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The White Bees

by

Henry van Dyke

CONTENTS

THE WHITE BEES

NEW YEAR'S EVE

  SONGS FOR AMERICA
    Sea-Gulls of Manhattan
    Urbs Coronata
    America
    Doors of Daring
    A Home Song
    A Noon Song
    An American in Europe
    The Ancestral Dwellings
    Francis Makemie
    National Monuments

  IN PRAISE OF POETS
    Mother Earth
    Milton: Three Sonnets
    Wordsworth
    Keats
    Shelley
    Robert Browning
    Longfellow
    Thomas Bailey Aldrich
    Edmund Clarence Stedman

  LYRICS, DRAMATIC AND PERSONAL
    Late Spring
    Nepenthe
    Hesper
    Arrival
    Departure
    The Black Birds
    Without Disguise
    Gratitude
    Master of Music
    Stars and the Soul
    To Julia Marlowe
    Pan Learns Music
    "Undine"
    Love in a Look
    My April Lady
    A Lover's Envy
    The Hermit Thrush
    Fire-Fly City
    The Gentle Traveller
    Sicily, December, 1908
    The Window
    Twilight in the Alps
    Jeanne D'Arc
    Hudson's Last Voyage

THE WHITE BEES AND OTHER POEMS

THE WHITE BEES

I

LEGEND

  Long ago Apollo called to Aristaeus, youngest
      of the shepherds,
    Saying, "I will make you keeper of my bees."
  Golden were the hives, and golden was the honey;
      golden, too, the music,
    Where the honey-makers hummed among the trees.

  Happy Aristaeus loitered in the garden, wandered
      in the orchard,
    Careless and contented, indolent and free;
  Lightly took his labour, lightly took his pleasure,
      till the fated moment
    When across his pathway came Eurydice.

  Then her eyes enkindled burning love within him;
      drove him wild with longing,
    For the perfect sweetness of her flower-like face;
  Eagerly he followed, while she fled before him,
      over mead and mountain,
    On through field and forest, in a breathless
      race.

  But the nymph, in flying, trod upon a serpent;
       like a dream she vanished;
    Pluto's chariot bore her down among the dead;
  Lonely Aristaeus, sadly home returning, found his
       garden empty,
    All the hives deserted, all the music fled.

  Mournfully bewailing,—"ah, my honey-makers,
       where have you departed?"—
    Far and wide he sought them, over sea and shore;
  Foolish is the tale that says he ever found them,
       brought them home in triumph,—
    Joys that once escape us fly for evermore.

  Yet I dream that somewhere, clad in downy
       whiteness, dwell the honey-makers,
    In aerial gardens that no mortal sees:
  And at times returning, lo, they flutter round us,
       gathering mystic harvest,—
    So I weave the legend of the long-lost bees.

II

THE SWARMING OF THE BEES

I

  Who can tell the hiding of the white bees'
      nest?
  Who can trace the guiding of their swift home
      flight?
  Far would be his riding on a life-long quest:
    Surely ere it ended would his beard grow
        white.

  Never in the coming of the rose-red Spring,
    Never in the passing of the wine-red Fall,
  May you hear the humming of the white bee's
        wing
    Murmur o'er the meadow, ere the night bells
        call.

  Wait till winter hardens in the cold grey sky,
    Wait till leaves are fallen and the brooks all
        freeze,
  Then above the gardens where the dead flowers
        lie,
    Swarm the merry millions of the wild white
        bees.

II

  Out of the high-built airy hive,
  Deep in the clouds that veil the sun,
  Look how the first of the swarm arrive;
  Timidly venturing, one by one,
  Down through the tranquil air,
  Wavering here and there,
  Large, and lazy in flight,—
  Caught by a lift of the breeze,
  Tangled among the naked trees,—
  Dropping then, without a sound,
  Feather-white, feather-light,
  To their rest on the ground.

III

  Thus the swarming is begun.
  Count the leaders, every one
  Perfect as a perfect star
  Till the slow descent is done.
  Look beyond them, see how far
  Down the vistas dim and grey,
  Multitudes are on the way.
  Now a sudden brightness
  Dawns within the sombre day,
  Over fields of whiteness;
  And the sky is swiftly alive
  With the flutter and the flight
  Of the shimmering bees, that pour
  From the hidden door of the hive
  Till you can count no more.

IV

  Now on the branches of hemlock and pine
  Thickly they settle and cluster and swing,
  Bending them low; and the trellised vine
  And the dark elm-boughs are traced with a line
  Of beauty wherever the white bees cling.
  Now they are hiding the wrecks of the flowers,
  Softly, softly, covering all,
  Over the grave of the summer hours
  Spreading a silver pall.
  Now they are building the broad roof ledge,
  Into a cornice smooth and fair,
  Moulding the terrace, from edge to edge,
  Into the sweep of a marble stair.
  Wonderful workers, swift and dumb,
  Numberless myriads, still they come,
  Thronging ever faster, faster, faster!
  Where is their queen? Who is their master?
  The gardens are faded, the fields are frore,—
  How will they fare in a world so bleak?
  Where is the hidden honey they seek?
  What is the sweetness they toil to store
  In the desolate day, where no blossoms gleam?
  Forgetfulness and a dream!

V

  But now the fretful wind awakes;
  I hear him girding at the trees;
  He strikes the bending boughs, and shakes
  The quiet clusters of the bees
  To powdery drift;
  He tosses them away,
  He drives them like spray;
  He makes them veer and shift
  Around his blustering path.
  In clouds blindly whirling,
  In rings madly swirling,
  Full of crazy wrath,
  So furious and fast they fly
  They blur the earth and blot the sky
  In wild, white mirk.
  They fill the air with frozen wings
  And tiny, angry, icy stings;
  They blind the eyes, and choke the breath,
  They dance a maddening dance of death
  Around their work,
  Sweeping the cover from the hill,
  Heaping the hollows deeper still,
  Effacing every line and mark,
  And swarming, storming in the dark
  Through the long night;
  Until, at dawn, the wind lies down,
  Weary of fight.
  The last torn cloud, with trailing gown,
  Passes the open gates of light;
  And the white bees are lost in flight.

