je triumphant nd Other 7?oems Charles MI)TIH-:H. MOTHER. x f\UEEN of the qucenliest, lover of lovers, Gentle and kind of life s kindliest ones, Faithful, devoted, the mother of mothers, All of the world were thy daughters and sons. Beauty so winsome was never beholden Impictured on continent, ocean or isle As that which, love-glimmering, seemed to un fold in The exquisite, angelic light of thy smile. Courage? There seemingly never existed Spirit more dauntless, heroic and brave. Pain thou bore valiantly, life thou insisted Was mightier far than the might of the grave. Mother, our mother, we never can lose thee, Death cannot claim such a spirit as thine Sainted by sinners, we know God approves thee For thou wert immortal and thou wert divine. LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER WHOSE LIFE WAS A DIVINE POEM AND WHOSE PASSING TRIUMPHANT AND GLORIOUS THE LIFE TRIUMPHANT AND OTHER POEMS BY CHARLES RUSSELL WAKELEY /=><> Z. 6" COPYRIGHT 1911 BY CHARLES R. WAKELEY CONTENTS. JBT PAGE The Life Triumphant 9 My Life 12 Adventure 14 Manhood 16 To L. W. G 18 Tomorrow 19 The Universal Cry 20 Unworthy 22 Answered 23 A Retrospect 26 Life s Unfoldment 30 The Passing of the Year 32 Ultima Thule 33 Death of Moses 35 My Enemy 38 Opulence 40 Thanksgiving 42 Eventide 44 Our Baby 46 Friends 47 A Christmas Greeting 49 The Enchantress 50 Gethsemane 51 The Initiated 32 Limitation . 54 PAGE Love 56 The Vikings 57 The Processional 59 Development 62 Woman 64 A Face 66 The Sower 68 To a Friend 70 Evolution 71 To the Infinite 74 Night 75 Omnia Sunt Sancta 77 The Revelation 79 Sunrise 80 A Pentwater Sunset 81 Walt Whitman 83 Necessity 85 Entangled 87 With Thy Hand in My Own 89 Unseen Forces 90 The Knighted 92 Emancipated 93 Death and Life 95 Why We Believe in Equal Suffrage 96 The Gambler 98 The Conflict 100 Old Age 102 When the Night Closes In 103 THE LIFE TRIUMPHANT ty AM passing through the country of the stricken and the dying; I have seen the face of suffering, of hopelessness and fear; But I come to voice the knowledge that is deep and satisfying; I m the bearer of glad tidings of good com radeship and cheer. I have come to sound the music of the life that is eternal; The life that knows no weakness, limi tations, pain or loss; I have come to sing the beauty of the life that is supernal; The sweetness of earth s bitterness, the glory of her cross. THE LIFE TRIUMPHANT I am a voice that crieth in the land of desola tion, Wherein the wails of broken hearts and broken lives are heard ; But I cry of hope s fulfillment nathless all of time s mutation And of joy unmitigated for the doubting, the perturbed. I raise the song of triumph when the foolish cry disaster ; I emphasize the victory which dying man may claim ; Some tell of life the bond-slave, but I speak of life the master ; I magnify its goodness and I minimize its blame. I prophesy the riches which the lowly shall inherit ; The bruised ones, the bleeding ones, the burdened ones and sore ; A love which grants abundance, not according to man s merit But according to man s cravings and the ful ness of God s store. 10 LIFE TRIUMPHANT Then let the earth be glad again and let the heart be brightened ! Let anxiousness be cast aside, the spirit cease to grieve ! And let the feet untiring move and let the load be lightened ; Let sorrow in the heart rejoice and unbelief believe. For in the great economy of God there s nothing wasted ; The yearnings of the human heart were never born in vain ; There shall be greater blessings than this mortal life hath tasted ; Unending benedictions as the recompense for pain. Then let us welcome cheerfully whatever earth may proffer; Accept the cup she yields us, drinking deeply of her wine ; Believing that immortal love pervades what- e er she offers ; That all of life at heart is good, compassion ate, divine. 11 MY LIFE. life is rich, abounding, for the Ll\V/J sources when it fills Are exhaustless and more ancient than the everlasting hills. It feeds in pastures ever green where living waters flow ; It shelters neath the mighty Rock which naught can overthrow. It knows no limitations, human weakness or disease ; It is flooded by the waters of immeasurable seas; It is the life unfolding in the growing plant and vine; As perfect and as wonderful and even more divine. It cannot be inhibited by circumstance of earth; Its wealth cannot be measured in the scales of human worth ; 12 MY LIFE Its rise is in the ages of the generations past ; Its issue in far future generations great and vast; Its purposes are mightier than thought hath yet conceived ; Its promises more wonderful than any plan achieved ; It finds its own fulfillment in the structure that it rears; Ill-fashioned oft by human hands and soiled by human tears. It cannot lose itself in death nor waste itself in pain; But issuing in fuller life, eternal shall remain. 13 ADVENTURE. ET me become the strong, adven turous one, Inspired by lofty purpose, knight ly zeal, With faith unfeigne d who would gladly run A course untraveled, flinching not to feel The suffering, the pain, the keen distress Of wild adventure through life s wilderness Yet unexplored ; yet having heart to trust That life at core is infinitely good And wise and true, beneficent and just, Though oft by ignorance misunderstood, Despised, dishonored, trodden in the dust. What recks the biting agony, the toll That life exacts of every pilgrim form? Twas not for fulsome pleasure we were born, But for the higher conquests of the soul. It is enough if we may eat the bread Of fuller wisdom, and be visited By holier presences. 14 ADVENTURE Though the way seem far, the footing rough, To breathe life s fuller, life s diviner air, To catch the vision of some far-off star, To feel the throbbing of some vital prayer The joys no accidents of time can mar Are surely, surely recompense enough. Why murmur we like children, foam and fret; Because of dallying winds of circumstance ? The very barriers overcome beget More strengthened sinews for the soul s ad vance ; Then on and on in greater, vaster courses I d pursue Unrecked, unventured fastnesses, achieve Some fresh experience elsewise unguessed, Respect the old, yet magnify the new ; Let not subservience to the past deceive, Subvert my feet from journeying forward, lest My course at last grow faltering or untrue. Nay, I would trust the stiller voice within, Nor quail before tradition s august power ; Stagnation s death would be life s foulest sin, And Ease the beast long waiting to devour. 