1 A R D E N . / j ATE THE GARDEN GATE, AND OTHER POEMS, BY CHARLES WILLIAM BUTLER. n BOSTON: HENRY L. SHEPARD, & CO. (Successors to Shepard & GUI.) 1874. Entered according to act of Congrcs, in the year 1874, by SAMUEL B. HOWARD, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C, SAMUEL B. HOWARD, PRINTER, 50 Bromfield St., Room 16. Electrotyped by the BAY STATE ELECTROTYPE Co., 15 Cornhiill, Boston. TO HIS FRIEND AND FORMER PASTOR, THE RT. REV. F. D. HUNTINGTON, D. D., THIS LITTLE VOLUME, BY PERMISSION, IS MOST GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIDED BY THE AUTHOR. M191797 PREFACE. THESE fragments of poetry have mostly been published, from time to time, in public Journals of high moral, religious and -literary standing, in this country and abroad. The author trusts that they will be acceptable in this gathered form, to his Subscribers and others. C. W. B. CONTENTS. ON THE GARDEN GATE, .... 9 THE SINGERS, . . . . * .11 THE WANDERING STARS, .... 14 THOMAS STARR KING, . . . . .13 OUR HISTORY, ..... 18 BEETHOVEN, . . . . . .16 A THOUGHT IN SORROW, 20 AT REST, . . . . . .21 THE OCEAN AND LAND TELEGRAPH, . . 23 CHRISTMAS BELLS, . . . . .27 No SONG FOR WAR, .... 25 THE TOILERS, . . . . . .28 BISHOP RANDALL, ..... 32 HYMN TO THE CONQUERER . . . 33 BEAUTIFUL DAYS, .... 34 A NEW YEAR'S HYMN, .... 36 DEEP AND STILL, . . . . .38 FESTIVE DAYS, ..... 40 MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY, . . .42 WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY, . . . . 44 THE FAITHFULL DEAD, . . . .46 CHARLES SUMNER, ..... 49 ANGELS GUARD THE SAINTED DEA.D, . . .50 A HYMN OF LIFE, ..... 52 AGE OF SINGIXG, . . . . .54 FAITHFUL HOMES, ..... 56 IV. CONTENTS, . . .58 S 11 1 .!> ( i \\NKTT. I). I). . . . 61 ( >i K I-'I:II.M> FODRSOORB, . . . .62 KMWAKD N. KM:K, 1). I). . . . . 65 Tin: Su:i:r <>r 1 1 is BELOVED, . . .66 TIII.Y AIJI-: \Vi m Us, ... 68 \MIN TYI.KR REED, .... 69 l>i:r Uiri.i* Y KARS, . . . 70 Tin; PI:I>I;N r AND THE PAST, . . .72 BARON Si . . . . .74 THE TIDES OF LIFE, . . 76 GRANT Us Tnv PKACE, . . . .78 OOR PERFECT DAYS, . . .80 MRS. HARRISON GRAY OTIS, . . .81 THE WORLD ABOVE Us, . . 82 THOMAS BULFINCII, . . . .84 A SUMMER'S RHYME, . . . .86 AMONG THE HOSES, ... 88 VOICES OF THE DAYS, . . .89 \Vi: MAY NOT TELL, . . . .92 THANKSGIVING HYMN, . . .94 THE SOLDIER'S LAST MESSAGE, . . .96 THE CONQUERER OF ALL, ... 98 LIGHTEN OUR DARKNESS, . . . .100 BEAUTY OF THE PSALMS, . . .102 A GOLDEN TRUTH, ... 105 BIRTHDAY Poi . . . .106 THE PEACE OF GOD, . . . Ill CHRISTMAS BELLS, . . .112 EMPI: . . . . 114 LOVING AMI KNOWING, . . .116 EASTEK ETnor, . . . 118 ; i: MOUSING, .... 120 Tin; CHURCH OF GOD, . . . 122 : n PAKI IMG r TIM: U'AYS, . . 125 C ONTEN TS . THE FOREST WANDERER, . . . 128 FATHER OF ALL WHO LOVE THY NAME, . 130 MY NATIVE LAND, . . . 132 IN. THE MORNING, .... 134 THE DYING YEAR, . . . 136 A WORLD'S INVOCATION, . . . 138 THE GIFTS OF THE EARTH, . . 140 BEAUTY IN DECAY, .... 142 A VOICE TO THE SINGERS, . . 144 LIFE-TIME'S DREAM, . . . 148 THE CITY OF THE SOUL, . . 146 THE POWER OF DEEDS, . . . 151 THE SEASONS, .... 152 FANNV FERN, .... Ifi3 BISHOP EASTBURN, . . . 154 To A SINGER, .... 156 POEMS. ON THE GARDEN GATE. The little boy on the garden gate Sings and swings. He drearaeth not of the march of fate, How the hours will glide, and the heart must wait For the prize to which it clings. He thinketh now that his boyhood time Will ripen soon into manhood's prime, And honor, and riches, and great renown May send his name to the ages down. He gazeth south and he gazeth north, He swingeth back and he swinge th forth. And his heart beats high, as the heart of kings, For his soul is poised on the future's wings. .The little boy on the garden gate Swings and sings. He loitereth there till the hour is late, 10 THE GARDEN GATE And his heart grows large with a joy innate, At life's upwclling springs. For the gladdening present, the nights and days Are the stars that guide into happy ways. He thinks of the flowers and the streams that rise Under his feet 'ncath the glancing skies. He looketh cast and he lookcth west, Till the day has gone to its glorious rest ; For his soul is dreaming of beautiful things, And his heart beats high as the heart of kings. The little boy on the garden gate Sings and swings. He will stand not long ; he will cease to wait, On the outward march of an inward fate, Or wild imaginings. He may rise into manhood's lofty pride, And virtue and beauty his course may guide ; He may stand as a rock, on the common mart, He may win his way to the world's great heart ; He may win his honors and wear his crown, And the fata.- and the base at his feet lie down. That is the boy who swings and sings, On the iranl-i, gate, tliat Bingfl an-1 swings; lie may stand one day with the best of kings. AND OTHER POEMS. 11 THE SINGERS. When I hear some stirring lyric, Sung by one whose heart is true, How the deep full soul of music Thrills me through and through ! How I bless the mental master For his working nobly wrought, For the rich, unfathomed treasure Of his mine of thought ! Then 'I know that life hath glory Higher than these earthly skies, That its still, unspoken story, Ends in paradise ! Then I know that frail and mortal, Are not written on the heart Life divine and love eternal Are its better part. Theirs may be the anthem lofty, 'Neath the Church's arched dome, * Or the humbler song most tuneful, Of the halls of home. TIIK UAKDKX GATE All the voices of the singers Fill me with a thrill of joy They are kin unto the angels In their blest employ ! Theirs may be the solemn dirge-notes, Breathed where willows wave, Sung by Hope and Trust, the guardians Of an open grave ! Passing sweet above all others In the free air, 'neath the skies, Is the hope-song for our brothers That the dead shall rise. Sing forever, oh, ye singers, Earth hath need of all your songs ; Of the joy-crowned and the grieved ones, Earth hath countless throngs ! Hearts are waiting on your footsteps, On your voices' sound For the life of souls is deepened, Where your songs abound ! AND OTHER POEMS. 13 THOMAS STARR KING. There is a world of light and fadeless glory, Where love is endless and where souls are crowned, Where hearts are true, and beauteous is their story, And such a realm our friend beloved has found ! There, is the Master whom his soul adored, * There, is the Father unto whom he prayed ; There, is the rest for which his heart implored, There, is the laborer and the laborer's shade! His work is there, the higher ministration Th^ worlds are open to his spirit now ; And Christ's own hands are laid in confirmation, The dews immortal lie upon his brow ! Call him not dead ! He still is ours forever, He standeth yet upon God's holy hill, May we with him, When earthly ties shall sever, Pass to the life immortal, calm and still. 