VI

  Look how the landscape glitters wide and still,
     Bright with a pure surprise!
  The day begins with joy, and all past ill,
     Buried in white oblivion, lies
  Beneath the snowdrifts under crystal skies.
  New hope, new love, new life, new cheer,
    Flow in the sunrise beam,—
    The gladness of Apollo when he sees,
  Upon the bosom of the wintry year,
  The honey-harvest of his wild white bees,
     Forgetfulness and a dream!

III

LEGEND

  Listen, my beloved, while the silver morning,
     like a tranquil vision,
   Fills the world around us and our hearts with
     peace;
  Quiet is the close of Aristaeus' legend, happy is
     the ending—
   Listen while I tell you how he found release.

  Many months he wandered far away in sadness,
       desolately thinking
   Only of the vanished joys he could not find;
  Till the great Apollo, pitying his shepherd, loosed
       him from the burden
   Of a dark, reluctant, backward-looking mind.

  Then he saw around him all the changeful beauty
       of the changing seasons,
   In the world-wide regions where his journey
       lay;
  Birds that sang to cheer him, flowers that bloomed
        beside him, stars that shone to guide him,—
    Traveller's joy was plenty all along the way!

  Everywhere he journeyed strangers made him
       welcome, listened while he taught them
   Secret lore of field and forest he had learned:
  How to train the vines and make the olives fruit-
       ful; how to guard the sheepfolds;
   How to stay the fever when the dog-star burned.

  Friendliness and blessing followed in his foot-
        steps; richer were the harvests,
    Happier the dwellings, wheresoe'er he came;
  Little children loved him, and he left behind him,
         in the hour of parting,
    Memories of kindness and a god-like name.

  So he travelled onward, desolate no longer,
      patient in his seeking,
   Reaping all the wayside comfort of his quest;
  Till at last in Thracia, high upon Mount Haemus,
         far from human dwelling,
    Weary Aristaeus laid him down to rest.

  Then the honey-makers, clad in downy whiteness,
        fluttered soft around him,
    Wrapt him in a dreamful slumber pure and
       deep.
  This is life, beloved: first a sheltered garden,
        then a troubled journey,
    Joy and pain of seeking,—and at last we sleep!

NEW YEAR'S EVE

I

  The other night I had a dream, most clear
  And comforting, complete
  In every line, a crystal sphere,
  And full of intimate and secret cheer.
  Therefore I will repeat
  That vision, dearest heart, to you,
  As of a thing not feigned, but very true,
  Yes, true as ever in my life befell;
  And you, perhaps, can tell
  Whether my dream was really sad or sweet.

II

  The shadows flecked the elm-embowered street
  I knew so well, long, long ago;
  And on the pillared porch where Marguerite
  Had sat with me, the moonlight lay like snow.
  But she, my comrade and my friend of youth,
  Most gaily wise,
  Most innocently loved,—
  She of the blue-grey eyes
  That ever smiled and ever spoke the truth,—
  From that familiar dwelling, where she moved
  Like mirth incarnate in the years before,
  Had gone into the hidden house of Death.
  I thought the garden wore
  White mourning for her blessed innocence,
  And the syringa's breath
  Came from the corner by the fence,
  Where she had made her rustic seat,
  With fragrance passionate, intense,
  As if it breathed a sigh for Marguerite.
  My heart was heavy with a sense
  Of something good forever gone. I sought
  Vainly for some consoling thought,
  Some comfortable word that I could say
  To the sad father, whom I visited again
  For the first time since she had gone away.
  The bell rang shrill and lonely,—then
  The door was opened, and I sent my name
  To him,—but ah! 't was Marguerite who came!
  There in the dear old dusky room she stood
  Beneath the lamp, just as she used to stand,
  In tender mocking mood.
  "You did not ask for me," she said,
  "And so I will not let you take my hand;
  "But I must hear what secret talk you planned
  "With father. Come, my friend, be good,
  "And tell me your affairs of state:
  "Why you have stayed away and made me wait
  "So long. Sit down beside me here,—
  "And, do you know, it seemed a year
  "Since we have talked together,—why so late?"

  Amazed, incredulous, confused with joy
  I hardly dared to show,
  And stammering like a boy,
  I took the place she showed me at her side;
  And then the talk flowed on with brimming tide
  Through the still night,
  While she with influence light
  Controlled it, as the moon the flood.
  She knew where I had been, what I had done,
  What work was planned, and what begun;
  My troubles, failures, fears she understood,
  And touched them with a heart so kind,
  That every care was melted from my mind,
  And every hope grew bright,
  And life seemed moving on to happy ends.
  (Ah, what self-beggared fool was he
  That said a woman cannot be
  The very best of friends?)
  Then there were memories of old times,
  Recalled with many a gentle jest;
  And at the last she brought the book of rhymes
  We made together, trying to translate
  The Songs of Heine (hers were always best).
  "Now come," she said,
  "To-night we will collaborate
  "Again; I'll put you to the test.
  "Here's one I never found the way to do,—
  "The simplest are the hardest ones, you know,—
  "I give this song to you."
  And then she read:
      Mein kind, wir waren Kinder,
      Zwei Kinder, jung und froh.

  But all the while a silent question stirred
  Within me, though I dared not speak the word:
  "Is it herself, and is she truly here,
  "And was I dreaming when I heard
  "That she was dead last year?
  "Or was it true, and is she but a shade
  "Who brings a fleeting joy to eye and ear,
  "Cold though so kind, and will she gently fade
  "When her sweet ghostly part is played
  "And the light-curtain falls at dawn of day?"
  But while my heart was troubled by this fear
  So deeply that I could not speak it out,
  Lest all my happiness should disappear,
  I thought me of a cunning way
  To hide the question and dissolve the doubt.
  "Will you not give me now your hand,
  "Dear Marguerite," I asked, "to touch and hold,
  "That by this token I may understand
  "You are the same true friend you were of old?"
  She answered with a smile so bright and calm
  It seemed as if I saw new stars arise
  In the deep heaven of her eyes;
  And smiling so, she laid her palm
  In mine. Dear God, it was not cold
  But warm with vital heat!
  "You live!" I cried, "you live, dear Marguerite!"
  Then I awoke; but strangely comforted,
  Although I knew again that she was dead.