15 MANHOOD. m N days like these When Mammon claims such hordes of votaries And human powers and art are trained to seize Material values as the highest goal, It is refreshing to behold a man Seeking to compass some diviner plan Placing life s rightful stress upon the soul. It is a pleasure great To know that some within the halls of state Before a holier shrine than Mammon s wait The sacred bidding of their King s behest ; Who see beyond the Present s paltry aims The Future s vast far-reaching, higher claims, Perceiving in life s Ultimates life s test. 16 MANHOOD Some men we find Rail-splitters it may be, who have divined Truths undiscovered by the common mind Whose vision and whose purpose are as one ; Who, steadfast to their deeper natures, feel The goading impulse of some high ideal- Timing their pocket-pieces by the sun. Such lift their forms Like Redwoods in a common forest, Mock the storm which sways the little sap lings, or which warns The mariner to venture not at sea ; Deep strike their roots within this earthly clod, Kissed are their foretops by the winds of God, Their lofty spirits mighty are and free. I emulate Not ravenous souls, howe er by some called great Forsooth, because some curious fortunes wait Upon their cunning and their crafty skill ; Rather, for me, a lovelier life I choose To play the man, though I may seem to lose ; Honor and Faith shall be my good friends still. 17 TO L. W. G. m WEET life departed gentle, pure and fair, So fraught with gracious service for mankind, In lowliest soil how surely thou wouldst find Some chance to plant some fadeless blossom there Plucked from life s mountains in that purer air Where thy discernment beauteous buds di vined ! Thou, frail of body, yet with heart so strong, So wise, courageous, kindly, brave and true, Who found life s goodness peering through its wrong And drank the bitter potion of life s rue With such heroic spirit, yet dids t long For human love which thine could st kindle to Thou hast a thousand lovers earth bestrewn, Whose transformed lives shall be thy lasting tomb. 18 TO-MORROW. FANCY when time in the future shall weigh On the scales of the ages our little today, And the centuries view with unprejudiced ken Those conditions which seem to engulf us, that then, Could we live in the light of those ages unborn, And, from knowledge more perfect, our own judgments form, Strangely altered, indeed, would those judg ments appear From the judgments we frame of conditions while here; And the deeds we think great and those acts we deem wise, Would appear very foolish and small in our eyes; While those things we consider of childish estate, In the eyes of the aeons of time would be great. 19 THE UNIVERSAL CRY. IVE me to live a life as free And wild as a sportsman s life would be, A life as pulsing, a life as full As throbs in the heart of a mighty bull. Give me to live a life as strong As lives which to athletes well trained belong ; A life of vision, a life of power, With roots in the ages and not the hour. Give me to live the life which dares Fashion alone from its deeds its prayers, Mighty of courage to act, to will, Fearful that nothing without can kill. Give me to live, to strive, to dare, Give me my burden of life to bear, Give me to follow the winding road, Give me the sinews to lift my load. 20 THE UNIVERSAL CRY Give me of losses and give me of gain, Give me the riches of joy and pain, Give me the life abounding, scorn For what is of fear and of weakness born. Give me to live, to feel the fires Of human passions and mad desires ; Give me the powers of self-control, The might to master a storm-swept soul. Give me to live, I have no heart To play but a coward s or a craven s part; Give me to live, from out this dust To wage war on the hell of all self -distrust. Give me to live a life which sees The folly of sumptuous, well-fed ease ; Give me to live, what ever the strife, For life is goodly and God is life. Then hear me, alone for this I cry ; Give me to live, and not to die. This is the gift I would have life give, Give me to live! Give me to live! 21 UNWORTHY. TANDING upon the topmost pin- ) jr\s nacle of time \S I view the mighty structure Life hath wrought Through all the ages with untiring thought And deathless energy and wise design, And am made conscious that the mass sublime Was framed together at the frightful cost Of men who toiled and suffered and are lost Amid the trackless labyrinths of time ; And I who pluck the fruitage of their pain And to whose lips their blood is turned to wine Fall on my knees and from my heart exclaim " I am unworthy of this gift of thine ; I am unworthy" and my speechless sob Re-echoes still "Unworthy, O my God! " 22 ANSWERED. SOUGHT for proof of God, nor could I rest Till I had found the object of my quest. I studied nature, wrestled wit her laws, To wrench from her some knowledge of her cause. I searched through realms of scientific thought, To find disclosed the object I had sought. In earth and air, in sea and sky in vain, I sought, the object of my search to gain. In living creatures, from primordial germ, To man the microcosm to discern Proof of God s life, I wrought with giant will, Used every method known to human skill, 23 ANSWERED Yet wrought so vainly that the very means I used to aid me, only mocked my dreams, Laughed at my toil and effort, scorned the pride, Which with a god would have man s life allied. The very Science of the world, but smiled, That man, fool man, should be so vain a child. Grown old through many anxious days And nights of earnest effort, over ways It seemed must lead most surely to the goal, I so long sought with all my strength of soul ; Discouraged and disheartened and forlorn, As thus I sat, unto my eyes was borne The vision of an image wondrous fair, Whose magic charm no language may de clare And thus the vision spoke: "Science did well To chide thy folly, which would have her tell Of things she may not know, much less dis close To thee, her Lord, though willingly she chose The secret of God s being rests with thee, Thy life, alone, thy life from doubt canst free. 24 ANSWERED Regard it well, not in its outer form Of flesh alone, of which thou must be shorn, Nor yet the wondrous workings of thy brain, So quick to balance, credit or disclaim ; But in thy natural instincts to possess The good or ill, the right or wrong redress. Who gave the thoughts of good or ill to claim Ere thy small tongue could lisping give them name? What then is good ? How knowest thou to choose The right or wrong the good or ill refuse ?" And as I listened, conscience loudly spoke "I am God s life in thee," and I awoke. 