14 THE GARDEN GATE THE WANDERING STARS. The wandering stars arc hastening back Lo ! one by one they come ; See ! glory's in their shining track, Now shout them welcome home ! They've wandered long, in darkness lost, Bedewed with fiery rains ; Give welcomes to our tempest tost, On our celestial plains ! The wandering stars are hastening back ; They tire of restless change, They seek a smooth and even track, v Their new one was so strange. Give welcome with a right good will, To all who cease to roam ; The Northern stars are brothers still, To those who long for home ! The wandering stars are hastening back, The old, bright love they see The household fires, the beaten track, The same ancestral tree. AND OTHER POEMS. 15 The same undying, songful streams, The same glad flowers appear, The same blue sky, the starry gleams, The same revolving year. Then welcome to these wandering stars Who seek out pathways old ; Who scorn the flag of sable bars With scorn most manifold ! " No North nor South nor East nor West," Shall be our rallying tone ! " One land, one realm by freedom blest, Where God will keep His own !" 16 THE GARDEN GATE BEETIIOEVEX. Tried, forsaken, lone Beethoeven, Now the world thy worth hath proven, All the world can speak thy praise ; In the blush of life's bright morning, Lo ! she turned away in scorning, Now she listens to thy lays. Thou didst sing like one in glory, Yet how shadowed is thy story To the dark and bitter end ; When the hour of parting neared thee, Few the living hearts that cheered thce, Few who knew thee as their friend. Still thy wondrous powers were glowing, Working for the world unknowing, Thankless as her voices came ; Mighty genius could not slumber, Though a world-host without number Sought to quench the burning flame. Oh, how dreary was thy going Through the tides of death o'erflowing, To thy glad home in the skies, AND OTHER POEMS. 17 Only one friend by that river Where we mortals stand and shiver, Though it lead to paradise ! And thy voice of earnest speaking, And thine eye a true friend seeking, Now in vision on us call ; When thy lips breathed very slowly With a spirit ineek and holy "I have talent, after all." Oh, beloved and grand Beethoeven, In the fires of trial proven, Time has made thy darkness day ; In the melodies of singing, Music from thy soul is ringing, That shall never pass away. Surely thou hast found thy station, From thy wrongs hast found salvation, Reached the gates of peace sublime ; Oh, that earth would heed thy story, Give her sons of genius glory, While they shine lone stars of time. 18 TIIK C.AMM-X G OUR HISTORY. The nation trembles in God's hand, lie bids it fall, he bids it stand, Both peace and strife work His command. He weaves the patriot's funeral pall, He crowns the heroes when they fall, He is the Guide, the Lord of all. He searches out the deepest night, The deed of darkness brings to light, And moulds it by His Sovereign might ! He sees oppression's deed of wrong, And hears the proud exultant song, He will not make it sure nor strong. Where'er the thought of wrong is nurst, His unseen hand strikes down at first, The evil is by Him accurst. He keeps the firm, the true, the brave, He gives them victory o'er the grave ; He smites the fetters from the slave. AND OTHER POEMS. 19 He holds the tyrant's heart in scorn ; Unless it yields, and is new-born, He leaves it helpless and forlorn. He loveth freedom ; let him take Our dearest, for his own dear sake. He owns the sacrifice we make ! We kneel in our Gethsemane And say : Let this cup pass from me ; His strengthening Angel there we see. Yet by this struggle and this pain, These hosts that meet ours with disdain, A nation shall be born again ! Our sainted heroes robed in light Shall guard our path, though from our sight, The day seems glooming into night. Their eyes shall watch us till we bring To our eternal God and King, Our freedom's holy offering ! 20 THE GARDEN GATE A THOUGHT IN SORROW. Weep not the hopes which seem to die, Are but the seeds of fadeless flowers, That ripen in a brighter sky Than in these darkened skies of ours. Weep not the world with all its change Will give us yet some boon to prize, And lights which now to us are strange, Will beam with gladness on our eyes. Hope Faith and Love our vigils still, While Joy or Grief around us stand ; We bow unto their sovereign will, And ever seek the better land. We seek a rest we have not known, We toil we pray and then we wait, Till some good angel from His throne Stoops down, and leads us through the gate. AND OTHER POEMS. 21 AT REST. They are at rest, who dreamless sleep The countless years away ; They toil no more, they sigh nor weep, Nor see their hopes decay. They are at rest, whose light of life Streams through celestial skies ; They hear no voice of angry strife, But love's grand chorus rise. Nor storm nor tempest shall be known, Nor clouds obscure their sky ; They lose no treasures once their own, And they shall never die. They are at rest who dreamless sleep, And yet they seem to rise Like angel guards, their watch to keep, Where our life's pathway lies. 22 Till-: <:AI;IU-:\ OATH We need them all ; for they are ours. Though they above us shine, And daily use their unseen powers, Our ministers divine. Our souls are linked by golden chains ; Our hearts are true e'ermore, Our father's house hath large domains, Behold the open door ! AND OTHER POEMS. 23 THE OCEAN AND LAND- TELEGRAPH. the glory of to-day ! That will shine in Time alway ; Power of deed, and bliss of thought, By the human soul enwrought. Words above us sounded be, Words beneath us in the sea, And the isles their beauty draw From one great, mysterious law. Daily more and more unfold, Gates of glory, gates of gold ! Daily, heights and depths are known, Once we durst not call our own. Thought is boundless, thought is free, Under and above the sea ! Sounding d'eep in ocean caves, Surging in unnumbered waves. Thought is whispered round the earth, In her day of second birth 24 TIII-; <;AI;DI:\ <;ATE Coming nearer to the goal, In the grand world of the soul. 0, ye Ages, bring your toil, Bring your triumphs, bring your spoil, Bring your trophies new and vast ; Bless your present and your past. Bless the thinkers, on your way, Who have wrought this triumph day ; Who have turned their thought to deed, Answered well our day's true need. Though the thinkers long may stand, On some far unwelcome strand, Longing for their being's prime, They shall see their promised time. Speak, voice of Love and Peace, Bid the trump of war to cease For its muffled tone-beat, bring Hearts that throb and hearts that sing. Speak, Land, anfl chant, Sea, Our sweet anthem of the free ! Power of deed and bliss of thought, In this work that man hath wrought. AND OTHER POEMS. 