III

  Yes, there's the dream! And was it sweet or
     sad?
  Dear mistress of my waking and my sleep,
  Present reward of all my heart's desire,
  Watching with me beside the winter fire,
  Interpret now this vision that I had.
  But while you read the meaning, let me keep
  The touch of you: for the Old Year with storm
  Is passing through the midnight, and doth shake
  The corners of the house,—and oh! my heart
     would break
  Unless both dreaming and awake
  My hand could feel your hand was warm, warm,
     warm!

SONGS FOR AMERICA

SEA-GULLS OF Manhattan

  Children of the elemental mother,
      Born upon some lonely island shore
  Where the wrinkled ripples run and whisper,
      Where the crested billows plunge and roar;
  Long-winged, tireless roamers and adventurers,
      Fearless breasters of the wind and sea,
  In the far-off solitary places
      I have seen you floating wild and free!

  Here the high-built cities rise around you;
      Here the cliffs that tower east and west,
  Honeycombed with human habitations,
      Have no hiding for the sea-bird's nest:
  Here the river flows begrimed and troubled;
      Here the hurrying, panting vessels fume,
  Restless, up and down the watery highway,
      While a thousand chimneys vomit gloom.

  Toil and tumult, conflict and confusion,
      Clank and clamor of the vast machine
  Human hands have built for human bondage—
      Yet amid it all you float serene;
  Circling, soaring, sailing, swooping lightly
      Down to glean your harvest from the wave;
  In your heritage of air and water,
      You have kept the freedom Nature gave.

  Even so the wild-woods of Manhattan
      Saw your wheeling flocks of white and grey;
  Even so you fluttered, followed, floated,
      Round the Half-Moon creeping up the bay;
  Even so your voices creaked and chattered,
      Laughing shrilly o'er the tidal rips,
  While your black and beady eyes were glistening
      Round the sullen British prison-ships.

  Children of the elemental mother,
      Fearless floaters 'mid the double blue,
  From the crowded boats that cross the ferries
      Many a longing heart goes out to you.
  Though the cities climb and close around us,
      Something tells us that our souls are free,
  While the sea-gulls fly above the harbor,
      While the river flows to meet the sea!

URBS CORONATA

(Song for the City College of New York)

  O youngest of the giant brood
    Of cities far-renowned;
  In wealth and power thou hast passed
    Thy rivals at a bound;
  And now thou art a queen, New York;
    And how wilt thou be crowned?

  "Weave me no palace-wreath of pride,"
    The royal city said;
  "Nor forge an iron fortress-wall
    To frown upon my head;
  But let me wear a diadem
    Of Wisdom's towers instead."

  And so upon her island height
    She worked her will forsooth,
  She set upon her rocky brow
    A citadel of Truth,
  A house of Light, a home of Thought,
    A shrine of noble Youth.

  Stand here, ye City College towers,
    And look both up and down;
  Remember all who wrought for you
    Within the toiling town;
  Remember all they thought for you,
  And all the hopes they brought for you,
    And be the City's Crown.

AMERICA

  I Love thine inland seas,
     Thy groves of giant trees,
     Thy rolling plains;
  Thy rivers' mighty sweep,
  Thy mystic canyons deep,
  Thy mountains wild and steep,
    All thy domains;

  Thy silver Eastern strands,
  Thy Golden Gate that stands
    Wide to the West;
  Thy flowery Southland fair,
  Thy sweet and crystal air,—
  O land beyond compare,
    Thee I love best!

Additional verses for the National Hymn, March, 1906.

DOORS OF DARING

  The mountains that enfold the vale
    With walls of granite, steep and high,
  Invite the fearless foot to scale
    Their stairway toward the sky.

  The restless, deep, dividing sea
    That flows and foams from shore to shore,
  Calls to its sunburned chivalry,
    "Push out, set sail, explore!"
  And all the bars at which we fret,
    That seem to prison and control,
  Are but the doors of daring, set
    Ajar before the soul.

  Say not, "Too poor," but freely give;
    Sigh not, "Too weak," but boldly try.
  You never can begin to live
    Until you dare to die.

A HOME SONG

  I Read within a poet's book
    A word that starred the page:
  "Stone walls do not a prison make,
    Nor iron bars a cage!"

  Yes, that is true; and something more
    You'll find, where'er you roam,
  That marble floors and gilded walls
    Can never make a home.

  But every house where Love abides,
    And Friendship is a guest,
  Is surely home, and home-sweet-home:
    For there the heart can rest.

A NOON SONG

  There are songs for the morning and songs
     for the night,
   For sunrise and sunset, the stars and the moon;
  But who will give praise to the fulness of light,
    And sing us a song of the glory of noon?
       Oh, the high noon, and the clear noon,
         The noon with golden crest;
        When the sky burns, and the sun turns
         With his face to the way of the west!

  How swiftly he rose in the dawn of his strength;
    How slowly he crept as the morning wore by;
  Ah, steep was the climbing that led him at length
    To the height of his throne in the blue summer
          sky.
        Oh, the long toil, and the slow toil,
          The toil that may not rest,
        Till the sun looks down from his journey's
            crown,
          To the wonderful way of the west!

AN AMERICAN IN EUROPE

  'Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up
      and down
  Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
  To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of
      the kings,—
  But now I think I've had enough of antiquated
      things.

    So it's home again, and home again, America for
      me I
    My heart is turning home again, and there I long to
      be,
    In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean
      bars,
    Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full
      of stars.

  Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in
      the air;
  And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in
      her hair;
  And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great
      to study Rome;
  But when it comes to living there is no place like
      home.

  I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions
      drilled;
  I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing
      fountains filled;
  But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble
      for a day
  In the friendly western woodland where Nature
      has her way!

  I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something
      seems to lack:
  The Past is too much with her, and the people
      looking back.
  But the glory of the Present is to make the
      Future free,—
  We love our land for what she is and what she
      is to be.

    Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for
      me I
    I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the
      rotting sea.
    To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the
      ocean bars,
    Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full
      of stars.