25 A RETROSPECT ROM the \vinding water courses where the tangled grasses dipped, From among its mossy boulders where my childish feet have slipped, From the sunny, flow ry meadows where the berry and the bee And the blossoms with their fragrance were companions meet for me. From the long, stone-fenced, vine-trellised walls where nature s fingers played, To where the towering elm tree lifts its giant arms of shade, From daisy and from buttercup, from robin, thrush and wren, Call voices of a far-off past and I am young again. 26 A. RETROSPECT Again the old familiar lane gives welcome to my tread, The buzzing bees glean honey from the lo custs overhead. How foolish seems the strife of life and its dis cordant noise When measured by the priceless wealth of childhood s early joys ! Again I see the faces, and the voices now I hear Of those beloved ones removed whose mem ories are so dear ; They seem to speak from out the past as oft they spoke before, They speak in memory, though they speak by word of mouth no more. My father speaks again to me from out the distant past Wherein our lives together in the stream of life were cast, Again I catch the accents of those early, far- off days, I, who have wandered off so far in such un dreamed-of ways. 27 A RETROSPECT My early friends, my early hopes, come troop ing at my will ; The vase is shattered, but the fragrance of the rose lifts still ; And though my human eyes I close, with a diviner sight I catch the glories of the past undarkened by the night. And through it all, unceasingly, I feel the deathless fire Of love which reaches outward for the things of its desire ; And though all goodness prove but ill, and truth itself a lie, I know that love will find its own and cannot, cannot die. Speak not to me of glory, nor of honor, nor of power, Which flourish like the ancient gourd to perish in an hour ; Speak rather of eternal things, most holy, most divine, Ay ! Speak of love, the priceless pearl, which may be yours and mine. 28 A RETROSPECT I close the chambers of my heart, my mem ories stow away; Again I set myself to meet the duties of the day. But in the hurried work of life, and when the world seems cold, I fancy that I m richer for the wealth those chambers hold. 29 LIFE S UNFOLDMENT. < HENCE springs humanity? Out of the wild, Out of earth s chaos and seem ing inanity Springeth life s child. Out of earth s blackness, Out of its night, Groping half blindly on Seeking the light ; Out of its infancy Prattling and prying, Peevish and fretful, Struggling and crying ; Out of the shadows of dread superstition, Slaves to the ghosts of a long- spent tradition, Creeping and crawling from grosser conditions Striving and dying. 30 LIFE S UNFOLDMENT Whither humanity ? Upward and on, Much of its ignorance, folly and vanity Soon will be gone. Up like the lily, Which lifts from the slime ; Up like the grasses, And up like the pine ; Up toward life s brightness; Patiently plying, Bent on uprightness, Living or dying ; Child of the sod, Draw like the stream, though impeded, which courses Forth from the springs of its own shallow sources On toward the ocean : thus all nature s forces Draw man to God. 31 THE PASSING OF THE YEAR. HE old, old year is dead : Of all its doubts and all its fears Of all its pleasures, all its pains, Of all its sorrows, all its tears, Naught but the memory remains. We greet the glad New Year! Its untried paths we trust may lead Our stumbling feet in better ways, And that from out the dead past s seed May spring a harvest to God s praise. ULTIMA THULE. HAVE traversed the world with the scope of my thought ; I have delved into science, have labored, have wrought ; I have gone the whole round of creation to find The ultimate end for which life was designed. I stand, as it were, on a cliff by the shore Of an infinite ocean whose waters, that roar At my feet, bear strange music from vistas unknown. I am far from my quest, I am far from my home. Mine eyes rest upon the expanse of the waves ; Though my intellect finds not the knowledge it craves, It hath found its own bounds, its own limits, and yields To the limitless life which the vision reveals. 33 ULTIMA THULE I am humbled by what I behold, yet I stand Erect as I gaze o er the sea and the land, For I know whence I came and I know that the sea Hath only unspeakable glories for me. So I wait and content, though my quest was denied, I await the high waters which come with the tide, And with their recession, in faith, I believe On their bosom my soul shall its answer receive. 34 THE DEATH OF MOSES. (After viewing the painting by J. J. Tissot.) X REAT Soul ! And so thou labored, so thou wrought ! And can it be when thou wert called to die Such toil as thine, such fruitage could st have brought, Such pain, such heartache and such misery? Thou livedst the life of greatness but thy woe Of hopes long cherished and yet unfulfilled, The sheltered life may never, never know, Which hath not largely hoped and greatly willed. 35 THE DEATH OF MOSES Ah ! Man of men the master, and the strong Of heart and brain to lead God s chosen band, Mute now thy lips to speak against the wrong ! Prostrate thy form and empty now thy hand ! Thy face ! Oh suffering personified ! No hand untouched by sorrow could portray Such features ( Twas a master s art which tried To trace thy great soul s awful agony). As there thou liest, emblem of our race, Greatest of those who lived and wrought and won, Abject despair is pictured on thy face, Broken thy heart and all thy hopes undone. And some say," Heed the lesson, mark it well, Prison thy hopes and be content, nor try For Canaan s riches, still in Egypt dwell, Make humble bricks of clay and earth and die." 3f> THE DEATH OF MOSES Nay! Rather let us press along with thee! Aspire to heaven, seeking lands unknown, And if it mean great suffering, let it be ; The lands we seek may be our children s home! In all the ages what accounts our pain, Or what the cup which to our lips is pressed Outpouring anguish may prove priceless gain, Be ours the Titan effort, God s the rest. MY ENEMY. * enemy. Who ? What harm can he do ? How injure my life if its currents run true ? What matter who come with the sound of the drum Demanding subjection ! I cannot succumb. No evil can press me, divert me, distress me When conscience uprises in honor to bless me. No fiend can annoy, assail or destroy A life which hath laid deep foundations for joy. My enemy ? No ; it cannot be so ; I only, I only, can bear myself woe ; Those forces which still are permitted to kill Are flimsiest shadows compared with my will. It is I, who may say, be it night-time or day ; It is I, not another, directing my way; It is I, who must win, if my battle be won ; By no friend and no kin can my service be done. 38 MY ENEMY My enemy, then, is not found among men, But ah ! most seductively speaks to me when Desire bids me not try for the thing that is high, But eases my life with some beautiful lie, Danger s form I espy, not far distant, but nigh, And his right nomenclature is I, myself, I ! 