 To him who hears with scalding tears, and may never come back again !
 
 LOVE'S MAGIC GARDEN 
 
 I WAIT in love's magic garden, 
 
 When the moon-white air is cool ; 
 When the south-wind wakes each perfume, 
 
 As it ripples o'er the pool ; 
 And I know, while the lily watches, 
 And the rose sinks to rest divine, 
 I shall meet with my love in the silence, 
 When the stars begin to shine ! 
 
 Moonlight and starshine in April skies ; 
 Springtime and gladness in your dear eyes : 
 Love's stars are gleaming, constant and true ; 
 Here I am waiting for love and you ! 
 
 I go to love's magic garden, 
 
 When the world is harsh and cold ; 
 When friendly hands forsake me, 
 
 And my heart seems tired and old ; 
 For I know two fond lips are waiting, 
 
 Two sweet eyes that with lovelight shine : 
 A dear comrade to share the night-watches, 
 And a soul for ever mine ! 
 
 Moonlight and starshine in April skies ; 
 Springtime and gladness in your dear eyes : 
 Love's stars are gleaming, constant and true ; 
 Here I am waiting for love and you, 
 
 Waiting : waiting : 
 Waiting for love and you ! 
 26
 
 LOVE'S GIFTS 
 
 I PLUCK'D this rose, love's crimson flow'r, for you 
 
 One perfect bud, emblem of chastity : 
 Blest by the stars, and bathed in sweetest dew ! 
 
 Lend it your lips ; then . . . send it back to me ! 
 
 I made this song, at meeting of our ways, 
 
 To prove our love is heav'n's fair gift divine ; 
 
 Sing it with joy : its notes are full of praise 
 Of one, whose heart is mine, and only mine ! 
 
 I made my song ; I pluck'd my rose of dew ; 
 
 (One sweet to hear, the other sweet to see !) 
 Take then, as proof of all I am to you ; 
 
 Make both your own ; but, . . . give them back to me ! 
 
 27
 
 OLD RED FORM IN THE ARDWICK GREEN 
 
 WHEN to home I stir, 'tis old Manchester 
 
 That keeps my heart in thrall : 
 Chimneys stark and spare, giant walls and bare, 
 In the foggy gloom of our autumn air ; 
 
 But I love them one, yea I love them all : 
 And dearest spot in the world I ween, 
 Is one old red form in the Ardwick Green 
 Quaint little Ardwick Green ! 
 
 Ah ! I could not know in the Long Ago, 
 
 A schoolboy slim and shy, 
 
 How this old-world form would survive to throw 
 On my hungry heart such a fervid glow 
 
 From the days gone by, happy days gone by : 
 Scarr'd by childish hands in Youth's mischief keen, 
 That old red form in the Ardwick Green 
 Quaint little Ardwick Green ! 
 
 For two-score years, in the rain and sun, 
 It has watch'd slum-children play : 
 It has heard begun, when each day was done, 
 When the game was gone, and an end to fun, 
 
 The deep bell's sway : buoyant, brisk, and gay 
 'Tis a symbol clean of Life's Might-Have-Been, 
 That old red form in the Ardwick Green 
 Quaint little Ardwick Green ! 
 28
 
 So when Home I stir, 'tis old Manchester 
 
 That claims me still her child 
 Holding dreams so rare in the murky air, 
 Magic fields of hope that are rich and rare, 
 
 Sweet and undefil'd, sweet and undefil'd . . . 
 When Time's shafts are keen, let me find Love's sheen 
 On that old red form in the Ardwick Green 
 Quaint little Ardwick Green ! 
 
 TRANSFIGURATION 
 
 WITHIN the bosom of the Poet press'd 
 Dry, scentless leaves find shelter and a rest ; 
 Then, as the warm blood through his body flows. 
 They rise to Beauty in a New-Born Rose ! 
 
 29
 
 COME, PLAY TO ME 
 
 PLAY me old melodies ! 
 With gentle fingers, low sad music make, 
 
 And bid my childhood's dreams once more awake 
 Let me lean o'er you, for dear mem'ry's sake, 
 
 And play to me -old melodies ! 
 
 How solemn-sweet that voice from far away, 
 
 Telling our hearts of joys too sweet to stay : 
 Stars in our love-sky, morn of marriage day 
 Ah ! play to me old melodies ! 
 
 Our fields were green ; deep blue was each wave's crest ; 
 
 Love's dawn, a rose, we gather'd to our breast ; 
 And night, star-deck'd, but spake to call us blest 
 Play, play to me old melodies ! 
 
 Sing on, true heart, sing on 'mid dusk and dew : 
 
 You love me yet I love you, through and through : 
 God's rule is love : for He has giv'n me you ! 
 
 Ah ! Play to me old melodies 
 Play me old melodies !
 
 CHRISTMAS MORNING 
 
 'Tis Christmas morn : exuberant greetings run 
 From mouth to mouth, and ev'rywhere I see 
 The happy smile of eager gaiety. 
 
 The Old is New : another year has won 
 
 Its crown of white, and 'neath the winter sun 
 This frost-clad earth seems waiting for the key 
 That opens wide the flood-gates of life's sea, 
 
 And fills the soul with love when day is done ! 
 
 Religion ! studied, criticised, discussed, 
 
 Still as the years roll on we own thy might ; 
 With psalms of gladness, and with songs of trust, 
 
 Each Christmas Eve, we hail thy Natal Star 
 We chant thy praises through the gleaming night, 
 
 And worship at thy Shrine of Love afar !
 
 LOVE'S PLEADING 
 
 BUT look into mine eyes, 
 
 And heart to brain will tell 
 Hope's message true and wise 
 All shall be well ! 
 
 Make, for your Jewell' d song, 
 
 A casket of mine ear ; 
 I shall be proud and strong, 
 And banish fear ! 
 
 Breathe, from your fragrant lips, 
 One word of love confess'd, 
 Backward the long night slips 
 To perfum'd rest ! 
 
 Lay your dear hands in mine, 
 
 Straightway the creeping hours 
 With sudden glory shine, 
 
 For Love is ours, 
 
 Sweet Love is ours !
 
 IN DREAMS 
 (SUGGESTED BY HEINE) 
 
 I SLEPT. And in my sleep I cried : 
 
 I dream'd, dear heart, that you were dead. 
 
 I woke. And both my cheeks were wet 
 With tears my soul had shed ! 
 
 I slept. And in my sleep I cried : 
 
 I dream'd that you were false to me. 
 
 I woke. And many weary hours 
 I still wept bitterly ! 
 
 I slept. And in my sleep I cried : 
 
 Love, you were true, true in my dream. 
 
 I woke. And even now the tears, 
 The bitter tears still stream ! 
 
 J. Ord-Hamilton. 
 c 33
 
 MA JEWEL 
 (WEST AFRICAN DIALECT) 
 
 AH lubs ma Lub wit' all ma heart, 
 
 Tho' brain on heart mak's duel ; 
 Ah keeps her in a place apart, 
 
 'Cos she 's a Jewel ! 
 
 Her ruby lips, her teet' ob pearl 
 
 Are sort ob Nature's fuel ; 
 There 's Gold ob Ophir in dat girl, 
 An' she 's a Jewel ! 
 
 She 's sweet as salt, she 's mild as milk, 
 
 (Ah talks like Pantagruel !) 
 Her skin is moughty soft, like silk, 
 Yes, she 's a Jewel ! 
 
 Ah lubs ma Lub beyond control, 
 Ah doesn't know she 's cruel : 
 For O her treasure 's in her soul 
 She is ma Jewel ! 
 
 34
 
 LOVE'S PALACE OF DREAMS 
 
 I HAVE built for my darling a Palace of Dreams, 
 
 With hedgerows of Hope, round a Garden of Sighs ; 
 Each flow'r I have fashion'd from joy in her eyes ; 
 
 And t'ward this fair Palace my love ever beams ! 
 
 My own outer world has its shadow and tears, 
 Its sorrows that drift from Life's sinister sea, 
 Yet little care I, while her Palace is free 
 
 From tangle and fret, and the surging of fears ! 
 
 My work and her dreams shall be never the same 
 For her a Cloud Palace, but labour for me ! 
 Her white soul 's in my keeping, eternally 
 
 And her Palace (and mine) is known by one name : 
 The name of Love's Palace of Dreams. 
 
 35
 
 EACH TO HIS OWN 
 
 WHY should we sing, when countless men before us 
 
 Have hymn'd the wonders of this world of ours ? 
 When day is done, and starry night looms o'er us, 
 
 Why covet still the glory of the flow'rs ! 
 Did we live on till stars and suns commingle, 
 
 Were we immortal, could we then adorn 
 The sunset skies, or could we add one single 
 
 Heart-breaking note to lark's glad song at morn ? 
 
 O, the sun to the sea ; 
 
 And the bee to the clover ; 
 The wind to the tree ; 
 
 And the maid to her lover ; 
 While deep in Love's mystical call ! 
 The rain to the meadow, 
 
 The trout to the stream ; 
 The cloud to the shadow ; 
 
 And Man to his Dream ; 
 While God is the Maker of all ! 
 
 Why seek to fashion through long months of striving 
 One silver song to soothe life's sudden close ? 
 
 Only the Dead have found the art of living : 
 To them, alone, the secret that God knows !
 
 Why limn the tree, its fruit a golden glory ? 
 
 Why love the earth, the sea, the stars above ? 
 Because Man lives by Dreams ! Because Life's story 
 
 Is only learned when men endure and love ! 
 
 O, the sun to the sea ; 
 
 And the bee to the clover ; 
 The wind to the tree ; 
 
 And the maid to her lover ; 
 While deep in Love's mystical call ! 
 The rain to the meadow ; 
 
 The trout to the stream ; 
 The cloud to the shadow ; 
 
 And Man to his Dream ; 
 While God is the Maker of all ! 
 
 37
 
 ' 
 
 HEARTS-DESIRE 
 
 LET me know the golden hills, 
 
 When Spring walks are shady 
 See the yellow daffodils, 
 
 Blooming there already ; 
 Give me long and twilit eves, 
 
 One star, serenely shining ; 
 Winds that whisper through the leaves, 
 
 And her hands entwining, 
 
 In mine own entwining ! 
 
 Or when autumn winds are cold, 
 
 Changing grief for laughter, 
 Heralding long weeks of cold, 
 
 Deep drifts of snow thereafter, 
 Give me then an ingle-nook, 
 
 One little roof above me : 
 Her hands, her voice, her tender look, 
 
 And her lips to love me, 
 
 Her sweet red lips to love me ! 

 
 STAR-ORBITS 
 
 ft 
 
 Two stars, in God's mystical blue abyss, 
 So close together they seem'd to kiss, 
 Once dream'd a dream : to shine alway 
 With the one eternal unchanging ray ! 
 
 But stars are stars in the midnight skies, 
 And follow their separate destinies ; 
 So each dreamer circles, as desolate, 
 As ever it was, at Heav'n's pearly gate ! 
 
 Soul of my soul, we are woman and man, 
 And, for us, Love made a different plan ! 
 The stars, in their orbits, move far apart, 
 But we can cling, beating heart on heart 
 Warm heart on warm beating heart ! 
 
 Celian Kottaun, 
 
 39
 
 THE MOTHER-CALL 
 
 A HILLSIDE, cool and grey, 
 
 Where at day's earliest dawn 
 A mother speeds to pray 
 
 With face in anguish drawn ; 
 Her trembling hands upbear, 
 
 Toward the watching skies, 
 The gown her child would wear 
 
 In rapture and surprise. 
 
 Now he is dead, her Sweet 
 
 Has run away to God, 
 And she, his errant feet 
 
 Calls back to paths they trod. 
 Her mother-heart is sore 
 
 Surmising where he 's fled : 
 How coax him back once more 
 
 To fill his tiny bed ? 
 
 1 Come home, my wand'ring child, 
 
 And dance upon the shore ! ' 
 She seeks the soul, gone wild, 
 
 Invokes it back once more : 
 * O naughty one, grown bold, 
 
 Here is your gown of blue ; 
 Come home again ! Behold, 
 
 Mother is calling you ! ' 
 40
 
 YOUR LOVE IN EVERYTHING 
 
 SWEETHEART, do not sorrow for my loneliness ; 
 
 Every little blossom carries power to bless : 
 
 Once the world seemed empty, when you were not there 
 
 Now our troth is plighted, life is one sweet prayer ! 
 
 Life seemed sad and lonely, when you went away ! 
 Now I find red roses, roses on my way ; 
 Clearest stars are shining, sweet birds gladly sing, 
 Dearest, I am finding your love in everything ! 
 
 To your room I wander when the twilight falls ; 
 When the moon has risen, and the last bird calls : 
 There I feel your presence, like a glad refrain, 
 Beautiful and healing, with me once again. 
 
 Life seemed sad and lonely, when you went away : 
 Now I find red roses, roses on my way ; 
 Clearest stars are shining, sweet birds gladly sing, 
 Dearest, I am finding your love in everything ! 
 
 4 1
 
 HOW VERY MUCH I LOVE YOU 
 
 You were a Rose 
 
 Of beauty's sweet surrender ; 
 You were a Song, 
 
 With message true and tender ; 
 You were a Dream, 
 
 Each dreary dawn's defender ; 
 You were a Star 
 
 To light my way with splendour ! 
 
 My Dream, my Rose, 
 
 With glory all about you, 
 My Song, my Star, 
 
 How can I live without you ? 
 Though long the night 
 
 Love's silver lamps above you 
 Tell by their light 
 
 How very much I love you !
 
 LENGTHENING SHADOWS 
 
 THE birds in the garden are singing 
 
 Good-bye to the drowsing stream, 
 Where you and I, as the years speed by, 
 
 Prolong our Childhood's Dream. 
 Now the fires of the autumn weather 
 
 Burn the leaves to russet and brown, 
 But our shadows shall lengthen together 
 
 As the sun goes down ! 
 
 Once the dew of the dawn was around us ; 
 
 And the eastern skies blush'd red ; 
 Then the sun rode high in the summer sky ; 
 
 And we linger'd where roses bled ; 
 But our road through wildwood and heather 
 
 Has met with its gift and its crown 
 For our shadows shall lengthen together 
 
 As the sun goes down, 
 
 As the sun goes down ! 
 
 43
 
 ' KELHAM ' 
 
 WE don't care much when the sunshine glows 
 On the throng'd highway for a country rose : 
 When the house is snug, and the hearth glows bright, 
 We give no thought to the bleak, black night : 
 But a time must come when the soul droops down, 
 When the eyes grow tired of the scurried town 
 And 'tis then I know just the spot for you, 
 On the Walpole Road, near the sea so blue : 
 'Tis ' Kelham,' at Boscombe, 
 In Hants, dear old England ! 
 
 There 's a garden sweet, and a chance to dream 
 'Mid the pine-pure air, with earth's flowers a-gleam ; 
 There 's a cheerful host, with a charming wife : 
 (Ev'ry time she laughs 'tis a lease of life !) 
 And a gen'rous table I know it well, 
 For I 've oft replied to its dinner-bell ! 
 So I 'm sure I know just the home for you, 
 On the Walpole Road, near the sea so blue : 
 'Tis l Kelham,' at Boscombe, 
 In Hants, dear old England ! 
 
 44
 
 Now it seems to me and I 'm far away ! 
 That I 'd love to loiter ev'ry day, 
 With my dreams to dream, and my songs to weave : 
 Just loafing around, where no troubles grieve, 
 And I doubt if I 'd find a happier place, 
 Where life is a song, and where love is a grace, 
 Than the dear little spot I have shown to you, 
 On the Walpole Road, near the sea so blue : 
 Just i Kelham,' at Boscombe, 
 In Hants, dear old England ! 
 
 DAISIES 
 
 I KNOW where daisies dance beside the sea, 
 
 Wearing, 'neath their tunics white, hearts of golden hue ; 
 And when I see them every pulse is free 
 
 To bless the happy day 
 
 I first met you ! 
 
 I know the daisies, brave and sweet and true, 
 
 Dancing in May sunshine, love the splendid sea ; 
 So, when you see them, pluck just one or two, 
 Kiss their snowy petals 
 
 And think of me ! 
 45
 
 SLUMBER SEA 
 
 SLUMBER, my babe, while the evening star 
 
 Gleams with its cold clear light ; 
 Over the hills and the valleys afar, 
 
 Droops the dim mantle of night. 
 Long you 've been playing, 
 Chattering, straying, 
 Make no delaying : 
 Over the river in sweet fairy-car, 
 Travel along to the Poppyland far ! 
 
 Ah ! Ah ! 
 Softly and slow, 
 Soon you will go, 
 Through the night's flowery lea ! 
 Hush thee, my baby, 
 Rest thee, my baby, 
 Angels are guiding thee 
 Safely to Slumber Sea ! 
 
 Rest thee, my babe, for the cloudless west 
 
 Blushes good-night to the sun ; 
 Gently over the waves' bright crest 
 Glide fishing boats, one by one ! 
 Weary of trawling, 
 Rowing and hauling ; 
 Slumber is calling :
 
 While birdies are safe in their leafy nest, 
 Merrily sail to the Golden West ! 
 
 Ah I Ah ! 
 Softly and slow, 
 Soon you shall go, 
 Through the night's flowery lea ! 
 Hush thee, my baby, 
 Rest thee, my baby, 
 Angels are guiding thee 
 Safely to Slumber Sea, 
 
 To Slumber Sea ! 
 
 ENGLISH MAY 
 
 WHO regrets our English May 
 All the violets she scatter'd ? 
 
 Bah ! What is a Springtime day ? 
 
 Who regrets our English May ? 
 
 Here 's meridian sunshine : yea . . 
 Just if the country mattered ! 
 
 Who regrets our English May, 
 And the violets she scattered ? 
 
 47
 
 JUST ONE SMILE 
 
 RAISE just one smile, though tears your heart be shedding, 
 Though birds are mute, and fled the one dear face ; 
 Raise just one smile, life's thorny pathway treading 
 Beyond the clouds, God's sun illumines space ! 
 
 Raise just one smile, when all your hopes lie broken, 
 When on your day descends the blackest night ; 
 Raise just one smile, when evil things are spoken, 
 And ev'ry word, yea, ev'ry word seems right ! 
 
 Raise just one smile : Heav'n knows your weary waiting ; 
 God rules in love, where bliss is pain withdrawn ; 
 Raise just one smile, your courage ne'er abating 
 Without a night, ne'er yet did break the dawn !
 
 LOVE'S HESITATION 
 
 THE heat still throbb'd ; and nine o'clock had shown 
 
 Her lying listlessly beneath a tree, 
 
 For slumber fain. And I conceiv'd that she 
 Would wish to spend this naked night alone. 
 My pulses ached, because her fretful tone 
 
 Reflected discontent at what might be ... 
 
 We parted on the stairs and now the sea 
 Moaned out a heart-dirge that I knew mine own ! 
 
 But when the bells had chimed the midnight hour 
 I heard her timid tapping. White and sweet 
 She came to me on shining quiet feet. 
 Her sweet breath fanned my face ; and to the bower 
 Of love she crept . . . Lips mixed with thrilling power ; 
 And we lay listening to the tide's warm beat.
 
 I READ YOU ON MY KNEES 
 
 ET je vous lis genoux, dearest one ! 
 
 For you are beautiful as autumn trees, 
 Or rippling lights of summer on the leas, 
 
 And gentle as the air when day is done. 
 
 Your voice is sweeter than the lark's, when run 
 His notes adown the azure. And the bees, 
 On thistle-down that trembles in the breeze, 
 
 Would find your cheek more fragrant 'neath the sun 
 
 Your tender eyes are stars that shyly break 
 
 Through veils of darkness under ivory brows. 
 One wistful glance compels from me the vows 
 Of fealty and of love. I may not take 
 Amiss these charms that keep my brain awake, 
 Or, in the night, ecstatic dreams arouse !
 
 A JOY FOR EVER 
 
 JOY in the skies above me, 
 
 God's radiant skies of blue, 
 Because I know you love me, 
 And I love you ! 
 
 Peace in the fields around me, 
 
 Red roses, wet with dew, 
 Because your warm heart found me, 
 And I found you ! 
 
 Lips that are ripe for kisses, 
 
 Dreams that have all come true ; 
 No rapture sweet as this is, 
 When I kiss you ! 
 
 Hope round, below, above me, 
 Joy in God's skies of blue, 
 And all because you love me, 
 And I love you !
 
 RENUNCIATION 
 
 SHOULD we have lov'd, had we but known 
 
 That Love would go, to come no more ? 
 I cannot tell ! I yearn alone, 
 
 And sob before Life's curtain'd door. 
 Since you are gone my joys are few, 
 
 Slowly each day to darkness slips ; 
 And my arms ache for want of you 
 
 Ah, sweet, your lips upon my lips ! 
 
 Oft in Dreamland I will turn, 
 
 And outfling my hungry arms ; 
 On my couch awake to learn 
 
 How 'tis vacant of your charms. 
 Then I hear your tender call, 
 
 And my life less empty seems ; 
 For our lives are link'd together, 
 
 When we meet in the Land of Dreams ! 
 
 Entreat for me at Mem'ry's call, 
 
 E'en as I pray, where'er you be, 
 In rosy paths your feet may fall, 
 
 In fair, soft paths Love, pity me 1 
 My soul's great needs are all denied 
 
 By cruel miles that hold apart : 
 I watch the white road, weary-eyed 
 
 Ah, sweet, your heart upon my heart ! 
 
 5*
 
 Oft in Dreamland I will turn, 
 
 And outfling my hungry arms ; 
 On my couch awake to learn 
 
 How 'tis vacant of your charms. 
 Then I hear your tender call, 
 
 And my life less empty seems ; 
 For our lives are link'd together, 
 
 When we meet in the Land of Dreams ! 
 
 SILVER AND GOLD 
 
 'Tis said that the nightingale's voice is gold, 
 While of silver the lark made its choice ; 
 But give, give to me, when the world grows cold, 
 Gold in your tender voice ! 
 
 'Tis said that the rose has a heart of gold, 
 
 While the lily's is silver and dew ; 
 But give, give to me, when the tale is told, 
 Gold in the heart of you ! 
 
 'Tis said that the sea loves the golden sun, 
 
 To moon-silver the little lake veers ; 
 But give, give to me, when Life's Day is done, 
 Silver and Gold of your tears ! 
 
 53
 
 MA PICKIN' DONE DIE 
 
 MA pickin' done die 
 
 Dear Lord God a' mercy ! 
 Ma souls needs to cry : 
 
 Dear Lord, grant me mercy ! 
 O, what shall I do ? 
 An' where shall I go ? 
 So gay an' so cunnin', so chubby an' black, 
 Orter go to de market, wrapp'd close to ma back 
 But, where is dat pickin' ? 
 Dat fat liT pickin' ? 
 He 's jest gone and fled me 
 
 For Heaven's Gates o' Pearl, 
 An' O but 'tis med me 
 
 Feel tired ob de worl', 
 Dis weary an' dreary ol' worl' ! 
 
 Ma pickin' done die 
 
 Lord God do a' mercy ! 
 Ma soul needs to cry : 
 
 Lord God, grant me mercy ! 
 O, what shall I do ? 
 An' where shall I go ? 
 The sea has no message for me any more, 
 Ma baby 's gone run to de far Golden Shore : 
 
 54
 
 O, where is dat pickin', 
 Dat chubby, small pickin' ? 
 He 's jest run an' fled me 
 
 To Heaven's Gates o' Pearl, 
 An' O but it 's med me 
 
 Feel tired ob de worl', 
 Dis weary an' dreary ol' worl' ! 
 
