Lines in Pleasant Places Rhythmics of many moods and quantities. Wise and otherwise |
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 | FRIENDLY PERSONALITIES. |
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 | Lines in Pleasant Places |  |
149
FRIENDLY PERSONALITIES.
151
TO JAMES T. FIELDS.
My dear old friend,—kind, genial James,—
Old Time, that the emotions tames,
Has wrought no change in friendship's claims
'Twixt you and me,
And now, as when in boyhood's aims,
We still agree.
Old Time, that the emotions tames,
Has wrought no change in friendship's claims
'Twixt you and me,
And now, as when in boyhood's aims,
We still agree.
In spheres diverse our lots were cast,
And years, in busy purpose passed,
Show us, on summing up at last,
A different fare;
But glad am I that fortune fast
Has been your share.
And years, in busy purpose passed,
Show us, on summing up at last,
A different fare;
But glad am I that fortune fast
Has been your share.
No truer soul than yours, my friend,
Did ever favoring fates attend,
With power to reach desired end;
None more deserving
The boon that Heaven doth kindly send
For truth unswerving.
Did ever favoring fates attend,
With power to reach desired end;
None more deserving
The boon that Heaven doth kindly send
For truth unswerving.
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Amid the smiles of rich success,
While wealth and fame their claim might press,
No lure could dull the tenderness
Of early years,
Or make that light of lights grow less
That still inheres.
While wealth and fame their claim might press,
No lure could dull the tenderness
Of early years,
Or make that light of lights grow less
That still inheres.
I've felt its warmth when cloudy skies
Made all seem dark before my eyes;
When adverse Fate in sternest guise
My heart assailed,
You bade my hope again arise,
And peace prevailed.
Made all seem dark before my eyes;
When adverse Fate in sternest guise
My heart assailed,
You bade my hope again arise,
And peace prevailed.
And in this grateful frame to-night,
With memory's beacon burning bright,
My pen, instinctive turns to write
The prompted line,
And pour upon your friendly sight
This heart of mine.
With memory's beacon burning bright,
My pen, instinctive turns to write
The prompted line,
And pour upon your friendly sight
This heart of mine.
I may not swell your earthly fame,
With measure of a loud acclaim;
Do what I may, it were but tame
To what's been done;
But in my breast, my friend, your name
Stands number one.
With measure of a loud acclaim;
Do what I may, it were but tame
To what's been done;
But in my breast, my friend, your name
Stands number one.
I'll joy the glad accord to hear
That greets you all days o' the year;
Beholding your content and cheer
It adds to mine,
And prompts the heartiness sincere
Of auld lang syne.
That greets you all days o' the year;
153
It adds to mine,
And prompts the heartiness sincere
Of auld lang syne.
Accept, dear Fields, the humble strain
That long upon my mind has lain;
My Muse in your behalf would fain
Much more express,
But trying more (I hence refrain)
Might make it less.
That long upon my mind has lain;
My Muse in your behalf would fain
Much more express,
But trying more (I hence refrain)
Might make it less.
154
THE GOLDEN WEDDING.
“Hail, wedded love!” thus Milton sung,
With happy and exultant tongue,
Greeting the first pair, fresh and young,
But more to prize
The love that, in life's morning sprung,
Age sanctifies.
With happy and exultant tongue,
Greeting the first pair, fresh and young,
But more to prize
The love that, in life's morning sprung,
Age sanctifies.
At first, 'tis but a roseate gleam,
A strain of music in a dream,
A light upon a tranquil stream,
No threat of harm,
The smiling heavens a radiant beam
Of promise warm;
A strain of music in a dream,
A light upon a tranquil stream,
No threat of harm,
The smiling heavens a radiant beam
Of promise warm;
But the fierce trial happens soon,
The care of life, before its noon,
Chilleth the heart to joy attune,
And then, perhaps,
Love's stocks, all up in Hope's balloon,
Suffer collapse.
The care of life, before its noon,
Chilleth the heart to joy attune,
And then, perhaps,
Love's stocks, all up in Hope's balloon,
Suffer collapse.
155
But, when well grounded, cares may press,
And sorrow come, with keen distress,
And fortune fail, no whit the less
Doth true love shine:
It showeth then its power to bless—
Its source divine.
And sorrow come, with keen distress,
And fortune fail, no whit the less
Doth true love shine:
It showeth then its power to bless—
Its source divine.
And age may come, its whitening snow
Upon the furrowed brow to throw,
But, with the loving heart aglow,
No icy chill
Will check the spirit's cheerful flow,
Defying ill.
Upon the furrowed brow to throw,
But, with the loving heart aglow,
No icy chill
Will check the spirit's cheerful flow,
Defying ill.
Such love is this we crown to-night,
Which burns more fervent in its light,
As, in his ever-restless flight,
'Tis tried by Time,
And, with a radiance pure and bright,
It glows sublime.