39 OPULENCE. AM rich- All the wealth of the ages I hold ; All the wealth of all kingdoms, Uncounted, untold, Unconjectured, is mine. And thou thinkest to curse My life by the theft of the coin from my purse ? Is such ignorance thine? Witless Fool ! I shall live As I have lived, but more, Though I clothe me with rags And do beg from the door Of my friends. I am richer, poor beggar, than thou Who canst take not the light of Life s wealth from my brow, But through tricks seek thy ends. 40 OPULENCE I am rich ! I have gathered life s wealth in my store ; I hunger for goodness, for favor no more ; I rejoice with today. Life s great meanings I hold A treasure I count me more splendid Than th gold which fools bury away. 41 THANKSGIVING. , * OT only for life s sunshine and its flowers, Its ample store of comfort and of wealth, Not only for its glad and cheerful hours, Its full supply of happiness and health, Not for these blessings only, would I raise Father, to thee, my voice of grateful praise. Father, I thank thee for life s storm and stress ; Father, I thank thee for its bitter tears Whose only mission was at last to bless And make me stronger for the future years ; For all life s seeming dark and crooked ways Which taught me trust in thee, I give thee praise. 42 THANKSGIVING Not for life s friends alone, though true and rare, The friends whose lives have seemed to touch my need; But for those hours when mortal could not share Those deepest thoughts on which I needs must feed, Because thou taught me even in those days To place my hand in thine, I give thee praise. 43 EVENTIDE. glorious beside the sea When lightnings flash and thun ders roar, When tempests in their frenzied glee In bold defiance, wild and free, Lash up the waters on the shore. Tis grand upon Niagara s side To see the rushing torrent flow, And view the awful foaming tide So deep, so ponderous, and so wide, Plunge to the rocky bed below. At visions such as these how small Appear the little thoughts of men. We hear Jehovah s august call In rushing flood and waterfall, And when he smites the main. 44 EVENTIDE But in the quiet twilight hour, When nature seems so hushed and still, When hardly moves a leaf or flower, Ah, then, behold a greater power Revealed by Sovereign will. 45 OUR BABY. x HE was a dainty little flower, too ^ fragile and too fair To long subsist on earthly soil or breathe our worldly air ; She seemed a spirit from the skies, that she might here make plain The beauty of self-sacrifice and uncomplain ing pain. She was the soul of gentleness, her nature had the skill Of suffering in silent pain, suppression of her will; She voiced no cry of bitterness in all life s bitter hours ; She came to suffer much distress and perish like the flowers. She left us, she was dear to us, but well we know her worth Shall be remembered as God s gift, his per fect gift to earth. 46 FRIENDS. E RE friends, just friends! And yet how vain To seek to find a lovelier name! In all the history of man From savage life of tribal clan To days when wonders so unfold Naught seems so worthless as The Old, One mighty living link still chains The past with all that yet remains ! One light still shines undimmed and lends Its beams afar, The Love of Friends. We re friends, just friends. You think the word Quite old ? But yesterday twas heard And poorly uttered, it is true There is no other word so new. We re friends, the world of man is one, The least is not unworthy, none To be the disregarded. All Together rise, together fall ! 47 FRIENDS We re friends, just friends but goodlier seems That word than in our childish dreams, And years increasing will unfold New meanings mightier than the old. 48 A CHRISTMAS GREETING. LD Time once more hath led away The seasons of the year, And sleighbells lightly chime again For Christmas-tide is here. The happy old reunion days With rare good- will have come, And kindly gifts from loving hearts Unite us all as one. The spirit of the Nazarene Seems born to earth again ; Once more we catch the Heavenly light Which shone o er Bethlehem. Not all our friends of yesteryear Are spared to us today, But nothing of their worth, we know, Can ever pass away. And so, our dear remaining friends, We greet you with good cheer, And wish within our hearts for you A very glad New Year ! 49 THE ENCHANTRESS. m LISTENED to thy call, Seductive Art, Enticing me with music and with song To quite forget the burdened human heart, To quite forget life s sorrow and its wrong, To float in dreamy cadences away, To live in other realms, remote, afar, To well withdraw from earth s insistent day, To gather music from some distant star ; But in my life great forces seemed combined To make me sing of sorrow and of death, Of satisfactions which the soul may find, Born not of vagrant musings, in a breath, But rather born of travail and of loss, Or valorous conflict and of irksome care, Of struggle under some stupendous cross Which hath its fuller meanings otherwhere. 50 GETHSEMANE. ,HERE is a way which man hath trod For lo ! these vast, these countless years, It is the way of life, of God, It is the way of night, of tears, Its windings we may not foresee, It is the way Gethsemane. It is the way whereby we know Life s larger meanings and its claims, The fellowship of human woe, Our partnership with others pains. It is the way which seems to be Life s only way Gethsemane. 51 THE INITIATED. those who truly love, life s way is beautiful and bright. They find fresh glories with each morn, new wonders in each night. For them a thousand living streams of glad refreshment flow ; They shape a city in their dreams which none can overthrow. Each oush and bird, each shrub and flower, seem clothed for them anew. They find the might of hidden power in all the deeds they do. They joy alike in sun and rain, in calmness and in storm, For they have known life s night of pain and found its after morn. For them the tables of the gods with bounties rich are spread ; They drink life s wine of happiness and eat her living bread. 