25 NO SONG FOR WAR. No more, no more, a song for war ; The land hath known her share of strife ; What do we hate each other for ? Why desolate the field of life ? Why seek by blood that quick release Which cometh through the gate of Peace ? Oh ! shame on those who fain would gain One seeming good by War's dread reign. What wrong is suffered but hath known One hour its selfhood to dethrone ? Some moment ever lives, when we May t)5d the great wrong cease to be ; And by the fitting course of things, The right and true triumphant springs. Oh ! shame on those who fain would gain One seeming good by War's dread reign. 2G THE GARDEN GATE The North, the South, the East, the West, By mutual ties are blent and blest ; And all in every pain must share In every joy, or grief, or care ; Whatever the wrong, all bear a part, For one is our great Nation's heart. Oh ! shame on those who fain would gain One seeming good by War's dread reign. AND OTHER POEMS. 27 CHRISTMAS BELLS. Ring out, ye bells, from all your towers, And chime for time's receding hours. 'Tis holy time ! the Bethlehem star Is radient now, anear and far The hallowed joy around is shed, Where angel hosts are earthward led ! A song of Peace to men good will, And then that heavenly choir is still. Ring out, ring in, Christmas bells, The day which God's true Prophet tells ; Bring here, pilgrim, tried by time, A life most holy and sublime. For this Judean deserts sang, For this the choral anthem rang, And all the ages take their song And bear its blessed notes along ; And yet 'twill bear, while time shall be, The deathless anthem of the free ! For Earth's full heart with rapture swells, To hear the chimes of Christmas bells ! 28 THE GARDEN GATE THE POETS. They wait, the patient toilers wait, The toilers of the mind ; They stand at Fame's beleaguered gate Till Fame to them is kind. But who are these who toil on earth ? Who send their thoughts abroad ? Who prove their own celestial birth A heritage from God ? Dwell they in lordly palace hall, In regal pomp and pride ? Hear they the spirit's inmost call, Where thought is deified ? Not there ; the mountains have no place Nor outward throne for them. The valley's shade, the spirit's grace, Their shield and diadem ! AND OTHER POEMS. 29 They walk through earth with want and pain, Companions all the way, The inward kingdom is their gain, The inward light, their day ! They see the mean in places high ; They see the high brought low ; How wealth and rank and power may vie With mind's far richer glow. They toil, they wait, in sorrow wait ; They hear no answering cry ; They famish close by Plenty's gate ; They struggle and they die ! Then from the earth, once stern and cold, There comes one voice of praise, The poet's verse is new, not old ; It fills immortal days. Enwreathe his grave with fairest flowers ; There let the marble gleam ; Tell Art and Time with all your powers The beauty of his dream ! 80 THE GARDEN GATE There read the song that* once was dark With night of human ill, Which knew no shining eye to mark The place his name should fill ! Wake by the lofty singer's grave New thought, for genius born, And call that spirit true and brave ; It braved the world's rude scorn ! And as the poet's hymn shall rise Within your bright abode, Think of the black, ungenial skies That marked that singer's road ! He stood on mental heights for you ; For you his life-long prayer ; Baptized in griefs unwelcome dew, He breathed in pensive air. lie makes you rich in mind to-day ; New worlds in beauty spring Where erst the old held potent sway, Till you can speak and sing. AND OTHER POEMS. 31 r Though built on thought, life blent with life ; This is the law of heaven ; God's prophets come, though days of strife Are with their coming given ! They speak to us, and we to them ; They hear our answering tones, Behold the diamond and the gem In valleys as on thrones. For poets are God's prophets still, Whatever their spirit clime ; No outward good can reach their meed, Nor life be too sublime ! 32 THE GARDEN GATE BISHOP RANDALL. Well may the faithful take their life-won crown, And go with joy to hear their Lord's " well done ;" Their armor bright, in sacred dust lay down. To rest when day is gone. When day is gone ! Day never wanes for them Who view, by faith, the Star of Bethlehem! Our friend was faithful to the glorious end, Let memory now his precious name enshrine. To live is blest, when all our heart-aims tend To works that are divine ! True hearts are His ; his new life-sphere is where There is no death nor any shade of care ! AND OTHER POEMS. 33 HYMN TO THE CONQUERER. Clothed with the light and the grace of a hero, Forth goes the brave to the battle of life ; He shall be conqueror, though time were a Nero, He shall be Master of masterly strife. Clothed in the armor that never decayeth, Vested with strength enobling divine, Soul, in life's war-land, the Mighty One stayeth Thee, with the glory that ever is thine ! Where is the way His light hath not entered ? Where is the valley by Him left alone ? Where is the teacher whose voice hath not uttered The value the True One hath marked on His own? Soul of the faithful, doubt not the morrow, He who hath blest thee with shade and with sun, Looks with His eye on the night of thy sorrow, Looks on the life-race that grandly is run ! 34 TIIK (j.\i;i>i:x UATE BEAUTIFUL DAYS. Beautiful days of the Autumn hours Marking the flight of the dying year ; Shedding their light on the fading flowers, Raying with glory the prone leaves sere. Oh ! how they speak with a living voice, Bidding the soul in her might rejoice ; Gladening the heart in the midst of bloom, Fading and shrinking away to the tomb. Beautiful days, when the blossoms fall Into the dust, in the silence given ; Breathing a charm and a hymn for all, Who see in her shading some hue of Heaven. Then the long past as a vision comes, Greeting our hearts and blessing our homes ; And the life and the beauty that blesses the eye, Speaks of a summer that never shall die. AND OTHER POEMS. 