 Ma pickin' done die 
 
 O Lord God a' mercy ! 
 Ma heart wants to cry : 
 
 O Lord God a' mercy ! 
 O, what shall I do ? 
 An' where shall I go r 
 
 The sun 's ceased from shinin' in skies sudden cold, 
 An' birds have stopp'd singing in forests gone old 
 For ma pickin' 's gone fled me 
 
 To Heaven's Gates o' Pearl ; 
 An' O but it 's med me 
 
 Feel tired ob de worl', 
 Dis weary an' dreary ol' worl' ! 
 
 55
 
 PERFECT BLISS 
 
 'Tis not because her voice is kind, 
 
 And sweetness fills her face ; 
 Or that her fondness makes her blind 
 
 To others' lack of grace ; 
 But in her heart she keeps for me 
 
 One sacred shrine of love, 
 And there I find felicity 
 
 All other shrines above. 
 
 'Tis not because her pure white soul 
 
 Is imaged from her eyes : 
 And all who suffer she makes whole 
 
 By Love's sweet alchemies ; 
 But, while she plays her woman's part, 
 
 One secret joy I see 
 That throne of love, her golden heart, 
 
 Is consecrate to me !
 
 EXULTATION 
 
 SING, bonny lark ! 
 The morning sun is gleaming ; 
 Sing, while the moments mark 
 How Nature wakes to hark, 
 Her fleecy baby clouds astir ; 
 Tell her tell her tell her tell her 
 My heart of her is dreaming ! 
 
 Sing, happy thrush ! 
 While skies are gold above her ; 
 Sing, through the noonday hush, 
 Sing, to the brake and brush, 
 And tell my darling in your song, 
 Day long day long day long day long- 
 How very much I love her ! 
 
 Each glad, sweet bird ! 
 Sing, till the whole world 's ringing ; 
 In ev'ry liquid word, 
 That hope or joy has heard, 
 Reveal the magic of her name, 
 Proclaim -proclaim -proclaim proclaim- 
 My soul of her is singing ! 
 
 57
 
 WHO WILLS MUST DARE! 
 
 ' Bon soir, m'sieu' ! A friend to-night ? ' 
 Honey'd whispers : I hear them still 
 In London town, when the night grows chill ; 
 By square or park, in shade or light 
 Forms of women, too gaudily fair : 
 Carmined lips and henna'd hair : 
 Flashing teeth, bright eyes that dare : 
 Loit'ring feet now here now there ! 
 The oldest ' Game ' our nature knows : 
 Daughters of Folly, Sisters of Those 
 Who toss to Life their Gift of Youth, 
 But reap in bitterness, tears, and ruth 
 Women who end as horrible hags, 
 In tatter'd ribbons and flutt'ring rags, 
 With wisps of shameful iron-grey hair, 
 All wildly loose to the winter air ! 
 
 The tropical moon swims low to-night : 
 The evening air is clear and chill. 
 Under the stars, serene and still, 
 All nature breathes in a slumber light. 
 Happy Natives, here and there, 
 Murmur together, for life is fair ! 
 No need for worry or thought or care 
 Sweet Love is a gift of merit rare ! 
 
 58
 
 Here are Daughters and Sisters of Those 
 
 Who look on Love as a fragrant Rose. 
 
 Who joy to give the gage of youth 
 As a magic wonder, revealing truth ! 
 
 Girls, whose souls are as wind-kiss'd flags 
 
 Fluttering aloft . . . 
 
 London's riches and rags 
 
 Bemuse no more . . . On the still night air 
 
 Drifts the lilt of a chorus, ' Who wills must dare \ ' 
 
 PAYMENT 
 
 FROM Helicon's Stream a draught would once inspire 
 The Bard to sing in glad exultant flight : 
 
 But Poets of this sordid age require 
 
 A draft on Parr's, made ' payable at sight.' 
 
 59
 
 AN INVITATION 
 
 LADIES, who rule us all with iron rods, 
 
 (Or are they, rather, wands of feather-weight ?) 
 What reason can you give why men and gods ! 
 
 Are left out here in single-married state ? 
 Those words don't contradict, let me confess, 
 
 For 'tis not good that ' nuts ' or even ' churls ' 
 Should live alone, without one sweet caress 
 
 So come along, you breezy British Girls ! 
 
 There J s loud complaining from each mortal here : 
 
 Men of the office, mart, or trading store ; 
 For scarce a dozen ladies linger near, 
 
 And we have room for many hundreds more. 
 Life's voyage pass'd away on empty decks, 
 
 Though sea be calm, and pleasant wind unfurls 
 Our waiting sails, is * hungry ' work the Sex 
 
 Is what we want : a crowd of British Girls ! 
 
 Our need rings out : a thousand brawny throats 
 
 Increase their wonted dryness in the cry : 
 4 Maids from far Cornwall ; lasses from John o j Groats, 
 
 We 're lonely here, and ask the reason why ! ' 
 Send fewer sons of Lord Sweet No-Body, 
 
 The washed-out issue of old bloated earls : 
 They only serve red tape, and routine shoddy 
 
 We need the soothing touch of British Girls ! 
 60
 
 Boys do our cooking, washing, ev'rything ! 
 
 And life is blank and tame, we tell you true : 
 We yearn for homes, for all that Love can bring 
 
 To lonely men : the joyous will to do \ 
 Come over without fear we know the ropes, 
 
 In this mad land, where Death so often hurls 
 His gauntlet down. Come, bringing brighter hopes 
 
 You bright and breezy, bonny, British Girls ! 
 
 FAITHFULNESS 
 
 THINK not the Poet loves like common clay : 
 He woos his Art, and to his Muse is wed 
 
 Vain all thy words, and all thy lips can say : 
 He takes no dearer Mistress to his bed ! 
 
 61
 
 GOD 
 
 THE fair Apollo Beauty 
 Incarnate for all years 
 To stir the soul to rapture, 
 Or wake the heart to tears : 
 'Twas once unlov'd, unlovely, 
 Till, at the sculptor's nod, 
 The sleeping form a waken' d 
 And I I call it God ! 
 
 The crash of a mighty chorus, 
 The throb of a wild desire : 
 Chaos and trembling and darkness, 
 Thunder and windy fire ; 
 Then, stealing onward softly, 
 A shaft of light, gold-shod : 
 Composers call this Music 
 But I I call it God ! 
 
 62
 
 HER LOVE IS MINE 
 
 GOD'S Gift of Life with true love must be mated . 
 
 As sun to cloud ; as moonbeam to the sea ; 
 As rest to strife ; as care by kiss abated ; 
 As flow'r to soil such is her love to me ! 
 
 Her love is mine : I hold it in my keeping 
 
 Kind mem'ry brings a faith that shall endure ; 
 The stars that shine, when all the world is sleeping, 
 Are not more clear, more steadfast, or more sure ! 
 
 When life is Love then life is lit with laughter 
 Wisest is he who knows one woman's worth : 
 By stars above, man trusts that Life Hereafter 
 Will consummate true unions made on earth ! 
 Her love is mine : I hold it in my keeping 
 
 Kind mem'ry brings a faith that shall endure ; 
 The stars that shine, when all the world is sleeping, 
 Are not more clear, more steadfast or more sure !
 
 LOVE AND LUST 
 
 THE rich enraptured hair of ruddy Lust I saw ; 
 
 And she was passing fair : well worth the dying for. 
 
 Her eyes were eyes of flame ; her breasts were breasts of fire ; 
 
 And I breathed low her name, in ecstasy of Desire ! 
 
 * True Love,' they say, ' is Pain ! Full many die for her ! 
 To perish I am fain, if Love as she be fair ! ' 
 Then saw I Love's gold hair. She cherished : did not slay ; 
 I turned from Lust's wild stare to Love's cool arms away. 
 
 ' See thou my breast of snows, where winds are never rude ; 
 Here is Life's fragrant Rose : here peace and solitude ! ' 
 Pale is my Love, and dear, as cold as moon i' the night ; 
 But I worship without fear, and bend to her nebulous light.
 
 ECHO AND RESPONSE 
 
 THE ocean's silken smile, secretive, cool, 
 
 Brings back one dreadful trial of the past : 
 The silence and the sunshine seem to cast 
 
 A veil around my senses. O mad fool 
 
 To yearn for her again ! Essay to school 
 
 Your soul to patience ; for, behold ! at last, 
 If Death be Love, your arms will hold her fast 
 
 Beside the glistening waters of Heaven's Pool ! 
 
 The vanish'd loveliness of form and face, 
 
 True eyes, and treasures of her golden hair, 
 Shall yet be yours. For, meeting on the stair, 
 A moment of exquisite holy grace 
 Will be vouchsaf'd, and hungry fingers trace 
 Each subtle charm, beneath the angels' care !
 
 DREAMING OF YOU 
 
 I SIT dreaming in the darkness, waiting for the morning fair, 
 While the breeze is lightly blowing, and fresh flow'rs perfume the air ; 
 And the crooning of the ocean echoes all our joys to be, 
 When you come with eyes of longing, and warm hands stretch'd out to me. 
 Dreaming of you, in the dawn and the dew, 
 Dreaming of you, all the lonely night through ; 
 Stars palely gleaming, 
 Morning sun beaming, 
 Just dreaming and scheming, forever, of you ! 
 
 When the dreary day is over, and the long night comes again ; 
 When the nightingale is singing love's unchanging sweet refrain ; 
 All my dreams go outward winging, far across the ocean blue, 
 And my heart is filled with rapture, as I dream once more of you ! 
 Dreaming of you, in the dawn and the dew, 
 Dreaming of you all the lonely night through ; 
 Stars palely gleaming, 
 Morning sun beaming, 
 Just dreaming and scheming, forever, of you ! 
 
 66
 
 TO YOUTH AND BEAUTY 
 
 TwiN-SouLS are Youth and Beauty ! I may strive 
 By patient work to limn each faithful face 
 Within the mirror of my art, and trace 
 
 Its peerless worth. But as deft swimmers dive 
 
 Far out of sight, and linger while they hive 
 
 What they have found, lest envious ones should chase 
 Them from their trove, I minimise my case : 
 
 And what I dream is more than words contrive ! 
 
 Ah ! Youth so fair ! Ah, Beauty ever young ! 
 
 'Tis yours to mock ! Through your sweet fibres ring 
 The glorious melody of grace high-strung 
 
 In wonder of strong realness. I must sing : 
 But you are present Music, while among 
 
 The Things that Are, my songs but Shadows bring !
 
 I COUNT IT WELL 
 
 I COUNT it well, when men may be repeating 
 How very surely pains and griefs arise, 
 
 To have at dawn and dusk your cheerful greeting, 
 And know your faith unwearied 'neath God's skies 
 
 tender voice, my pulse might start once more, 
 If you should call me from Death's darker shore ! 
 
 1 count it well, when, like some scandal-monger, 
 
 Doubt whispers to my soul of Age in store, 
 
 To feel your hands entreat my keen heart-hunger, 
 
 By homely acts more gracious than before : 
 
 soothing hands that work to comfort me, 
 More dear than wealth or fame could ever be ! 
 
 1 count it well, within our simple dwelling, 
 
 To glean one truth, whenever winds blow chill : 
 To hold you true, beyond mere skill of telling, 
 And trust your gentle heart beats for me still : 
 
 loving heart that throbs for me in pain, 
 
 1 bless your worth a thousand times again !
 
 ROSE OF GREY 
 
 LOVE has roses in her chalice, 
 Crimson, yellow, white : 
 
 Each a tiny perfumed palace, 
 Gem'd with dew and light ; 
 
 But one rose of shy surrender 
 Holds the gates of day : 
 
 Wistful, dreaming, timid, tender- 
 Sweet, my rose of grey ! 
 
 Rare my rosebud unmolested, 
 
 Neutral and alone, 
 For within her heart untested 
 
 Hide all colours known. 
 Answering to my adoration, 
 
 She will wake anew 
 From her maiden meditation : 
 
 Rose of grey just you !
 
 4 ALL IS WELL!' 
 
 DEAR Love, beyond the Wall we know as Death, 
 Break, break the Silence, and our fears dispel : 
 
 O tell the world, O tell 
 To ears that strain to catch your faintest breath 
 
 That '411 is well !' 
 
 What of the night, and all its mystic gloom ? 
 Have you of Happiness or Tears to tell ? 
 
 Is Death Life's soundless Bell ? 
 Or have you found deep Joy within the Tomb, 
 
 And All is well ' ? 
 
 We muse on days when hearts were deepest stirr'd ; 
 When we would quarrel ; kiss with tears ; and tell 
 
 Love's ever-youthful spell : 
 O, have you not one little, little word 
 That ' All is well ' ? 
 
 t 
 Shall thought and action never fuse and fire 
 
 In that Great Silence, where Death rules so well ? 
 
 Is life an empty shell ? 
 Or may we proudly feel) love, hope, aspire 
 Till ' All is well ' ?
 
 The eyes soft-close . . . Each living, loving voice 
 Fades far away . . . The spirit flees its cell 
 
 To Realms Invisible . . . 
 Lo ! Angel-Friends, who welcome and rejoice 
 
 For ' All is well ! ' 
 
 Why doubt, perplexed soul ? Why doubt your Lord ? 
 Stand staunch and true, a loyal sentinel, 
 
 And do your duty well : 
 
 In that pain-weary world, repeat this Word 
 * All is, for ever, well ! ' 
 
 SOLACE 
 
 THOUGH all uncrown'd my days may be : 
 Though all unfamed may be my end : 
 
 One golden thought I bear to Death with me- 
 I had one Bosom Friend !
 
 SUN AND MOON 
 
 GOD'S golden sun : 
 How bright it beams 
 Upon our earth, where roses glow ; 
 
 Where the white lily softly dreams 
 'Mid daisies dancing, all a-row, 
 How clear the sky ; 
 How fresh the flow'rs ; 
 How fill'd with hope the day begun ! 
 How sweet the wind, 
 How glad the hours 
 God's golden sun, 
 God's golden sun ! 
 
 Love's silver moon : 
 
 How dear it is 
 When Youth and Beauty wond'ring meet ! 
 
 A mist of dreams ; an age of bliss 
 That speeds on silver-sandall'd feet ! 
 
 O, clasp the hope ! 
 
 Dream the sweet dream, 
 While hearts for love and joy have room ; 
 
 Believe that Life 
 
 Is all we deem 
 72
 
 Love's silver moon, 
 
 God's golden sun, 
 The breathless pause 
 
 'Twixt birth and tomb 
 God's golden sun, 
 Love's silver moon ! 
 
 MURMURS OF LIFE AND DEATH 
 
 To live one fleeting hour above the sod : 
 To mark the dewy tears of sinless Youth : 
 To yearn unswervingly for Beauty, Truth : 
 
 And seek eternally a greater God ; 
 
 To worship on an earth where golden-rod 
 
 Makes wondrous all the hills : to know no ruth 
 Of Love's reprisals, nor the tireless tooth 
 
 Of Anguish when Death's Valley shall be trod 
 
 These are my dreams ! What then can Heaven be ? 
 
 A fiery aspiration and desire ? 
 
 If you be with me even Hell's fierce fire 
 Would meet me unafraid ! Love's Mystery 
 Of clinging lips, soft hands, and suppliant knee 
 
 Must greatest seem where souls may never tire ! 
 
 73
 
 WEST AFRICA 
 
 I 'M dreaming to-niglit, with the fondest emotion, 
 
 Of a Land that is dearer than language can tell ; 
 It lies far away, on the rim of the ocean ; 
 
 And oh ! but we cherish West Africa well ! 
 Tis there we have friends of the fondest and truest 
 
 A welcome is waiting for you and for me, 
 Where the sun is of gold, and the skies are the bluest, 
 In tropic West Afric Home 'yond the sea ! 
 West Africa, West Africa ! 
 The Land we follow like a star : 
 Home of the palm and glowing sun, 
 Whose children love her, ev'ry one : 
 Dear Land of Rest, Our Choice is best, 
 We love thee well, West Africa ! 
 
 The Gambia, the Gold Coast, Sa' Leone and Nigeria, 
 
 And the newly-won lands, with our blood on their soil ; 
 Warm hearts may be fain for the Homeland, but cheerier 
 
 We turn to the countries we made with our toil ! 
 And though through the world on tired feet we may wander, 
 
 Our hearts, in their longing, will ever embalm 
 Those joys we have known, in the Tropics out yonder, 
 
 The land of clear sunshine, Home of the palm ! 
 West Africa, West Africa ! 
 The Land we follow like a star : 
 
 74
 
 Home of the palm and glowing sun, 
 Whose children love her, ev'ry one : 
 Dear Land of Rest, Our Choice is best, 
 We love thee well, West Africa ! 
 
 J. M. Stuart-Young. 
 
 A CHURCH IN THE BUSH 
 
 THIS is God's House ; and here on Sabbath days 
 With humble knees and shaded eyes, attend 
 The patient and the prodigal, who spend 
 
 The work-day week in Pagan paraphrase 
 
 Of Christian life but now exult to praise, 
 In song, their dimly-apprehended Friend, 
 Who came on earth their errors to amend, 
 
 And, from the dust, their feebleness to raise ! 
 
 Praise ye that Servant who is born in Faith : 
 Christ's tenets to his reason hold most true 
 But lend a thought of admiration to 
 
 The kneeling Pagan, whose uneasy breath 
 Is pitted 'gainst a Curse that makes taboo 
 
 Each proselyte from Ju-ju, to the Death ! 
 
 75
 
 YEARNING 
 
 HEART that holds for me the fount of tears, 
 Heart, happy Heart, and hope of sequent years, 
 
 1 'd give my life to keep thee in my own : 
 To worship ever at thine altar-stone, 
 
 That Love should claim thee, 
 And Time ne'er shame thee : 
 That God should name thee 
 As mine, all mine, alone. 
 
 My soul's salvation ; star of youth's bright dreams, 
 The real and true, where worldly fame but seems ; 
 Lay thy cool hands in mine at day's last breath : 
 Proving to me that Yearning conquereth, 
 
 For Love has stay'd thee, 
 
 And Time has paid thee, 
 
 Yea, God has made thee 
 
 All mine, in Life and Death.
 
 A LITTLE SONG OF THANKS 
 
 GIVE thanks for the bird that carols delight, 
 
 For the dew, and the rain, and the midnight star ; 
 
 Give thanks for the fire that gleams through the night, 
 When the wanderer yearns for his home afar ! 
 
 Give thanks for the horse that gallops away 
 
 As though it were bound for the edge o' the world ; 
 
 Give thanks for the boat that waits in the bay 
 And the red, red rose, with its leaves uncurl'd. 
 
 Give thanks for the dreamer who craves no moon, 
 But loves his dear dreaming as I, sweet, love you ; 
 
 Give thanks to the song whose exultant tune 
 
 Is the one that your heart is now throbbing to ! 
 
 77
 
 LAD'S-LOVE 
 
 SWEET passion came to us that day, 
 
 We wander'd where the lad's-love grows. 
 And in the hedges green and gay 
 
 Hung, bleeding, many a fragrant rose ; 
 We talk'd of love, and on the sward 
 Drew nearer in a warm embrace ; 
 Our hearts beat wildly, and toward 
 Each other nestling, face met face. 
 Flow'rs at eventide may fade, 
 Tears may drip from sullen skies ; 
 Yet our love is unafraid, 
 As we read Life's glowing eyes ; 
 Sturdy Lad's-love be our guide, 
 Let buds droop and let rain fall, 
 Love be ours at eventide, 
 Love, the Lord, the Lord of all. 
 
 'Tis winter now, and fields are bare ; 
 
 I dream of your remember'd face ; 
 Your look, your voice, your tender air 
 
 Of innocence and childish grace. 
 For though 'tis true that summer fades, 
 
 That birds, with autumn, southward fly, 
 The Lad's-love in our open glades, 
 
 Pledge of our love, forgets to die. 
 
 78
 
 Flow'rs at eventide may fade, 
 Tears may drip from sullen skies ; 
 Yet our love is unafraid, 
 As we read Life's glowing eyes ; 
 Sturdy Lad's-love be our guide, 
 Let buds droop and let rain fall, 
 Love be ours at eventide, 
 Love, the Lord, the Lord of all. 
 
 OVER THE HILL 
 
 UP the steep hill, and over it ! 
 
 Ah, who will follow me ? , 
 
 Where the sunlight falls, and the blackbird calls, 
 In the wonderful Land of Faery. 
 
 Up the steep hill, and over it ! 
 
 Who makes one flight with me ? 
 Where each truant phrase of Love's golden days 
 Lives on, in a tangle of melody ! 
 
 Up the steep hill, and over it ! 
 
 Who follows the Call of Love ? 
 Where the heart again loses sorrow and pain, 
 And God's wonderful stars shine above. 
 
 79
 
 PRECIOUS THINGS 
 
 UPON a reed I make my song ; 
 
 'Tis sweet, ah ! sweet, and true and clear- 
 It tells amid the hurried throng 
 
 Of little things my heart holds dear : 
 The hush of dawn ; the tinkling stream ; 
 
 The blackbird singing in the wood ; 
 The sunset cloud ; the twilight dream ; 
 
 The sense of peace and brotherhood ! 
 
 The tiny house, with fireside chair, 
 
 That is to me both home and nest ; 
 Where, after toil and pain and care, 
 
 My weary feet may safely rest ; 
 And two soft arms that reach to me ; 
 
 And two warm lips that wait my kiss ; 
 And oh ! a heart that beats for me : 
 
 Alone for me, in earthly bliss ! 
 
 Florence Aylward. 
 
 80
 
 IN THE TWILIGHT 
 
 I SIT at the keyboard, lonely, 
 
 And dream of the golden time, 
 When you sang in the shadows, only, 
 
 Of a fairer and happier clime ; 
 And O but my heart aches sadly 
 
 For the sound of your thrilling voice ; 
 Till one musical phrase, from the old-time days, 
 Makes my love-laden heart rejoice ! 
 
 / cannot sing, when you are far away ; 
 
 I only count the lonely, lonely hours ; 
 Come back, come back, before the break of day, 
 And claim for me a dawn of fragrant flowers ! 
 
 There 's the note of a love-song tender, 
 
 And the verse of a serenade, 
 While the stars look down in splendour, 
 
 And come to my wondering aid ; 
 But the words I am waiting and yearning 
 Are sweet with the dawn and the dew 
 Come back to my heart, for I 'm lonely apart ; 
 I am waiting, my darling, for you ! 
 
 / cannot sing, when you are far away ; 
 
 I only count the lonely, lonely hours ; 
 Come back, come back, before the break of day, 
 And claim for me a dawn of fragrant flowers ! 
 81
 
 LOVE'S TIDES 
 
 MY Sunlight's Source ! I could not live without you ! 
 
 (They know not Love who merely love to range !) 
 I claim'd you when all others seem'd to flout you 
 
 And took your peerless heart in sweet exchange ! 
 Lend me your love, with golden glory gleaming : 
 
 Your restful confidence for day or night 
 Dear Dreams come true, where others still are dreaming 
 
 A faith that veers forever to the Light ! 
 
 Take on your lips this kiss to mark Love's Coming ! 
 