52 THE INITIATED They are the great of heart and will, whose purposes are strong; The tasks unfolding they fulfill which to their lot belong. They live, for they are one indeed with all the great of earth. The high, the low, all having need, partake alike their worth. They are the true, the faithful ones, the dis ciplined of mind, In them alone, earth s dying sons shall full salvation find. 53 LIMITATION. ONCE beheld the ever restless sea, Goaded to fury by a driving storm, Roll up its ponderous waves against the shore, As though its yawning depths would swallow up The land, engulf the mountains, sweep across The plains, and bury every trace of earth Within its deeps. Beheld it quite as well In its wild frenzy sweep its rigid coast, As if it had not for ten thousand years Thus foamed and fretted, torn and dashed its sides, In all its awful anguish to be free. I heard its ceaseless moan as through the night, Wave after wave, which rolled along the shore, The unfeeling rocks broke and hurled back Upon its heaving bosom. I have seen Man s ever restless life thus deeply stirred, Whipped by the tempests and the winds of time, 54 LIMITATION Lash up its briny deeps against the walls- Those adamantine walls which hedge it in ; Have seen its writhing billows surge and roll, With agony of yearning and desire, As though it had not thus for myriad years Tossed, strained and labored, struggling to be free. Mine ear hath heard the moaning and the wail, As through the anxious watches of the night Man s restless heart hath wrought alone in tears ; And stretching yearning fingers toward the sky, Cried forth while echo, only, made reply "O Lord, My God!" 55 LOVE. far as human need exists, Or echoes call, Love, limitless, divine, persists About us all. Its pulsing waters never tell Of bounding shore ; They surge and roll and rise and swell Forevermore. 56 THE VIKINGS. mate ! We twain shall cut the crest, ffl*" And toss upon the billows of new seas. Our keel shall press where never keel hath pressed, Nor life beheld such wild discoveries. We forth upon uncharted seas shall ride In hopes of mightier knowledge to attain. We shall attempt life s dark, uncertain tides, And with our prows plow her unfurrowed main. Yea, mate, together we shall farther sail, Nor be distraught by aught of furious storm, Our songs of cheer shall swell upon the gale By which to farther regions we are borne. And we shall live the robust life and free, The life triumphant, full of faith, and strong, Confiding in the goodness of life s sea, Unf earful of the vengeance of its wrong. 57 THE VIKINGS Ay ! We shall ride together far and far, And know each other s voices in the night ; A close companionship with every star Which lights our course and guides our craft aright. And if our timbers cannot stand the strain, But smitten by the strong seas must go down, We shall have known the glory of the main, And each the other s valor ere we drown. Then on and on, and let the wild winds blow, Then on and on, we are beyond recall, The mighty forces of the deep we know With God s great heaven overarching all. 58 THE PROCESSIONAL. N the darkness sat I musing, when there wafted on the breeze Faintest murmurs, as of music, or the soughing of the trees ; Then they died away in distance, softly soon again to call Like the pleasing, gentle murmur of some distant waterfall; Then they ceased, and with steady measure did they seem to rise Like some human soul outcalling through the darkness toward the skies. Weird it seemed, and yet the beauty more than human words can tell Seemed to whisper through the night-time, "All is peaceful; all is well." Long I waited, partly doubting of mine ear had rightly heard, If it were not something other than the outer sounds which stirred; Long I waited, long I listened till the sweet ness grew more clear, Human voices now were blending, and were falling on my ear. 59 THE PROCESSIONAL Music twas divinely gracious, yet it seemed sublimely grand, Slowly rising, upward reaching, outward spreading o er the land. Twas a song of marchers singing; twas a mighty hymn of praise, Peace, good-will on earth, and promise of succeeding brighter days. Lo! the music nearer stealing while the countless voices rise, It is the song of triumph ; God is ruling from his skies. Long I listened from the distance like a being quite apart, But the spirit of the music now hath flooded all my heart. The voices now no longer on the outer air do fall, They echo and reverberate throughout life s spacious hall. They enter her assemblage room, let all the people rise; The God of Hosts is with us now not less than in his skies. The mighty God is leading on his people as to war, 60 THE PROCESSIONAL The battle is for righteousness, his banner floats before. Equality for human rights let all the people sing, Let slavery s bonds be stricken off and love enthroned king. Let woman s rights in government no longer foes assail, Dispel the bonds of human thought and let the truth prevail, Strike, strike at every monstrous wrong that seeks a place of power ! Death to each beast, however strong, that waiteth to devour. Let childhood find its rightful place, and man his perfect part, And Love and Joy and Peace and Hope be regnant in each heart. Sing, sing, nor let the music die, nor let the song grow old, The glory of its loveliness can never quite be told. Sing, sing, the night is passing. Lo! The shadows break away ; Morn floods with light the eastern hills; Behold the break of day ! 61 DEVELOPMENT. Mf ,HERE is beauty in the lily That lies nestled in the vale ; There is beauty in the fresh new fallen snow, But, there s grandeur in the sturdy oak That mocks the mighty gale Whose fury laid its weakest neighbor low. There is sweetness in the innocence That marks the little child, That is lost in quiet slumbers on the knee, But there s glory writ on manhood s brow Which shows the struggles wild Through which it wrought with passion to be free. The sweet, pure life and innocent Is beautiful and rare, Attractive and delightful to behold ; But the lives attaining glory Which is far beyond compare, Are the lives, which pain and suffering do unfold. 