THE ANCESTRAL DWELLINGS

  Dear to my heart are the ancestral dwellings
      of America,
  Dearer than if they were haunted by ghosts of
      royal splendour;
  These are the homes that were built by the brave
      beginners of a nation,
  They are simple enough to be great, and full of
      a friendly dignity.

  I love the old white farmhouses nestled in New
      England valleys,
  Ample and long and low, with elm-trees feather-
      ing over them:
  Borders of box in the yard, and lilacs, and old-
      fashioned flowers,
  A fan-light above the door, and little square panes
      in the windows,
  The wood-shed piled with maple and birch and
      hickory ready for winter,
  The gambrel-roof with its garret crowded with
      household relics,—
  All the tokens of prudent thrift and the spirit of
      self-reliance.

  I love the look of the shingled houses that front
      the ocean;
  Their backs are bowed, and their lichened sides
      are weather-beaten;
  Soft in their colour as grey pearls, they are full
      of patience and courage.
  They seem to grow out of the rocks, there is
      something indomitable about them:
  Pacing the briny wind in a lonely land they stand
      undaunted,
  While the thin blue line of smoke from the
      square-built chimney rises,
  Telling of shelter for man, with room for a hearth
      and a cradle.

  I love the stately southern mansions with their
      tall white columns,
  They look through avenues of trees, over fields
      where the cotton is growing;
  I can see the flutter of white frocks along their
      shady porches,
  Music and laughter float from the windows, the
      yards are full of hounds and horses.
  They have all ridden away, yet the houses have
      not forgotten,
  They are proud of their name and place, and
      their doors are always open,
  For the thing they remember best is the pride
      of their ancient hospitality.

  In the towns I love the discreet and tranquil
      Quaker dwellings,
  With their demure brick faces and immaculate
      white-stone doorsteps;
  And the gabled houses of the Dutch, with their
      high stoops and iron railings,
  (I can see their little brass knobs shining in the
      morning sunlight);
  And the solid houses of the descendants of the
      Puritans,
  Fronting the street with their narrow doors and
      dormer-windows;
  And the triple-galleried, many-pillared mansions
      of Charleston,
  Standing sideways in their gardens full of roses
      and magnolias.

  Yes, they are all dear to my heart, and in my
      eyes they are beautiful;
  For under their roofs were nourished the thoughts
      that have made the nation;
  The glory and strength of America came from
      her ancestral dwellings.

FRANCIS MAKEMIE

(Presbyter of Christ in America, 1683-1708)

  To thee, plain hero of a rugged race,
    We bring the meed of praise too long delayed!
    Thy fearless word and faithful work have made
  For God's Republic firmer path and place
  In this New World: thou hast proclaimed the
        grace
    And power of Christ in many a forest glade,
    Teaching the truth that leaves men unafraid
  Of frowning tyranny or death's dark face.

  Oh, who can tell how much we owe to thee,
    Makemie, and to labour such as thine,
    For all that makes America the shrine
  Of faith untrammeled and of conscience free?
  Stand here, grey stone, and consecrate the sod
  Where rests this brave Scotch-Irish man of God!

NATIONAL MONUMENTS

  Count not the cost of honour to the dead!
    The tribute that a mighty nation pays
    To those who loved her well in former days
  Means more than gratitude for glories fled;
  For every noble man that she hath bred,
    Lives in the bronze and marble that we raise,
    Immortalized by art's immortal praise,
  To lead our sons as he our fathers led.

  These monuments of manhood strong and high
    Do more than forts or battle-ships to keep
  Our dear-bought liberty. They fortify
    The heart of youth with valour wise and deep;
  They build eternal bulwarks, and command
  Eternal strength to guard our native land.

IN PRAISE OF POETS

MOTHER EARTH

  Mother of all the high-strung poets and
      singers departed,
  Mother of all the grass that weaves over their
      graves the glory of the field,
  Mother of all the manifold forms of life, deep-
      bosomed, patient, impassive,
  Silent brooder and nurse of lyrical joys and sor-
      rows!
  Out of thee, yea, surely out of the fertile depth
      below thy breast,
  Issued in some Strange way, thou lying motion-
      less, voiceless,
  All these songs of nature, rhythmical, passionate,
      yearning,
  Coming in music from earth, but not unto earth
      returning.

  Dust are the blood-red hearts that beat in time
      to these measures,
  Thou hast taken them back to thyself, secretly,
      irresistibly
  Drawing the crimson currents of life down, down,
      down
  Deep into thy bosom again, as a river is lost in
      the sand.

  But the souls of the singers have entered into
      the songs that revealed them,—
  Passionate songs, immortal songs of joy and
      grief and love and longing:
  Floating from heart to heart of thy children, they
      echo above thee:
  Do they not utter thy heart, the voices of those
      that love thee?

  Long hadst thou lain like a queen transformed by
      some old enchantment
  Into an alien shape, mysterious, beautiful, speech-
      less,
  Knowing not who thou wert, till the touch of thy
      Lord and Lover
  Working within thee awakened the man-child to
      breathe thy secret.
  All of thy flowers and birds and forests and flow-
      ing waters
  Are but enchanted forms to embody the life of
      the spirit;
  Thou thyself, earth-mother, in mountain and
      meadow and ocean,
  Holdest the poem of God, eternal thought and
      emotion.

MILTON

I

  Lover of beauty, walking on the height
       Of pure philosophy and tranquil song;
       Born to behold the visions that belong
  To those who dwell in melody and light;
  Milton, thou spirit delicate and bright!
    What drew thee down to join the Roundhead
        throng
    Of iron-sided warriors, rude and strong,
  Fighting for freedom in a world half night?

  Lover of Liberty at heart wast thou,
    Above all beauty bright, all music clear:
  To thee she bared her bosom and her brow,
    Breathing her virgin promise in thine ear,
  And bound thee to her with a double vow,—
    Exquisite Puritan, grave Cavalier!

II

  The cause, the cause for which thy soul resigned
    Her singing robes to battle on the plain,
    Was won, O poet, and was lost again;
  And lost the labour of thy lonely mind
  On weary tasks of prose. What wilt thou find
    To comfort thee for all the toil and pain?
    What solace, now thy sacrifice is vain
  And thou art left forsaken, poor, and blind?

