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Title: Rain and roses
Author: Jeannette Fraser Henshall
Release date: October 4, 2020 [eBook #63373]
Most recently updated: October 18, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Charlene Taylor, Chuck Greif and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAIN AND ROSES ***
RAIN AND ROSES
Rain and Roses
By
JEANNETTE FRASER HENSHALL
To My Daughter
Beulah
1923
THE STRATFORD CO., Publishers
Boston, Massachusetts
Copyright, 1923
The STRATFORD CO., Publishers
Boston, Mass.
The Alpine Press, Boston, Mass., U. S. A.
Contents
Inadequate
FRIEND of my heart when you’re away
I fashion for my tongue,
A thousand things to say to you
But dear heart when you come,
I fashion for my tongue,
A thousand things to say to you
But dear heart when you come,
How needless is my well formed phrase,
And my care chosen words,
Take swift and sudden flight away,
Like small wind-riven birds.
And my care chosen words,
Take swift and sudden flight away,
Like small wind-riven birds.
Old Masonry
LONG, long ago in our old street
Back from the busy road,
An old deserted stone house stood
Breaking beneath its load.
Back from the busy road,
An old deserted stone house stood
Breaking beneath its load.
Such ruin that remained of peaks
Stood out against the skies.
And the memory of old things
Looked from behind its eyes.
Stood out against the skies.
And the memory of old things
Looked from behind its eyes.
In summer time this dead old house
Set in its flowery space.
One likened to a stranger
In a much too friendly place.
Set in its flowery space.
One likened to a stranger
In a much too friendly place.
In winter time its creaking frame
With all its falling beams,
Was like a sea rocked sailor
Grown weary of his dreams.
With all its falling beams,
Was like a sea rocked sailor
Grown weary of his dreams.
Hymn of Adoration
I AM grown weary for new scenes
But not of human make.
But O! for hills and long green fields,
A splintered, glittering lake.
But not of human make.
But O! for hills and long green fields,
A splintered, glittering lake.
This day I am an intimate
With sky and bird and tree.
With budding boughs and turbulent streams
And God’s immensity.
With sky and bird and tree.
With budding boughs and turbulent streams
And God’s immensity.
I am enamored with fresh days
Drenched with rain and sun.
The tho’t of thine omnipotence
O! God has made me dumb.
Drenched with rain and sun.
The tho’t of thine omnipotence
O! God has made me dumb.
Sweet Distress
The Chastening
I SEE thee now thine innocence
Writ on thy soul’s clear skies.
Thy laughter loving mouth
Thy love provoking eyes.
Writ on thy soul’s clear skies.
Thy laughter loving mouth
Thy love provoking eyes.
I mark thy soft girl fairness
Thy strong young body’s grace,
The woman soul that I have nursed
Dawning behind thy face.
Thy strong young body’s grace,
The woman soul that I have nursed
Dawning behind thy face.
I note with fear thy heedless
And unchided turbulence.
Unfaltering faith in life and love
Thine air of confidence.
And unchided turbulence.
Unfaltering faith in life and love
Thine air of confidence.
And then I see as seers might see
Even as one’s own God.
Thy straight, slim youthfulness
Bend to the chastening rod.
Even as one’s own God.
Thy straight, slim youthfulness
Bend to the chastening rod.
I writhe to think I may not bear
The blows, for thine own sake
I can not, tho’ ’tis mine to know
How one small heart can ache.
The blows, for thine own sake
I can not, tho’ ’tis mine to know
How one small heart can ache.
In the winds of thy fierce breaking
God grant I never see
Thy flashing spirit sullen,
Or thy lips in mutiny.
God grant I never see
Thy flashing spirit sullen,
Or thy lips in mutiny.
The Four Winds of Heaven
WHEN I hear the north wind
It never fails to bring,
Reminders of for-get-me-nots
And sunny days in spring.
It never fails to bring,
Reminders of for-get-me-nots
And sunny days in spring.
And O! the east wind carries
Upon its scented sail,
The tho’t of pink arbutus
In some secluded vale.
Upon its scented sail,
The tho’t of pink arbutus
In some secluded vale.
And how I’d like to gather
When winds are in the west,
A brace of orange blossoms
To hold against my breast.
When winds are in the west,
A brace of orange blossoms
To hold against my breast.
Friend
LAST night when I was watching shadows lengthen
From twilight into deeper, darker lines,
The lazy river caught my little boat dear,
And swept it in among the clinging vines.
From twilight into deeper, darker lines,
The lazy river caught my little boat dear,
And swept it in among the clinging vines.
And somehow in the mirror of the current
I saw your kindly face look back at me.
Then I reached my eager hands toward you
As one would do to friends across the sea.
I saw your kindly face look back at me.
Then I reached my eager hands toward you
As one would do to friends across the sea.
Friend O! mine, don’t think that I’ve forgotten,
Tho’ parted now by many a weary mile.
In every little pool I see reflected,
Your eyes forever tender with a smile
Tho’ parted now by many a weary mile.