35 Beautiful days of the Autumn time, Prophets are ye of an hour of bloom ; When the life within us shall arise sublime, And the song of our freedom shall sound o'er our tomb ; When the hopes that have perished shall bud in the Spring, And the. faith that we cherished shall gladden her wing ; When the soul shall grow hoary, and peaceful and wise, And our wonderful being shall soar to the skies. 36 THE GARDEN GATE A NEW YEAR'S HYMN. (Sunday, 1865.) Thou by whom the years are born, The moments come and go, We thank thee for this full-orbed morn, Enwreathed with winter's snow ! We thank thee for the gliding feet That press our household floors, And the dear delights -we meet Within our cottage-doors ! We thank thee that this day of rest Hath rung the New Year's chime, And all the peace that fills our breast At this thrice holy time. For we have heard the Christmas hymn Fall on our listening ear, As through the valleys, deep and dim, Hath passed the dying year. AND OTHER POEMS 37 We thank thee for the living brave, Who faced the nation's foes, For all the flowers of love that wave Where heroes dead repose ! We thank thee for the chimes of peace, By faithful patriots rung ; Bring near the day of sweet release, By thine own angels sung. The year is thine, God most high ! Thou art its Lord alone ; Bid freedom live, oppression die, Give Liberty her own ! 38 THE GAKDEX GATE DEEP AND STILL. Deep and still, deep and still, Is the working of God's will, When it doth our spirits fill ! When His shining countenance, Answers to our upward glance, How faith's footsteps all advance ! Into soundless depths we go, From great joy to utter woe ; Everywhere His life tides flow ! Where the paths of glory rise, By the life of sacrifice We regain our paradise ! Now the soul all dark within, Leaves its world of strife and sin, Heavenward looking, entereth in ! AND OTHER POEMS. 89 Now the heart weeps o'er the lost, Tried, bereft and tempest tost, Till the stormy sea be crossed ! Now some memory of the heart, Plunges there its barbed dart, Till the still voice breathes " depart." Then a tranquil holy peace, Bids the vengeful tempest cease, And the silent calm increase ! Not by voice on Sinai spoke, Is the spell of sadness broke, Nor the spirit's galling yoke ! Not by lightning's vivid fire, Not by days of judgment dire,* Bids he earthliness expire ! But the pathways of his grace, In the silences, we trace, There we meet him face to face ! 40 THE GARDEN OATE THE FESTIVE DAYS. When the festive days are past, Memory still will linger there ; Thinking of the pleasures vast In our life-fields everywhere : For we may not live or move, But some joy shall yet abound, Some dear heart shall call for love, Some sweet voice to ours resound ; And its echoes, tender, true, In our deepest heart shall fall, We shall bless the hour, that knew, Hallowed days and gifts for all. When the festive days are past, Let us gather grains of gold, From those mines unfathomed vast, Hearts and hands have never told. AND OTHER POEMS. 41 Countless thoughts, outspoken words, Hidden in the soul's recess, Waiting for new spirit chords Yet to answer and to bless. Let the brotherhood within Manifest its living power ; So shall we life's victories win, Day by day, and hour by hour. 1- THE GARDEN GATE MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO MRS. L. II. SIGOURNEY. Blest be our poet's gentle sleep, Whoso soul is now to glory born ; Whose heart condoled with sorrow deep, And sang with joy's celestial morn ; Who touched her spirit's lyric chords To gentle thoughts and loving words ! Her heart inspired by living fire, Sang ever to the good and true. She glorified each grand desire With Heaven's baptismal dew While here and there out-breathes a tone A Ilemans well might seek to own. She stood so meekly in the crowd Who gathered where her shadow came, AND OTHER POEMS. 43 So calm and humble, when the proud Grew eloquent to speak her fame ! She prized far more our heavenly birth, Than all the praises of the earth. Oh ! matchless gift, to live in hearts, To feel that we can never die, To know the true life ne'er departs, But that the spirit, ever nigh, Is hovering in the Heaven above A guardian angel, full of love. Then blessed be our poet's sleep ; 'Tis " Past Meridian " with her now With holy reverance strong and deep, Enwreath the cypress round her brow ; A Nation's loving heart, in vain May seek to find her like again ! 44 THE GARDEN GATE WASIIIGTON'S BIRTHDAY. His birthday is our Nation's pride ; His memory lives while we adore The Providence that made him rise And shine, our glory-star, forevermore ! Let us this day at Freedom's Temple wait And linger there, and sacred keep its gate ; For he is speaking from his own bright skies, To cheer our hearts for this day's sacrifice. We live in stirring times we must not stay Where traitors, spelbound, crouch, to wrong ; The night has passed we welcome in the day ; We sing no dirge we chant a triumph song. Our Washington is here his spirit still Is urging us to do, to dare, to will ; Upon our dead a nation's welfare lies, If we are true to this day's sacrifice. AND OTHER POEMS. 45 We live forever ! we shall rise again ; The trump of war shall cease and we shall rest, In beauty rest in freedom's wide domain ; Chains shall be broken, and no heart, unblest, Shall touch our hearts with pain an open way To guide our wanderers unto perfect day ; Unites our life, our hearts, our aims, in one Unfailing tribute to our WASHINGTON ! 46 THE QAUDEX UATE THE FAITHFUL DEAD. " We bless Thee for all thy servants departed in thy faith and fear." Common Prayer. For all who died in holy faith, The brave, the good, the true ; For all their life's full record saith, Give God the glory due ! Not pain, nor scorn, nor sordid gold Could turn their steps aside ; No robber steal them from the Fold, Since Christ their Master died. They counted not their life-lease dear, If they His Crown might win Who bore our griefs and burdens here, To save the race from sin ! AND OTHER POEMS. 