Again?

Side by side, from their misty home, Fell two bright drops of rain; The storm-wind hurled them far apart, Never to meet again.

Hand in hand stood two dear friends, Hearts wrung with sudden pain; The storm-wind hurled them far apart,-- Never to meet again?

PANSY.

Little flower with golden heart, Strange, sweet mystery thou art. Who can tell the thoughts that lie In the depths of thy dark eye! Dost thou dream of other lands, Waving palm-groves, burning sands, Days of languor, twilights tender, Glorious nights of Orient splendor? Shy, sweet type of lovers’ bliss, Art thou an immortal kiss By some fair sultana breathed, To all faithful love bequeathed By the tiny-sandalled bride, Velvet-lipped, and starry-eyed?

GOLDEN-ROD.

O’er the dusty roadside bending With its wondrous weight of gold, Can it be the rod enchanted Midas used in days of old?

Hush! perchance it is a princess In the sunlight nodding there, Spell-bound by the wicked fairy,-- Sleepy little Golden-Hair!

Nay, it is Belshazzar’s banquet, Where the drowsy monarch sups With his swarm of courtiers, drinking From the sacred, golden cups.

See, I pluck his tiny kingdom-- Long ago it was decreed-- And divide it, dear, between us, You the Persian, I the Mede.

TO MARGARET, ON ST. VALENTINE’S DAY.

WITH A ROSE.

Margaret, pearl of dainty pearls, Fairest of dimpled daisies, My rose its velvet sail unfurls To bear thee love and praises. It drifts from port, no longer mine-- Bring back, wee boat, my Valentine!

TO A VERY SMALL PINE.

What song is in thy heart, Thou puny tree? Weak pinelet that thou art,-- Trembling at every shock, Thy feebleness doth mock Thy high degree.

When rage o’er sea and land The tempests wild, How canst thou e’er withstand Their might, or baffle them With that frail, quivering stem, Poor forest child?

Nay, wherefore scoff at thy Dimensions small? For, folded close, I spy A tiny bud, scarce seen Within its cradle green; And after all,

In ages yet to come Thy stately form, No longer dwarfed and dumb, But chanting to the breeze Sublime, sweet melodies, Shall breast the storm!

Beneath thine outstretched arms Shall children rest; While, safe from all alarms, Within thy shadows deep Wild birds their tryst shall keep And weave their nest.

May such a lot be his Who tends thee now! With heavenly harmonies Serene amid his foes, Outstretching as he grows In root and bough.

MOSSES.

Children of lowly birth, Pitifully weak; Humblest creatures of the wood, To your peaceful brotherhood Sweet the promise that was given Like the dew from heaven: “Blessed are the meek, They shall inherit the earth.”

Thus are the words fulfilled: Over all the earth Mosses find a home secure. On the desolate mountain crest, Avalanche-ploughed and tempest-tilled, The quiet mosses rest; On shadowy banks of streamlets pure, Kissed by the cataract’s shifting spray, For the bird’s small foot a soft highway; For the weary and sore distressed In hopeless quest Of a fabulous golden fleece, Little sermons of peace. Blessed children of lowly birth-- Thus they inherit the earth.

THE MOUNT OF THE HOLY CROSS.

Down the rocky slopes and passes Of the everlasting hills Murmur low the crystal waters Of a thousand tiny rills;

Bearing from a lofty glacier To the valley, far below, Health and strength for every creature,-- ’Tis for them “He giveth snow.”

On thy streamlet’s brink the wild deer Prints with timid foot the moss; To thy side the sparrow nestles,-- Mountain of the Holy Cross!

Pure and white amid the heavens God hath set His glorious sign: Symbol of a world’s deliverance, Promise of a life divine.

CHRISTMAS SNOW.

What so merry as snow? Gleefully robing the grave old town In garb fantastic of ermine and down; Whispering at the window pane, Then spreading its wee, white wings again Till, alighting at last with noiseless feet, On tiptoe in the muffled street It dances to and fro.

What so pure as snow? Flakes like the thoughts of a little child, Undefiling and undefiled; Wonderful, starry mysteries Falling softly out of the skies, Decking with white the bare, brown earth In memory of the holy birth At Bethlehem, long ago.