 Take from my heart this pledge of manlier gain 
 Love's silver sea is round us in Life's gloaming, 
 
 And lo ! its message tells of conquered pain ! 
 Now our two souls have link'd their tides together, 
 
 Now drift we to a lovelier land than this 
 On, ever onward, in Love's perfect weather 
 
 Toward the shores of God's eternal bliss ! 
 
 82
 
 I CANNOT TELL 
 
 I CANNOT tell how very much I want you, 
 
 When life is lonely, and my heart is sad ; 
 I only pray that Love will hold and haunt you, 
 And bring you home, dear lad ! 
 
 I cannot tell why old familiar places 
 
 That knew our joy, are held aloof, apart ; 
 But O, I pray that, 'mid those foreign faces, 
 You will be true, dear heart ! 
 
 I cannot tell you half my joy or sorrow ; 
 
 I look to God to keep you safe and whole ; 
 And pray that Love will send a bright To-morrow 
 For you and me, dear soul !
 
 LITTLE EARTHLY THINGS 
 
 WHEN our end draws near, and we both must go 
 
 To the mystic haunts of the Long Ago, 
 
 'Twould be glorious, sweet, in the Vast Unknown, 
 
 As together we knelt at the Awful Throne, 
 
 If we bore to the Altar of God above 
 
 Those dreams of our youth, Faith and Hope and Love ! 
 
 Ne'er to lose the gaze, modest, half-divine, 
 When you laid the touch of your hands on mine ; 
 Just to guard the sigh and the glowing bliss, 
 When the stars look'd down on our first glad kiss ; 
 For these mem'ries, sweet, are more dear to me 
 Than the garner'd wealth of a king could be ! 
 
 Just to keep the scent of the rose in rain, 
 
 Or the violet's breath in a country lane ; 
 
 To recall the Spring on a purple moor, 
 
 Or the ocean's croon to a moonlit shore ; 
 
 'Tis such dear small things that have ruled the heart : 
 
 They are yours and mine of our souls, a part ! 
 
 So these will we take to the Throne above : 
 Common human joys, born of homely love : 
 When heav'n's music flows through the angel-wings, 
 Let our souls recall * little earthly things ' ; 
 And the tender Lord Who knows honest worth 
 Shall pardon and love as we lov'd on earth !
 
 MOVEMENT 
 
 As one emerging from dark prison walls 
 After incarceration during years 
 Of aching silence melts to sudden tears 
 
 At sights and sounds, that Memory's seneschals 
 
 Record as sweet : thus-wise my soul recalls, 
 With wonder and amaze, all that endears 
 This glad green world to poets and their peers 
 
 I am incredulous at intervals ! 
 
 Both animals and humans I mark move, 
 
 Eat, drink ; want, hate ; aspire and fiercely feel ; 
 
 And 'tis as though I saw earth-clods arise ! 
 ' Have we all senses ? . . . O, Thou Mighty Love, 
 Giver of Life ! How shall I dare conceal 
 My trembling adoration and surprise ! '
 
 THE LESSON OF THE ROSES 
 
 IT is the time of roses, sweetheart mine, 
 
 When skies no more with cloud are overcast 
 We pluck them, where they gaily intertwine, 
 And claim their message as our own at last ! 
 For lips were made for kissing ; 
 
 Eyes were born to shine 
 Youth is not for missing, 
 With its joys divine ; 
 Hearts were made for loving, 
 
 Never for disdain : 
 
 Leave the smart, and claim my heart, 
 O kiss me once again ! 
 
 Each rose lies open to its heart's sweet core, 
 
 Eager to prove its beauty to the last 
 O, let us learn the lesson more and more, 
 
 And pluck the sweets of life, ere they be pass'd ! 
 For lips were made for kissing ; 
 
 Eyes were born to shine 
 Youth is not for missing, 
 With its joys divine ; 
 Hearts were made for loving, 
 
 Never for disdain : 
 
 Leave the smart, and claim my heart, 
 O kiss me once again ! 
 86
 
 EACH night my heart goes parleying with sleep, 
 Asking the boon of your white hands to kiss : 
 
 I shun Oblivion's over-poppied steep, 
 
 Averse from drugged repose or shallow bliss ! 
 
 Before deep waters flood me, I explore 
 
 My pageantry world, each fibre free, 
 Until my feet touch at Life's Ideal Shore, 
 
 Where fruits of honest faith are given to me ! 
 
 And here, in your sweet presence, I may stand, 
 A suitor for your favour, proud and bold : 
 
 Imaginary Courts wait our command, 
 
 Where I may ride a Tourney for your hand, 
 
 Or tread with you these Palace Aisles of Gold !
 
 I LOVE THE FOREST 
 
 I love the moon, I love the sun, 
 
 / love the Forest, the flow'rs, the fun ; 
 
 I love the wildbirds, the dawn and the dew, 
 
 But best of all ... I love you ! PAUL REUBENS. 
 
 I LOVE the Forest, and the wide camp-clearing, 
 
 Where leans some little town, a rippling stream anear ; 
 Where quaint old negroes venture, nothing fearing, 
 
 And pickins peep and peer ; 
 Mayhap both young and old are coy of clothing, 
 
 With vacant eyes, and forms grotesquely small, 
 But, sure, my mind conceives no hint of loathing, 
 For they are children, 
 
 Frank children, one and all ! 
 
 I love the Forest, fill'd with phantom faces 
 
 That peer behind the years' far-off unrestful bars, 
 When Earth and Life first ' link'd ' in these wild places, 
 
 And stars were only stars ! 
 
 When nights were black, yet planets in their reeling 
 Were Lamps to light the wayward feet of men ; 
 When hearts were sane and simple, strong with feeling 
 O were men happier, 
 
 Were men happier then ? 
 
 I love the Forest, where I wander, dreaming 
 
 Weird ancient dreams of Pain, of Grief, and Lost Desire, 
 
 88
 
 Where mental thrills are far more real than seeming 
 
 Are free and fierce as fire ! 
 Such pristine touches of the Earth's caressings 
 
 Wake sluggish souls, and lift them up to God : 
 In vain shall cities bring their profuse blessings 
 To Nature's children, 
 
 Shy children of her sod ! 
 
 I love the Forest, bird and beast-enchanted, 
 
 Long introspective days, spent on its generous soil ; 
 These green sweet aisles, with fairy-figures haunted, 
 
 Seem made for lyric spoil ! 
 And O, the nights with eerie music creeping 
 
 From singing voices, wind and whisp'ring leaf ! 
 Plaintive and wild, and salt with bitter weeping, 
 Tearing the heart-strings, 
 
 The heart-strings past belief ! 
 
 I love the Forest ! How I love the Forest ! 
 So, if I die where sunlight's flying fingers 
 
 Touch the tall brooding trees, and shadows pause and pass, 
 Place me beneath a palm, where quietness lingers, 
 
 And grows the green lush grass ! 
 There let me rest, where children's feet may wander, 
 
 Forgetful of past lives, and mainly this ; 
 But . . let me wake, in some Great Forest yonder 
 To such wild music, 
 
 To music sweet as this !
 
 THE LITTLE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 There 's a little white house on the edge of the 
 
 sea, 
 
 Where are pine-trees all standing a-row ; 
 Where are mountains of blue, and they beckon to me, 
 
 As they bask in the red sunset glow ; 
 And the river lies crooning the valleys between, 
 
 Where the cattle stand idle and still, 
 And in dreams I have been where the wind bloweth 
 
 keen 
 Round my little white house on the hill ! 
 
 O my little white house on the edge of the sea, 
 
 With your pine-trees all standing a-row, 
 With your mountains of blue, how my heart aches 
 
 for you, 
 As you follow wherever I go ! 
 
 Was it only last year, or a long time ago, 
 
 That I pass'd through the little green gate ? 
 Is it true there are eyes that are lit with the glow 
 
 Of a promise to watch on and wait ? 
 Dearest symbol of all that this world holdeth best 
 
 Of peace and of joy and of love, 
 I know the long day of our toil shall have rest 
 
 When the white stars of hope shine above ! 
 
 90
 
 O my little white house on the edge of the sea, 
 With your pine-trees all standing a-row, 
 
 With your mountains of blue, how my heart aches 
 
 for you, 
 As you follow wherever I go ! 
 
 Charles Mortimer. 
 
 A THOUGHT 
 
 'Tis so, 'tis so 
 
 No load of woe 
 Need bring despairing frown : 
 
 Our cross of care 
 
 We bear, we bear 
 From dawn, till sun goes down ; 
 
 But at the last, 
 
 Our journey past, 
 We claim the Golden Crown !
 
 IN DREAMS 
 
 SOMETIMES, when dreaming, I will turn my hungry mind 
 
 Across the years ; 
 And in my longing I will burn again to find 
 
 Love's happy tears ; 
 
 I hear your sweet voice call, I see your eyes, 
 And though beyond recall our paradise 
 I love you yet, I love you yet ! 
 
 And you are mine, in dreams 
 
 In dreams ! 
 
 Sometimes, when dreaming, I will hold your clinging hands 
 
 Within mine own ; 
 And all my life is turn'd to gold, as memory stands 
 
 Upon its throne ; 
 
 I feel your tender touch (O honey'd gall !), 
 And then my love is such, it pardons all ! 
 
 O "wild regret ! O wild regret ! 
 For you are mine, in dreams, 
 
 Ah ! you are mine ... in dreams ! 
 
 92
 
 GEMS 
 
 RUBY of Love and Sapphire of Friendship, 
 
 Diamond of Baby Laughter ; 
 Amber of Faith, and Opal of Memory 
 
 All Splendour that lingers after, 
 These be my one, my only quest, 
 
 The goal of my firm employ : 
 These may I seek till the night brings rest, 
 
 And Heaven's Treasure without Alloy ! 
 
 POETRY AND DESIRE 
 
 I ASK not in a world like ours 
 
 That sun shall shine alway ; 
 I shall be happy if the hours 
 
 Bring night as well as day ; 
 But this, O God, I do entreat 
 
 With heart and brain and tongue- 
 * O, let me hear Life's pulses beat, 
 
 And answer in a Song ! ' 
 
 93
 
 STARRY WATERS 
 
 VOICE from out the silences, 
 
 Drifting across Life's Sea, 
 
 1 never know what silence is, 
 
 Until you come to me ! 
 
 You whisper of those happy days 
 When all the world was sweet ; 
 
 When hearts were fain for joy and praise, 
 And love had lightsome feet ! 
 
 Sweet murmurs of Eternity 
 You bring once more to me : 
 
 The golden gift of memory, 
 O Voice from out the sea ! 
 
 94
 
 SHINING PROMISE 
 
 WHEN locks are grey that once were gold, 
 
 And eyes have lost their light, 
 O, tell me not Love's tale is told, 
 
 And Hope has taken flight ; 
 When faculties their powers resign, 
 
 And youth is thrown aside, 
 O, deem not that the Love divine 
 
 Has swiftly, surely died ! 
 
 The throbbing golden string that makes 
 
 Love's music in the heart 
 To ampler, fuller joy awakes 
 
 When earthly things depart ; 
 For, when awaking from Life's dream, 
 
 The soul spreads forth her wing, 
 Love swells with everlasting theme 
 
 Songs that the angels sing ! 
 
 95
 
 THE DREAM CHILD 
 
 SOFT hands I lov'd in dreamland fair ! 
 
 Sweet lips mine own have sought to kiss ! 
 Small patt'ring feet, and golden hair ! 
 
 Angel-blue eyes my fate is this : 
 Though life has never giv'n to me 
 A little child to call mine own, 
 I love you, love you tenderly, 
 
 O listen to my heart-felt moan : 
 Come, love, to me ; be mine to-night, 
 
 For I am lonely and I pine ; 
 O, come and bless my aching heart 
 Be mine till morn ; for once be mine ! 
 
 The wind is wailing in the trees ; 
 
 And Hope seems very far away ; 
 Come, love, to me upon the breeze, 
 
 And be mine own till break of day ! 
 How vainly in the dark I grope 
 
 'Mong garments that you never wore 
 Frail handicraft I wrought in hope 
 Of that dear babe I never bore ! 
 
 Come, love, to me ; be mine to-night, 
 
 For I am lonely and I pine ; 
 O, come and bless my aching heart 
 Be mine till morn ; for once be mine !
 
 Oft-time at eve your low voice speaks, 
 
 And, yearningly, I stretch my arms ; 
 But, while I wait with tear-drench'd cheeks, 
 My dream is pass'd, with all its charms ; 
 Yet, when I draw you from your rest, 
 
 Dear unborn child, whose love is mine, 
 I hold you to my empty breast, 
 And realise the Joy Divine ! 
 
 Come, love, to me ; be mine to-night, 
 
 For I am lonely and I pine ; 
 O, come and bless my aching heart 
 Be mine till morn ; for once be mine. 
 
 LIFE'S SUNSHINE AND DANCE 
 
 RAPTURE meets me at all hours, 
 
 Wreathes my hair with dewy flow'rs ; 
 
 And my pulses know the beat 
 
 Cadenced by Life's twinkling feet ! 
 
 97
 
 As a bell in a chime 
 
 Sets its relative ringing, 
 So one poet's rhyme 
 
 Wakes a comrade to singing : 
 Thus a sweet human voice 
 
 Wakes the sad heart to laughter, 
 And Love makes rejoice 
 
 The World of Hereafter ! 
 
 As the clear sky at dawn 
 
 Tells the wind, * I will miss you ! ' 
 So, its cloud-curtains drawn, 
 
 The day waits to kiss you : 
 When sun sinks to sleep, 
 
 With its gold banners streaming, 
 My soul, o'er life's deep, 
 
 Drifts out to you, dreaming !
 
 I WILL RETURN 
 
 DARLING, I meet you in my dreams ; 
 There do I see your glowing eyes : 
 Your beauty bless'd by misty beams, 
 
 And on your lips Love's sweet surprise. 
 I know you are faithful, tender, and true ; 
 Soon I will journey homeward to you ! 
 
 I will return, dear, I will return 
 Home to our fireside, no more to yearn ; 
 Pain be forgotten ; Faith born anew : 
 I will come home again, darling, to you ! 
 
 Glory of sunset's radiant skies ; 
 
 Hush of our tropic evening air ; 
 Carry me nearer your love-lit eyes, 
 
 Bring me your earnest love and care ; 
 For at the close of each difficult day, 
 Your hands in mine, I can proudly say 
 
 I will return, dear, I will return 
 Home to our fireside, no more to yearn ; 
 Pain be forgotten ; Faith born anew : 
 I will come home again, darling, to you : 
 Pain be forgotten, faith born anew ! 
 
 Herbert J. S. Carter. 
 
 99
 
 MOTHER, SLEEP! 
 
 YOUR weary head, O let me feel at rest 
 
 Anear my heart. Scarce can I bear to gaze 
 Upon it without tears ; for on your breast 
 I lay a weakling in my stam'ring days ! 
 
 O Mother, sleep ! Mother, sleep ! 
 ""Twas on your bosom I found rest ! 
 Mother, sleep, while watch I keep, 
 Dear Mother, Mother, sleep ! 
 
 From out the mart that stains the erring soul, 
 I seek one hour of pure and perfect peace ; 
 
 And in your arms I reach the further pole 
 
 Of heavenly joy, where gnawing sorrows cease ! 
 
 Lean then upon my aching heart, O lean ! 
 
 And, gathered thus, may angels reach our side ; 
 That through the coming years I still may glean 
 The shadow of the Love that Life denied ! 
 
 O Mother, sleep ! O Mother, sleep ! 
 ""I was on your bosom I found rest ! 
 
 O Mother, sleep, while watch I keep, 
 Dear Mother, Mother, sleep ! 
 
 100
 
 IN HER SWEET NAME 
 
 IN her sweet name may Heaven be kind 
 As are the thoughts in her pure mind ; 
 May she have sunshine, I have rain ; 
 May she have pleasure, I have pain ; 
 May splendour of the summer skies 
 Be as the blue of her clear eyes ; 
 And birds at even's rosy flame 
 Trill wild glad songs, in her sweet name ! 
 
 In her sweet name, let every dart 
 Grief fashions for her tender heart 
 Enter mine own thrice-happy breast, 
 That she may have dream-perfum'd rest ! 
 May Love's dear day-dreams, fresh and fair, 
 Be as the glory in her hair ; 
 And thorny be my path to fame 
 So roses bloom, in her sweet name !
 
 LOVE'S CANOPY 
 
 How sweet it is, when in the silent night 
 
 The moon cloud-hidden sudden, on our eyes, 
 The wide-arm'd signal creeps across the skies ; 
 
 And, to a wealthy clatter, orange light, 
 
 And smoky ribbon, past our wakeful sight 
 
 The train slips by : then in the distance dies 
 With cheerful flash : like iridescent flies 
 
 The glowing windows link'd in swaying flight ! 
 
 Some traveller is borne to distant town, 
 
 While others speed to love and hope and home ! 
 
 t^- 
 
 But sweeter far, beneath the shadowy dome, 
 To thrill with quick delight : to nestle down 
 Beside your lov'd one, and the star-lit gown 
 
 Caress with tender fingers, murm'ring ' Come ! * 
 
 102
 
 TALISMANS 
 
 BRIGHT blaze of arc-lamps through the mist, 
 You shine to light my magic tryst ; 
 But you are garish let her dream 
 By stars' pale gleam ! 
 
 O lily, dress'd in garments bright, 
 That keep the moonbeams' virgin light 
 Bend to her breast with rod of gold : 
 Your dreams unfold ! 
 
 O rich red rose, whose perfume rare 
 Is sweet as her young throat's sweet air 
 Lean to her cheek, with dew that drips, 
 And kiss her lips ! 
 
 Wet winds that whistle up and down 
 The wearying white streets of the town 
 Be not too rude : go, gently shake 
 My love awake ! 
 
 Love of my soul, speed to her heart 
 With ev'ry grace life may impart 
 And tell, by all life's joys that stir, 
 
 I think of her, I think of her ! 
 
 103
 
 RETURN 
 
 I CANNOT have your kisses ev'ry day, 
 
 So rest upon my knees, and let me drink 
 Into my heart each feature, or I sink 
 
 Back to the gulfs of pain. Each word you say 
 
 Becomes a pearl : and your sought-out delay 
 
 In granting speech has brought me to the brink 
 Of Hell indeed. O, roses damask-pink, 
 
 That front your features, hasten not away ! 
 
 Remember : it may ne'er return again, 
 
 This pregnant moment of our meeting here ! 
 In a sad world of doubt and shifting fear 
 No chance may offer for this panting pain 
 Of brief encounter ! Let my soul retain 
 Your face for ever thus, so newly-near ! 
 
 104
 
 WHERE IS THE GLORY? 
 
 How many moons since you have gone away ? 
 Since to our little household's little things 
 You gave your earnest care : a love that clings 
 
 Around the hearth, and has shy words to say 
 
 ' Husband and Sweetheart ! ' How each long, long day 
 Is lit by mem'ries of your name ! It brings 
 Your face before me : wife : the sad name sings 
 
 Through ev'ry moment of my lonely way ! 
 
 But when the day has drifted to the dark, 
 
 'Tis then I feel the scourgings of Life's rod, 
 For I am alien from Love's mightier god : 
 
 I sit beneath our star-lit porch : cry ' Hark ! 
 
 She comes at last /'.... then, in the silence, mark 
 Upon our lintel one word, ' Ichabod ! ' 
 
 105
 
 BEHIND US LIE HOW MANY MILES 
 
 LIFE'S long road is weary, 
 And its hills are steep, 
 
 When the lov'd one 's far away ; 
 Bitter are the tear-drops 
 That our sad eyes weep, 
 
 As we trudge till break of day ! 
 
 There 's how many milestones lie stretching away, 
 
 Bedew'd with our tear-drops, and lit with our smiles ; 
 And O, how Time's Roadway is calling to-day, 
 
 Revealing Love's wonderful wiles ; 
 But straight on ahead stands the House of our Dreams, 
 
 Where magic all sorrow beguiles ; 
 And its wide-open door tells of blessings in store, 
 But behind us lie how many miles ! 
 
 Now the sun is rising 
 
 Flow'rs are wet with dew, 
 
 As we near the open door ; 
 Tender hearts are waiting, 
 
 Where love's dreams come true, 
 And sweet joy dwells, evermore ! 
 
 There J s how many milestones lie stretching away, 
 
 Bedew'd with our tear-drops and lit with our smiles ; 
 And O, how Time's Roadway is calling to-day, 
 Revealing Love's wonderful wiles ; 
 1 06
 
 But straight on ahead stands the House of our Dreams, 
 Where magic all sorrow beguiles ; 
 
 And its wide-open door tells of blessings in store, 
 But behind us lie how many miles ! 
 
 ADMONITION 
 
 O LOVELY girl, a Princess proud 
 'Mong others dost thou move 
 
 A gentle comrade to the crowd : 
 But ah ! a foe to Love ! 
 
 The simple flush upon thy cheek, 
 Though fragrant as the rose, 
 
 Was born of autumn's dawn so bleak- 
 And chill as mountain snows ! 
 
 107
 
 THE BELOVED 
 
 IF you are Beauty Lover, linger here 
 
 One moment's spell to muse on this dear head : 
 
 Perfect in lilies and in roses : fed 
 Always by health and wonderfully clear. 
 Her face must to the artist-gaze appear 
 
 A home of peace, in which all doubt lies dead, 
 
 For turbid feelings are unknown, or sped 
 To eager zest for play, and left no bier ! 
 
 She is my passion-flow'r ; and I may see 
 Her petals op'ning daily to the sun. 
 Only to temperate breezes and to one 
 
 Which is my love my sweetheart's face is free. 
 
 She is my treasure-casket, full of fun 
 
 And quaint conceits ; and I ... I hold the key 
 
 108
 
 JUNE AND JOY AND YOU 
 
 I NEVER knew these soft, sweet nights of June 
 
 Were full of joy and splendour : 
 I never knew that nightingales in tune 
 
 Sing love songs tender. 
 At last I know, and evermore will know 
 
 That June and joy go hand in hand ; 
 A promise so true in your eyes I view, 
 
 As we enter our Fairyland. 
 You lend me love's bliss in one sweet tender kiss, 
 
 'Neath these wonderful skies of blue : 
 And the thrill in your voice makes my glad heart rejoice, 
 On this June night, with joy and you ! 
 
 I never knew, until you took my hand, 
 
 And joy came to me stealing, 
 How this June night would change to Fairyland, 
 
 Love's bliss revealing. 
 I never knew, but evermore will know 
 
 That June and joy go hand in hand ; 
 A promise so true in your eyes I view, 
 
 As we enter our Fairyland ! 
 You lend me love's bliss in one sweet tender kiss, 
 
 'Neath these wonderful skies of blue : 
 And the thrill in your voice makes my glad heart rejoice, 
 On this June night, with joy and you ! 
 109
 
 SORT o' feelin' sad an' lonesome, 
 
 Dreamin' o' the days behin' ; 
 Left entirely on my ownsome : 
 
 Dunno why the world 's unkin'. 
 Somehow no one seems to want me, 
 
 I 've got left upon the shelf ; 
 Thoughts o' love an' laughter haunt me, 
 
 When I 'm left here by myself. 
 Roses in the garden bloomin' ; 
 
 Yeller sunflow'rs, sweet an' tall ; 
 Bees in honey'd traffic boomin' 
 
 She the faires' flow'r of all ! 
 