47 No monster's rack, no fiery flame, No tyrant's fearful frown. Could make them curse the Saviour's name, Nor lay their armor down ! Through perils on the waters deep, With brethren false and blind, They would not let devotion sleep, Nor deem their Lord unkind ! Through every scene of stormy rage They saw the glory there ! And sealed their blood-bought heritage, With blessing and with prayer ! They closed their eyes in martyr-death, And from their ashes rose A new and ceaseless living breath, That knew no long repose ! And thus they live, and brightly glow, Like flames of fadeless fire ; While ages come, and ages go, Their lives will not expire. 48 THE GARDEN GATE And now we bless Thee our God ! For all who died in Thee ; The shining lights they shed abroad, On Time's remotest sea ! Give us their faith, give us their heart, Though dark our earth-ways be ! Help us to act our destined part To love and work for Thee ! AND OTHER POEMS. 49 CHARLES SUMNER. Call not this honored man as one Dead to the ^world, for that can never be ; Nations will live, and ages still pass on ; His name will gleam, as gleams a crystal sea ; True to himself, to highest manhood true ; Give to him now the meed that is his due. Breathe forth his ame, when men, too weak in soul, Stand not upright. To bid the best cause win, Breathe forth his name, and write it on the goal That we would reach, above Earth's wrong and sin! Then shall his memory be a watchword strong ! Then shall his deeds become our triumph song I 50 THE (i ANGELS GUARD THE SAINTED DEAD. Angels guard the sainted dead, Let them rest from toil and care ;" With the blue sky overhead, And the breath of God's free air. Let them rest where light and shade, And life's changes come and go ; They have seen its visions fade, They have left its pomp and show. Angels guard the sainted dead ! Not alone from heavenly skies, But the souls they comforted In this world of sacrifice. Grateful hands plant willows there, Buds that springtime gave shall bloom, And the summer noontide fair Glorifies their peaceful tomb. Angels guard the sainted dead ! Memory loves to view the spot AND OTHER POEMS. 51 Where their living presence shed Blessings on our earthly lot ; Then the graves wherein they rest, Shall no more the spirit view ; From the mansions of the blest Gleam the faces old and true. Angels guard the sainted dead ! This the voice that sounds for aye, When our tears of grief are shed O'er earth's loved ones passed away : This with time nor change departs ; Blest the dying with their Lord, Blest are they who leave on hearts Love's eternal written word. Angels guard the sainted dead ! Then the deep Cimerian glooms Cannot fill our souls with dread There are watchers round our tombs, And they beckon us to come, When the chilling death-wind blows ; When we make our journey home, They will guard our sweet repose. 52 THE GARDEN GATE A HYMN OF LIFE. What is grander than the soul, Or its ages as they roll ? What is like the life of thought ? Bid it die and we are nought. What is richer than a word From a true hearts life-depths stirred ? What is sweeter than a song, Making spirits free and strong ? What is purer than the air Giving light to roses fair ? Brighter colors every day To the blooms that fade away. What is better than the hour When we know our spirits power ? Higher raise our thought and deed Looking for our Heavenly meed. AND OTHER POEMS. 53 What is better ? We have trod Pathways to the love of God ! Love, that gave their being birth, Love, the crown of all the earth. He who liveth here in love Liveth in the Heaven above ; He that loveth not is dead, Though his life-spark be not fled ! 3-i THE GARDEN QATB AGE OF SINGING. Glorious songs the Age is singing, Freedom bells their chimes are ringing Ringing for the abject races, In oppression's foulest places. Man hath learned the hidden meaning Of this being and this seeming, He hath. heard the world's choir singing, And the bells k of freedom ringing. In his soul-recesses lying, There is waked a voice undying Lifting hearts whose great endeavor Girds the ever and forever ! Up through long and tedious marchings, With their varicnt life-sky archings, With the destinies impending, March, soul, the march unending! AND OTHER POEMS. 55 Skies shall lower, and skies shall brighten, Clouds will gloom, and light will lighten, Wondrous still thy voiceless story, Through the shadow, to the glory ! Age of real and dire commotion, Heaving, surging like an ocean, Keep thy bells of Freedom ringing, Till the earth is full of singing ! 56 THE GARDEN GATE FAITHFUL HOMES. Our earthly homes are full of joy and gladness, Our friendships there like hurning stars arise, And we are one in every hour of sadness ; We stand together 'neath the changeful skies ; We cannot part, though dark the way around us, We're one in heart, for many ties have bound us. We stand together when our hearts, adoring, Lift up their voices to the Heaven above, When at God's throne we cast our eye imploring For deeper trust in the immortal love ; We cannot part, though clouds may lower above us, Heart clings to heart, we know the souls that love us. Seas may divirge our paths yet time nor distance Hold not the power to bid our souls estrange ; AND OTHER POEMS. 57 In love's deep strength there is a bold resistance To that dread power that bids the true heart change, We are the same, our households severing never, We link our hearts in one, forever and forever. So shall our homes become the blessed portal Of those dear mansions, where we long to dwell ; Begin we here the life and love immortal, Begin we here eternal joys to tell ; We cannot part, for earthly storms have tried us, We're one in heart, and who shall then divide us ? 58 THE GARDEN GATE A SUMMER SONG. The summer flowers must fade and die The summer skies must change their hues, The streams be closed, that murmur by The walks of earth, our footsteps choose. Nature is proud of varied things, She nurtures all that fills her range, She cultures fountains, mountains, springs, She courts the wierd, sublime and strange. Nature is prodigal of bliss, She breathes out fragrance on the air, She thrills the human heart, and this Seems first her kind maternal care. Nature is tender in her moods, When soft winds fan the vales below ; And tender in the solitudes Where souls reflective haste to go. AND OTHER POEMS. 59 The earth is voiceful to the heart The while it glows with dewy green ; The very dust doth feel its part Of honor in the various scene. The trees are full of singing birds, That hymn aloud creation's praise ; The air itself is full of words, And songs, and sweet, melodious lays. From nature to the soul again, Let us in calm reflection go ; And feel within the stress and strain Of tides that from our being flow. There the divine asserts its sway ; The low, the base degrades the soul, The high, the pure leads on to day, Where rivers of redemption roll. Go down, man, to self within, Behold ! What glorious gifts are thine ! What conquests over death and sin ; What mansions in the Heart Divine ! 