[Poems by Tabb in] Father Tabb a study of his life and works with uncollected and unpublished poems |
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| APPENDIX IV.
UNPUBLISHED POEMS FROM THE DONAHOE CLASS-BOOK |
 | [Poems by Tabb in] Father Tabb |  |
263
APPENDIX IV.
UNPUBLISHED POEMS FROM THE DONAHOE CLASS-BOOK
265
CHRIST'S LITTLE SISTER
Little Sister of the Poor,
Asking alms from door to door,
Ever on you go;
Clothed in the garb of meekness,
Finding strength in others' weakness,
Soothing others' woe.
Asking alms from door to door,
Ever on you go;
Clothed in the garb of meekness,
Finding strength in others' weakness,
Soothing others' woe.
Little Sister of the Poor,
Rich in patience to endure
Stern Redemption's load;
Cold and rain and parching heat
Hinder not heroic feet
On the Royal Road.
Rich in patience to endure
Stern Redemption's load;
Cold and rain and parching heat
Hinder not heroic feet
On the Royal Road.
Little Sister of the Poor,
When your weary day is o'er
Rest there may not be;
For the aged, sick, and needy
Vigils claim and succor speedy,
Turning unto thee.
When your weary day is o'er
Rest there may not be;
For the aged, sick, and needy
Vigils claim and succor speedy,
Turning unto thee.
Little Sister of the Poor,
Narrow is the way but sure,
Heavenward leading on;
For the Master's word thou knowest,
“What unto the least thou doest
Unto me is done.”
Narrow is the way but sure,
Heavenward leading on;
For the Master's word thou knowest,
“What unto the least thou doest
Unto me is done.”
266
THE BELLMAN
He sits alone in the belfry,
A feeble man and gray,
And tolls the bell when its full notes tell
Of the hours that glide away.
A feeble man and gray,
And tolls the bell when its full notes tell
Of the hours that glide away.
In the mist of the early morning,
In the glare of the garish noon,
In the midnight deep when the shadows creep
On the track of the waning moon,
In the glare of the garish noon,
In the midnight deep when the shadows creep
On the track of the waning moon,
When the snow in the starlight glistens,
When the flowers from their grave arise,
When the faint airs swoon in the languid June
When the dirge of autumn sighs.
When the flowers from their grave arise,
When the faint airs swoon in the languid June
When the dirge of autumn sighs.
Like Time with the scythe uplifted
He measures each silent spell,
Sifting the sand with a tremulous hand,
As he waits for the brooding knell.
He measures each silent spell,
Sifting the sand with a tremulous hand,
As he waits for the brooding knell.
Each stroke has a double meaning
A welcome and farewell—
In a single breath a birth and death,
A past and a future dwell.
A welcome and farewell—
In a single breath a birth and death,
A past and a future dwell.
A groan and a peal of laughter,
A tear of joy or of pain,
A frown that breaks or a smile that wakes
Sunshine in the heart again.
A tear of joy or of pain,
A frown that breaks or a smile that wakes
Sunshine in the heart again.
Like a vane in the wind of Fortune
Has the life of the bellman gone,
For its changes have been as the shadow and sheen
That stride over the waving corn.
Has the life of the bellman gone,
For its changes have been as the shadow and sheen
That stride over the waving corn.
But his heart like the bell he tolleth
Beats ever the selfsame tone,
Saying all I have is the God's who gave;
Let Him do as He will with His own.
Beats ever the selfsame tone,
Saying all I have is the God's who gave;
Let Him do as He will with His own.
267
THE OUTCAST
Dead! Found in the desolate street
Where the drifting snow had silently piled
As if in pity, poor wandering child,
To mantle thee in its sheet.
Where the drifting snow had silently piled
As if in pity, poor wandering child,
To mantle thee in its sheet.
Pale e'en as thy covering pure
Nor colder its touch than thy marble breast
And the heart beneath in a dreamless rest
That throbs to the tempest no more.