 Few the things there be, on this earth of ours, 
 
 That count worth a tinker's cuss : 
 Smile at Fortune's frown ; help the man that 's down 
 
 Grip to those who will grip to us. 
 For one fact Stan's clear that I shan't be here 
 
 When a hundred years have gone : 
 But the soul that I seek is a-seekin' still, 
 
 An 5 the heart that I love loves on ! 
 
 Guess I '11 find 'er an' ferget it 
 
 Jest ferget this fit o' blues : 
 Ain't no prize but man can get it, 
 
 Ain't no goal but man may choose ! 
 no
 
 Soon I '11 twine my arms aroun' her, 
 
 Smile into her eyes again, 
 Where my love has sought an' foun' her ; 
 
 Vanquish'd all the bitter pain. 
 See the sun in golden splendour 
 
 Greets the mountin' larks astir : 
 Soon, I '11 hear her love-call tender, 
 
 Once more pledge my heart to her \ 
 
 Few the things there be, on this earth of ours, 
 
 That count worth a tinker's cuss : 
 Smile at Fortune's frown ; help the man that 's down, 
 
 Grip to those who will grip to us. 
 For one fact Stan's clear that I shan't be here 
 
 When a hundred years have gone : 
 But the soul that I seek is a-seekin' still, 
 
 An' the heart that I love loves on ! 
 
 RENT 
 
 GOD, for this world bright and gay, 
 I, in Thy mansion of Time, 
 
 Lovingly, gratefully pay 
 
 Rent with the run of a rhyme ! 
 
 in
 
 THIS GLAD SWEET DAY 
 
 THIS glad sweet day is done 
 This golden day that makes you mine forever, 
 
 When ne'er a shadow o'er life's setting sun, 
 Our future paths shall sever : 
 
 You give me your warm heart, 
 Its faith, its love, its gladness, and its glory ; 
 
 Now all these treasures, until death us part, 
 Make life's sweet story ! 
 
 I pledge you in a kiss, 
 With passion pure my eager arms extending ; 
 
 For all life's sweetness, all love's joy and bliss 
 Are ours always, unending ! 
 
 Our past : a Fairyland ! 
 
 Our future years : a Dream this night discovers ! 
 The stars are smiling, as I take your hand, 
 
 Forever lovers 
 Forever mates and lovers ! 
 
 112
 
 A CITY SPARROW 
 
 MAKE me a Man not a mere machine : 
 
 Flesh that responds, senses new and clean. 
 
 I have hated (how keenly !) and loved (how meanly !) 
 
 I have thought (how tamely !) and worked (how lamely !) 
 
 I have called this worthless ; I have thought that fine ; 
 
 I have turned vain pride ! Life's water to wine. 
 
 But now I behold the Creator's Plan 
 
 Make me a Man ! O, make me a Man ! 
 
 Take me away from the years that hasted ; 
 Wash me anew from the sins that wasted ; 
 
 The joys swift-speeding ; 
 
 The fashions receding ; 
 
 Loving words unspoken ; 
 
 Rash promises broken 
 
 Away from the over-known, over-heard, over-seen ; 
 Out of the hurry, the tumult, the spleen 
 Through time unknown, what and whither leading, 
 Onward and forward, ever faster speeding, 
 Into the free and the true God's Plan : 
 
 Save me, O Time ! Ah ! you can, you can ! 
 Make me a Man again, make me a Man ! 
 
 H 113
 
 BACK TO ATHLONE 
 
 GLAD is my heart this night in sweet September, 
 The heart that once was full of doubts and fears ; 
 
 I love you yet, and I will aye remember 
 The golden joys we knew in other years. 
 
 Your eyes soon will look in mine own again, 
 Though weary this waiting alone ; 
 You will come in the dawning 
 Of Love's brighter morning, 
 And will carry me back to Athlone. 
 You will come with a balm for my bitter pain 
 You will speak in love's tenderest tone ; 
 My heart is all yours, 
 While this glad world endures, 
 And together we '11 go back to Athlone ! 
 
 Sweet are the songs heard in the twilight gloaming, 
 The world with joy seems full this eventide ; 
 
 E'en as the birds my heart is tired of roaming, 
 And I would dwell forever at your side. 
 
 Your eyes soon will look in mine own again, 
 Though weary this waiting alone ; 
 You will come in the dawning 
 Of Love's brighter morning, 
 And will carry me back to Athlone. 
 114
 
 You will come with a balm for my bitter pain 
 You will speak in love's tenderest tone ; 
 My heart is all yours, 
 While this glad world endures, 
 And together we '11 go back to Athlonc ! 
 
 SOLACE 
 
 No need to count the hours we live apart 
 No need to watch the sun or scan the skies ; 
 
 I only know you dwell within my heart, 
 
 A pure sweet love that lives, and never dies ! 
 
 For, finding your dear face upon my wall, 
 And other little tokens of our past, 
 
 I realise that Love must conquer all, 
 
 And bring our lips together at the last ! 
 
 I long for you . . . yet have I put away 
 In silence and in secret all our love 
 
 But O, dear heart, the joy of that great day 
 When you and I shall meet, in realms above, 
 And all our patience prove.
 
 WHO'D BE A CHILD 
 
 WHO 'D be a child again ? 
 
 Well, I would ! 
 Who 'd face its grief and pain ? 
 
 Well, I could ! 
 
 The best of times must reach an end ; 
 The noblest heart may lack a friend : 
 But faith of childhood knows no end 
 
 That 's why / would ! 
 
 Who 'd stand at Youth's glad door ? 
 
 Well, I would ! 
 Who 'd grasp Love's secret store ? 
 
 Well, 1 could ! 
 
 Though we may wander, far and wide, 
 Though pulses leap in manly pride, 
 Youth's charm can never be denied 
 
 So, 7 would ! 
 
 Deny the Past is gone ? 
 
 Well, I would! 
 Take setting and rising sun ? 
 
 Of course, I would ! 
 Where'er my lonely lot may be, 
 116
 
 That is both time and place for me ! 
 
 In each glad hour let heart be free : 
 Then onward move 
 To Light and Love . . . 
 Indeed, I would ! 
 
 Yes, yes, I would \ 
 Laura Williams. 
 
 COMPENSATIONS 
 
 WORDS after aching silence ; 
 
 Pleasure after pain ; 
 Fervour that crowns long absence ; 
 
 Clear sunshine after rain ; 
 Spring, the dark winter after ; 
 
 Peace that has banished strife ; 
 Silence that follows laughter ; 
 
 And Heav'n as the crown of life ; 
 Kisses that grow by waiting ; 
 
 Wild honey after gall ; 
 And love . . . that ensues on hating 
 
 For Love is the king of all ! 
 Yea, Love is the king of all 1 
 
 117
 
 ENTREATY 
 
 THIS restless moaning sea, 
 
 Wild sunset overhead ; 
 These gulls that seem to be 
 
 Blood-bathed in royal red ; 
 O voices from the sea, 
 O words of mystery, 
 
 What have you said 
 
 What have you said 
 Of her whose love is all the world 
 
 (And something more !) 
 To me ? 
 
 O peace at eventide, 
 
 Comfort for all who weep 
 How long will you abide 
 
 With one who may not sleep ? 
 Pain, not to be denied, 
 Bring back unto my side 
 
 The love I keep, 
 
 The love I keep : 
 She whom I long for night and day 
 
 (And through all time !) 
 Beside ! 
 
 118
 
 THE MESSAGE 
 
 THAT my heart, like the wind, were efficient to find 
 
 The summer, the sun and the swallow ! 
 Ever Northward it blows to the Land of the Rose : 
 
 Dear England, and bids me to follow 
 Follow on ! Follow on ! Till the daylight be gone ; 
 
 Cool night brings the scent of the heather ; 
 Hear the somnolent bees ; list the murmurous trees : 
 
 'Tis summer and finest of weather ! 
 
 Breathe the fragrance of June : English hearts are in tune ; 
 
 Vagrant elves lightly flit through the sedges ; 
 And the spirit of peace has imparted release 
 
 To health, from a hundred green hedges ! 
 Southern wind ! Southern wind ! Let my joy be to find 
 
 The zest of your sensuous motion ; 
 Let me follow your lead, till my exile be freed 
 
 From the bounds of this severing ocean ! 
 
 Happy wind ! Day by day, 'tis your fortune to play 
 
 Through lanes that are sunlit or shady ! 
 Speed swift by our ships, and find out the lips 
 
 Of my lady, my own little lady ! 
 Shape the music of birds to these three earnest words, 
 
 As you playfully frolic above her : 
 Let your message be this (and its pledge be a kiss !) 
 
 * I love her ! I love her ! / love her ! ' 
 
 119
 
 WHERE THE SWALLOWS FLY 
 
 HERE, in the heart of the town, 
 Hurry and noise and glare ; 
 
 give me the open down, 
 
 And the full, free air, 
 Where life is fair ! 
 
 Warm is home's glowing fire, 
 
 Closing each tiresome day 
 But lend me the heart's desire : 
 The wind on its way ! 
 At break of day ! 
 
 Farewell to tumult and strife, 
 To smoke in a sullen sky ; 
 
 1 '11 find me a sweeter life, 
 
 Where the swallows fly, 
 On high ! on high ! 
 
 1 20
 
 THE LOST YEARS 
 
 THERE 's a sigh in the shadows, a mist on the river, 
 The white road before us is swirling with dust ; 
 And the leaves on the hedges are waiting, a-shiver, 
 
 For the storm that may follow, the cold rain that must. 
 But there is a Bower where Love may go, 
 
 A refuge from sorrow and tears, 
 Where the old-time roses as red still grow, 
 In our Garden of the Long-lost Years ! 
 
 See ! A rift in the clouds, and the hills proudly gleaming, 
 
 The hills with their message so brave and so free. 
 Cling closer, dear heart, while we are waiting and dreaming, 
 Near by is Love's Refuge for you and for me : 
 In that fragrant Bower where Love may go, 
 
 Our refuge from sorrow and tears, 
 Where the old-time roses as red still grow, 
 In our Garden of the Long-lost Years. 
 
 Cecily Kneeshaw. 
 
 121
 
 WHISPERS 
 
 I HEARD you whisper low my name, 
 
 And it fell like a flower on my heart, 
 
 You call'd me, and O, I came, I came, 
 Back to your loving heart ! 
 
 You stood by the edge of the running stream, 
 
 Lit only by stars in the skies ; 
 But I saw (or was it only a dream ?) 
 
 Love-light in your glowing eyes ! 
 
 You call'd me a whisper of sweetest love : 
 And the words made me perfect and whole ; 
 
 While the moon swam in glory, in glory above, 
 I claim'd your wonderful soul ! 
 
 I claim'd your most wonderful soul ! 
 
 122
 
 BY THE FIRESIDE 
 
 BY the fireside, O Life's Comrade, comrade of the long, long years, 
 Let us sit and talk together of our youthful hopes and fears : 
 How the world was lit with laughter, lordly with our pride and joy, 
 When you were a happy maiden, and I just a merry boy ! 
 Sitting by the dying ember, 
 
 Let us all the past recall, 
 And forget not, in December, 
 
 How God's sunshine blesses all ! 
 
 By the fireside, dearest Comrade, dimmer though your eyes may shine, 
 Though your hair may now be whiter, yet I know your heart is mine ; 
 And though youthful faith be feeble, there 's a nobler one in view, 
 For we tread Death's Vale together, steadfast ever, strong and true ! 
 Sitting by the dying ember, 
 
 Let us all the past recall, 
 And forget not in December, 
 
 How God's sunshine blesses all 
 How Love's glories live for all ! 
 
 123
 
 AT TWILIGHT 
 
 THE evening shadows fall, 
 Sweet ; 
 
 The lonely sea-gulls call, 
 Sweet, 
 
 And slumber broods o'er all. 
 Our little day is done, 
 
 Sweet, 
 Farewell to golden sun, 
 
 Sweet, 
 
 For night is here, Life's night is here, 
 On silver-sandall'd feet ! 
 
 Both bird and blossom sleep, 
 
 Dear ; 
 
 The planets faintly peep, 
 Dear, 
 
 And moonrays round us sweep. 
 Kiss once the blushing rose, 
 
 Dear, 
 
 Then turn we to repose, 
 Dear, 
 
 And pray that Love, that Love at last, 
 Shall bring us morning clear ! 
 
 124
 
 COMMON THINGS 
 
 You ask for counsel, daughter sweet of mine, 
 
 For Life seems dull, and things are hard so often : 
 
 Wait not for High Romance ; but just deem l fine ' 
 A multitude of things you had forgotten ! 
 
 The fields are few where acts of living show, 
 Yet one can do the nearest trivial duty 
 
 Thus faithful hearts will soonest learn to know 
 
 How common things oft hide their secret beauty ! 
 
 There 's laughter of young children at their play 
 
 (For youth, Man owe's the debt ; God claims the glory !) 
 
 There 's perfume of the flow'rs so sweet alway, 
 And patient mother-love's unchanging story ! 
 
 There 's sunshine and there 's rain, for one and all, 
 There 's music in the bells that peal at even ; 
 
 There 's moon and star, and Love's ecstatic call, 
 And God at last to welcome you to Heaven !
 
 O, WAS it to-day or yester year, 
 
 Or a thousand years ago, 
 We met in the morn of a magical May, 
 While dew-drops were gleaming on every spray, 
 
 And your eyes, with their wonderful glow, 
 Look'd into mine own with a maiden-surprise, 
 And Cupid reveal'd his own sweet paradise ? 
 A thousand years, or a year of years, 
 Or only one hour ago ? 
 
 O, was it here, in an English Spring 
 
 Or a million of miles away, 
 Our high-throbbing bosoms were satisfied 
 As over us flow'd Love's tempestuous tide, 
 
 And our souls claim'd each other for aye ? 
 The splendour fell round us from Heaven above, 
 And my lips are still warm with your kisses, my love, 
 In this garden of Spring, this garden of Spring, 
 Or a million of miles away ? 
 
 126
 
 FADED FLOWER OF LOVE 
 
 You cannot bloom again, O faded flow'r of love ! 
 I hold you to my heart, 
 
 With tender petals, red as sunset gold ; 
 Lie there, where once he press'd you, 
 Before his lips caress'd you 
 So far, so far away, 
 
 Those happy dreams of old ! 
 
 Where has my true love gone, O faded flow'r of love ? 
 Your tender crimson leaves 
 
 Once wet with dew and show'rs of April rain ! 
 Have you no message for me, 
 No star on path before me ? 
 
 So dear, so dear those lips 
 I kiss'd in love and pain ! 
 
 Will he come back at last, O faded flow'r of love ? 
 When the glad morning breaks, 
 
 And Heav'n shall bring love's sweet unfading rose ? 
 My bitter tears are falling ; 
 The night is calling, calling ; 
 
 I lov'd, I lov'd him well, 
 
 My faded flow'r, Love knows ! 
 Love in love's pity knows, 
 My faded, faded rose ! 
 127
 
 LITTLE BOY WITH THE TOUZLED HEAD 
 
 I 'VE a treasure rare and sweet, 
 
 Making love and life complete, 
 As home I go, when ev'ning skies are red ; 
 
 You will always see a smile 
 
 On my tired face the while, 
 When I reach the house at last with quiet tread. 
 
 Sudden clamour at the door, 
 
 As his baby arms once more 
 Cling around my neck, while greetings soft are said ; 
 
 Then he leads me to the fire 
 
 That 's his special sweet desire ! 
 O, that little boy of mine with touzled head ! 
 
 First a greeting to his mother, 
 
 Who is dear as is no other, 
 While his tiny arms round both our necks are spread ; 
 
 Then one other special care 
 
 (Dancing eyes and curly hair !) 
 just to bring my slippers, ere he goes to bed. 
 
 And our child who plays his part 
 
 With a tender, loving heart : 
 All his little baby pray'rs devoutly said : 
 
 Lifts a face, transform'd with bliss, 
 
 For our parting Good-night kiss 
 O, that little boy of mine with touzled head ! 
 
 128
 
 Then before our cosy fire, 
 
 She, who is my heart's desire, 
 Sits awhile, until another day has sped ; 
 
 And our mem'ries all are sweet 
 
 Of those little patt'ring feet 
 That we heard a while ago pass overhead. 
 
 So we talk of love and him, 
 
 And my darling's eyes grow dim, 
 For she dreams of that glad morn when first we wed ; 
 
 And there 's sunshine all the while, 
 
 Making life one loving smile, 
 
 With that little boy of ours : 
 
 One of Love's most fragrant flow'rs 
 O, that little boy of ours with touzled head ! 
 
 LA VIE EST VAINE 
 
 VAIN is our Life : 
 
 Of Love a ray, 
 A little Strife, 
 
 And then Good Day ! 
 
 Brief is the Flight : 
 Of Hope one gleam, 
 A little Dream, 
 
 And then Good Night ! 
 
 129
 
 LOVE'S PLEDGE OF A DREAM COME TRUE 
 
 THROUGH many a valley we twain must go, 
 
 Till we come to the Far Away ; 
 But the journey we share, and we gladly dare, 
 
 Till the dawn of the promis'd day ; 
 And I thank the Lord with my ev'ry word 
 
 For the gift of your love divine : 
 That your heart has been true, in both honey and rue, 
 
 And your soul is the mate of mine ! 
 
 Love, and a Land, far, far away, 
 
 No matter how faint its beams ! 
 And I bless your name ev'ry new-born day, 
 As we follow the track of the upland way 
 
 That points to Heav'n's golden gleams 
 That I never have look'd to your love in vain, 
 That you hold the balm for my secret pain, 
 And we live in a Realm of Dreams 
 
 A Realm of living Dreams . 
 
 Full many a slope we must climb and win, 
 Till we reach to the Heart's Desire, 
 
 As we pass through the night, with its dear delight, 
 And its stars of silvery fire ; 
 130
 
 And we know our dreams are not dream'd in vain 
 The dark and the long hours through : 
 
 For your hand is in mine, and the promise divine 
 Is Love's Pledge of a Dream Come True ! 
 
 Love, and a Land, far, far away, 
 
 No matter how faint its beams ! 
 And I bless your name ev'ry new-born day, 
 As we follow the track of the upland way 
 
 That points to Heav'n's golden gleams 
 That I never have look'd to your love in vain, 
 That you hold the balm for my secret pain, 
 And we live in a Realm of Dreams 
 
 A Realm of living Dreams ! 
 
 THE LUTE OF ORPHEUS 
 
 IN olden days, in Orpheus' lute 
 Music's compulsion dwelt : 
 
 It might the obdurate confute, 
 And the unfeeling melt. 
 
 In these our days, e'en Orpheus' lute 
 Might own in you defeat 
 
 Defiant of your lover's suit, 
 Implacable as sweet ! 
 
 131
 
 OUR SECRET 
 
 THE day is drifting to the dark, 
 
 The stars shine clear and true ; 
 I hear a gentle whisper Hark ! 
 My dearest, is it you ? 
 
 The stars are dreaming in the sky ; 
 
 And o'er the silent sea 
 A soul speeds forth with tender sigh 
 Heart's dearest, is it me ? 
 
 The sea and sky rejoice to share 
 
 This secret, sweet, divine : 
 Our love is welcom'd ev'rywhere 
 
 Ours, dearest, yours and mine ! 
 
 132
 
 LOVE AND DEATH 
 
 'Tis sweet to sing, but sweeter far to kiss 
 Fine to make music, finer far to listen 
 
 Splendid to act, but make you sure of this : 
 
 Easier to watch, with eyes that glow and glisten ! 
 
 'Tis sweet to bloom, but sweeter just to breathe : 
 
 (Each sweetheart knows it, clinging to her lover ;) 
 Glorious to die, for in that Dream of Death 
 There lies a truth which we, at last, discover : 
 That Love is Breath of Life ; and Death 
 
 Is God's Eternal Bride, 
 With God Himself for Lover ! 
 
 133
 
 THE GOLDEN SONG 
 
 / have mingled my grapes and my wine, 
 Sang the little black Shulamite maid ; 
 
 Now the voice that repeats it is thine, 
 In the tremulous, hovering shade ! 
 
 Its heart the red rose burns all day ; 
 
 For the starshine the lily makes room ; 
 From the flow'rs ev'ry wind steals away 
 
 A more subtle and sweeter perfume ! 
 
 Sing on, voice belov'd, in the night 
 Life's great lesson of Loving repeat ; 
 
 Let music and perfume and joy in their might 
 Make the world more pleasant and sweet ! 
 Our world more pleasant and sweet ! 
 
 '34
 
 LOVE IN IDLENESS 
 
 How do I love ? With love so deep 
 
 That days are never long, 
 And joy transmutes the hours of sleep 
 
 To one unbroken song. 
 My love is such that I could weep 
 
 If you were cold to me ! 
 How do I love ? With love so deep, 
 
 I live alone for thee ! 
 
 How do I love ? With love so strong 
 
 That peril brings me pride ; 
 My lonely griefs are lost among 
 
 Delights found at your side. 
 My love is such that I belong 
 
 To those who know no fear ! 
 How do I love ? With love so strong 
 
 That Heav'n on earth is here ! 
 
 How do I love ? With love that is 
 
 The joy God's angels know : 
 A magic star whose rays of bliss 
 
 Light earth with lambent glow. 
 My love is such that it is this 
 
 To live and die for thee ! 
 How do I love ? With love that is 
 
 True to eternity, 
 True to eternity ! 
 
 135
 
 MY LADY'S HANDS 
 
 Two little snow-white hands, with palms so neat ; 
 Five dainty fingers, not another more 
 One graceful thumb, and digits that are four : 
 
 But O, her hands are magical and sweet ! 
 
 Those little ivory keys each one a slave 
 Beneath her touch will sing and sing again ; 
 Or thrill the heart to consciousness of pain, 
 
 And with hot tears a lover's eyelids lave ! 
 
 And when her hands touch mine I throb with love ; 
 A strange new joy goes speeding through my soul 
 My darling's touch has power to make me whole, 
 
 And lift my heart to Paradise above ! 
 
 136
 
 THE WIND'S TRIBUTE 
 
 THE wind from the golden west 
 
 Upon my lips is lying ; 
 It thrills my heart with a lover's zest, 
 
 And I echo its tender sighing ! 
 
 From whence is the magic bliss ? 
 
 Do you, my darling, know it ? 
 First it kiss'd a rose ; then gave you the kiss 
 
 As your lover himself would bestow it, 
 
 (And now . . . how he longs to know it !) 
 
 WHITE ROSE 
 (AFTER MELEAGER) 
 
 PURE White Rose of my Heart's Desire 
 
 (A wandering singer) I 
 Have long been living too near the fire 
 Were it not fitter to die ? 
 
 1 have loved the world and sung of the world, 
 
 And sought many a garden-close ; 
 But I tire of them all ; and my dream impearl'd 
 Is the soul of a Snow-White Rose ! 
 
 137
 
 OUR LOST HEAVEN 
 
 WHEN Eve kissed Adam at Creation's Dawn, 
 And he confess'd her as his God-sent bride, 
 
 Love's Angel drove them with a sword swift-drawn, 
 To linger on the Garden's outer side ! 
 
 Thenceforth Eternity was cleft in twain 
 One half was Earth, one half was Paradise ; 
 
 Poor man recalls, forgets, recalls again, 
 
 And hourly feels an alien from love's skies ! 
 