60 THE GARDEN GATE Thy nature gleams and burns with light, That soon or late will shine on high, Where angel forms are clothed with might, And hearts made pure shall never die ! that our lives were like the chords Of perfect harps, all tuned and strung ! Then we should utter perfect words, And keep our hearts forever young ! For this the sky, the stream, the tree, Seem filled with the profoundest praise, For this grand nature seems to be Our teacher, in her silent ways. AND OTHER POEMS. 61 EZRA STILES GANNETT, D. D. Break not the calmness of his sleep, Fond memory, stillness is thine own ; The guardian angels now shall keep God's risen servant at His throne. Not yet the grieving hearts should speak, Let Time a little longer roll ; The powers of thought are far too weak To tell his eloquence of soul. For time must deepen every thought Which bids that loving face to shine, And his dear image will be fraught With light, and life, and deeds divine. The grave is not his fadeless rest, He sees the throne where seraphs bow ; Immortal voices call him blest, Eternal glories crown him now. THE GARDEN GATE OUR FRIEND FOURSCORE. When the brow of age is beauteous With the light of Virtue's star, There is joy and peace eternal, There is youth no age can mar. Trembling steps and form are then Tokens of a home near by ; lie shall cross its threshold when His appointed days shall fly. To not call our good friend old, Words of joy leap from his tongue ; For his life is manifold, And the signs that he is young. He can smile for gladness yet, 1 1 < can speak the mirthful word ; And liis heart doth not forget What his chilhood knew and heard. AND OTHER POEMS. 63 He can see his boyhood's days, He can see the village school ; See his groves and childish plays, In the forests deep and cool. He can see the running streams, And the willows bending low ; See the mild but radiant beams Of the moonlight come and go. Thinks he of his chilhood's tears ? Of the darkness and the light ? Thinks he of his vanished years, In the visions of the night ? Voices of his manhood's prime, Chimes of happy marriage bells ; Voices of his happiest time, Greet him with their sweet farewells. Voices from the homestead ring, Where the fires once blazed so bright ; Where his household used to sing, When the hearthstone glowed with light. 64 THE GARDEN GATE Forms his heart and youth enshrined, In their glory now appear ; Never lost to heart or mind, Are his friendships old and dear. He is witness more and more, Of our nature's power to bear ; Witness, is our friend fourscore, Of the joys that lighten care. He is more with glory crowned Than are kings, with lands and gold ; For his youth again is found, And he never will grow old ! AND OTHER POEMS. 65 EDWARD N. KIRK, D. D. In heart-love and in holy prayer, Where may a soul like his be found ? And words like his to soothe our care ? To bid us stay on hallowed ground ? And faith in God, that never dies ! And faith in Christ's own Sacrifice ! In Prayer he seemed to take us up To Heaven itself. His heart seemed filled With life's pure stream. He took the cup His Saviour gave, and drank ; his fears were stilled. This life was glad to him, because his Lord, Sang through his soul in every tuneful chord. 66 THE GARDEN GATE THE SLEEP OF HIS BELOVED. " He giveth His beloved sleep," The ages give them perfect rest ! Our tearful eyes need never weep For his beloved when they are blest ! Blest with a peace that never dies, The glorified have ceased to weep Their song of triumph, hear it rise ! " He giveth His beloved sleep." .On loftiest heights in heaven's glow, From valley and from mountain steep, 'The same sweet tides of music flow, "He giveth His beloved sleep." AND OTHER POEMS. 67 At eventide, when silence reigns On all the earth in glory deep, A voice breathes in angelic strains, " He giveth His beloved sleep." Beside the graves of friends we love, Where holy hearts ne'er fail to weep, This sentence whispers from above, " He giveth His beloved sleep." THE GARDEN GATE THEY ARE WITH US. They are with us who have fled, Thus will I be comforted. Viewless though my kindred be, A V here they are, they think of me. Somewhere in the realm of souls, Love's great ocean toward me rolls ; Somewhere, though my faith must see, Spirit friends are kind to me. As a presence, they arc here, Witness to the" smile or tear. Witness that my way is crowned By a love that knows no bound. So my spirit talks with them ; They have won life's diadem ; Satisfied to know that they Are the angels round my way. When the love that gave us birth Calls me from this changeful earth, Fadeless shall that rich love be, .In the souls restored to me. AND OTHER POEMS. 69 BENJAMIN TYLER REED. Strong in his love for high and Churchly thought, With princely gifts, that thought, by him endowed, Will brightly glow ! The life-work he has wrought, Years will impress ; dispersing many a cloud From Error's night. Hearts will go out to him In sacred love, till life's last day is dim. Now shall he live in earnest minds and souls, Who run, on earth, their race for heavenly goals Toilers divine, who work for hallowed ends ; These are Earth's best, Earth's truest, dearest friends ! 70 THE GARDEN GATE DEPARTED YEARS! Departed years ! ye march in time, With steps set for the eternal shore, And promise of that Eden's prime, Where life is life forevermore ; Where all are strangers to decay, And hope smiles not to glide away ! Mine eyes have seen the light and shade Which over life each day hath spread ; And I have heard where pierced ones prayed For quick relief among their dead ! Where they have wept for all their slain, That they might live and love again. 0, as these bells of Christmas chime, And thou departest, dying year, AND OTHER POEMS. 