62 DEVELOPMENT Paths of ease and paths of pleasure Lead not to the mountain height ; Hearts, which neither bleed nor suffer, cannot know All the fullness of the glory, All the rapture of the sight, Of the souls which struggled upward from below. WOMAN. XT WOMAN, moving at thy daily tasks With all thy patience which the the years inspire, Crowning the simple duties of the home With wealth of meaning otherwise unguessed, Asking for recompense no rich reward, No grand immortal monument of fame, But with the simple knowledge of a love, Some pitiable reflection of thine own, Amply repaid, rejoiced and satisfied : In thee the Christ still lives and moves the world. Thy sacrificial life exemplifies To man, engrossed in sordid, selfish care, That character which, centuries ago, Sprang from neglected eartly soil, yet bore An image true of heaven. WOMAN Tis in thee, Queen of our earthly life, He liveth still; For well we know that, from thy sweet example Of tireless love, of pure and strong devotion, We frame our noblest thoughts of life and God, And through thee claim some kinship to the skies. 65 A FACE. M ^ AS a face I shall never forget, Years may do what they will, For though memory serve me but illy In thought it will still Be imprinted ; yea, though life depart, That strange face shall remain ; Its features indelibly etched on my heart, And I count it but gain. Twas not handsome indeed it was worn ; Twas a man s who had wrought Out his course through much struggle, yet borne High aloft in his thought A great purpose, sublime in its scope ; All the features, in fine, Seemed to mirror the soul with its grand aspirations and hope, And reflect the Divine. 66 A FACE In my folly I thought man a beast But no more in that face Was reflected a God, and today one, at least, Has new hopes for the race ; For the meaning disclosed by those eyes Was ineffable love. Twas no vision of earth; twas the light of the skies Somehow caught from above. 67 THE SOWER. SOWER, in a field, alone, Went forth to sow. In storm and sun He labored on till day was done, The task he deemed his own. Not his the field, nor his the seed, But his the task the seed to sow. Not his to question or to know The harvest which might be decreed. His but the duty. His the toil The trusted toil on which would wait A harvest either small or great, To be determined by the soil. He sowed he did not question why The signs and portents seemed not fair, His single purpose was to bear His humble service ere he die. 68 THE SOWER His mission, though it seemed not great, But menial, narrow, was full grand; The seed he scattered from his hand Might on the needs of thousands wait. And unborn thousands might arise In future years, whose crying need Would bless the sowing of that seed, Nor less the sower s sacrifice. But whether great results or small, Or waving harvests which might cheer The Master s heart the coming year, Or whether no results at all, > He sowed the day was wearing late, He hurried on; he would not stay; The Voice which held him on his way Seemed the relentless voice of fate. Day closed, impending darkness warned The toiler had not left the field ; The morning following revealed The full task faithfully performed. But who the sower, can none tell ? And whither did he take his way? He lived. He wrought. He filled his day With fruitful toil. He passed tis well ! 69 TO A FRIEND. OU are my friend, no other name Conveys a meaning quite the same. You are my friend, no power have I To name a dearer, closer tie. The choicest treasure earth can send A mortal is a faithful friend. What boots the rest? the gold, the power, May vanish in an evil hour. But friendship dearer grows and plays A holier part with passing days. 70 EVOLUTION. "N dusty ways, through crowded streets, By winding paths, o er mountains high, From varied scenes, athwart great deeps, A mighty concourse surgeth by. Whence came they? Let the past awake And voice the secrets of its breast. Whence move they? Let the future make The answer, otherwise unguessed. They are the actors of today, Inheritors of all the past, Within whom, germinating, play Tomorrow s issues grave and vast. They come a mighty, growing throng, From primitive and simple ways, Blood-stained by ignorance and wrong, To greet the light of gladder days. 71 EVOLUTION They seem arisen next the stone, By fish or bird or beast began, Till only countless ages own Their sure similitude to man. Forced on by hunger s fires they ran O er desert wastes, through forests wild, In bloody rivers sank or swam, Where mortal combat oft beguiled. Their teachers were Necessity, Gaunt Hunger, and the Love of Kin, The Elements, at war without, And Passion, clamorous within. And thus they lived, and thus they died, And thus they wrought, and thus they grew And thus they struggled, thus they tried To read life s deeper meanings through. The love of kin in time began To comprehend a larger whole, Till love of every f ellowman Was preached by prophets of the soul. 72 EVOLUTION And ignorance s damning blight, Whose signet is the skull and bone, Gave way as wisdom s holy light Across her gulf of death was thrown. The darkness hath abated and The light shines brighter on the way ; It is alone mankind which stands To cloud the fullness of her day. Press on ! The guerdon is not gained ; Press on ! Still greater heights appear ; Press on ! The goal is not attained, Though victory soundeth near. 73 TO THE INFINITE. m IFE of God, unseen, eternal, Coursing through the years of time, Freely flowing, grand, supernal, All our lives are fed of thine. Thine the fullness, never failing, Which our starving natures need, Careworn, burdened, faulty, ailing, Life of God, on thee we feed. As the rivers seek the ocean, Varied though their courses be, So our lives of wild commotion, Rest not till they flow to thee. Ocean of Eternal Blessing, Purging every earthly shore, Lo ! Our tossing lives are pressing, Toward thy fullness evermore. 74 NIGHT. OD! tis night! No moon! Yet in the mighty firmament The stars shine forth respondent in the glory Which no years have dimmed, nor passing ages lessened. Tis indeed the wonder of a thinking mind, This universe of worlds, speaking to us from out The spaces, of the power which holds them in Their courses, and calls them on in their respective ways Forever. Art angry ? Come with me, and in The silence of the nighttime lift thine eyes Above, and in the presence of ten thousand worlds, Midst which ours is an infant, cease thy wrath. 75 NIGHT Art busy with thy blocks, or with thy beads ? Have done and stroll an hour beneath the sky, Recall man s ancient history and conceive How recent is the advent of our kind Compared with all those mighty forces which Do still impel the planets, ponder well Perchance twill rest thee from thy narrow thought, Compose thy soul and give thee better heart To undertake the duties of the morrow. 