In every little pool I see reflected,
Your eyes forever tender with a smile
Humility
I HAVE come a long way
Over sea and sod.
I found nothing small as me,
Nothing great as GOD.
Over sea and sod.
I found nothing small as me,
Nothing great as GOD.
God has in his keeping
Eternities of time.
He hears worlds of trouble
But, gives ear to mine.
Eternities of time.
He hears worlds of trouble
But, gives ear to mine.
He sways stars and planets,
“Keeps the keys of death.”
But in his loving kindness
Paused to give me breath.
“Keeps the keys of death.”
But in his loving kindness
Paused to give me breath.
Shadows
I SAT with dreams and mated them with shadows
Where sunlight flecked the grass and trickled thru
Each swaying twig and branch of spruce and elder
Adoringly, they somehow spoke of you.
Where sunlight flecked the grass and trickled thru
Each swaying twig and branch of spruce and elder
Adoringly, they somehow spoke of you.
I sat tense-eyed, my longing vision sensing,
An unseen, art-wise hand begin to trace.
With all love’s magic trickery displaying
To me; your hair, your pallid waiting face.
An unseen, art-wise hand begin to trace.
With all love’s magic trickery displaying
To me; your hair, your pallid waiting face.
Two Roads
THERE are two roads near Joppa town
And here I doubting stood,
For one went winding round the hill
The other thru the wood.
And here I doubting stood,
For one went winding round the hill
The other thru the wood.
And if I took the winding road
’Twould lead me thru the mall,
Of noise and gossipers for which
I have no heart at all.
’Twould lead me thru the mall,
Of noise and gossipers for which
I have no heart at all.
Sweet briar nodded from the hill,
The blue bells from the shade.
A purple finch decided me,
So in the wood I stayed.
The blue bells from the shade.
A purple finch decided me,
So in the wood I stayed.
A brooding bird and restless young,
Began to chide and fret.
And wonder in bird fashion what
I ever came to get.
Began to chide and fret.
And wonder in bird fashion what
I ever came to get.
A green snake ran across my path
Its eyes were jewel small.
A flying squirrel left a tree,
That seemed ten paces tall.
Its eyes were jewel small.
A flying squirrel left a tree,
That seemed ten paces tall.
I picked a fern that had uncurled
Itself from out the ground.
And O! the wood delighted me,
The way it stood around.
Itself from out the ground.
And O! the wood delighted me,
The way it stood around.
And there were holy moments when
My very soul went still.
And sad I was for folks who took
The road around the hill.
My very soul went still.
And sad I was for folks who took
The road around the hill.
The Reason
WHEN I was but a little girl
Mere flotsam on life’s sea,
Because of youth a lovely rose
Meant, just a rose to me.
Mere flotsam on life’s sea,
Because of youth a lovely rose
Meant, just a rose to me.
Before I knew that love was life,
And life were all of love.
The sky was only atmosphere
And God frowned up above.
And life were all of love.
The sky was only atmosphere
And God frowned up above.
When June Comes
WHEN June comes back again I’ll sit
Away back from the road and dip
My face and arms in clover blooms,
And drink my fill of their perfumes,
And steep myself in one great gleam
Of sunlight, and I’ll dream,
And dream,
And dream.
Away back from the road and dip
My face and arms in clover blooms,
And drink my fill of their perfumes,
And steep myself in one great gleam
Of sunlight, and I’ll dream,
And dream,
And dream.
I’ll lean back in the grass and sigh
And look love at the blue, blue sky.
Until my senses reel and reel,
Like elm tree branches and a feel—
Of drowsiness oozes between,
My eyelids, while I dream,
And dream,
And dream.
And look love at the blue, blue sky.
Until my senses reel and reel,
Like elm tree branches and a feel—
Of drowsiness oozes between,
My eyelids, while I dream,
And dream,
And dream.
Through Loving Eyes
LIKE a careless child in the drifts it stood
Against the darkness of the wood,
Even the path was not cut through
Up to the door it led you to.
Beauty untarnished, but never a sound
Save for the whispering trees around.
Its shining eyes on the cold world shone
Warm and bright from its snowy comb.
Cheer was the word the blue fume wrote
As it cleared itself from the chimney’s throat.
The drifts that lay on the tent like sheds
Were like the covers of untouched beds.
A great white garment of snow and frost
Was laid on the fence, but the hedge was lost.
A-while away the home garden park
Divides itself from the woods soft dark.
Dear God I said, you had meant to please
When giving man such gifts as these.
Against the darkness of the wood,
Even the path was not cut through
Up to the door it led you to.
Beauty untarnished, but never a sound
Save for the whispering trees around.
Its shining eyes on the cold world shone
Warm and bright from its snowy comb.
Cheer was the word the blue fume wrote
As it cleared itself from the chimney’s throat.
The drifts that lay on the tent like sheds
Were like the covers of untouched beds.
A great white garment of snow and frost
Was laid on the fence, but the hedge was lost.
A-while away the home garden park
Divides itself from the woods soft dark.