 But roses bloom, stars shine, and angel-feet 
 Tread softly o'er the ceiling up above : 
 
 The search for our lost Heaven is very sweet, 
 And Poets call it by the name of Love \ 
 The sweet, sweet name of Love !
 
 LOVE'S PALACE 
 
 O, THE Life of a Bee is a wonderful thing 
 
 To lodge with the lily, or dwell with the rose : 
 At an altar of crimson and gold he may sing, 
 
 Or rest in a cradle of ivory snows ; 
 There are halls of carnation, and mansions of green, 
 
 (With purest of perfumes for you and for me !) 
 And here he is rock'd by the fairies unseen 
 
 So who would not envy the lot of the bee ? 
 
 Yet, rich as the life of the happiest of bees 
 
 When folded to rest in the heart of a flow'r, 
 Or lull'd by the sighs of a faint summer breeze 
 
 I find my best Heav'n, at day's cool closing hour, 
 Where dewdrops of Love in one heart ever shine, 
 
 Where sweetest of perfumes are shyly compress'd- 
 In my darling's warm bosom Love's Palace I find : 
 
 A refuge from sorrow a haven of rest, 
 Love's wonderful Haven of Rest ! 
 
 139
 
 THE NECKLET OF CRIMSON CORAL 
 
 IT is only the necklet of coral 
 
 He gave me that glad, sweet day, 
 Ere he held me, and kiss'd me, and left me 
 
 For his boat that stood far in the bay ; 
 But, while nightingales sing in the silence, 
 
 From twilight till rise of the morn, 
 It will bear me away to that glad, golden day, 
 
 When love's rose in my breast was new-born ! 
 
 O, my necklet of cheap crimson coral, 
 
 It stirs all my soul to bliss ; 
 All the wonders and wealth of the Indies 
 
 Are as naught to a treasure like this ! 
 It shall lie on my heart as a token, 
 
 While the stars in their peace smile above ; 
 And these soft tears that flow are but proof that I know 
 
 My true knight pledg'd his Faith with his love ! 
 
 140
 
 BY FLOWING WATERS 
 
 DANCING and glancing and sparkling, 
 Great river, with waters of brown, 
 As you rush by the rolling hillside, 
 
 And dash the deep valleys adown 
 Clinging, and flinging your foam-crests, 
 
 Tossing your waves in glee 
 Won't you wait for an eager lover ? 
 
 Won't you stay just a moment for me ? 
 Dancing so free, 
 Past bramble and tree, 
 Glancing and sparkling away to the sea ! 
 
 Dreaming and beaming and streaming 
 
 By meadow and fields at rest, 
 With the flow'rs and sweet tender blossoms 
 
 Lying asleep on your breast 
 Singing and crooning a lull-song, 
 Steering all safe to the sea 
 Will you wait for a tired wayfarer ? 
 Will you linger awhile for me ? 
 Sweet Rest to Be, 
 Where the winds blow free, 
 Dreaming and streaming at last to the sea ! 
 
 141
 
 OLD-WORLD GARDEN OF SUNBEAMS 
 
 WOULD you like to find the summer at its sweetest, 
 Where the world is full of gladness and of grace ? 
 
 Would you like to watch the martin at her fleetest ? 
 Hear the thrush fling pearls of music into space ? 
 
 With the blue skies arching o'er it, 
 Birds and butterflies adore it 
 
 Sweet old mem'ries of the past it enfolds, and keeps them fast ; 
 There are laughter, light, and leisure 
 Without limit, without measure ; 
 
 Like the birds, I seek and love it, when the clouds gleam gold 
 above it, 
 
 For it holds a treasure sweet : 
 (Shining eyes and dancing feet !) 
 
 Sweet glad place, 
 Full of grace 
 Just my tiny Old- World Garden, with the sunbeams on its face ! 
 
 Would you like to know where life is link'd to gladness ? 
 
 'Tis the spot I always seek for peace and rest : 
 Some one waits me, who has skill to soothe all sadness, 
 
 Some one whom I love the truest and the best ! 
 
 142
 
 With the blue skies arching o'er it, 
 Birds and butterflies adore it 
 
 Sweet old mem'ries of the past it enfolds, and keeps them fast ; 
 There are laughter, light and leisure, 
 Without limit, without measure ; 
 
 Like the birds, I seek and love it, when the clouds gleam gold 
 above it, 
 
 For it holds a treasure sweet : 
 (Shining eyes and dancing feet !) 
 
 Sweet glad place, 
 Full of grace 
 Just my tiny Old- World Garden, with the sunbeams on its face ! 
 
 TROPICAL SOLSTICE 
 
 THE River has heard it and whisper'd the Bush ; 
 
 The birds are awaking again 
 All Nature is waiting ; the breeze murmurs ' Hush ! 
 
 I have brought you my Baby the Rain ! ' 
 
 H3
 
 MOONLIGHT AND STARSHINE 
 
 ONLY a song in the moonlight pale, 
 
 But I love you, since then, I love you : 
 
 The sighing sob of a nightingale, 
 
 While our hearts stood still, and our cheeks grew pale, 
 
 With the deep desire of love's old sweet tale 
 And I love you, since then, I love you ! 
 
 Only the stars in soft brooding skies, 
 
 But I '11 love you, dear heart, for ever : 
 
 We kiss'd and we parted with tears and sighs, 
 
 And the unknown years hold our destinies 
 
 But, since Love is Love, I have read in your eyes 
 
 You will love me, dear heart, for ever ! 
 
 144
 
 HOME YOU KEEP FOR ME 
 
 'Tis a tiny tumbled cottage 
 
 Down a green lane, long and sweet, 
 In a little old-world village, 
 
 Grass and moss beneath the feet ; 
 It is neither grand nor splendid, 
 
 But I 'm happy as can be : 
 For I dwell with you, all the glad year through, 
 
 And you keep that home for me ! 
 
 When I 'm working in the garden, 
 
 I can hear your sweet voice sing ; 
 And when sunset fills the valley, 
 
 Bells at even softly ring. 
 Oft you tell me you are happy, 
 
 And I know I 'm glad and free 
 Though life might be sad, it would seem just glad, 
 
 When you kept the home for me ! 
 
 But the richest of our blessings 
 
 Is one dancing little elf : 
 Eyes like violets : cheeks like roses 
 
 Just the image of yourself ! 
 And her clinging, sweet caresses 
 
 Bind two hearts that aye agree 
 While her glad clear voice makes our hearts rejoice, 
 
 In the home you keep for me ! 
 
 H5
 
 YOUR DEAR HEART 
 
 I HAVE a sweet Garden of Beautiful Dreams, 
 
 With roses and lilies aglow ; 
 When down on mine eyelids the slumber-call streams 
 
 Toward it all gladly I go. 
 Then softly the rhythm and glow of the night 
 
 Bring comfort that sleep holds apart 
 Open'd there in my sight are the beauty and light 
 Of my Garden of Dreams : 
 Your dear heart ! 
 
 And when, in my Garden of Beautiful Dreams, 
 
 You open all gateways to me ; 
 When you give me its gleams, and its magical beams, 
 
 What wonder and rapture 'twill be ! 
 For there, on its altars, my homage I '11 lay, 
 
 And hold you, no longer to part ; 
 All the fragrance of flow'rs, all the honey of hours, 
 
 In my Garden of Dreams : 
 Your dear heart 
 
 O Garden of Beautiful Dreams ! 
 
 146
 
 LOVER'S JOY 
 
 COULD I define the starry pow'rs 
 
 That linger in her lovely face, 
 I 'd need the wealth of all the flow'rs, 
 
 The lonely beauty of night's grace ; 
 Or could I tell you how I heard 
 
 The music of her monotones, 
 I 'd need the song of ev'ry bird, 
 
 All Nature's gentlest moans ! 
 
 Her thoughts are sweet as lavender ; 
 
 Her eyes are pools at twilight grey ; 
 Her youth sheds gladness ev'ry where ; 
 
 Its mournful dreams dispel with day ; 
 Her feet are messengers of Love : 
 
 All peace in their small track may be, 
 She treads the mountains up above 
 In sweet humility. 
 
 Her heart dwells in Love's House of Dreams, 
 
 And there at dawn I turn mine eyes : 
 Could I but see those starry beams, 
 And share that perfect Paradise ! 
 Each time I kneel, I cry aloud 
 
 ' This strange sweet soul was sent to me ! ' 
 The moon retreats behind a cloud 
 In virgin ecstasy 
 But she was made by Love, for me ! 
 
 H7
 
 SKYLARK 
 
 BENEATH blue skies on summer morn, 
 From grass dew-wet, from flowers new-born, 
 Kiss'd by the ruddy lips of dawn, 
 I see the lark up-soaring : 
 
 dauntless heart of singer sweet, 
 Racing so high on rapid feet, 
 
 The sky and earth you make to meet 
 Heav'n's empyrean exploring ! 
 
 Your melody while on the wing, 
 
 The charm that crowns your throat's deep spring, 
 
 As down to earth a lay you fling, 
 
 Oft fills my soul with yearning. 
 Your voice is neither deep nor strong, 
 But ah ! the rapture of your song, 
 The fancies fair that round me throng, 
 
 And set my heart a-burning ! 
 
 1 know your song is scarce of love : 
 You do not fondle like the dove, 
 Nor woo nor kiss in skies above ; 
 
 And yet these sounds beguiling 
 Are sweet to me as nightjar's cry 
 Of raptur'd bliss flung to the sky 
 I feel no pang while you are nigh 
 
 To fill my mouth with smiling ! 
 148
 
 How well I know your sun-kiss'd breast, 
 Your cloudy wing, your garnish'd nest, 
 Your rich uprising after rest, 
 
 And all your ways endearing. 
 You are the lover of the rose, 
 You are the only one who knows 
 At what hour ope its eyes and close, 
 
 And worships, nothing fearing ! 
 
 And when you climb your golden stair, 
 There 's mirth and music everywhere : 
 On earth and in the ambient air, 
 
 You tiny laughter-bringer ! 
 What matter days be dark and frore, 
 You flood the weary spirit o'er 
 With tides of joy from warmer shore, 
 
 O too-sweet little singer ! 
 
 I watch you drop to earth again, 
 
 And meekly wait, as if in pain, 
 
 As though from God you had been ta'en 
 
 By lack of firm endeavour. 
 O songster of another world, 
 How often have your wings been furl'd, 
 And back to us have you been hurl'd ? 
 
 Say, will you reach sun ever ? 
 149
 
 You teach us all that sound of song 
 Can charm the soul ; and (late or long) 
 Can slay the stings of bitter wrong, 
 
 If we await God's pleasure. 
 You mount to sky on steely wings, 
 And prove that, while the nature sings, 
 There 's sun and sunrise in all things, 
 
 And love and light and leisure ! 
 
 'Twas Love who gave you power of flight 
 'Twas Love who fill'd your heart with light- 
 'Twas Love who gave you iris bright, 
 
 And music energetic ; 
 The upward call of strong desire, 
 The backward leap, the averse retire, 
 The sighing throat, the heart of fire, 
 
 The song of Hope prophetic ! 
 
 150
 
 AT DAWN AND DUSK 
 
 WHEN the dewdrop gleams on the op'ning rose, 
 
 In the hush of the morning grey ; 
 While the haunted brook in the silence flows, 
 Soft-echoing the words I say 
 This is my pray'r 
 In the sweet cool air : 
 ' God keep my love, to-day ! ' 
 
 When the brooding stars to dim dream enfold 
 
 All the earth, for the moon's delight ; 
 While the lilies turn their pure hearts of gold 
 To the cloudland, clear and bright 
 In my heart I pray : 
 * Till the dawn of day, 
 God bless my love, to-night ! '
 
 HAVEN OF LOVE IN YOUR BREAST 
 
 LOST on life's desolate ocean, 
 
 Far from the shores of home, 
 Adrift on a sea of sorrow, 
 
 'Mid rocks and the angry foam : 
 You came with a heart undaunted, 
 
 You came with the balm of rest : 
 You found me, and saved me, and brought me 
 To a Haven of Love in your Breast ! 
 
 Bound with the mem'ry of anguish, 
 
 Alone 'neath that awful sky, 
 Your courage remain'd unfearing, 
 
 As I lay in the dark to die ; 
 And your love in that cold wild blackness, 
 
 As I pray'd with a soul oppress'd, 
 Brought me back in the hush of the morning 
 To a Haven of Love in your Breast ! 
 
 I fear not the long nights of sorrow, 
 
 I fear not the oceans of pain : 
 There are rifts in the clouds above me, 
 
 Sweet murmurs of peace again ; 
 Should night and the storm e'er surround me, 
 
 Your fond lips to my lips are press'd, 
 And you carry me safe in the sunrise 
 
 To a Haven of Love in your Breast ! 
 152
 
 IF DREAMS CAME TRUE 
 
 IF Dreams came true, I would not mind 
 How drearily the breezes blew, 
 
 Nor that the fates seem'd all unkind 
 If Dreams came true ! 
 
 I think of rapture and of you, 
 Of frail desire and plastic mind, 
 
 While tears blot all things from my view, 
 And aching fears my spirit bind ! 
 
 My dearest hopes illusion find, 
 
 And sorrow stabs my mem'ry through, 
 But I should whistle with the wind, 
 
 If Dreams came true ! 
 
 '53
 
 LOVE'S OFFERING 
 
 TAKE, sweetest heart, the homage pure I bring you, 
 For be my words snow-white, or grey and old, 
 
 Each solemn chord, each soaring note I sing you, 
 By you has first been told 
 
 Told by you, dear, expressed by tender glances : 
 And when the night shall droop down like a pall, 
 
 I hope to know these frail and fragrant fancies 
 In silent love, best words of all ! 
 
 J. M. Stuart-Young 
 
 FULFILMENT OF DESIRE 
 
 ONCE in a far-off Garden, where the lark's fresh song 
 
 Pealing at morn makes holy all the air, 
 Where Heav'n's Gold Gates are closed 'gainst sin and wrong, 
 
 And Life appears another name for Pray'r 
 A little Soul, with phantom flash, sped down 
 
 On wings of white and red and azure fire : 
 He took a garb of flesh in Bethlehem Town 
 
 And thus became Fulfilment of Desire ! 
 
 154
 
 SECRETS 
 
 I WANDER'D through the forest gloom, 
 And oh ! the way was long ! 
 
 But in the darkest glades was room 
 For secret of the Birds' Glad Song ! 
 
 With laggard feet, o'er thorny ground, 
 
 I long'd to find repose ; 
 And soon my weary spirit found, 
 
 The secret of the Perfum'd Rose ! 
 
 I reach'd the open grassland, sweet 
 With winds that frolic'd by ; 
 
 I found, where day and night-star meet, 
 The secret of the Sunset Sky ! 
 
 But, dearer yet, ah ! very dear, 
 When moon sped up above, 
 
 I found, as Home loomed very near 
 The secret of a Woman's Love ! 
 
 155
 
 SEA SERENADE 
 
 LONELY, the moon on our white sails is gleaming, 
 Fresh blows the breeze from the wide open sea ; 
 
 Here we go drifting, while pale stars are beaming, 
 Beaming for gladness on you and on me ! 
 
 Clasp we the joy of the moment, forsaking 
 
 Pains of the past and of days that are sped : 
 
 Pleasure be ours for the choice and the taking, 
 To-morrow, to-morrow, we both may be dead ! 
 
 White is your face in the starshine, my dearest, 
 Sweet is the silence, but dearer our love : 
 
 Kiss me once more ; for Love's Joys are sincerest 
 Only the stars are our witness above ! 
 
 156
 
 SORROWS 
 
 FOR the night, the stars ; 
 
 For the day, the sun ; 
 For the soul, life's bars, 
 
 But the mind has none ! 
 
 Sing, poet, sing 
 
 In saddest love-strain ; 
 To our souls solace bring 
 
 Again and again 
 For man's sorrows, expressed, 
 
 With manifold woes, 
 Earn comforting rest, 
 
 And sunny repose ! 
 
 The mind knows no bars ; 
 
 The heart has one cry 
 Lift our souls to the stars, 
 
 Teach our sorrows to die ! 
 
 157
 
 ILLUSION 
 
 THE song of the thrush was sweeter 
 
 Far sweeter, love, to-day : 
 It thrill'd, and it keen'd, and it fill'd my soul, 
 
 Till it carried my heart away : 
 For its song seem'd like to an angel's 
 
 That into my senses grew : 
 I saw the streets of God's Heaven, 
 
 And the Angel . . . ah, sweet, 'twas you ! 
 
 Herbert J. S. Carter. 
 
 THE CONFIDANT 
 
 WHEN the white moon has risen I may tell 
 My passion to the silence, and may kiss 
 
 Her pictured face. My bonds are loosed apart, 
 And I write down in surging lines the spell 
 
 Of my dear dreams ! Some day these memories 
 Shall meet her eyes and I possess her heart !
 
 WILL YOU COME BACK? 
 
 THE twilight falls, and all the land lies still ; 
 
 Gone is Love's golden day ; 
 Your sweet voice calls me over dale and hill, 
 
 For you are far away ; 
 The sun that touch'd with glory dale and hill, 
 
 Sinks in the solemn sea ; 
 And O I call, now all the land lies still : 
 
 Will you come back to me ? 
 Will you come back to me f 
 
 The grasses whisper secrets to the rill, 
 
 Love's night is gath'ring now ; 
 Like silver lamps, the stars begin to fill 
 
 The space on tree-tops' brow ; 
 With joy and pain my heart and spirit fill, 
 
 While night-winds wander free ; 
 Love of my Life, your sweets of hope distil : 
 
 Say you '// come back to me ! 
 Say you '// come back to me ! 
 
 159
 
 WAKING 
 
 WAKE her again to the song that I sing, 
 
 O breeze o'er the bending corn, 
 Speak to her softly, and say that I bring 
 
 Homage at break of morn ! 
 
 I, who have lov'd her, would meet her again ; 
 
 Speak to her softly for me 
 Press her pale brow, and so bring to my pain, 
 
 Solace and sympathy ! 
 
 Wake her again, for I hold her so dear, 
 
 My one only hope is to be 
 Wrapp'd in her arms, with her soft cheek anear- 
 
 Tenderly, so tenderly ! 
 
 1 60
 
 GREEN PASTURE AND FIREGLEAM 
 
 WHEN the morning glow was tender, 
 
 On the fields and on the streams, 
 You would dance in girlish splendour 
 
 Through a fairyland of dreams ; 
 For your hair was bright and golden, 
 
 And it shone like ripened wheat, 
 While you sang of warmth and summer, 
 
 Of bright flowers and lightsome feet. 
 
 But anon the glooming shadows 
 
 Told the earth of coming rain, 
 And you walk'd the lonely meadows 
 
 With sad thoughts that gave you pain ; 
 Yet, my darling, when the snowflakes 
 
 Fall upon your brow (and mine), 
 We shall have our cosy fireside, 
 
 Where the glow of love may shine, 
 
 Where our homelife joys may shine ! 
 
 161
 
 THE COMING YEARS 
 
 THERE 's blossom on the hawthorn-tree, 
 
 When your sweet lips mix with mine ; 
 There 's song from ev'ry soaring lark 
 
 That cheers my soul like wine ; 
 And well I know your heart beats true, 
 
 For Heav'n smiles from above, 
 And ev'rything in Nature round 
 
 Throbs Love just sweet, sweet Love ! 
 
 Time was, when not a single rose 
 
 Bloom'd on the earth beneath ; 
 Time was, when not a star look'd down 
 
 To light my way to Death 
 But now I know, that you and I 
 
 Are pledg'd, through joys and fears, 
 And happy, sweet, and golden days 
 
 Shall crown the Coming Years, 
 
 162
 
 A SONG IN THE SILENCE 
 
 SING me a song of the silver seas, 
 
 Of peace and the evening star 
 Of the ships that steer for a haven near, 
 When the day is done, and calm night is here, 
 
 With the croon of a restful bar- 
 Sing me a song of the sea at rest, 
 For love in the silence is sweetest and best \ 
 
 Sing me a song of the golden day, 
 
 When my love o'er the silver seas 
 Shall return to my heart from the Far Away, 
 And my lips shall tell all my heart would say, 
 
 To the sigh of the starlit breeze 
 Sing me a song of the silver sea, 
 And carry my love in sweet dreams to me ! 
 
 163
 
 LOVE'S FLOWER A LITTLE CHILD 
 
 ONCE I dream'd my heart was drawn 
 
 To the rose at dewy dawn, 
 
 Till I saw the lilies pure 
 
 Shine like stars that aye endure ; 
 
 Then I found no fairer fancies 
 
 Than those lent by purple pansies ; 
 
 And I woo'd the sunflow'r tall 
 
 Proud beneath my garden wall : 
 
 But I saw how frail and fleeting 
 
 Are earth's flow'rs when rains come beating- 
 
 So my heart was last beguil'd 
 
 By Love's Flow'r 
 
 A Little Child ! 
 
 She is rare as any rose, 
 
 How I love her, Love best knows ! 
 
 In her pure and perfect face 
 
 Hide rich stores of fairy grace : 
 
 When her baby-voice goes singing 
 
 All the world with joy seems ringing 
 
 Rosy lips and blue-bell eyes, 
 
 Sweet with wonder and surprise : 
 
 Naught our kindred souls can sever, 
 She is yours and mine for ever 
 
 Gift of God our hearts to woo, 
 
 Sent by Love 
 
 From Heaven . . . and You ! 
 164
 
 HOW GOD MADE YOU FOR ME 
 
 SOMEWHERE God took, where harvest fields were bending, 
 
 At break of day, and fresh with radiant dew, 
 A gleam of autumn gold . . . Then, with its blending 
 The crimson of poppies, 
 The red of the roses, 
 The dance of the daisies at dawn, 
 
 Earth's peace when the autumn closes, 
 The song of the lark to the sky 
 And the low wind's lullaby, 
 He made the beauty, and the outer form of you ! 
 
 Somewhere God took, where suns through aeons beckon, 
 
 Where planets in their orbits wheel on high, 
 Long rays of rosy light (those angels reckon 
 
 As Love's first impulse, made for smile or sigh) 
 Then on clouds' fleetness 
 And the skies blue sweetness 
 He laid Love's pulsing fire ; 
 Birth, growth and dying ; 
 Then, softly sighing 
 He added Divine Desire, 
 
 And earthward sent the pure white soul of you 
 The human-immortal, pure white soul of you !
 
 ANGEL OF STARSHINE 
 
 I KNEEL at my open casement, when the evening sun is low, 
 When the waves roll over the shingle, as they did in the Long Ago ; 
 And I dream of the old sweet vision, making tears of rejoicing start, 
 When I first sought the mystical pathway, that leads to your tender heart! 
 Come to me. Angel of Starshine, 
 
 Speak from your Altar of Dreams , 
 Come, love, to me over the sea, 
 
 Come, while the moonlight gleams ; 
 Come, for I worship you only, 
 
 Let the clear stars bear you home ; 
 Come through the night, from your Mansions of Light, 
 
 O, my Angel of Starshine, come ! 
 