  Like organ-music comes the deep reply:
    "The cause of truth looks lost, but shall be
        won.
  For God hath given to mine inward eye
    Vision of England soaring to the sun.
  And granted me great peace before I die,
    In thoughts of lowly duty bravely done."

III

  O bend again above thine organ-board,
    Thou blind old poet longing for repose!
    Thy Master claims thy service not with those
  Who only stand and wait for his reward.
  He pours the heavenly gift of song restored
    Into thy breast, and bids thee nobly close
    A noble life, with poetry that flows
  In mighty music of the major chord.

  Where hast thou learned this deep, majestic
        strain,
    Surpassing all thy youthful lyric grace,
  To sing of Paradise? Ah, not in vain
    The griefs that won at Dante's side thy place,
  And made thee, Milton, by thy years of pain,
    The loftiest poet of the Saxon race!

WORDSWORTH

  Wordsworth, thy music like a river rolls
        Among the mountains, and thy song is fed
        By living springs far up the watershed;
  No whirling flood nor parching drought controls
  The crystal current; even on the shoals
    It murmurs clear and sweet; and when its bed
    Darkens below mysterious cliffs of dread,
  Thy voice of peace grows deeper in our souls.

  But thou in youth hast known the breaking stress
    Of passion, and hast trod despair's dry ground
      Beneath black thoughts that wither and de-
          stroy.
  Ah, wanderer, led by human tenderness
    Home to the heart of Nature, thou hast found
      The hidden Fountain of Recovered Joy.

KEATS

  The melancholy gift Aurora gained
       From Jove, that her sad lover should not
          see
    The face of death, no goddess asked for thee,
  My Keats! But when the crimson blood-drop
        stained
  Thy pillow, thou didst read the fate ordained,—
    Brief life, wild love, a flight of poesy!
    And then,—a shadow fell on Italy:
  Thy star went down before its brightness waned.

  Yet thou hast won the gift Tithonus missed:
    Never to feel the pain of growing old,
      Nor lose the blissful sight of beauty's truth,
  But with the ardent lips that music kissed
    To breathe thy song, and, ere thy heart grew
        cold,
      Become the Poet of Immortal Youth.

SHELLEY

  Knight-errant of the Never-ending
      Quest,
    And Minstrel of the Unfulfilled Desire;
    For ever tuning thy frail earthly lyre
  To some unearthly music, and possessed
  With painful passionate longing to invest
    The golden dream of Love's immortal fire
    In mortal robes of beautiful attire,
  And fold perfection to thy throbbing breast!

  What wonder, Shelley, if the restless wave
    Should claim thee and the leaping flame con-
        sume
      Thy drifted form on Viareggio's beach?
  Fate to thy body gave a fitting grave,
    And bade thy soul ride on with fiery plume,
      Thy wild song ring in ocean's yearning
        speech!

ROBERT BROWNING

  How blind the toil that burrows like the mole,
       In winding graveyard pathways under-
          ground,
    For Browning's lineage! What if men have
          found
  Poor footmen or rich merchants on the roll
  Of his forbears? Did they beget his soul?
    Nay, for he came of ancestry renowned
    Through all the world,—the poets laurel-
          crowned
  With wreaths from which the autumn takes no
          toll.

  The blazons on his coat-of-arms are these:
    The flaming sign of Shelley's heart on fire,
      The golden globe of Shakespeare's human
          stage,
      The staff and scrip of Chaucer's pilgrimage,
    The rose of Dante's deep, divine desire,
  The tragic mask of wise Euripides.

LONGFELLOW

  In a great land, a new land, a land full of labour
      and riches and confusion,
  Where there were many running to and fro, and
      shouting, and striving together,
  In the midst of the hurry and the troubled noise,
      I heard the voice of one singing.

  "What are you doing there, O man, singing
      quietly amid all this tumult?
  This is the time for new inventions, mighty
      shoutings, and blowings of the trumpet."
  But he answered, "I am only shepherding my
      sheep with music."

  So he went along his chosen way, keeping his
      little flock around him;
  And he paused to listen, now and then, beside
      the antique fountains,
  Where the faces of forgotten gods were refreshed
      with musically falling waters;

  Or he sat for a while at the blacksmith's door,
     and heard the cling-clang of the anvils;
  Or he rested beneath old steeples full of bells,
     that showered their chimes upon him;
  Or he walked along the border of the sea, drink-
     ing in the long roar of the billows;

  Or he sunned himself in the pine-scented ship-
     yard, amid the tattoo of the mallets;
  Or he leaned on the rail of the bridge, letting
     his thoughts flow with the whispering river;
  He hearkened also to ancient tales, and made
     them young again with his singing.

  Then a flaming arrow of death fell on his flock,
     and pierced the heart of his dearest!
  Silent the music now, as the shepherd entered
     the mystical temple of sorrow:
  Long he tarried in darkness there: but when he
     came out he was singing.

  And I saw the faces of men and women and
      children silently turning toward him;
  The youth setting out on the journey of life, and
      the old man waiting beside the last mile-stone;
  The toiler sweating beneath his load; and the
      happy mother rocking her cradle;

  The lonely sailor on far-off seas; and the grey-
      minded scholar in his book-room;
  The mill-hand bound to a clacking machine; and
      the hunter in the forest;
  And the solitary soul hiding friendless in the
      wilderness of the city;

  Many human faces, full of care and longing, were
      drawn irresistibly toward him,
  By the charm of something known to every heart,
      yet very strange and lovely,
  And at the sound of that singing wonderfully
      all their faces were lightened.

  "Why do you listen, O you people, to this old
      and world-worn music?
  This is not for you, in the splendour of a new
      age, in the democratic triumph!
  Listen to the clashing cymbals, the big drums, the
      brazen trumpets of your poets."

  But the people made no answer, following in
      their hearts the simpler music:
  For it seemed to them, noise-weary, nothing
      could be better worth the hearing
  Than the melodies which brought sweet order
      into life's confusion.

