 | Chips, fragments and vestiges by Gail Hamilton |  |
140
DR. KANE
Rejoice, rejoice!
Put on, O Earth, thy glory-robe and raise
Aloud thy voice,
And bind thy brow with everlasting bays.
Put on, O Earth, thy glory-robe and raise
Aloud thy voice,
And bind thy brow with everlasting bays.
No more, no more
The age shall be accounted mean and base
And given o'er
To greed of gold and lust of power and place.
The age shall be accounted mean and base
And given o'er
To greed of gold and lust of power and place.
Defiant now,
She calls the heroes of the vaunted Past,
And bids them bow
In homage to the greatest and the last.
She calls the heroes of the vaunted Past,
And bids them bow
In homage to the greatest and the last.
When fair young Greece
Sent from her bosom an adventurous band,
A golden fleece
Allured their footsteps to a far-off land.
Sent from her bosom an adventurous band,
A golden fleece
Allured their footsteps to a far-off land.
In later days
Men tracked a path upon the unknown sea
For love of praise,
Or fame of boundless wealth that was to be.
Men tracked a path upon the unknown sea
For love of praise,
Or fame of boundless wealth that was to be.
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Not so he went,
Who hath returned so pale and still to-day.
With high intent
He parted on his dread and devious way
Who hath returned so pale and still to-day.
With high intent
He parted on his dread and devious way
The lost to save—
To bring back light to many a darkened hearth,
And from the grave
Lead forth the wanderer to a genial earth.
To bring back light to many a darkened hearth,
And from the grave
Lead forth the wanderer to a genial earth.
Not as of old,
Weak flesh and blood and gleaming steel his foes,
But subtle Cold,
And the grim Ghosts of the Eternal Snows.
Weak flesh and blood and gleaming steel his foes,
But subtle Cold,
And the grim Ghosts of the Eternal Snows.
Pale, shadowy forms
Loomed in the darkness, but they gave no sound.
Spirits of Storms
Wandering in silence awful and profound.
Loomed in the darkness, but they gave no sound.
Spirits of Storms
Wandering in silence awful and profound.
With these he fought,
He of the Christ-like heart and God-like soul,
Nor failed in aught,
But bent the storm-wraiths to his own control.
He of the Christ-like heart and God-like soul,
Nor failed in aught,
But bent the storm-wraiths to his own control.
Ah! must it be?
The incense kindled from God's altar fire
Wo—wo is me!
Consumed the censer as it mounted higher.
The incense kindled from God's altar fire
Wo—wo is me!
Consumed the censer as it mounted higher.
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And yet no tears.
To-day with prouder tread we press the earth,
And bless the years,
The living age that gave a hero birth.
To-day with prouder tread we press the earth,
And bless the years,
The living age that gave a hero birth.
For him no tears—
Although, alas! too soon to dust gone down,
Yet his young years
Have wreathed him with an amaranthine crown.
Although, alas! too soon to dust gone down,
Yet his young years
Have wreathed him with an amaranthine crown.
But tears for those
Within whose home the light is waxen dim,
Who till life's close
Will twine the cypress with the bay for him.
Within whose home the light is waxen dim,
Who till life's close
Will twine the cypress with the bay for him.
It needs must be,
O mother, that thy feet shall sorrowing go,
Thou who didst see
Life's earliest ebb and last retreating flow,
O mother, that thy feet shall sorrowing go,
Thou who didst see
Life's earliest ebb and last retreating flow,
Yet doubly blest,
With all its speechless grief and anguish rife,
The mother's breast
That pillowed him at morn and even of life.
With all its speechless grief and anguish rife,
The mother's breast
That pillowed him at morn and even of life.
We pray that He,
Who crowned with joy the stricken one of Nain
May pour for thee
The wine of peace within thy cup of pain.
Who crowned with joy the stricken one of Nain
May pour for thee
The wine of peace within thy cup of pain.
March 2, 1857.
| Chips, fragments and vestiges by Gail Hamilton | |