Dear God I said, you had meant to please
When giving man such gifts as these.
Worship
I DID not always know ’twas kind
Of thee to let me pass,
And with my sacrilegious feet
Walk lightly thru thy grass.
Of thee to let me pass,
And with my sacrilegious feet
Walk lightly thru thy grass.
How could I know, when I was young
’Twas one of thine own dreams,
To tender me the license of
Thy hills and singing streams.
’Twas one of thine own dreams,
To tender me the license of
Thy hills and singing streams.
How could’st thou take even a part
Of thy remotest time,
And weld me, poor unworthly link,
Into this chain of thine.
Of thy remotest time,
And weld me, poor unworthly link,
Into this chain of thine.
One day I learned at cost of pain
Among the shadows dim,
Thy gift of violets, Oh! God
Their fragrance cutting in.
Among the shadows dim,
Thy gift of violets, Oh! God
Their fragrance cutting in.
Evermore
Then I go on from here I’ll take
The ever pleasant memory of a lake.
I’ll tightly lock within my spirit breast
The picture of a grim old mountain’s crest.
The ever pleasant memory of a lake.
I’ll tightly lock within my spirit breast
The picture of a grim old mountain’s crest.
A little stream’s song running ever clear
And all the lonely places I hold dear.
A mocking bird, a drenched and dripping tree.
O! I shall keep my hunger for the sea.
And all the lonely places I hold dear.
A mocking bird, a drenched and dripping tree.
O! I shall keep my hunger for the sea.
I shall keep my knowledge of the paths I know
The gates of many mornings and the glow,
Of sunset, on a firegold window pane,
The mist on young nasturtiums after rain.
The gates of many mornings and the glow,
Of sunset, on a firegold window pane,
The mist on young nasturtiums after rain.
Virginia creeper on some quaint old garden wall
The sound of dropping nuts, I’ll take them all.
The falling leaves, the closing of the year,
I’ll not forget, tho’ I go on from here.
The sound of dropping nuts, I’ll take them all.
The falling leaves, the closing of the year,
I’ll not forget, tho’ I go on from here.
A City Guest
THE wonder never went out of her eyes
When she saw the sweep of our wide blue skies,
The things we farmers forget in the pain
Of sowing and planting and reaping again.
When she saw the sweep of our wide blue skies,
The things we farmers forget in the pain
Of sowing and planting and reaping again.
Things taken for granted loose the touch
Of newness and dazzle we love so much.
While she, soft-eyed and with shining face,
Found pleasure in all things about the place.
Of newness and dazzle we love so much.
While she, soft-eyed and with shining face,
Found pleasure in all things about the place.
She gathered the flowers in wind and rain
That we called common and tho’t real plain.
From the sweep of our lawn to the poppy bed
Flaunting their colors about her head.
That we called common and tho’t real plain.
From the sweep of our lawn to the poppy bed
Flaunting their colors about her head.
Till we ourselves looked with glad new eyes
On an old, old setting, but a new sunrise.
Cold grey days she would rise and sing
For she found beauty in everything.
On an old, old setting, but a new sunrise.
Cold grey days she would rise and sing
For she found beauty in everything.
Reminders
THE sun, the wind, and rain
The trees, the flowers and skies,
A grosbeak’s note
From its flaming throat
And my bosom is tossed with sighs.
The trees, the flowers and skies,
A grosbeak’s note
From its flaming throat
And my bosom is tossed with sighs.
Eyebeams and locks of hair
The curve of a white cheek near,
Each day of the week
Filled full of the sweet
Reminders of you, my dear.
The curve of a white cheek near,
Each day of the week
Filled full of the sweet
Reminders of you, my dear.
The crowd and the city street,
A hill that is bleak and bare.
A fleecy cloud
Floating high and proud
And I think of my darling’s hair.
A hill that is bleak and bare.
A fleecy cloud
Floating high and proud
And I think of my darling’s hair.
Soul
BECAUSE,
There never was a voice on earth
Could soothe its harrowings,
That’s why these souls God gave to us
Are always lonely things.
There never was a voice on earth
Could soothe its harrowings,
That’s why these souls God gave to us
Are always lonely things.
Because,
Life is so short, and death so sure,
And worlds uncertain things,
And time so fleet and heaven so high
Souls have such restless wings.
Life is so short, and death so sure,
And worlds uncertain things,
And time so fleet and heaven so high
Souls have such restless wings.
Farewell
WHEN you are twining wreaths of rose and columbine
To soften outlines of a tomb too new,
Remember, spring makes little tents all green and cool
For soldier boys this old world never knew.
To soften outlines of a tomb too new,
Remember, spring makes little tents all green and cool
For soldier boys this old world never knew.
When spring comes tripping down the lane once more
And children bring you violets of blue,
When your tender heart is strained, beyond the breaking
Let this be my farewell, dear heart, to you.
And children bring you violets of blue,
When your tender heart is strained, beyond the breaking
Let this be my farewell, dear heart, to you.