Nor colder its touch than thy marble breast
And the heart beneath in a dreamless rest
That throbs to the tempest no more.
Still fresh in the halo of morn!
But love-blighted Innocence thrust away
Prone on the gulf of its bitterness lay
Aghast, unresisting, forlorn.
But love-blighted Innocence thrust away
Prone on the gulf of its bitterness lay
Aghast, unresisting, forlorn.
Alas! For thee, dissolute man,
Thy token her tapering finger bears;
How the glittering mock of the bauble glares,
Mid beauty so rigid and wan.
Thy token her tapering finger bears;
How the glittering mock of the bauble glares,
Mid beauty so rigid and wan.
Couldst thou gaze on thy victim again
On the icy calm of her lineaments now,
This pallid eclipse of the queenly brow
Would smite thy voluptuous brain—
On the icy calm of her lineaments now,
This pallid eclipse of the queenly brow
Would smite thy voluptuous brain—
Yet naught but forgiveness there.
The dumb lips falter in suppliance meek,
While a ringlet stirs on the ivory cheek
As if with the breathing of prayer.
The dumb lips falter in suppliance meek,
While a ringlet stirs on the ivory cheek
As if with the breathing of prayer.
Ah! Who hath her history known?
The bleak world stifles the penitent's prayer;
She turns from its withering scorn to die
Homeless, unfriended, alone.
The bleak world stifles the penitent's prayer;
She turns from its withering scorn to die
Homeless, unfriended, alone.
O thou, in whose sheltering side
Sweet refuge still for the lost remains
Cleanse in thy pity her glittering stains,
Her shame in thy chastity hide.
Sweet refuge still for the lost remains
Cleanse in thy pity her glittering stains,
Her shame in thy chastity hide.
268
A VISIT TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT ON THE EVE OF THE EPIPHANY
Now the dusky wing of twilight
Hovers o'er the weary day,
And the ever deeping shadows
Slowly steal across our way.
Hovers o'er the weary day,
And the ever deeping shadows
Slowly steal across our way.
Here amid the solemn stillness
And the gathering shades of night
Sweet it is, O loving Jesu,
Thee to seek, our fadeless Light!
And the gathering shades of night
Sweet it is, O loving Jesu,
Thee to seek, our fadeless Light!
Yonder lamp before the altar
Tells us of Thy presence there,
As the wondrous Star of Bethlehem
Did Thy dwelling place declare.
Tells us of Thy presence there,
As the wondrous Star of Bethlehem
Did Thy dwelling place declare.
And we bow in adoration
As the Magi knelt of old,
Offering Thee our humble tributes
With their incense, myrrh, and gold.
As the Magi knelt of old,
Offering Thee our humble tributes
With their incense, myrrh, and gold.
Grant us like those Kings of the Orient,
Ever onward to proceed,
Through all dangers, pain, and labor,
Wheresoe'er Thy Light may lead;
Ever onward to proceed,
Through all dangers, pain, and labor,
Wheresoe'er Thy Light may lead;
Till our earthly journey ended,
We at last may rest with them,
Where no shadow veils Thy glory,
In the heavenly Bethlehem.
We at last may rest with them,
Where no shadow veils Thy glory,
In the heavenly Bethlehem.
ADIEU
The leaves upon the summer tree
Hang side by side,
But winter's breath will scatter them
All far and wide.
E'en thus, together have our lots been cast,
And so for us the parting comes at last.
Hang side by side,
But winter's breath will scatter them
All far and wide.
E'en thus, together have our lots been cast,
And so for us the parting comes at last.
269
But He who clothes the summer tree
Or makes it bare,
Lets not the frailest blossom fall
Without His care.
So, ever 'neath His guiding hand, may we
Together or apart, safe, sheltered be.
Or makes it bare,
Lets not the frailest blossom fall
Without His care.
So, ever 'neath His guiding hand, may we
Together or apart, safe, sheltered be.
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