71 The Child of Hope, in this due time, Reborn, shall bring his presence here ; And Faith and Peace our sky shall gem, For his Judea and Bethlehem. * And when our latest chimes have rung, And we go hence to find that shore Of which all holy bards have sung, 0, blessed years, dawn there once more ; For then the friendships ye have given Shall quicken all our joy of heaven. TJ THE GAI:DI-:N GATE THE PRESENT AND THE PAST. The present hour is full of thought, And full of noble deed ; . The beautiful and true enwrought, Soon find their highest meed ; But in the glory of the Now, Its light around us cast, We know that two great worlds are made, The present and the past. Upon the parted years we stand, As on some mountain's crest And see beneath the valley land That once we called our rest. From youth to manhood's springtide hour We trace relations vast ; A gathered strength a glorious power The present and the past. AND OTHER POEMS. 73 We look on ruins old and gray. Some tower of time laid low. And then we hear the ages say, We justly come and go ; We rear our temples fair and high, No age before surpassed ! Oh, tell us which of these may die, The present or the past. Oh, builders of yon stately towers, Ye boast the present time, Ye give unto her flying hours, Your anthem and your rhyme ; Be thankful while the moments speed, In circuits grand and vast, That ours are gifts from heaven indeed, The present and the past. 74 THE GARDEN GATE* BARON STOW, D. D. Translated with the dying year To Heaven's serene unclouded sphere, Why should we say " He is not here." It seems to me, they do not die, Who vanish from the mortal eye, The sons of God are always nigh. Their living presence is not fled Though we may call them now our dead, They are our Life-Stars overhead ! Each gleam of beauty they have given, Unfolds the ever glorious Heaven ! Each gentle voicing in our ear, Hath made their souls forever dear, So that we feel their presence near ! And memory oft will show his face, Incarnate with a heavenly grace, In many a chosen dwelling place ! AND OTHER POEMS. 75 Love gave to him a blessed dower, Love gave him all his secret power. He in a charmed circle moved ; We knew him as the well beloved. Then weep we not ; the preacher true, Who gave us truths his spirit knew, Hath seen them now in cloudless view ! Let us rejoice that he doth know, The full immortal, lifetime's glow. For he who clung around the cross Of Christ, we know hath met no loss.. There is no night, nor darkness dim, For those who sleep and rest ia Him ! 76 THE GARDEN GATE THE TIDES OF LIFE. These surging life-tides how they flow, In crowded streets, in busy marts ! Here Mammon wanders to and fro To seize and hold the human hearts. voice of strife, greed for gold, When may your histories all be told ? In souls that hide their deepest woes, Through hands that strangely grasp the prize, Behold the dreamy vision goes, To rise and fall before our eyes. To-day a gleaming, brilliant Kght; To-morrow, darkness death and night ! Yet who would hard-earned wealth despise, Or honest fortune's lap of gold ? AND OTHER POEMS. 77 For riches lend to mortal eyes A crown of glory manifold ; No temple in its beauty stands But wealth upreared it with her hands. Yea Life itself waits at her gates ; Essential food and raiment tell ; And those who scorn her true estate Will surely sink to penury's hell ; And this is why the poor have fled Sometimes, to meet their kindred dead. Still holy Hope looks far beyond These life-tides in their rise and fall ; Faith smiles on us when we despond, And points to glories made for all ; And that all were truly wise To build their mansions in the skies ! 78 THE GARDEN GATE " GRANT US THY PEACE." Grant us thy peace Lord of all ! This inmost strife is hard to bear ; We stand, we soar, and then we fall, Our joys, our griefs are turned to prayer ; No thought no deed but stirs some power That bids the night through day to lower. We find no rest ; our feet must go When thou dost call, come joy or woe ; In vain we bid our sorrows cease ; Grant us, Lord, thy boon of peace ! Within the war-note's dire alarm, Within the dark unrest is known, There dwell the hosts of foes that harm, That keep us from the conqueror's throne. What towers of strength those foemen hold! AND OTHER POEMS. 79 What mines of purest spirit-gold ! Send thou some angel, stronger still, And ours shall be thy sovereign will. In our submission, is release ; Grant us, Lord, thy perfect peace. Grant us thy peace ! then earthly things Shall work our blessedness alone, And we may quaff those living springs Which we now long to call our own. Our prayer, our praise, for aye the same, Is blessed with thy most holy name ! Life's struggling tides shall never cease ; Grant us, O Lord, thy perfect peace ! 80 THE GARDEN GATE OUR PERFECT DAYS. Fairer than our fairest gaze, Are the visioned, fadeless realms ; We have looked on perfect days, As creation's diadems. Perfect days give out such light, We can in our souls read well What is given to inner sight Where the grand perceptions dwell. Hope and Faith on perfect days, Seem to show new glories here ; And our souls are filled with praise, That the open Heaven is near. Then the full heart of old Time Is o'erflowing in its store, And we know our day sublime Comes to stay forevermore ! AND OTHER POEMS. 81 MRS. HARRISON GRAY OTIS. The sacred heart of silence keeps The richest treasures of our dead ; There is a star whose radience shines On them in beauty's deepening lines, A star of Hope ; and we are led By that unto a heavenly plain, Where angels sing. Each music strain Makes life and love grow pure again. The bells have tolled for one whose heart Bespoke itself in deed and truth ! It spoke in works that ne'er depart, And told its own immortal youth ; And in rich memories shining forth From East and West, and South and North, The soldier will pronounce her name With reverence. For we proudly claim Such names as hers, the land to crown, And send them to the ages down. 82 THJ-; i; AUDIO; THE WORLD ABOVE US. The bending skies above are blue, And the horizon gleams with stars! The days are born from thence anew, And worlds are in night's silvered bars. There mountains, hills, and vales arise, To the great seers that look within ; While each eternal mansion lies Afar from this world's death and din. There oceans in full grandeur roll, And rivers in their beauty glide ; The sweet voiced singers of the soul With music's chorus charm the tide! And there the city of our God, With pearly gates and golden floors, Sends light and glory all abroad Stands night and day with open doors. AND OTHER POEMS. 83 World upon world and light on light. Star upon star sends forth its glow, While coursing glories, pure and bright, Like eddying currents come and go. What hearts, what souls are radient there ! What lives sublime in courses run ! What blessed toil, what hallowed care, Where work celestial is begun ! More worlds than one ! In every realm There must be life that hath a voice ; For life is being's diadem, And God doth in his works rejoice. 