  So the shepherd sang his way along, until he
      came unto a mountain:
  And I know not surely whether it was called
      Parnassus,
  But he climbed it out of sight, and still I heard
      the voice of one singing.

THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH

I

BIRTHDAY VERSES

  Dear Aldrich, now November's mellow days
       Have brought another Festa round to you,
  You can't refuse a loving-cup of praise
    From friends the fleeting years have bound to
        you.

  Here come your Marjorie Daw, your dear Bad
        Boy,
    Prudence, and Judith the Bethulian,
  And many more, to wish you birthday joy,
    And sunny hours, and sky caerulean!

  Your children all, they hurry to your den,
    With wreaths of honour they have won for
        you,
  To merry-make your threescore years and ten
    You, old? Why, life has just begun for you!

  There's many a reader whom your silver songs
    And crystal stories cheer in loneliness.
  What though the newer writers come in throngs?
    You're sure to keep your charm of only-ness.

  You do your work with careful, loving touch,—
    An artist to the very core of you,—
  you know the magic spell of "not-too-much":
    We read,—and wish that there was more of
        you.

  And more there is: for while we love your books
    Because their subtle skill is part of you;
  We love you better, for our friendship looks
    Behind them to the human heart of you.

November 24,1906.

II

MEMORIAL SONNET

  This is the house where little Aldrich read
       The early pages of Life's wonder-book:
    With boyish pleasure, in this ingle-nook
  He watched the drift-wood fire of Fancy spread
  Bright colours on the pictures, blue and red:
    Boy-like he skipped the longer words, and took
    His happy way, with searching, dreamful look
  Among the deeper things more simply said.

  Then, came his turn to write: and still the flame
    Of Fancy played through all the tales he told,
  And still he won the laurelled poet's fame
    With simple words wrought into rhymes of
         gold.
  Look, here's the face to which this house is
         frame,—
    A man too wise to let his heart grow old!

(Dedication of the Aldrich Memorial at Portsmouth, June 11, 1908.)

EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN

  Oh, quick to feel the lightest touch
      Of beauty or of truth,
  Rich in the thoughtfulness of age,
    The hopefulness of youth,
  The courage of the gentle heart,
    The wisdom of the pure,
  The strength of finely tempered souls
    To labour and endure!

  The blue of springtime in your eyes
    Was never quenched by pain;
  And winter brought your head the crown
    Of snow without a stain.
  The poet's mind, the prince's heart,
    You kept until the end,
  Nor ever faltered in your work,
    Nor ever failed a friend.

  You followed, through the quest of life,
    The light that shines above
  The tumult and the toil of men,
    And shows us what to love.
  Right loyal to the best you knew,
    Reality or dream,
  You ran the race, you fought the fight,
    A follower of the Gleam.

  We lay upon your well-earned grave
    The wreath of asphodel,
  We speak above your peaceful face
    The tender word Farewell!
  For well you fare, in God's good care,
    Somewhere within the blue,
  And know, to-day, your dearest dreams
    Are true,—and true,—and true!

(Read at the funeral of Mr. Stedman, January 21, 1908.)

LYRICS

DRAMATIC AND PERSONAL

LATE SPRING

I

  Ah, who will tell me, in these leaden days,
    Why the sweet Spring delays,
  And where she hides,—the dear desire
    Of every heart that longs
  For bloom, and fragrance, and the ruby fire
  Of maple-buds along the misty hills,
  And that immortal call which fills
    The waiting wood with songs?
  The snow-drops came so long ago,
    It seemed that Spring was near!
    But then returned the snow
  With biting winds, and all the earth grew sere,
    And sullen clouds drooped low
  To veil the sadness of a hope deferred:
  Then rain, rain, rain, incessant rain
    Beat on the window-pane,
  Through which I watched the solitary bird
  That braved the tempest, buffeted and tossed,
  With rumpled feathers, down the wind again.
    Oh, were the seeds all lost
  When winter laid the wild flowers in their tomb?
    I searched their haunts in vain
  For blue hepaticas, and trilliums white,
  And trailing arbutus, the Spring's delight,
  Starring the withered leaves with rosy bloom.
  The woods were bare: and every night the frost
  To all my longings spoke a silent nay,
  And told me Spring was far and far away.
  Even the robins were too cold to sing,
  Except a broken and discouraged note,—
  Only the tuneful sparrow, on whose throat
  Music has put her triple finger-print,
  Lifted his head and sang my heart a hint,—
  "Wait, wait, wait! oh, wait a while for Spring!"

II

  But now, Carina, what divine amends
  For all delay! What sweetness treasured up,
    What wine of joy that blends
  A hundred flavours in a single cup,
    Is poured into this perfect day!
  For look, sweet heart, here are the early flowers,
    That lingered on their way,
  Thronging in haste to kiss the feet of May,
  And mingled with the bloom of later hours,—
  Anemonies and cinque-foils, violets blue
  And white, and iris richly gleaming through
  The grasses of the meadow, and a blaze
  Of butter-cups and daisies in the field,
  Filling the air with praise,
  As if a silver chime of bells had pealed!
    The frozen songs within the breast
  Of silent birds that hid in leafless woods,
    Melt into rippling floods
    Of gladness unrepressed.
  Now oriole and blue-bird, thrush and lark,
  Warbler and wren and vireo,
  Confuse their music; for the living spark
  Of Love has touched the fuel of desire,
  And every heart leaps up in singing fire.
    It seems as if the land
  Were breathing deep beneath the sun's caress,
    Trembling with tenderness,
    While all the woods expand,
  In shimmering clouds of rose and gold and green,
  To veil the joys too sacred to be seen.

III

    Come, put your hand in mine,
  True love, long sought and found at last,
  And lead me deep into the Spring divine
    That makes amends for all the wintry past.
  For all the flowers and songs I feared to miss
            Arrive with you;
  And in the lingering pressure of your kiss
            My dreams come true;
  And in the promise of your generous eyes
            I read the mystic sign
            Of joy more perfect made
            Because so long delayed,
  And bliss enhanced by rapture of surprise.
  Ah, think not early love alone is strong;
  He loveth best whose heart has learned to wait
  Dear messenger of Spring that tarried long,
  You're doubly dear because you come so late.

