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Muse and Mint

Chapter 40: LITTLE WORDS
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About This Book

A varied collection of short lyrical poems that observes nature and rural life, using seasonal imagery—sap, snow, rivers, cherries—and simple domestic scenes to reflect on change, beauty, and small joys. Sections shift between fireside recollections, sentimental and philosophical meditations, homiletic and religious pieces, and light humor, blending devotional songlike verses with moral aphorisms and affectionate memory. The voice moves between wistful and buoyant moods, finding consolation and ethical insight in commonplace experiences, while concise stanzas and vivid images emphasize mood and moral reflection rather than a continuous narrative.

LITTLE WORDS

Speak but the little words of truth
And they shall live when thou hast ceased to be;
The lips by trial daily put to proof
Breathe nothing sweeter than sincerity,
Helping thy brother to be true like thee.
Speak but the little words of love
And they shall linger when the tongue is still;
For whether there be thrones they shall remove,
But love abideth all our thoughts to fill
And fashioneth remembrance as it will.
Speak but the little words of hope
And they shall cheer the way when cometh night
To thee or others who in dark would grope
But for the courage of thy humble light
Fed by the oil of promise—“All comes right.”
Speak but the little words of trust
And they shall rob the struggle of its cross,
The heart of sorrow’s bitterness, the dust
Of victory o’er our dead—for out of loss
Trust sees eternal gain transform the dross.