84 Tin: (; \I:DI:N GATE THOMAS BULFINCIL This is not death. 'Tis pleasant sleep. why should we who love him weep ? This frame may sink back to the sod, The soul has risen to its God ! How beautiful these features are ! And radient as some morning star, That from the east its light has shed To tell the gloom of night has fled. How beautiful his life has been, So free from touch and deed of sin ; How beautiful the soul-lit smile That lingers on these lips the while ! How beautiful his presence seemed, The true ideal we have dreamed A human life perchance might l>c, Though tossed on Time's tempestuous sea. AND OTHER POEMS. 85 How fiting are these hymns and prayers, That speak his rest from mortal cares ; For he has passed the valley dim. And sung e'er this the triumph hymn. One look, the last we give him here ; Yet in the spirit's gathering sphere, In worlds where not one dear life dies, Our risen friend shall meet our eyes ! 86 THE GARDEN GATE A SUMMER'S RHYME, Where is glory ever living, To the earth forever giving, More than heart or word can tell See it in the forest dell. Where are hues whose brilliant showing o/ Far outshine the diamond's glowing ? See them in the lights that rise, In the near and distant skies. Where is beauty's soul displayed, If not in the welcome shade, And the roses and the flowers, And the sunshine of the hours ? Where are songs most dear and sweet, And the sound of tripping feet ? Ask the evening shade that falls, Ask in pleasures festive halls. AND OTHER ' POEMS. 87 Where are Faith, and Hope, and Love ? Ask the shining heaven above ; Where the joys that ne'er depart ? Ask the trusting human heart. Seek and find in Nature's fane, Where her joys supremest reign; In the garden, in the bower, In the sunshine, in the shower. Overhead are arching skies, Underneath a carpet lies ; Walls of azure, up and down, And the trees, like pillars, crown. Vain is all the seeker's art, If he loses faith and heart, Nature's ages onward roll, Only for an open soul. 88 THE GARDEN GATE AMONG THE ROSES. We walk among the roses In summer gardens fair, Her blooms are all around us, Her perfumes sweet and rare. The skies with smiles are lighted, The winds their fine harps play ; Who calls this earth the blighted ? Behold its perfect day ! We walk among the roses Where rushing streamlets run, When life in its young glory, Is summer time, begun ! What joy is wrought within us, What beauty finds its way, To every spirit seeking A life without decay ! AND OTHER POEMS. 89 We walk among the roses, Where nature's light is made The welcome of the morning The welcome of the shade ! Her choral anthems ringing, In vain we tune to words, We leave her voice of singing To all the tuneful birds. We walk among the roses In summer gardens fair, We bless the skies above us, We bless the cool, soft air. Oh, let us keep in blossom, These gardens fair of ours, And bring the heart of summer To all our spirit bowers. 90 THK GARDEN GATE VOICES OF THE DAYS. I hear the voices of the days Come whispering through the silent night: " Where hast thou led thy spirit's ways, Since brightly shone the morning light ? " Where were thy footsteps longest seen ? To whom thy hand of friendship given ? To whom hast thou a presence been, A light whose radiance led to heaven ? "What word for truth, what deed for love Has from thy being sent its glow ? What soul uplifted far above The waves of grief, is thine to show ? " What hallowed thought t)f duty kept, What gift of faith what soul of prayer ? What evil passion hast thou swc;;t Out from thy soul, that tried thce there ?"' AND OTHER POEMS. 91 I hear the voices ! Ere I sleep, How they rebuke and give me pain ! They tell me how I sow and reap, And garner up life's golden grain. 'Tis here and there a little gold ; A little gain, or wondrous loss ; My inward life is manifold. Where is my crown to bless my cross ? 92 THE r.AKDI WE MAY NOT TELL. We may not tell what hidden power, Lies in the present living hour, Nor how the words therein we speak May keep the strong, and soothe the weak ; Nor how our deeds have might to thrall, Or bless the mightiest of us all. How smiles of love, or flashing scorn, Bring daylight's gleams, or evening's on ; How smallest look of ours may lift, Or send a soul, out sea, adrift ! May give affliction's tides to swell, Or lands of peace wherein to dwell ! We may not tell, we may not tell ! We may not tell, what one true heart, Of life, of beauty, may impart To Freedom's course, when to its foes The ranks of holy patriots close ; When voice and arm as one combine, To fix the Right's embattled line. AND OTHER POEMS. 93 To swear allegiance to the land Of mountains high, and valleys grand ; To vow that by her dower of right, Her stars shall never set in night ! Though heroes die, and dirges swell, How bright their names in ages dwell, We may not tell, we may not tell ! We may not tell what lowly cot, One life hath made a hallowed spot ! What virtue from some poor unknown, Hath lifted weakness to a throne ! What prayer of meekest soul hath done To help a true life's victory on ! What faith hath saved us in that hour When hope and trust seemed not its dower ; When far above, the darkened skies Were like a midnight to our eyes ! Oh ! let this thought within us dwell, And bind life's Ages with its spell ! We may not tell, we may not tell ! . .( Till-. I;AI;IU-:N <;ATB THANKSGIVING HYMN. (In War time.) Give thanks ; the corn and wine are still Our portion as of yore ; The harvest sheaves our garners fill, With plenty's welcome store ! The generous seasons well have done Their Heaven appointed part ! The flowers have bloomed beneath the sun, And gladness filled our heart. The skies have looked serenely down Upon our furrowed soil ; Storms have broken the cloud's dark frown ; Success hath crowned our toil ! Give thanks around the festive board ; Bring there the truest cheer ; There be the Nation's God implored, To bless the closing year AND OTHER POEMS. 95 What though we miss some friend of old His presence cease to view, Now let our thanks be manifold ; The endless life is true ! What though the battle rages on ; And noble heroes fall ; Give thanks ! our Freedom is not gone ; She stands and crowns us all. TIIK AI;I'I-:N <;ATE THE SOLDIER'S LAST MESSAGE. ASoMiov's last words <>n the l:iitl<-fk*l