76 OMNIA SUNT SANCTA. all this world I see no common thing, The very clay which pushes from the soil, The tiniest flower that blossoms in the sun Is instinct all with life, the miracle. Profane, you say, this world of struggling men? There s nothing more profane than human thought, Which would decry creation s travailings, Clothe with fine splendor unimagined God, Yet spurn his quivering voice which speaks to us From out the very tumult of the street. There is no secular, and when the night Of ignorance is wasted and the day Of hallowed light appears shall men discern In every shape that crawls upon the earth, 77 OMNIA SUNT SANCTA In every creature buried in the deep, In every form that wingeth through the sky, An element which is of man a part, Beneficent, deep-permeating all, Life, wondrous life, which is the soul of God 78 THE REVELATION. Sf ,HE birds never sang quite so gaily, The sunshine which peers through my door Bringeth gladness and happiness daily Where night seemed unbroken before. The joy, the rare pleasure of living, These, these are my portion today, Instead of receiving I m giving, For love hath encountered my way. I rejoice, I am glad, no more fearful Of what the great future may send. Faith aspires, Hope is born, I am cheeful, For life hath unbosomed a friend, 79 SUNRISE. S the daylight swift approaching? It is well ! Night too long has been encroach ing Strange to tell ; Night with all its shapes and fancies, Sombre scenes and spectral glances, Lo ! The day of light advances, Night was hell. Is the sun of knowledge lifting? Hail the day ! Are life s somber shadows shifting Quite away? Let us then be not affrighted Like some craven souls benighted, But rejoice and be delighted. Well we may ! 80 A PENTWATER SUNSET. * PICTURE saidst? Methinks not long ago One eve at sunset on a mount that lo ! As fair a scene unfolded as man s eyes Have ever witnessed in the sea or skies. Calm twas ; far out upon the waters lay Sailboats at rest. The breezes of the day Gave place to nature s quiet, and the deep, Calm and untroubled, waited as in sleep. Beauty ! If ever from a mountain s brow Mine eyes beheld it, I behold it now As I recall the memories of that sky So filled with marvels for my wondering eye. Such colors blended, crimson, blue and gold, Canvas ne er yet hath yielded powers to hold : Clouds, Sun- appareled, yet did some appear Dark and prophetic that a storm was near. 81 A PEXTWATER SUNSET We watched it there together, you and I, Daylight s departing glory, saw day die, Saw the great orb which lighted up the day Dip into darkest cloud and sink away. A picture wouldst ? Well, if I should incline To label one so matchless and so fair, I d call it God s most perfect, most divine. And bow my head and bathe my soul in prayer. WALT WHITMAN. AR from the dry and dusty way, The beaten track, the noisy street, The towering walls, I stroll today To where life s ocean currents sweep And ebb and flow in tireless play. I gaze as far as eye can see, I hail the freedom, greet the wild, Impassioned voices borne to me ; I find that I am nature s child And have her spirit, wild and free. Forgotten is the narrow street, The beaten path, the dusty way, Tired faces I was wont to meet ; Behold ! It is life s holiday, Great waves are dashing at my feet. 83 WALT WHITMAN Forgotten ? Nay, beheld more true By means of such perspective vast, The lens my vision peereth through, New light upon life s ways hath cast Revealing glories fresh and new. Gone are the cares which fret the mind, The griefs which prey upon the heart, Life s burdens, lo ! today I find The joys which freely life imparts To those with simple faith resigned. Back move I to the world of men With braver step and firmer tread ; The soul hath found its own again, The sordid, selfish life is dead, A breeze seems wafting from God s glen. 84 NECESSITY. ECESSITY, how I did hate thy power, Which bound me willy-nilly to my woe ; Robbed my fair hopes ; razed my secluded bower; Bade me life s stress and struggle undergo. How I rebelled, entreated, agonized, Sought to withdraw and take the fairer way ; But thou didst bind me as a captive prized, Turned a deaf ear when I besought to stay. I stumbled in my weakness, cried aloud : " Hold thou ! My cup of bitterness put by, Let me withdraw from out the tiresome crowd Wherein I falter, weary, sick to die." 86 NECESSITY Stern teacher, all remorseless, thou dost still Allot thy babes hard lessons in thy school ; Bind heavy burdens, circumvent man s will ; Shape every life by thy mysterious rule. And yet, and yet, may it not be thy hand Which, pressing hard upon us, makes to flow Life fuller, richer, for a needy land, Joy, deathless joy, where otherwise were woe? Strange, strange thy power, may it not be, who knows, But we, unthinking, have misguessed thy name? Perchance life s King thou art, which by our throes His fuller, gracious coming doth proclaim. Then forward lead ; I falter now no more ; I see beyond the present s little day The far-off reaches of a golden shore, Toward which mankind through struggle takes his way. 80 ENTANGLED. N truth I knew her knew her when a child, She seemed so bright, so happy, yet so wild, So natural, yet so free. Free as a bird which, in the open air, Carols its songs without apparent care For what is yet to be. Knew her in after years, as graceful, gay, And with abounding life she led the way In dance and game and song. I knew the cunning, the designing art, Which led her footsteps on their first false start In slippery ways of wrong. 87 ENTANGLED I met her since O, calumny of fate ! Baffled and buffeted by scorn and hate, The wreckage of the past. Thrown on the shoals where life s remorseless waves, Ghoul-like cast up the dying from their graves Nor let death hold them fast. I am a man in years have met the shocks Of all life s varied fortune and its knocks, But when are piled Upon my thought the memories of that face Despairing agony, remorse, disgrace Oh God ! I am a child. Say you she was accursed? Nay, I trow, Those burning eyes of hers which haunt me now Refute the lie. There is a gracious harbor known somewhere To claim such souls whose misery is their prayer, And only hope to die. 88 WITH THY HAND IN MY OWN. <HEN in thought from the world Of dire conflict I m free, And those visions of rapture Most lovely I see, Then my mind paints a picture, My dear one, of thee With thy hand in my own. With thy hand in my own Would I find my release From the doubts I have known; All forebodings would cease And my soul would have entered God s heaven of peace With thy hand in my own. 89 UNSEEN FORCES. E deal with forces vast, com pletely hidden, Which mortals may not see ; But which by every throe of life seem bidden To change our destiny. There is a power, no matter how we term it, Surrounding all our lives ; A matchless power, though we may not dis cern it, Which human cause defies. We play with things so idly, seldom choosing Their real intrinsic worth, As little children by their folly losing The priceless things of earth. 