 I dream of the happy moment, when we meet on Love's Golden Strand, 
 When our skies shall illumine with rapture, when birds sing on ev'ry hand ; 
 For my love has been constant, unchanging, since I dream'd of your 
 
 starlit eyes, 
 
 And I heard you speak over the silence, from your home in Paradise ! 
 Come to me, Angel of Starshine, 
 
 Speak from your Altar of Dreams ; 
 Come, love, to me over the sea, 
 
 Come, while the moonlight gleams ; 
 Come, for 1 worship you only, 
 
 Let the bright stars bear you home ; 
 Come through the night, from your Mansions of Light, 
 O, my Angel of Starshine, Come ! 
 
 J. M. Stuart-Toung. 
 
 166
 
 YOURS AND MINE 
 
 THERE 's wealth within this world, that has no measure, 
 
 And it was made for you, and made for me : 
 Just heaps and heaps and heaps of priceless treasure, 
 
 If we would only train the soul to see ! 
 The forest and the meadow and the mountain, 
 
 The dreaming oak, the elm, the whispering pine ; 
 The birds, the flowers, the stars, the springing fountain, 
 
 Are mine and yours, for ever yours and mine ! 
 
 The waves of sunlight o'er the cornfield glancing ; 
 
 The dewy silence of the moorland shade ; 
 Laughter of children, in their joyful dancing 
 
 And eyes that look on beauty, unafraid ! 
 There 's glory in the world that none may barter 
 
 And in the midst of pain man's soul may shine 
 There 's Love and Hope and Faith : and by God's charter 
 
 This Love is yours, dear heart, just yours and mine ! 
 
 Tours and mine ! 
 
 167
 
 LOVE'S VANITY 
 
 Do not forget me, though you deem me spurning 
 
 A golden dream of joys that may not be ; 
 I have not got the art of easy learning : 
 
 Time will deal hard, deal very hard with me. 
 Do not forget me, though I leave no traces, 
 
 To prove how dear I prized your tenderness ; 
 I shall feel sad among the smiling faces, 
 
 If you are over-sorry, 'mid Life's stress ! 
 
 Do not forget me, though I may be leading 
 
 Another life, with * some one else ' for guide ; 
 
 My heart is his, but memory will be feeding 
 
 On precious moments spent at your dear side. 
 
 Love renounc'd, do not, do not forget me : 
 
 My soul is suffering more than words can tell ; 
 
 1 humbly pray that you will ne'er regret me, 
 
 For you, alone, had Gifts 
 
 Had Gifts of Heaven and Hell ! 
 
 168
 
 SOUL OF REJOICING 
 
 I CRAVE not for wealth nor leisure, 
 In a world of sorrow and strife ; 
 Nor fame, nor excess of pleasure 
 But give me Life ! 
 
 I ask not for depth of learning, 
 
 One talent 's enough for me ; 
 But give me the lover's yearning, 
 And Liberty \ 
 
 Let my prayer, through the starry region, 
 Peal high to the Throne above, 
 
 While I seek, from the angel-legion, 
 God's gift of Love \ 
 
 And O, when the goal I 'm nearing, 
 And death is a friend in view ; 
 
 When the mist from Life's valley is clearing, 
 May Heaven send me you, 
 Heaven send me you \ 
 
 169
 
 SWEET LITTLE NEST OF LOVE 
 
 SAD is my heart since you have gone away ; 
 The hours seem long to twilight of the day : 
 But when each setting sun brings moon and star 
 My thoughts go winging to our home afar ! 
 
 I have built a nest for you : such a cosy little nest ; 
 'Mid the silver gleams, 
 And the starry beams 
 Of the night's enchanted breast ; 
 
 There all hearts are fain for love, as the moon shines up above, 
 And the wind creeps by 
 With a tender sigh 
 
 Through the leaves of the fragrant grove. 
 
 Won't you come, dear heart, and share, while the Spring is fresh 
 and fair, 
 
 That sweet little nest 
 On the night's cool breast-^- 
 Just that Sweet Little Nest of Love ! 
 
 Come with the night, and bring my heart again 
 Sweet golden dreams that conquer doubt and pain ; 
 Let twilight bear you home, and love will shine 
 Within our home, when you are ever mine ! 
 
 170
 
 I have built a nest for von ; such a cosy little nest ; 
 'Mid the silver gleams, 
 And the starry beams 
 Of the night's enchanted breast ; 
 
 There all hearts are fain for love, as the moon shines up above, 
 And the wind creeps by 
 With a tender sigh 
 
 Through the leaves of the fragrant grove. 
 
 Won't you come, dear heart, and share, while the Spring is fresh 
 and fair, 
 
 That sweet little nest 
 On the night's cool breast 
 Just that Sweet Little Nest of Love ! 
 
 CASUAL PLEASURE 
 
 THE moon has bared her ghostly face ; 
 
 The golden sun has set ; 
 Come, Love, to me at leisured pace, 
 
 With hair and eyes of jet. 
 
 Within the Bush the leopard calls, 
 
 And on this moonlit lake 
 A shadowy field of foliage falls, 
 
 Where idle ripples shake. 
 
 I am alone but if you lend 
 
 The warmth of your young arms, 
 This Darkness shall be counted friend, 
 
 My erstwhile terrors, charms !
 
 ALTHOUGH 
 
 ALTHOUGH you call'd across the years to me ; 
 Although I dwelt within a world of bliss ; 
 I had no joy : no rapture came to me, 
 Until I felt your kiss ! 
 
 Although sweet roses grew around my feet ; 
 
 Although I knew the stars shone clear above ; 
 I dared not count my life, as life, complete, 
 Until I claim'd your love ! 
 
 Although God's Grace in all things I discern ; 
 
 Although your eyes beam ever fond and true ; 
 My heart and soul with deep impatience burn. 
 Until I come to you 
 To you ! 
 
 172
 
 YOUR INMOST SOUL 
 
 ERE the sunshine darkens 
 
 On my lonely way ; 
 While the twilight hearkens 
 
 To sorrows of the day ; 
 Let me come to you, dear, 
 
 From the world apart : 
 Find Love's fragrant dew, dear, 
 In your loving heart ! 
 
 When the clear sky flushes 
 
 With our rising sun ; 
 While your sweet face blushes 
 
 For pleasures, new begun : 
 Keep it sweet and free, dear, 
 
 Serene and pure and whole 
 That little place for me, dear, 
 In your inmost soul ! 
 
 173
 
 JUST ONE 
 
 IF you were me, and I were you, 
 
 I think I know what I would do 
 
 I 'd find within your heart a place 
 
 Where I might dwell, by God's good grace : 
 
 If I were you, if I were you ! 
 
 If I were you, and you were me, 
 
 One joyous song our life would be 
 
 Each morn should wake our world to praise, 
 
 For love would lighten all our days : 
 
 If I were you, and you were me ! 
 
 If you and I (just we alone) 
 Could share the one immortal throne, 
 I 'd bless the hour when first we met, 
 And pray Love's Star should never set, 
 For you and I we both would be 
 Just one, just one 
 
 Just one \ 
 
 M. Stuart- Toung. 
 
 '74
 
 FORGETFULNESS 
 
 FROM break o' day to set o' sun, Life's long, long road we tread, 
 From rim o' sea to mountain's brow, from pearl o' sky to red ; 
 There 's music for our marching feet, but ah ! who dares dispute : 
 We never miss the bird's keen song, 
 Till the lovely notes are mute ! 
 
 There 's beauty in each wayside hedge, new wonders for our eyes, 
 The stars have dropp'd from Heav'n above to seek a fresh disguise ; 
 Each sense is touched by Nature's gifts, but ah ! when all is said : 
 We never bless the perfum'd air, 
 
 Till the last, last rose lies dead ! 
 
 When healthy blood is dancing free, and Youth delights to find 
 This world was built for lovers' joy, that Cupid's eyes are blind, 
 How sweet to hold the hands we love, but ah ! how oft 'tis shown 
 We never prize the throbbing heart, 
 
 Till the dearly-belov'd is gone 
 We never know Love's snow-white bird, 
 
 Till the Heart's Ideal has flown ! 
 
 175
 
 THE ONE HEART I LOVE 
 
 O, THIS is the time when earth's blossoms appear, 
 When all hearts fill with gladness and joy ; 
 
 When birds sing with rapture at Spring's promis'd cheer, 
 And there 's fun in the mind of a boy 
 Just a boy ! 
 
 And this is the time when the wind, dancing by, 
 
 Sets the gossiping leaves all a-whirl ; 
 When tears mate with laughter, and soft breezes sigh, 
 
 And there 's dreams in the soul of a girl 
 Just a girl ! 
 
 O, this is the time when our world is replete 
 
 With a harvest of rich treasure-trove ; 
 When Hope is all golden, and Life is all sweet, 
 
 For there 's Love in the heart I love 
 Just the heart I love !
 
 ANGEL-CARESSES 
 
 I KNOW a lonely, lonely grave, in a garden cool and deep ; 
 Where foxglove and green grasses wave, and * some one ' lies asleep, 
 At morn awakes the summer sun, and all the crimson air 
 Is fragrant with day-dreams and dew, for Love and Hope dwell there, 
 
 For Love and Hope dwell there ! 
 
 I need not burden my sad heart, nor count the moments pass, 
 My love has found the better part, beneath the waving grass ; 
 And well I know that as I kneel, a silent worshipper, 
 Her spirit-lips my kisses feel, and I am one with her 
 
 Forever one with her ! 
 
 M 177
 
 MATE OF MY HEARTHSTONE 
 
 MEN may boast in tuneful measure, 
 
 Pride of blood, or pomp of wealth 
 Let us keep our humble treasure : 
 
 Peace of mind, and buoyant health ; 
 May our days in easy motion, 
 
 Lit by love and duty, glide ; 
 While we share that sweet emotion, 
 
 Prattling children by our side 
 
 Mate of my Hearthstone, 
 
 Love of my Home ! 
 
 Men may boast of fame and power 
 
 (Each true heart its heaven knows) : 
 Cosy fireside, with its dower, 
 
 Children's smiles at even's close. 
 Hearts and souls, in sweet communion, 
 
 Hold the joys we knew of yore 
 You are mine, by God's own union : 
 
 Mine and theirs for evermore ! 
 Mate of my Hearthstone 
 Love of my Home !
 
 LAND OF YOUR LOVE-LIT EYES 
 
 I KNOW a Land of the Heart's Desire, 
 
 A land where the lily ail-humbly blows ; 
 Where violets bloom in their sweet attire, 
 
 And red is the regal rose ; 
 There are no clouds to stain the perfum'd air, 
 
 Anthems of love and praise for ever rise : 
 Life is all sweet, and joy is complete, 
 
 In the Land of your Love-lit Eyes ! 
 
 I love this land of my Heart's Desire, 
 
 The land where all pleasures and glories are ; 
 And O, how dear is each forest fire, 
 
 That beacons me like a star ! 
 I have no hope, no sweeter hope than this : 
 
 To live and reign in that fair Paradise 
 Enter as King, all my tributes bring 
 
 To the Land of your Love-lit Eyes, 
 To the Land of your Love-lit Eyes ! 
 
 179
 
 WHO SAILS FOR ARLECAN ? 
 
 To sail, to sail for Arlecan, 
 
 Love's Island, fram'd in gold ; 
 To know myself three times a man, 
 
 And true as I am bold ; 
 To rove as roves the rhythmic rain, 
 
 And reach my Mena's side ; 
 
 To cross again the wide, wide main, 
 
 And claim my bonny bride ! 
 
 To Arlecan ! To Arlecan ! 
 
 Who comes with me to-day ? 
 Who claims the heritage of man, 
 Who sails from out the bay ? 
 Across the world to Arlecan, 
 
 While stars swoon high above : 
 Hull down, hull down for Arlecan, 
 For Life and Light and Love ! 
 
 The whole world longs for Arlecan, 
 
 My pearl of all the seas : 
 To every maid and every man 
 
 Come dear desires like these ! 
 O sail with me for that sweet place, 
 
 Bless'd by Love's magic dew, 
 Where everything knows God's Good Grace, 
 
 And all our dreams come true ! 
 1 80
 
 To Arlecan ! To Arlecan ! 
 
 Who comes with me to-day ? 
 Who claims the heritage of man 
 
 Who sails from out the bay ? 
 Across the world to Arlecan, 
 
 While stars swoon high above : 
 Hull down, hull down for Arlecan, 
 
 For Life and Light and Love ! 
 
 EYES OF LOVE 
 
 SINCE God has shown me how the changing leaf 
 Is pledge of Spring, and fair beyond belief, 
 With faith in life I seek earth's treasure-trove ; 
 I see through eyes of love ! 
 
 Since I have found the glory of the rose ; 
 Since I have seen how glad the hawthorn blows, 
 With fervent hope I lift mine eyes above : 
 I see through eyes of love ! 
 
 Since you are mine, and ev'rything to me, 
 No more shall doubt or pain encompass me 
 God keep me true, and all my honour prove : 
 I see through eyes of love ; 
 Your love ! 
 181
 
 FLOWER ORCHARD 
 
 IF I were the opening rose, dear, 
 
 And you were the bee, athirst, 
 My leaves I would seek to close, dear, 
 
 On the mouth that had met mine, first : 
 And O, what delight, at love's eventide, 
 When the stars smil'd down 
 
 On small groom and bride ! 
 
 If I were the song unsung, dear, 
 As the lark sped to greet the sun, 
 
 I would lie in the breeze outflung, dear, 
 And drink each new note begun : 
 
 Till the bird sank earthward, in search of rest, 
 
 And then I would share 
 
 Its enchanted nest ! 
 
 If I were the Source of Life, dear, 
 
 And you were, as yet, asleep, 
 I would call you to love and strife, dear, 
 
 From that vast pre-natal deep : 
 Your soul would be link'd to my ev'ry breath, 
 For we would be one, 
 
 In both life and death ! 
 
 182
 
 POPPIES AND CORNFLOWERS 
 
 AWAY in the cornfield, when daylight was done, 
 I met a sweet maiden so shy and forlorn ; 
 
 She came through the poppies, once red in the sun, 
 But now sunk in slumber till break of the morn : 
 
 And O, I was fain, as my heart beat the while, 
 
 For the gleam of her eyes, and the lure of her smile ! 
 
 And I cried, ' Pretty maiden with tresses of brown, 
 
 Red cheeks like the poppies, and eyes cornflow'r blue, 
 
 Please say where you 're going ? It can't be to town ! 
 I would I were roaming these dim fields with you ! 
 
 And O, for one kiss from your mouth like a rose : 
 
 Perhaps you will give it ? Who knows, dear, who knows ? ' 
 
 Her sweet eyes gaz'd downward ; I stood in her way, 
 And show'd how the path led away to the sea. 
 
 ' A kiss for the forfeit, you really must pay 
 
 You 're walking the pathway belonging to me ! ' 
 
 And O, how she blush'd, and with soft finger-tips 
 
 Protected the flow'r of her red rosy lips ! 
 
 One moment I held her : one moment, then she 
 
 Had sped like a moonbeam through poppies and wheat ; 
 
 And she cried o'er the silence all softly to me, 
 
 As she danced down the hillside on footsteps so fleet 
 
 * No forfeit I paid you ! Your luck was amiss ! 
 
 For / gave no kisses 'twas you paid the kiss ! ' 
 
 183
 
 DECEMBER AND MAY 
 
 I LOV'D you first, when all our skies were clear, 
 In life's sweet May, or ere a dark December 
 Our fields had sown with bitterness and fear 
 
 Yet I remember : 
 When fortune frown'd, and friends seem'd never near, 
 
 Your lips were warm with kisses ; 
 For you were constant, tender, true and dear : 
 And so to-day 
 I softly say, 
 No joy in life like this is 
 
 To remember in December ^ 
 
 Under winter skies, 
 Gleams of laughter, sorrow after, 
 
 In your loving eyes ; 
 By the fireside* s glowing ember, 
 
 Two lives linked for aye, 
 And sweet love, in dark December, 
 
 Trite as once in May ! 
 
 You lov'd me first, when life stood at its Spring ; 
 You love me yet, as years go onward stealing. 
 The happy birds, with throbbing bosoms, sing 
 Your love revealing ; 
 184
 
 No sweeter song the coming years can bring, 
 
 While stars shine clear above me : 
 Love's old sweet song, forever carolling, 
 Toward the dawn 
 Of Heav'n's glad morn, 
 That tells the world you love me ! 
 
 / remember in December, 
 
 Under winter skies, 
 Gleams of laughter, sorrow after, 
 
 In your loving eyes, 
 By the fireside' s glo-wing ember 
 
 Two lives linked for aye, 
 And sweet love, in dark December, 
 
 True as once in May ! 
 
 185
 
 COME BACK AGAIN 
 
 COME back again, my own first love, I miss you 
 
 Our childish troth, unvex'd of sighs or tears ; 
 Roses of Memory, how I long to kiss you, 
 
 And guard your fragrance thro' the changing years ! 
 Those golden notes to which I used to listen, 
 
 From your dear voice, singing to me alone 
 Come back in dreams, while tears of gladness glisten, 
 
 And deepest sorrow into peace has grown ! 
 
 Come back again ! 
 Dear love of youth I cannot live without you : 
 
 Bring me Love's guerdon, and come back again ! 
 
 Come back again from the clear heav'ns above me, 
 
 I hear the skylarks, climbing in the blue ; 
 I claim your friendship, know you still must love me, 
 
 And I am friend and lover, always true ! 
 I watch Life's Tide, its stealthy marches making, 
 
 But know its waves at last must bear you home ; 
 Come back again my heart is well-nigh breaking, 
 
 Let patience justify love's vigils come ! 
 
 Come back again ! 
 Dear love of youth I cannot live without you : 
 
 Bring me Love's guerdon, and come back again ! 
 
 1 86
 
 DEAR SON O' MINE 
 
 DEAR Son o' Mine, sweet gift that God has sent me, 
 Love's blossom rare, that came from skies above, 
 I hold you in my arms, 
 With all your baby charms, 
 
 And O, I prize the treasure Heav'n has lent me 
 These laughing eyes, like those of my true love : 
 Dear Son, dear Son o' Mine ! 
 
 When duty called, my true love had to leave me ; 
 He linger'd not, for he was brave and true ; 
 He held you to his breast, 
 And kiss'd your eyes to rest ; 
 But, Son o' Mine, this parting shall not grieve me, 
 For he has left Love's Pledge of Faith in you, 
 Dear Son, dear Son o' Mine !
 
 ROSES ON THE PATH 
 
 IN all our lives there is some hidden sorrow ; 
 
 But do not mourn, while love lights one fair face : 
 Earth's flow'rs must bloom and though they fade to-morrow, 
 
 Sweet roses, sweeter still, will take their place ! 
 
 In all our joys there is a shade of sadness ; 
 
 But bravely sing, and scorn to grieve or sigh ; 
 God's lilies dream their pure white dreams of gladness, 
 
 So dream we, dream we on, until we die ! 
 
 To loving hearts this pledge of faith is given ; 
 
 To earnest souls there comes one promise true : 
 God rules in love, and all the way to Heaven 
 
 Love's sweetest roses grow for me and you ! 
 
 188
 
 LET LIFE BE LIKE A FLOWER 
 
 SURE, a Garden is the loveliest thing that God has placed on earth : 
 
 For there, at noon, the bees are found, their perfum'd traffic booming; 
 And my larkspur and my lavender were born for joy and mirth, 
 
 So in my heart, my grateful heart, I '11 keep earth's blossoms 
 blooming ! 
 
 Let Life be like a flower of simple honest hue, 
 
 That knows but one home-bower, content with sun and 
 
 dew ; 
 
 That has no cause for worry, no reasons to pretend, 
 But, 'mid all noise and flurry, owns God as Guide and 
 Friend ! 
 
 Sure, a Garden is the sweetest thought that fell from Heaven above : 
 My flowers have names, whose magic sounds are charms that sorrows 
 
 sever ; 
 
 And its haunted air at nightfall fills my life with light and love, 
 So in my soul, my sane sweet soul, its fragrance dwells for ever ! 
 Let Life be like a flower of simple honest hue, 
 That knows but one home-bower, content with sun and 
 
 dew ; 
 
 That has no cause for worry, no reasons to pretend, 
 But, free from noise and flurry, owns God as Guide and 
 Friend ! 
 
 189
 
 KINGDOMS 
 (AFTER THE PERSIAN) 
 
 KINGDOMS may fall, and kingdoms rise, 
 
 But somewhere waiteth in this world for me 
 
 A lonely soul, with yearning eyes, 
 
 Each knowing each in splendid loyalty ! 
 
 So move our hearts, thro' weary hours, 
 
 Waiting the gladsome day, the perfect goal 
 
 When morn shall bring its fragrant flow'rs, 
 
 And deathless soul shall wait on deathless soul ! 
 
 190
 
 YOU AND ME 
 
 SPRING on the boughs that sway and sigh 
 
 To the playful breezes that frolic through ; 
 Fleecy white clouds in an April sky, 
 
 And peace in the mind of you ! 
 
 The joy of June on each hedgerow small, 
 
 Where roses dream of the rain and dew ; 
 A sleepy sun that broods o'er all, 
 
 And love in the heart of you ! 
 
 The twilight hour of a lover's tryst, 
 
 When hush'd is all Nature's revelry ; 
 Two tender lips that wait to be kiss'd, 
 And joy in the soul of me ! 
 
 191
 
 LOVE'S MIRACLE 
 
 WHEN she is near 
 How sweet appear 
 All natural things ! 
 My glad heart sings ; 
 And every flow'r 
 Marks gladder hour 
 For me, and dear 
 Is earth's glad cheer. 
 When she is near ! 
 
 The fields are rife 
 With Love and Life ; 
 Each bird makes croon 
 In joyous tune ; 
 Each insect sings 
 On silver wings 
 Ah \ life is sweet 
 In every beat, 
 When she is near ! 
 
 When she is gone 
 I dwell upon 
 
 Grey natural things : 
 No sweet-throat sings. 
 Dark seems earth's sky, 
 And sad am I ; 
 192
 
 The lonely hours 
 Are void of flow'rs 
 When she is gone ! 
 
 O, love be near, 
 
 Be ever near, 
 
 So song and word 
 
 From flow'r and bird 
 May always be 
 Our litany 
 Love's litany ! 
 
 DESIRE 
 
 O'ER thorny ground on weary feet 
 Long had I sought for rest ; 
 
 I did not deem Life's roses sweet, 
 Nor claim Love for my guest : 
 
 Then, in your eyes, your loving eyes, 
 I found Life's sweet and best ! 
 
 I do not come with great desires, 
 
 But peaceful as a dove ; 
 Lift, lift my gaze to starry fires, 
 
 Where shine God's lamps above ; 
 Since you are giv'n to me by Heav'n, 
 
 I plead for your dear love ! 
 193
 
 MY BOOK 
 
 I HAVE a volume that I daily read, 
 
 A volume stor'd with thoughts immaculate ; 
 And here I find the Magic that I need 
 
 To light my lonely life to happier state ! 
 
 Its messages for me are purest gold : 
 
 They harness doubt upon the road to death ; 
 
 Each word becomes more beauteous to behold, 
 As heart and brain look on with bated breath ! 
 
 This garner'd beauty is all mine to read, 
 
 All mine to cherish, mine alone for ever ; 
 'Tis here I find the soul's supremest need, 
 
 Within the book that Death alone can sever 
 
 Sweet, full of grace 
 The beauteous pages of my darling's face ! 
 