NEPENTHE

  Yes it was like you to forget,
      And cancel in the welcome of your smile
  My deep arrears of debt,
  And with the putting forth of both your hands
  To sweep away the bars my folly set
  Between us—bitter thoughts, and harsh de-
      mands,
  And reckless deeds that seemed untrue
  To love, when all the while
  My heart was aching through and through
  For you, sweet heart, and only you.

  Yet, as I turned to come to you again,
  I thought there must be many a mile
  Of sorrowful reproach to cross,
  And many an hour of mutual pain
  To bear, until I could make plain
  That all my pride was but the fear of loss,
  And all my doubt the shadow of despair
  To win a heart so innocent and fair;
  And even that which looked most ill
  Was but the fever-fret and effort vain
  To dull the thirst which you alone could still.

  But as I turned the desert miles were crossed,
  And when I came the weary hours were sped!
  For there you stood beside the open door,
  Glad, gracious, smiling as before,
  And with bright eyes and tender hands outspread
  Restored me to the Eden I had lost.
  Never a word of cold reproof,
  No sharp reproach, no glances that accuse
  The culprit whom they hold aloof,—
  Ah, 't is not thus that other women use
  The power they have won!
  For there is none like you, beloved,—none
  Secure enough to do what you have done.
  Where did you learn this heavenly art,—
  You sweetest and most wise of all that live,—
  With silent welcome to impart
  Assurance of the royal heart
  That never questions where it would forgive?

  None but a queen could pardon me like this!
  My sovereign lady, let me lay
  Within each rosy palm a loyal kiss
  Of penitence, then close the fingers up,
  Thus—thus! Now give the cup
  Of full nepenthe in your crimson mouth,
  And come—the garden blooms with bliss,
  The wind is in the south,
  The rose of love with dew is wet—
  Dear, it was like you to forget!

HESPER

  Her eyes are like the evening air,
       Her voice is like a rose,
  Her lips are like a lovely song,
    That ripples as it flows,
  And she herself is sweeter than
    The sweetest thing she knows.

  A slender, haunting, twilight form
    Of wonder and surprise,
  She seemed a fairy or a child,
    Till, deep within her eyes,
  I saw the homeward-leading star
    Of womanhood arise.

ARRIVAL

  Across a thousand miles of sea, a hundred
      leagues of land,
  Along a path I had not traced and could not
      understand,
  I travelled fast and far for this,—to take thee
      by the hand.

  A pilgrim knowing not the shrine where he would
      bend his knee,
  A mariner without a dream of what his port
      would be,
  So fared I with a seeking heart until I came to
      thee.

  O cooler than a grove of palm in some heat-weary
      place,
  O fairer than an isle of calm after the wild sea
      race,
  The quiet room adorned with flowers where first
      I saw thy face!

  Then furl the sail, let fall the oar, forget the paths
      of foam!
  The Power that made me wander far at last has
      brought me home
  To thee, dear haven of my heart, and I no more
      will roam.

DEPARTURE

  Oh, why are you shining so bright, big Sun,
    And why is the garden so gay?
  Do you know that my days of delight are done,
    Do you know I am going away?
  If you covered your face with a cloud, I'd dream
    You were sorry for me in my pain,
  And the heads of the flowers all bowed would
      seem
    To be weeping with me in the rain.

  But why is your head so low, sweet heart,
    And why are your eyes overcast?
  Are they clouded because you know we must part,
    Do you think this embrace is our last?
  Then kiss me again, and again, and again,
    Look up as you bid me good-bye!
  For your face is too dear for the stain of a tear,
    And your smile is the sun in my sky.

THE BLACK BIRDS

I

  Once, only once, I saw it clear,—
       That Eden every human heart has dreamed
  A hundred times, but always far away!
  Ah, well do I remember how it seemed,
  Through the still atmosphere
  Of that enchanted day,
  To lie wide open to my weary feet:
  A little land of love and joy and rest,
  With meadows of soft green,
  Rosy with cyclamen, and sweet
  With delicate breath of violets unseen,—
  And, tranquil 'mid the bloom
  As if it waited for a coming guest,
  A little house of peace and joy and love
  Was nested like a snow-white dove

  From the rough mountain where I stood,
  Homesick for happiness,
  Only a narrow valley and a darkling wood
  To cross, and then the long distress
  Of solitude would be forever past,—
  I should be home at last.
  But not too soon! oh, let me linger here
  And feed my eyes, hungry with sorrow,
  On all this loveliness, so near,
  And mine to-morrow!

  Then, from the wood, across the silvery blue,
  A dark bird flew,
  Silent, with sable wings.
  Close in his wake another came,—
  Fragments of midnight floating through
  The sunset flame,—
  Another and another, weaving rings
  Of blackness on the primrose sky,—
  Another, and another, look, a score,
  A hundred, yes, a thousand rising heavily
  From that accursed, dumb, and ancient wood,—
  They boiled into the lucid air
  Like smoke from some deep caldron of despair!
  And more, and more, and ever more,
  The numberless, ill-omened brood,
  Flapping their ragged plumes,
  Possessed the landscape and the evening light
  With menaces and glooms.
  Oh, dark, dark, dark they hovered o'er the place
  Where once I saw the little house so white
  Amid the flowers, covering every trace
  Of beauty from my troubled sight,—
  And suddenly it was night!

II

  At break of day I crossed the wooded vale;
  And while the morning made
  A trembling light among the tree-tops pale,
  I saw the sable birds on every limb,
  Clinging together closely in the shade,
  And croaking placidly their surly hymn.
  But, oh, the little land of peace and love
  That those night-loving wings had poised
      above,—
  Where was it gone?
  Lost, lost forevermore!
  Only a cottage, dull and gray,
  In the cold light of dawn,
  With iron bars across the door:
  Only a garden where the withering heads
  Of flowers, presaging decay,
  Hung over barren beds:
  Only a desolate field that lay
  Untilled beneath the desolate day,—
  Where Eden seemed to bloom I found but these!
  So, wondering, I passed along my way,
  With anger in my heart, too deep for words,
  Against that grove of evil-sheltering trees,
  And the black magic of the croaking birds.