90 UNSEEN FORCES We have been blinded by a thousand ages Of ignorance and greed, Like the untutored groping toward those stages Whence they may wisely read. Life s countless voices speak unnumbered les sons, Most beautiful and grand, Which with maturer wisdom, keener insight, We yet shall understand <n THE KNIGHTED. EW lead wherever man must go, A few the Great, the Strong, the Brave, Must dare the storm and dare the wave And dare the deeps they may not know. And dare to trust the Truth which calls When Error standeth bold without With brazen shield and sword of doubt And hurls defiance from her walls. And dare to lead when craven, weak And cowardly spirits shrink with fear, And dare to sing the song of cheer, And dare their honest thoughts to speak. Twas ever thus since life began, But few first comprehend the right, The torch of few must shed the light To guide the onward march of man. 92 THE EMANCIPATED. <HAT do we care for the foolish opinions Of those who but infantile knowledge have known ? We, we, who have traversed life s larger dominions, And builded in thoughts more eternal our home. What do we care for their judgments, their c hidings, We, who have lived with the masters of old ? What do we care for their scornful deridings, We, who have gathered life s fullness untold? What do we care, we, familiar with sorrow, What do we care, we, companions of pain ? Shall craven fear of an unborn tomorrow Fetter our spirits or torture our brain ? 93 THE EMANCIPATED Forward! Exultantly! We shall march steadily, Fearlessly, earnestly, bravely and well ; Hopeful, believingly, honestly, readily Taking what comes to us Heaven or Hell. We are not mocking ones, jesting and simper ing, We are not scornful ones, seekers for wrong, We are not hapless ones, whining and whim pering, We are life s earnest ones, eager and strong. Who shall confound us and who shall abase us? Who shall deter us as forthward we fare? Man cannot conquer us, devils may face us, But devils shall quail before mortals which dare. 94 DEATH AND LIFE. HEY die, who live regardless of their brothers ; Oblivion is sure. But lives which interpenetrate each other s Forever shall endure. Like eagles, swift and mighty are their pinions O er unsealed heights to soar; They sweep above earth- fettered, dark domin ions In light forever more. 95 WHY WE BELIEVE IN EQUAL SUFFRAGE: ECAUSE we believe in human rights, Not chiefly for the strong ; But rights as well for those oppressed Who greatly suffer wrong. Because we believe in brotherhood And all that term implies ; Because we hate injustice And oppression much despise. Because the time is ripe for truth And ripe for worthy deeds ; Because of man s necessities And woman s urgent needs. Because of childhood yet unborn And rights which should be theirs ; Because tis time for action now And past the time for prayers. 96 WHY WE BELIEVE IN EQUAL SUFFRAGE Because we count it now the time When human strife should cease ; Because we believe it means a stride Toward universal peace. 97 THE GAMBLER. E played for higher stakes than worldly gain; He played for other prizes than success, He played a princely hand through poignant pain Pain unremitting pain without redress. He early played for what he hoped to win A love for which he vainly dreamed and sighed ; But now he played while Hell-fire raged within For but one drop of mercy from his bride. He played his fortune that was quickly lost ; He played his reputation and his skill ; He still played on, though noting now the cost A worthy manhood and an honest will 98 THE GAMBLER God pity him the gambler in life s game, Who lost while playing for the best he knew. The game goes on how many lose the same ! The winners of life s stakes, how strangely few! 99 THE CONFLICT. ALT? Falter? Never! Midst battle smoke and roar and tongue of fire, Onward, forever! On ! On ! Against the foe ! On ! Counting naught the woe ! On ! By God s grace we ll go With fresh endeavor. Tire? Weary? Rest us? Nay, while strength lasts, up ! Forth, and ever dare, Let men detest us ! Strike like a warrior bold ! Grasp nor relax thy hold ! Smite ere the day grow old And night arrest us ! 100 Quick, strong and daring ! Out from the halting and the idle throng Waiting, not caring, Fly like an iron ball Hurled at the fortress wall ! Hear ye the cannon s call ? Fight ye, naught sparing ! Rageth the battle ! Into those jaws which like Hell seem to gape Plunge like mad cattle ! Ha! Laugh! A thousand die ! Ha ! Laugh ! The end is nigh. Joy, if thy victor s cry Drown our death rattle! 101 OLD AGE. m ITH joy I wait the waning year, Nor doubt the good twill bring, For Autumn hath filled granaries If not the flowers of Spring. And richer treasures, which abide, Within her lap are laid, Than all the wealth of lovliness Which Springtime s art displayed. I glory in the reddening leaf And in the fading flower, For life within the garnered sheaf Is multiplied with power. And though the storms of winter break Across a darkened sky, I know a larger life doth wait, Which was not born to die. 102 WHEN THE NIGHT CLOSES IN. HEN the night closes in, let no mourners appear, Let no tears be outpoured, let no weepers be near, Let no words of lament be pro nounced o er my bier When the night closes in. When the night closes in, let some glad song of morn, As a song of great hope or of triumph be borne, Like the song of a bird coming after the storm, When the night closes in. 103 WHEN THE NIGHT CLOSES IN When the night closes in, let me have one friend nigh, Whom I loved while I lived, to attend as I die; And a glimpse of God s glorious star- studded sky, When the night closes in. When the night closes in, let the word then be said That nothing of value departs with the dead, But life more abundant is born in its stead, When the night closes in. 104 DATE DUE GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S. A 000664147 6