 194
 
 LOVER'S JOY 
 
 HAD I the lily's whiteness, and the rose's sweet surrender, 
 
 I would robe you, dear, some morning as the Mistress of the 
 
 . Flovv'rs ; 
 
 Had I the tints of autumn, and the ocean's starry splendour, 
 I would crown you in my gladness Queen of Life's Exquisite 
 Hours ! 
 
 Had I the nightjar's sorrow, 'neath the full moon's golden glory, 
 I would touch your heart to laughter and a rush of sudden 
 tears ; 
 
 Had I the south wind's whisper, and the river's solemn story, 
 I would make your soul a Casket for the Glory of the Years ! 
 
 195
 
 ONLY ONE HOUR 
 
 Only one little hour 
 
 From love and my dear old home ; 
 Only one little hour 
 
 Or ever I cease to roam I 
 
 There 's a sob in the sounding rain, 
 And a wail in the wind o'er the sea ; 
 
 But they dance a measure of joy in my brain, 
 For I 'm coming at last to thee ! 
 
 I gaze on the nearing shore, 
 
 Where we parted that last sweet day ; 
 And I know we are meeting to part no more, 
 
 And our love will endure for aye ! 
 
 I come with the Spring and the flow'rs ; 
 
 I come, O my heart, o'er the sea j 
 No need to count longer the tarrying hours 
 
 For I 'm speeding to home and to thee ! 
 
 Only one little hour 
 
 From love and my dear old home ; 
 Only one little, one little hour, 
 
 Or ever I cease to roam 
 O, / 'm speeding to Love, and Home ! 
 
 196
 
 SOMETIMES 
 
 SOMETIMES I hark 
 
 The first rich rapture of the soaring lark : 
 My heart and mind rejoice, 
 Thinking I hear your voice ! 
 
 Sometimes I thrill 
 
 At frail, sweet beauty of the daffodil : 
 My eyes grow dim the while, 
 Thinking I see you smile ! 
 
 Sometimes I yield 
 
 My soul to God in glowing harvest-field : 
 The proud, free p'oppy, too, 
 Is redolent of you ! 
 
 Sometimes I kiss 
 
 (No longer needing Nature's alien bliss !) 
 Your brow, your hands, your hair : 
 For my true heav'n lies there 
 My Heav'n of Heav'ns lies there ! 
 
 '97
 
 SORROW AND SONG 
 
 THERE 's never a song in the twilight 
 
 But some one's sad heart knows its pain ; 
 There 's never a flow'r in the sunlight 
 
 But some one's tired eyes smile again ! 
 There 's never a breeze on the hill-top, 
 
 But some healing wing is unfurl'd ; 
 There 's never a star shines in heav'n, 
 
 But some silver gleam lights the world ! 
 
 Thank the Lord for loving, 
 Thank the Lord for life ! 
 
 There 's never a gloomy horizon 
 
 But sunset has skill to adorn ; 
 There 's never a lark in the meadow 
 
 But greets with its heart-song the morn ! 
 There 's never a mist on the valley 
 
 But tells of the mountains above ; 
 And God gives to each of His creatures 
 
 A task of thanksgiving and love 
 
 So, thank the Lord for loving, 
 Thank the Lord for life ! 
 
 198
 
 LYNETTE 
 
 LYNETTE, Lynette, O where have you gone ? 
 
 Why have you left me alone, Lynette, 
 With only my mem'ries to live upon ? 
 
 Lynette, Lynette, I can never forget ! 
 Can never forget your blue-speedwell eyes, 
 
 With never a shadow of pain or regret ; 
 But you fled me beneath the clear moonlit skies 
 
 O, why did you leave me, Lynette, Lynette ? 
 
 Lynette, Lynette, with the lips of red, 
 
 And the snowdrop cheeks : of such exquisite hue ; 
 I lov'd you or ever our hopes lay dead, 
 
 Ah ! how can I live if I now lose you ? 
 You grew weary of happiness, longed for ' life/ 
 
 You are gone on a quest of anguish and fret, 
 Come back to my heart, my dream-sweetheart, my wife, 
 
 Lynette, I am crying for you, Lynette 
 
 Come back, come back, Lynette ! 
 
 199
 
 BY THE WATERS BLUE 
 
 FOR what are you watching, you sweet little maid, 
 
 As you sit by the waters blue ? 
 Do you wave your hand to a mystic strand 
 
 In the Country of Dreams Come True ? 
 As you dream your dreams of a heart's content, 
 
 And you gaze o'er the deep, deep foam, 
 In the morning mist, is your sweet mouth kiss'd 
 
 By a sailor who ne'er comes home ? 
 
 For whom are you waiting, you dear little maid, 
 
 With your eyes on the Far Away ? 
 Will you dream of me in the years to be, 
 
 And remember the glad To-day ? 
 From your dainty head to your dancing feet, 
 
 And your eyes of the deep sea-blue, 
 I wi.ll love you well won't you let me tell 
 
 All my joy : all my love for you ? 
 
 200
 
 SWEET LOVE 
 
 SWEET Love 's a rose 
 
 That blooms alway 
 In garden-close 
 
 At dawn of day ; 
 For all who will 
 
 Seek solitude, 
 When nights are still, 
 
 Sweet Love 's a mood ! 
 
 O pluck the rose 
 
 Ere day be spent : 
 Its rich repose 
 
 Gives glad content ; 
 Seek Love and Life 
 
 Inhale them deep : 
 Farewell to strife, 
 
 Hail, Rest ! Hail, Sleep ! 
 
 201
 
 REUNION 
 
 ONLY the frail faded flow'r, 
 Once wet with the rain and the dew 
 
 Of that glad sweet day, 
 
 When our world was May, 
 And I told my love to you ! 
 
 The flow'r I plucked for your breast, 
 As we stood by the hawthorn tree, 
 
 While the birds above 
 
 Heard me tell my love, 
 And you kiss'd the red rose for me ! 
 
 Parted for long weary years : 
 But the mem'ry of that sweet kiss, 
 
 And the token we pass'd 
 
 Bears us safe at the last 
 To the haven of love and bliss ! 
 
 Here is the morn of our love, 
 The dawn of a Dream come True : 
 And the rose of our rest 
 By heaven's joy will be blest, 
 As I kneel to thank God for you ! 
 
 202
 
 OUR HOME BY THE SEA-GIRT HILL 
 
 THE stately ships, the deep blue skies, dear heart, 
 The world we knew, so full of peace and rest 
 To-day, alas ! there shines no sun apart, 
 
 Until you come to me in that sweet little nest ! 
 Back to the dreams we used to dream 
 
 In our home by the silver sea ; 
 Back to the sunlight, the rain, the dew 
 
 Of the Days that Used-to-Be : 
 'Mid the fragrant air and the verdure fair, 
 
 I wait with a fond heart still 
 For my heart is true, and I long for you 
 In our Home by the Sea-girt Hill ! 
 
 I wait for you, while waters on the bar 
 
 Make sad, sad moan, and days seem long and drear ; 
 And well I know, the night with moon and star 
 
 Proclaims the golden dawn that brings you ever near ! 
 Back to the dreams we used to dream 
 
 In our home by the silver sea ; 
 Back to the sunlight, the rain, the dew 
 
 Of the Days that Used-to-Be : 
 'Mid the fragrant air and the verdure fair 
 
 I wait with a fond heart still 
 For my heart is true, and I long for you 
 In our Home by the Sea-girt Hill ! 
 203
 
 LOVE'S INNER SHRINE 
 
 IN every human heart that beats 
 
 There lives one secret shrine, 
 And here the ardent spirit greets 
 
 A holier love divine ; 
 Ah ! sweetest friend, forget, forget 
 
 Past promises, untrue, 
 And know my soul its lamp has set 
 
 Before Love's shrine for you 
 Alone for you. 
 
 Love's purest thoughts go all unspoken ; 
 
 Love's noblest tears most bitter flow ; 
 Ah, take my life as steadfast token 
 
 Of love unchang'd from long ago ! 
 
 Unwittingly I stray'd away 
 
 From that pure ray within ; 
 Unlatch'd my sanctuary lay 
 
 To every cruel sin ; 
 But, sweetest friend, forgive, forget 
 
 Those days of grief and care ; 
 I kneel before our altar yet : 
 
 Come in and tarry there 
 
 O tarry there ! 
 204
 
 Love's purest thoughts go all unspoken ; 
 
 Love's noblest tears most bitter flow 
 Take, then, my life as steadfast token 
 
 Of love unchang'd from long ago 
 I love you now, as long ago ! 
 
 GREY EYES OF DREAMS 
 
 WHEN life is sad, I hold you close to me, 
 Our world around is like a stormy sea ; 
 
 But with your hand in mine, dear, 
 
 And those grey eyes that shine, dear, 
 I care not, no, I care not, how hard my lot may be- 
 
 O dear grey eyes of dreams, 
 
 Where all my glory beams, 
 And love and life are lit alone for me ! 
 
 When feast is o'er, and all my life is sad, 
 
 Give me your love, for Love can make me glad ; 
 
 Earth's flow'rs may cease to bloom, dear, 
 
 Before lie winter's gloom, dear> 
 But I care not, no, I care not, if I can only see 
 
 Those dear grey eyes of dreams, 
 
 Where all my glory beams, 
 And happiness returns again to me ! 
 
 205
 
 SWEET SEVENTEEN 
 
 WHEN Tiny Tess was six or seven 
 She danced as the fiow'rs in the winds of heaven ; 
 Blue eyes a-gleam ; bright hair set free ; 
 And toes a-twinkle in revelry 
 And when her baby voice went singing 
 'Twas like clear fountains of waters springing 
 When Tiny Tess was six or seven, 
 And near, ah very near, to Heaven ! 
 
 Now Tess, sweet Tess, is maiden-wise : 
 There 's wonder and love in her brooding eyes ; 
 Behind her are Springs that count seventeen, 
 And she waits Prince Charming (or so I ween !) 
 For when she sings, her voice, revealing, 
 Is full of passion and tender feeling 
 
 Now sweet seventeen has made her wise . . . 
 For Tess is waiting Love's dearest prize 
 There 's love in her brooding eyes ! 
 
 206
 
 CONNEMARA'S FAIRY GLEN 
 
 UP Connemara's mountain side, and down her golden glen, 
 You '11 find, among the mist and dew, a host of Little Men : 
 They dance around in mazy rings ; they sing a wondrous song 
 ' Come out, come out, you lazy folk, and join our merry throng ! ' 
 Little people, fairy people, 
 Elf and sprite and fay, 
 Happy people, jolly people, 
 Calling at break o' day, 
 * Come out, come out, and play ! ' 
 
 O Connemara's mountain side and Connemara's glen 
 Hold lures of mystic melody for dreamers among men : 
 Youth dances in that golden dew, and tells how vain the strife. 
 Unless with dreams and fairy-lore we weave the web of life. 
 Little people, fairy people, 
 Elf and sprite and fay, 
 Happy people, jolly people, 
 Calling at break o' day, 
 ' Come out, come out, and flay / 
 Come out, come out, and play ! ' 
 
 207
 
 LIOSHA 
 
 I WANDER thro' the world on bleeding feet, 
 
 In winter's cold, or summer's burning heat ; 
 
 But I am call'd by thy voice, by thy voice low and sweet 
 
 Liosha, my lov'd one, Liosha, my own. 
 In alien tents amid the desert sands, 
 'Neath Southern Cross, or in lone tropic lands, 
 Ever I wait thy loving out-stretch'd hands, 
 
 Liosha, my lost one, O call me back to thee. 
 
 'Mid leafy palms, this little halting space, 
 
 Illum'd by love, seems an enchanted place, 
 
 For yonder beams the glory, the glory of thy face : 
 
 Liosha, my lov'd one, Liosha, my own. 
 O Life in Death, and death that would be bliss, 
 Star on my path, I only ask for this 
 To meet at last the rapture of thy kiss, 
 
 Liosha, my lov'd one, Liosha, my lost one, 
 O call me back to thee, O call me back to thee. 
 
 Claude Sutherland. 
 
 208
 
 DEAD ROSES 
 
 DEAD roses are always dead roses : 
 
 Nor grief, nor tears can make them bloom again, 
 E'en though the Spring, its bosom full of posies, 
 
 Follows the snow, with sunshine after rain. 
 Our sweetest songs must fade into the distance ; 
 
 Youth's golden dreams will not for ever stay ; 
 Lips we have loved are chill'd by Time's insistence, 
 
 When night falls dark upon Life's little Day ! 
 
 Be trustful, sad soul, in thy sorrow : 
 
 There is no Loss, where only Death is dead ; 
 Our dearest dreams shall all come true To-morrow, 
 
 When Doubt and Pain their final words have said. 
 Sustain'd by God's most wonderful compassion, 
 
 The Tide of Being ever onward flows 
 Soon we shall know, in Heav'n's diviner fashion, 
 
 Love's perfect fragrance the Undying Rose ! 
 
 209
 
 BECAUSE I LOVE 
 
 I DO not need trained eyes to worship you, 
 For eyes of love see ev'ry * loving ' view : 
 Once life was dark ; now all my skies are blue 
 I see . . . because I love ! 
 
 I do not ask for keenness of the ear : 
 The ears of love all * loving ' sounds can hear ; 
 Faith, Hope, and Love, make all my senses clear- 
 I feel . . . because I love ! 
 
 I do not crave for any deeper test : 
 The truest love is always lowliest ; 
 You hold my heart ; to God I leave the rest 
 I know . . because I love ! 
 
 210
 
 CHILDHOOD DREAMS 
 
 OFT by the dying ember 
 
 When the sun slopes to the west, 
 I remember, I remember, 
 
 Songs that soothed a child to rest 
 Hush-a-bye, baby, on the tree-top ; 
 Ride a Cock-Horse to Banbury Cross. 
 Such a wee little man with great sleepy eyes, 
 As he watch'd the dim twilight gather and rise 
 Ah ! I wonder if you still look down from the skies, 
 O mother, dear mother o' mine ! 
 
 O when the shadows flicker 
 
 On my lonely chamber wall, 
 Ever thicker, ever thicker, 
 
 Dreams of old around me fall 
 How many miles to London Town ? 
 Can we get there by candle-light ? 
 The years that creep onward are those that once ran, 
 But the heart is the same, since his life first began, 
 And he 's still your wee baby, although a big man 
 O mother, dear mother o' mine ! 
 
 211
 
 LOVE'S GIFTS 
 
 To some Love lends a pathway strewn with roses, 
 
 To some the thorny way ; 
 To some Love gives a heart where peace reposes, 
 
 To some she sends dismay. 
 
 Recall, dear soul, when life seems full of sorrow, 
 
 And winter steals the flow'rs, 
 Man has the hope of one sweet golden morrow, 
 
 In Love's prophetic hours ! 
 
 To some Love calls in accents full of gladness ; 
 
 To some, in terms that blind ; 
 But blest are they, who when their hearts have sadness 
 
 Know God and Love . . behind ! 
 
 212
 
 THE PROPOSAL 
 
 SUPPOSE I told you that I love you, dear, 
 
 Suppose I said my love was pure and true ; 
 And I laid my loving dreams before you, 
 
 Fragrant with morning dew 
 Would you my gift despise, dear, 
 
 Would you my love eschew ? 
 Would you refuse me, or would you choose me ?- 
 
 If my heart I gave to you, 
 If my heart I gave to you ! 
 
 Suppose you told me that you love me, dear, 
 
 Suppose you said your love was true as gold, 
 And you placed your gentle hands in mine, then, 
 
 Love's treasure mine to hold 
 Should I the Gift not prize, dear, 
 
 Should I not honour'd be ? 
 With love divine, heav'n would be mine, 
 
 If your heart you gave to me, 
 If your heart you gave to me !
 
 GLORY OF THE WORLD 
 
 SWEET ROSE, with shy soft leaves uncurl'd, 
 
 Blooming for all to see 
 Thy name is Glory of the World, 
 
 And lovers worship thee. 
 
 Fair flow'r of maiden Womanhood, 
 
 Living alone for me 
 Thou art so pure and proud and good, 
 
 I am inspired by thee ! 
 
 Sweet Rose, Fair Maid, 'tis true, alas ! 
 
 Ye both must change and die 
 But beauteous thoughts to deeds may pass, 
 
 And Love rules earth and sky ! 
 
 214
 
 LOVE WOVE A SONG 
 
 LOVE wove a song, a song of hope found sleeping 
 
 A song of bitter sighs ; 
 I listen'd to her message, wildly weeping, 
 
 Her mournful melodies, 
 Her solemn litanies ! 
 
 * You were my Hope, and I did once adore you : 
 Prone at your shrine my dearest thoughts I laid : 
 
 Sweet frankincense and myrrh, pure oils I burn'd before you- 
 I trusted Heav'n, and could not be afraid ! ' 
 
 Love wove a song, a song of wistful sorrow, 
 
 And sang me fast asleep 
 Ah ! let me dream ! Have dreams not pow'r to borrow 
 
 The peace that Death may keep ? 
 Ah ! let me dream, and lose this world-old sorrow 
 Love grant me sleep, 
 
 Love grant me sleep ! 
 
 215
 
 GOLDEN JOURNEY 
 
 LOVING are your eyes, as o'er us darkness deepens ; 
 Tender is your touch, now Night is drawing near ; 
 Purer are your lips, and sorrow only sweetens, 
 O comrade dear, O comrade dear ! 
 
 Black may grow the vale, but see ! the hill-top brightens, 
 And, guiding us along, shines out one glorious star : 
 Take, dear heart, my hands, for we must go together, 
 
 O comrade dear, 
 Where Love and Glory are ! 
 
 216
 
 THE DAYS OF LIFE 
 
 THIS glad New Year 
 
 Is not too long 
 
 For joy and cheer ; for youth's bright song. 
 Our moments pass, 
 
 Ah ! pass away 
 And soon, alas ! the night must follow day ! 
 
 One thrilling breath 
 
 Is ours no more ! 
 
 For soon King Death reaps golden store. 
 Ah, then, breathe strong ; 
 
 Pluck life's fresh bloom, 
 We rest, ere long, within th' unmemoried tomb ! 
 
 317
 
 A LOVER'S QUEST 
 
 MY love is like a fragrant flow'r, 
 
 Planted by God on earth to glow 
 With perfume of one fleeting hour 
 
 Beside the path my feet must know : 
 A blushing rose, a red, red rose, 
 
 With heart of dear and sweet delight ; 
 Content to bloom in garden-close, 
 
 And lend relief to human sight ! 
 
 My love is like a golden song, 
 
 To cheer the heart when I am sad, 
 A rising cadence, pure and strong, 
 
 That makes the sound of music glad : 
 Notes, choral sweet, and free as fire, 
 
 Sounds like sweet sighs in golden air, 
 That fill the soul with great desire, 
 
 And bend the knees in earnest pray'r ! 
 
 My love is like a guiding star, 
 
 Set, over clouds, to glow and shine, 
 A cheering beacon from afar, 
 
 That warms the heart like richest wine 
 Let Love be all my song and praise, 
 
 While life is mine and fleeting breath : 
 Oh, may she light my ling'ring days 
 
 For I am hers in life and death ! 
 218
 
 LITTLE HILLSIDE COTTAGE 
 
 THERE is a climbing sunlit path that leads 
 
 Toward deep skies of blue, 
 Where in the hedge the rich and red rose bleeds, 
 
 And lilies dream of you ; 
 And there is found a spot enchanted, 
 
 Made only for you and me, 
 Where love reigns supreme, and life is a dream, 
 
 In our little Hillside Cottage, 
 Our little Hillside Cottage 
 That overlooks the sea ! 
 
 And when the world seems dark with pain and tears, 
 
 I turn my eyes again 
 Toward the hills that brighten all my years, 
 
 Like sunshine after rain ; 
 And then I hear sweet songs at twilight, 
 
 Sung only for you and me : 
 Where life is divine, and love always mine, 
 
 In our little Hillside Cottage, 
 Our little Hillside Cottage 
 That overlooks the sea ! 
 
 219
 
 FOR YOUR SWEET SAKE 
 
 IN golden summer weather 
 
 You told me all your dreams, 
 We pluck' d love's rose together, 
 
 Where Spring in glory gleams : 
 Now you are far away, by night as well as day, 
 
 I have no comfort but my dreams. 
 
 I wake, dreaming of you ev'ry morning, 
 
 Of those sweet golden days that are to be, 
 When the seed that I bear in my bosom of care 
 
 Shall blossom for you and for me : 
 Then I stray through our Garden of Mem'ry, 
 
 Where we kiss, as the glad birds awake, 
 In clear anthems of love to the sunshine above : 
 
 And I 'm happy for your sweet sake ! 
 
 Soon, soon you '11 be returning : 
 
 My dreams have told me so, 
 And, with what rapture burning, 
 
 I read their golden glow : 
 When at the day's long close I pluck Love's new-born rose, 
 
 And love, and you, together, grow ! 
 
 I wake, dreaming of you, ev'ry morning, 
 
 Of those sweet golden days that are to be, 
 When the seed that I bear in my bosom of care 
 
 Shall blossom for you and for me : 
 
 220
 
 Then I stray through our Garden of Mem'ry, 
 Where we kiss, as the glad birds awake, 
 
 In clear anthems of love to the sunshine above 
 And I 'm happy for your sweet sake ! 
 
 Dorothy Forster. 
 
 MORNING 
 
 How beautiful is the morning, 
 
 When the fragrant promis'd day 
 Is heralded by tints of apple-green ; 
 When no mists obscure the valley, 
 
 And a throstle far away 
 Carols clearly o'er the fields that lie between ! 
 
 Such an austere regal pureness 
 
 Later hours may not retain : 
 The heart leaps up in rapture and surprise ; 
 The moon is a faded mirror, 
 
 And like moths the stars are slain 
 In the orange fires that light the brooding skies ! 
 
 221
 
 LOVE'S NEEDS 
 
 I NEED one woman's gentle face to cheer me, 
 
 When Life is sad ; 
 One smiling mouth, two beaming eyes anear me, 
 
 To make me glad. 
 
 When she is nigh, a glowing heart I bear, 
 That makes this world a garden, fresh and fair ! 
 
 I need one voice, one tender voice, to thrill me, 
 
 To soothe my ear ! 
 Ah ! when it sings my joy would seem to kill me, 
 
 It is so dear ; 
 
 In my sad heart it lilts like captured birds, 
 That sing for very joy, and want no words ! 
 
 I need one soul, one woman's soul, beside me, 
 
 When I 'm in grief ! 
 No other star I ask from God to guide me, 
 
 Or give relief 
 
 No dearer joy in Heav'n I 'd crave than this : 
 To waken to the rapture of her kiss ! 
 
 222
 
 LITTLE SIX- YEARS-OLD 
 
 CHILD, what art thou ? In thine eyes 
 Dwells the light of Paradise ; 
 Lips that are like roses red, 
 Crown of gold upon thy head ; 
 White of lily on thy brow, 
 Cheeks that answer summer's vow ; 
 Such a charming picture yet 
 Artist's brush did ne'er beget ! 
 
 Little feet and fairy grace, 
 Dreaming, tender baby-face ; 
 With those looks so arch and wise, 
 Mingled triumph and surprise ; 
 Supple limbs so rarely still, 
 And sweet mirth that long hours fill ; 
 Baby, there could never be 
 Flow'r so pure and sweet to see ! 
 
 Flower that blooms alone for me ! 
 