WITHOUT DISGUISE

  If I have erred in showing all my heart,
      And lost your favour by a lack of pride;
      If standing like a beggar at your side
  With naked feet, I have forgot the art
  Of those who bargain well in passion's mart,
    And win the thing they want by what they
      hide;
    Be mine the fault as mine the hope denied,
  Be mine the lover's and the loser's part.

  The sin, if sin it was, I do repent,
    And take the penance on myself alone;
  Yet after I have borne the punishment,
    I shall not fear to stand before the throne
  Of Love with open heart, and make this plea:
  "At least I have not lied to her nor Thee!"

GRATITUDE

  Do you give thanks for this?—or that?"
        No, God be thanked
                I am not grateful
  In that cold, calculating way, with blessing
      ranked
    As one, two, three, and four,—that would be
      hateful.

  I only know that every day brings good above
                My poor deserving;
  I only feel that, in the road of Life, true Love
    Is leading me along and never swerving.

  Whatever gifts and mercies in my lot may fall,
                I would not measure
  As worth a certain price in praise, or great or
      small;
    But take and use them all with simple pleasure.

  For when we gladly eat our daily bread, we bless
                The Hand that feeds us;
  And when we tread the road of Life in cheer-
      fulness,
    Our very heart-beats praise the Love that leads
      us.

MASTER OF MUSIC

(In memory of Theodore Thomas, 1905)

  Glory of architect, glory of painter, and sculp-
       tor, and bard,
    Living forever in temple and picture and statue
      and song,—
  Look how the world with the lights that they lit
      is illumined and starred,
    Brief was the flame of their life, but the lamps
      of their art burn long!

  Where is the Master of Music, and how has he
      vanished away?
    Where is the work that he wrought with his
      wonderful art in the air?
  Gone,—it is gone like the glow on the cloud
      at the close of the day!
  The Master has finished his work, and the glory
      of music is—where?

  Once, at the wave of his wand, all the billows of
      musical sound
    Followed his will, as the sea was ruled by the
      prophet of old:
  Now that his hand is relaxed, and his rod has
      dropped to the ground,
    Silent and dark are the shores where the mar-
      vellous harmonies rolled!

  Nay, but not silent the hearts that were filled by
      that life-giving sea;
    Deeper and purer forever the tides of their
      being will roll,
  Grateful and joyful, O Master, because they have
      listened to thee,—
    The glory of music endures in the depths of
      the human soul.

STARS AND THE SOUL

(To Charles A. Young, Astronomer)

  "Two things," the wise man said, "fill me
         with awe:
  The starry heavens and the moral law."
  Nay, add another wonder to thy roll,—
  The living marvel of the human soul!

  Born in the dust and cradled in the dark,
  It feels the fire of an immortal spark,
  And learns to read, with patient, searching eyes,
  The splendid secret of the unconscious skies.

  For God thought Light before He spoke the word;
  The darkness understood not, though it heard:
  But man looks up to where the planets swim,
  And thinks God's thoughts of glory after Him.

  What knows the star that guides the sailor's way,
  Or lights the lover's bower with liquid ray,
  Of toil and passion, danger and distress,
  Brave hope, true love, and utter faithfulness?

  But human hearts that suffer good and ill,
  And hold to virtue with a loyal will,
  Adorn the law that rules our mortal strife
  With star-surpassing victories of life.

  So take our thanks, dear reader of the skies,
  Devout astronomer, most humbly wise,
  For lessons brighter than the stars can give,
  And inward light that helps us all to live.

  The world has brought the laurel-leaves to crown
  The star-discoverer's name with high, renown;
  Accept the flower of love we lay with these
  For influence sweeter than the Pleiades!

TO JULIA MARLOWE

(Reading Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn)

  Long had I loved this "Attic shape," the brede
      Of marble maidens round this urn divine:
  But when your golden voice began to read,
    The empty urn was filled with Chian wine.

PAN LEARNS MUSIC

  Limber-limbed, lazy god, stretched on the
       rock,
  Where is sweet Echo, and where is your flock?
  What are you making here? "Listen," said
      Pan,—
  "Out of a river-reed music for man!"

"UNDINE"

  'Twas far away and long ago,
       When I was but a dreaming boy,
  This fairy tale of love and woe
    Entranced my heart with tearful joy;
  And while with white Undine I wept,
    Your spirit,—ah, how strange it seems,
  Was cradled in some star, and slept,
    Unconscious of her coming dreams.

LOVE IN A LOOK

  Let me but feel thy look's embrace,
    Transparent, pure, and warm,
  And I'll not ask to touch thy face,
    Or fold thee with mine arm.
  For in thine eyes a girl doth rise,
    Arrayed in candid bliss,
  And draws me to her with a charm
    More close than any kiss.

  A loving-cup of golden wine,
    Songs of a silver brook,
  And fragrant breaths of eglantine,
    Are mingled in thy look.
  More fair they are than any star,
    Thy topaz eyes divine—
  And deep within their trysting-nook
    Thy spirit blends with mine.

MY APRIL LADY

  When down the stair at morning
    The sunbeams round her float,
  Sweet rivulets of laughter
    Are bubbling in her throat;
  The gladness of her greeting
    Is gold without alloy;
  And in the morning sunlight
    I think her name is Joy.

  When in the evening twilight
    The quiet book-room lies,
  We read the sad old ballads,
    While from her hidden eyes
  The tears are falling, falling,
    That give her heart relief;
  And in the evening twilight,
    I think her name is Grief.

  My little April lady,
    Of sunshine and of showers,
  She weaves the old spring magic,
    And breaks my heart in flowers!
  But when her moods are ended,
    She nestles like a dove;
  Then, by the pain and rapture,
    I know her name is Love.

A LOVER'S ENVY

  I envy every flower that blows
     Along the meadow where she goes,
    And every bird that sings to her,
    And every breeze that brings to her
     The fragrance of the rose.

  I envy every poet's rhyme
  That moves her heart at eventime,
    And every tree that wears for her
    Its brightest bloom, and bears for her
      The fruitage of its prime.