 223
 
 HOME AGAIN 
 
 IN our little cottage gateway 
 
 I stand watching for you, dear, 
 While the ev'ning bells are ringing, 
 
 And the sleepy birds sing near ; 
 Silver stars will soon be shining, 
 
 As the twilight dims to grey : 
 And I wonder, are you coming, 
 
 Are you coming home to-day ? 
 
 Coming home ! Coming home 
 When the clouds to crimson burn, 
 All glad loving things return 
 Over forest, field and foam ; 
 
 Coming home ! Coming home 
 Back to Love's old sweet refrain, 
 In our cottage down the lane, 
 Are you coming, heart's desire 
 
 Are you coming home again ? 
 
 And our little garden waits you, 
 With its roses rich and rare ; 
 
 Beds of white and purple pansies, 
 Lenten lilies, pure and fair ; 
 224
 
 Will the night with star and moonbeam 
 Bless this longing heart of mine ? 
 
 Hasten homeward, O heart's dearest 
 Bring me dreams of joy divine ! 
 
 Coming home ! Coming home ! 
 When the clouds to crimson burn, 
 All glad loving things return- 
 Over forest, field and foam ; 
 
 Coming home ! Coming home ! 
 Back to Love's old sweet refrain 
 In our cottage down the lane, 
 Are you coming, heart's desire, 
 
 Are you coming home again ? 
 
 WIND AND REED 
 
 WET palm trees, black against the sky : 
 An empty vault of sullen grey ; 
 
 The river racing madly by, 
 
 And my Homeland far away ! 
 
 Green palm trees, burgeoning again : 
 A hint of warmth, birds' carol clear ; 
 
 The river's musical refrain, 
 
 And my Homeland drawing near ! 
 225
 
 JUST YOU 
 
 GOD cherish'd a Rose, as a token 
 
 A blossom still wet with the dew 
 And Love, in that silence unbroken, 
 
 Help'd make it an Emblem for you ! 
 A dream of delight and bright blisses 
 
 God placed in its heart of pure gold ; 
 While with fragrance of joy and sweet kisses 
 
 Love made each soft petal unfold ! 
 
 God and Love took the Rose from their garden 
 
 When the morning of life was all glad : 
 Ere its beauty could vanish or harden, 
 
 They sent it as joy for the sad ; 
 'Twas / claim'd the Rose, pure and perfect, 
 
 To cherish my lonely life through ; 
 And O, in my heart I still wear it 
 
 My red Rose, that sweet Rose 
 Just you ! 
 
 226
 
 AN ISLAND PARADISE 
 
 WHERE morning-glories are in bloom 
 
 Beside quaint mosque and minaret, 
 The white walls gleam the shadows gloom 
 
 And feather'd palms of green are set. 
 'Tis blossom-time each live-long day, 
 
 And near a leafy lane I know, 
 In that fair Island far away 
 
 Watch two bright eyes, with love aglow 
 In Zanzibar, 
 
 Sweet Zanzibar ! 
 
 Land of the clove-fill' d bright Bazaar, 
 'Tis blossom-time in England too ; 
 But how you haunt me from afar 
 
 With golden mem'ries, old yet new ! 
 My ev'ry pulse is fain rejoice, 
 
 Though sea be wide, though road be long : 
 I hear my true love's crooning voice, 
 And I must answer to her song 
 In Zanzibar, 
 
 Our ' Paradise,' 
 In quaint, sweet Zanzibar 
 
 227
 
 YOU BROUGHT ME ROSES 
 
 You once brought me crimson roses, 
 
 When the larks to heav'n went winging, 
 And the merry, merry squirrels 
 
 Frolic'd through the golden wood ; 
 And my happy, happy bosom 
 
 With deep joy and love went singing, 
 As you held my red, red roses, 
 
 And then kiss'd me where I stood ! 
 
 Now the world is cold and silent, 
 I bring back your crimson roses, 
 
 For your grave, your grave, my darling 
 
 Down beside the wintry sea ; 
 Do you hear my sad heart calling 
 As the night around us closes ? 
 
 Do you hear me tread above you 
 Do you still belong to me ? 
 
 228
 
 SUNSHINE OF MY WORLD 
 
 HAD I the tongue to tell how sweet 
 
 You are to me, mine own, 
 I 'd move all men on gladsome feet 
 
 To worship at Love's Throne ; 
 But words of mine can ne'er reveal 
 
 The wealth in you impearl'd 
 I only call you, woe or weal, 
 
 The Sunshine of my World ! 
 
 Could I describe your gentle ways, 
 
 Your beauty, maiden-wise ; 
 Or tell in sweet and simple phrase 
 
 Of love-light in your eyes 
 I know that lips, grown cold, would cling : 
 
 To sudden rapture hurl'd ; 
 Your woman's golden heart I sing, 
 
 O, Sunshine of my World ! 
 
 229
 
 A LITTLE SONG OF LIFE 
 
 LIFE is thrilling ; Life is dull ; 
 
 Life is full of grace ; 
 Life and Love, and this wondrous world 
 
 Life and your glowing face ! 
 
 Life is tedious ; Life is brief ; 
 Life is hard to bear ; 
 
 Love and Life, and the night's sweet dream- 
 Love and your bright, bright hair I 
 
 Life is happy ; Life is long ; 
 
 Life under Love's own skies ; 
 Love and Life, and a home for two. 
 
 Lit by your loving eyes ! 
 
 230
 
 BY OUR OWN FIRESIDE 
 
 WHEN days are long, and nights seem dark with woe 
 
 I sometimes ask if life is worth the pain ; 
 And then I read your eyes, with love aglow, 
 And I repeat this old-time sweet refrain 
 
 Life has not changed much since the world began, 
 
 For 'tis hard when the best is said ; 
 There '11 be no more tears in a hundred years 
 
 Once dead, we 're a long time dead ! 
 There is love I know 
 
 By the hearth's warm glow, 
 
 In the home where our treasures abide ; 
 Just you and I there make this old world fair, 
 When we 're safe by our own fireside ! 
 
 So why complain when skies frown black above ? 
 
 At set of sun the moon and stars arise : 
 
 Two hearts that beat with fortitude and love 
 
 Can make of this old world a Paradise ! 
 
 Life has not changed much since the world began, 
 
 For 'tis hard when the best is said ; 
 There '11 be no more tears in a hundred years 
 
 Once dead, we 're a long time dead ! 
 There is love I know 
 
 By the hearth's warm glow, 
 
 In the home where our treasures abide ; 
 Just you and I there make this old world fair, 
 
 When we 're safe by our own fireside ! 
 231
 
 MELODIES OF WIND AND WAVE 
 
 I LOVE to stand at eventide and watch the speeding ships ; 
 Enjoy the tang of salt and tar that lingers on my lips : 
 For wind and wave are wonderful, and O, they put to rights 
 The cobwebs of a weary brain on starlit autumn nights ! 
 
 O, the music of the ocean, 
 
 And the magic of the wind : 
 I dream about them day and night, 
 
 When they lie far behind ; 
 If you have liv'd away from men, 
 
 Where billows reel and roll, 
 Then melodies of wind and wave 
 
 Will haunt your happy soul ! 
 
 The waves have always lov'd the wind far more than men may guess ; 
 Each corner of this splendid earth they know and both caress : 
 And wind and wave were made for you, to cleanse all ache and smart, 
 So take their dreams of health and hope, and wear them in your heart. 
 
 O, the music of the ocean, 
 
 And the magic of the wind : 
 I dream about them day and night, 
 
 When they lie far behind ; 
 If you have liv'd away from men, 
 
 Where billows reel and roll, 
 Then melodies of wind and wave 
 
 Will haunt your happy soul ! 
 232
 
 LITTLE NIGHT-FACE 
 (A NIGERIAN SLEEP-SONG) 
 
 SLEEP, Little Night-Face, hear the coastwind creeping, 
 Creeping through the forest, and whistling in the field ; 
 
 Slumber, dusky little son, the skies may soon be weeping, 
 
 And the branches all be crashing, like spears upon the shield ! 
 
 Birdies all have hid their heads, my little one, 
 
 Not one tiny grey-throat now sings till morrow's cheep ; 
 
 The bush-flow'rs are a-nodding, and dreaming of the ruddy sun : 
 The wolf, the dog, the bush-cat are all safe asleep asleep ! 
 
 All the world is silent ; departed is toil's clangour, 
 
 Resting is the hatred, the bitterness, the scorn ; 
 Night reigns supreme : she has banish'd strife and anger 
 Slumber, Little Night-Face, through the hours when Love 
 was born ! 
 
 Sleep ! Sleep ! Sleep ! 
 
 Albert Jowett. 
 
 233
 
 A SONG OF MUSIC AND BEAUTY 
 
 BEAUTY, Beauty ev'rywhere, and God gave me eyes to see ! 
 Beauty around and above me ; and all of it open and free ! 
 Our life is a wonderful blessing, 
 
 Our love wears a garland of gold 
 When the buttercups dance to the elf-winds, 
 
 And the daisies soft petals unfold ; 
 When singing and flinging and swinging, the birds are at home in the 
 
 tree ; 
 
 And wiling, beguiling and smiling, you trip through the meadows to me : 
 When cloud-lace above 
 In heav'n's blue arch of love 
 
 Make Beauty and Music, 
 And laughter and glory 
 For you just for you and for me ! 
 
 Music, Music ev'rywhere, and God gave me ears to hear ! 
 Music around and above me ; and all of my senses are clear ! 
 The lark climbs its magical stairway, 
 
 The blackbird in ecstasy trills ; 
 And, dimpling along in the dayshine, 
 
 The brook babbles by to the rills ; 
 When beaming and gleaming and dreaming the stars call to meadow 
 
 and lea ; 
 
 And twining, refining and shining, God's Mirror reflects earth and 
 sea : 
 
 234
 
 When cloud-lace above 
 
 In heav'n's blue arch of love 
 
 Make Music and Beauty, 
 And glory and laughter 
 For you just for you and for me ! 
 
 OLD DESIRES 
 
 Too much of leisure ; too much of love ; 
 
 But the Spring 's here, and the sea 's near, 
 And Heav'n 's above ! 
 
 Too much of pleasure ; too much of pain ; 
 But the bird sings, and the wood rings, 
 And friends remain ! 
 
 Too much of wisdom ; too much of grief ; 
 But the sun shines, and the heart pines 
 For sweet relief ! 
 
 Too much of laughter ; too much of tears ; 
 And 'tis Good-night, with a new-found light, 
 When Death appears ! 
 
 235
 
 KIRRY, OF MONA'S SWEET ISLE 
 
 ARE you watching the fishing-boats put out to sea, 
 
 Dear Kirry of Mona's sweet isle ? 
 Do you wave to a lad in rough corduroys clad, 
 Who has lov'd you this many a while ? 
 Are you watching and longing your sweet fancies thronging 
 
 Toward him, far over the foam ? 
 Are you dreaming and scheming your thoughts outward streaming 
 
 To the morning you '11 welcome him home ? 
 O dear little Kirry, so blithesome and cheery : 
 Dear Kirry of Mona's Sweet Isle ! 
 
 Are you waiting the fishing-boats back from the sea, 
 
 Dear Kirry of Mona's sweet isle ? 
 How I would I were him, when the daylight grows dim, 
 
 And the stars in the blue heavens smile ! 
 For your heart 's in his keeping, both waking and sleeping 
 
 You love him, far over the foam ! 
 There '11 be dancing and singing, sweet wedding-bells ringing, 
 
 On the morning you welcome him home ! 
 O dear little Kirry, so blithesome and cheery : 
 Dear Kirry of Mona's Sweet Isle ! 
 
 236
 
 THE BLUE SUN-BONNET 
 
 SHE is just a country maiden, 
 
 And she wears a blue sun-bonnet ; 
 When you meet her in the meadows, 
 
 How you set your heart upon it 
 For red roses bloom within it : 
 
 Golden hair all brightly gleaming, 
 And that bonnet seems like Heaven, 
 
 With love's banners from it streaming ! 
 
 First she pokes the bonnet forward, 
 
 Till you see her dark eyes dancing ; 
 Then a mouth that craves for kisses, 
 
 And a chin that 's quite entrancing ; 
 And you swear there 's nothing sweeter, 
 
 Nothing neater or more knowing 
 Than that little blue sun-bonnet, 
 
 With just half its treasures showing ! 
 
 But your pleasure in it 's doubled, 
 
 When she drops it to her shoulder ; 
 While her roguish lips are pouting, 
 
 As she sees your glance grow bolder ; 
 And you lean your face toward her . . . 
 
 Sure ! No honey sweet as this is 
 Underneath that blue sun-bonnet, 
 
 Just one kiss or two long kisses ! 
 237
 
 FLEETING JOYS 
 
 No flow'rs but fade ; 
 
 No songs that live for ever ; 
 No love e'er made 
 
 But Death can sever ; 
 No gift but gets 
 
 Its worth from earlier gains ; 
 No silk but frets, 
 
 No bauble worth the pains ; 
 No hope of heav'n, 
 
 No dreams come true ; 
 All anguish, ev'n 
 
 For me and you ! 
 
 No flow'rs : but Springs 
 
 Give back their pristine passion ; 
 No soul : but wings 
 
 Grow from Death's fashion ; 
 No action kind 
 
 But lifts love to the skies ; 
 A place to find 
 
 In Someone's trusting eyes ; 
 One faithful heart, 
 
 One dream come true ; 
 One world apart 
 
 For me and you ! 
 238
 
 EYES THAT SHINE FOR ME 
 
 LOVE has the lure and the thrill of the ocean 
 
 Of the wide open sea strong youth ever craves : 
 The Sea calls as Love calls, with tender emotion, 
 
 And O, but your eyes hold the blue of the waves ! 
 The Sea calls and Love calls, with tender emotion, 
 And O, 'tis for you that my hungry heart craves ! 
 O luring eyes, O sea-blue eyes, 
 That shine alone for me ! 
 
 Love has the lure of earth's magical beauty 
 Its music, its glory, its rhythm, its show : 
 The Rose calls and Night calls, to love as a duty, 
 
 And O, but your eyes hold the Night's starry glow ! 
 The Rose calls and Night calls, with wonder and beauty, 
 And O, 'tis for you my heart hungers, I know ! 
 O luring eyes, O starry eyes, 
 That shine alone for me ! 
 
 239
 
 LONDON TOWN 
 
 DEEP, deep in the heart of the City, 
 
 There eddies around my feet 
 The noise and the hurry and clamour 
 Of the traffic's tumultuous beat ; 
 Through the glare of the arc-lamps above me 
 Looms the grey of the fathomless skies : 
 O, sad is their gaze 
 In these mad, modern days, 
 
 Where the stars in still brooding gleam down 
 For these are the eyes, the mysterious eyes 
 Of London, old London Town ! 
 
 Away in the somnolent suburbs 
 
 Blithe birds in the bare branches sing ; 
 There is joy in each old-fashioned garden : 
 The soft rush of a swift-speeding wing ; 
 For the Spring has crept over the river, 
 Eluding the smoke for a while : 
 And shy in the sun 
 Till the daylight is done, 
 
 Are the shrubs that mistook green for brown 
 For this is the smile, the slow sorrowful smile 
 Of London, old London Town ! 
 240
 
 The sun that illumines the country 
 
 Is the same sun that old London greets : 
 As she garners her secret communings, 
 
 'Mid Wealth that man's avarice cheats ; 
 So, let hurry and noise and wild clamour 
 
 Make the hearts of all townsmen rejoice 
 Let her tinsel seem sure, 
 As we bow to her Lure, 
 
 While the years her brief chronicles crown- 
 For this is the voice, the ironical voice 
 Of London, old London Town ! 
 
 241
 
 WHAT MATTERS TO-MORROW? 
 
 WHAT matters To-morrow, if we live all to-day ? 
 The birds sweetly pipe from their arbour so gay, 
 Where blossoms are crowding to clamber and cling 
 My darling, look round us : 'tis morning, and Spring ! 
 
 What matters To-morrow, if we love in the sun ? 
 Each hour shall hold honey till daylight be done ! 
 The brook, on its pebbles, shall teach us to sing 
 My darling, my darling, 'tis morning, and Spring ! 
 
 What matters To-morrow, if we kiss in the shade ? 
 Green leaves of the elm in cool blessing are laid ! 
 Let two hearts beat as one, and the future shall bring 
 Love's Harvest in Autumn, as crown to Life's Spring ! 
 
 242
 
 LOVE, THE DEATHLESS! 
 
 LOVE never dies : for when Life's Day is done 
 
 Love's moon a milder glory sheds around ; 
 And you and I will know both moon and sun 
 
 Nor need we fear the cold and silent ground ! 
 Silent ? Ah, no ! For loving hearts will turn 
 
 To golden-hearted lilies ; and white hands 
 To red and radiant roses, that will burn 
 
 Till crimson'd o'er with glory are the lands ! 
 
 When men have buried you beneath the sod, 
 
 Your cloven lips a peony shall be ; 
 And that fair brow which proudly tells of God 
 
 Shall emulate the pearly narcissi ; 
 Let both our souls no longer fear kind Death, 
 
 When Nature shall be sister and a queen : 
 When beast and bird and flow'r shall share our breath, 
 
 And we shall not be bond-slaves of the Seen ! 
 
 We shall live on shall know because we knew 
 
 All sensuous being : equal with the dawn : 
 The sunshine, and the moonbeam, and the dew, 
 
 The dryad, and the centaur, and the faun : 
 And when some lonely wayfarer, whose feet 
 
 Are weary, O so weary, sits awhile 
 Upon our grave, his heart will learn how sweet 
 
 Has been our love and share with us Love's Smile ! 
 
 243
 
 LOVE TURNED ADRIFT 
 
 YOUR heart was mortgaged to me ; so 
 I paid no rent ; nor need I show 
 
 My right to dwell ! 
 That lien you cancel bid me * Go ' 
 
 And thus . . . Farewell ! 
 
 You clear love's debt in mocking jest ; 
 Nor deem that in your throbbing breast 
 
 I liv'd alone : 
 Yet not alone ! Hope was my guest 
 
 Upon Love's Throne ! 
 
 True : I have liv'd in many a heart, 
 And felt the separating smart 
 
 From breasts so true : 
 Yet you had ne'er a counterpart, 
 
 Among the few ! 
 
 Now, homeless, I must pace once more 
 Beyond your heart's close-fasten'd door- 
 Must watch your face : 
 But, till my death, I hold and store 
 
 This last embrace 
 Your love's last sweet embrace ! 
 
 244
 
 CHILDHOOD FANCIES 
 
 CHILDHOOD Fancies ! Childhood Fancies ! 
 How they haunt my dreams to-day ! 
 Blows the breeze as fresh and fragrant, as it used to long ago r 
 
 Can aught else, like Childhood Fancies, 
 Thrill the soul with love and rapture, 
 
 Make the mind as warmly glow 
 Sweet, glad dreams of Long Ago ? 
 
 Childhood Fancies ! Childhood Fancies ! 
 
 O the weary road before ! 
 But the tender lips behind me, in those youthful golden days ! 
 
 Let me dream of Childhood Fancies, 
 With my true love's warm hand clasping, 
 And my glad heart full of praise 
 For the sweets of Love's First Rays ! 
 For the joys of Other Days ! 
 
 245
 
 SMILES 
 
 THERE are wrinkles on most faces won't you choose the proper style ? 
 Not the kind that come from worry, but the sort made with a smile ! 
 For I 've found that fret and flurry never happiness impart, 
 Whereas smiles are Lamps to lighten all the Chambers of the Heart ! 
 
 There 's a pow'rful lot of pleasure just to see the shrubs in flow'r : 
 When white bells of frangipanni burst to ring out Christmas hour ; 
 When the clust'ring bougainvilleas and the sweet mimosas curl 
 Round the little porch and roof-tree that enshrines the one dear girl ! 
 
 When the birds are wildly singing, till they scarce can sing no more, 
 And the stars come out a-dancing on the lace of heaven's floor ; 
 When bright evening-lamps are glowing, and a pair of sparkling eyes 
 Call you homeward through the twilight, lit with love and glad surprise. 
 
 Take my word, there 's joy and laughter in this bad old world below 
 If you '11 take the gifts God sends you, and content you with Life's Show ; 
 For the sweets surpass the bitters, though you live one hundred years, 
 And your soul should swell with rapture, e'en when eyes are wells of tears. 
 
 There are wrinkles on most faces but you '11 choose the proper style ? 
 Not the kind that come from worry, but the sort made with a smile ! 
 Then you '11 find all life 's a pleasure, and you '11 keep (and never part} 
 Those sweet smiles, like Lamps, that lighten ev'ry Chamber of the 
 Heart ! 
 
 246
 
 FROM MY BALCONY AT LAGOS 
 
 SUNSHINE, gracious and benign, flits along the floor, 
 And to me it seems a sign newer joys in store ; 
 Through the lattice I can see, framed in gold, the fields ; 
 And my rhyming, peacefully, deep contentment yields ; 
 Birds are flut'ring gaudy wings, fluting fond and free, 
 While all Nature sighs and sings, in her ecstasy ! 
 
 How this world with love is full, morn to ev'ning long 
 Joyous, splendid, beautiful, lit with silv'ry song ; 
 Let me learn life's lesson too, sing as Nature sings, 
 Drown my heart in dawn and dew, cultivate Love's wings : 
 Sing for singing's own sweet sake, drench'd in dear delight 
 Make my music-calls awake Love at love's first sight ! 
 
 See ! The red sun climbs to kiss the roses, swaying high, 
 Each new moment bright with bliss as it frolics by ; 
 Have the roses, in surprise, learn'd how Love is found : 
 Boldly climbing to the skies roots held in the ground ? 
 For 'tis clear that Man must love, and his loving show 
 When his thoughts are twin'd above, but his acts below ! 
 
 Hence I kiss the roving breeze, as it kisses me 
 Hence I hail the dancing trees, in free-masonry ! 
 Life is happy (so I find !) far from busy throngs, 
 Where the birds, with gen'rous mind, teach me all their songs ; 
 Murmur winds ! Shine, skies above ! Life is very sweet ! 
 Teach me how to live in love, till Love reigns replete ! 
 
 247
 
 MARMOSET AND MAIDEN 
 
 UPON the deck she stood beside the little wooden cage 
 
 Of one who knew a million years of mournful heritage : 
 
 A tiny thing of gold-brown fur, who thrust one wistful paw 
 
 Within her palm ; then look'd at her with wond'ring eyes that saw 
 
 The apogee of all his race ; and seem'd to understand 
 
 What wealth of tenderness there lay behind her soothing hand ! 
 
 Then, as I watch'd, a mist of tears subdued my longing eyes, 
 Rememb'ring he was kin with us, and shared our destinies : 
 Yearning, alone ; loving, unlov'd ; with dreams lock'd in his brain 
 That blurred ancestral memories, and left him only pain ; 
 And softly to myself I said : ' Would God, Who reigns above. 
 That all men felt for helpless things such deeps of friendly love ! ' 
 
 Edinburgh : Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE LTD.
 
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 [FORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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 ast date stamped below. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 gr"": 1 : 
 
 M 
 
 Awn.Fi.Ka
 
 Stuart-Young-" 
 t-037 joiner melod- 
 
 S9325mi ies 
 1921 
 
 A 000 561 450 8 
 
 PR 
 6037 
 S932$mi 
 1921