Which burns more fervent in its light,
As, in his ever-restless flight,
'Tis tried by Time,
And, with a radiance pure and bright,
It glows sublime.
Thank God for wedded love like theirs!
—Meet cause for blessing and for prayers—
Theirs is the bliss the angel shares;
Their ripened joy,
In home's delightful evening airs,
Hath no alloy.
—Meet cause for blessing and for prayers—
Theirs is the bliss the angel shares;
Their ripened joy,
In home's delightful evening airs,
Hath no alloy.
The golden season of the soul,
Life's Indian Summer's sweet control,
The border-land, with the bright goal
Broadly in sight,
That waits the just—Heaven's gracious dole—
Is theirs to-night.
Life's Indian Summer's sweet control,
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Broadly in sight,
That waits the just—Heaven's gracious dole—
Is theirs to-night.
May their serene descending sun
Shine back o'er fields of duty done,
Of strifes encountered—victories won—
Till, hand in hand,
They pass, love's endless race to run
In heaven's blest land.
Shine back o'er fields of duty done,
Of strifes encountered—victories won—
Till, hand in hand,
They pass, love's endless race to run
In heaven's blest land.
157
CONGRATULATORY.
[To S. L. Clemens (“Mark Twain”) on his Marriage.]
Dear brother of the happy pen,
Your card is just beneath my ken
Announcing that 'mongst married men
You've taken place:
Well, Heaven bless you, “but and ben,”
With fortune's grace.
Your card is just beneath my ken
Announcing that 'mongst married men
You've taken place:
Well, Heaven bless you, “but and ben,”
With fortune's grace.
There's none deserving more the prize
Of good that 'long life's pathway lies,
Lit by sweet smiles and sunny eyes,
Than you, my friend;
And o'er you may benignant skies
Forever bend.
Of good that 'long life's pathway lies,
Lit by sweet smiles and sunny eyes,
Than you, my friend;
And o'er you may benignant skies
Forever bend.
The world to you a tribute brings
And on your bridal altar flings,
Grateful and glad for myriad things
Your Muse has lent,
And one grand epithalamium sings
O'er the event.
And on your bridal altar flings,
Grateful and glad for myriad things
Your Muse has lent,
And one grand epithalamium sings
O'er the event.
158
We've gloried in the race you've run,
We've gloried in the fame you've won
Ere yet your life's meridian sun
Has gained its height,
Illuming by its rays of fun
A pathway bright.
We've gloried in the fame you've won
Ere yet your life's meridian sun
Has gained its height,
Illuming by its rays of fun
A pathway bright.
And better far than all, dear Mark,
Thou'st found the matrimonial ark
In which the true who there embark
Find many a charm,
That Prudence whispers those who hark
To save from harm.
Thou'st found the matrimonial ark
In which the true who there embark
Find many a charm,
That Prudence whispers those who hark
To save from harm.
And I, your latest friend, am fain
To pour my tributary strain,
In unpretending rhyming vein,
And thus appear,
Invoking blessings on the Twain,
With heart sincere.
To pour my tributary strain,
In unpretending rhyming vein,
And thus appear,
Invoking blessings on the Twain,
With heart sincere.
Boston, February 7, 1870.
159
A RESPONSE.
[_]
[On the occasion of a Surprise Visit of old Lodge associates to the Author, one of the number addressed to him some rhymes, to which the response.]
Dear Brother Jim: your pleasant rhyming
Set all my memory's bells to chiming,
With that occasion deftly timing,
And all the past
Flashed up before me like a priming
In retrocast.
Set all my memory's bells to chiming,
With that occasion deftly timing,
And all the past
Flashed up before me like a priming
In retrocast.
Again the rush of old-time feeling
Came o'er me, 'neath thy rhymes unreeling,
And forms, long hid by time's concealing,
Passed in review,
Unto my inner sense revealing,
As good as new.
Came o'er me, 'neath thy rhymes unreeling,
And forms, long hid by time's concealing,
Passed in review,
Unto my inner sense revealing,
As good as new.
Came back again the warm emotion,
The offspring of my young devotion,
When youth, then like a smiling ocean,
Lay bathed in light,
And you and I drank life's blest potion,
In care's despite.
The offspring of my young devotion,
When youth, then like a smiling ocean,
Lay bathed in light,
And you and I drank life's blest potion,
In care's despite.
160
Came back the glow of love fraternal,
That then illumed our path diurnal,
Filling our souls with bliss supernal,
And round us fell,
The while we plucked the richest kernel
From life's rough shell.
That then illumed our path diurnal,
Filling our souls with bliss supernal,
And round us fell,
The while we plucked the richest kernel
From life's rough shell.
Then Siloam's silver stream, o'erflowing,
Ran sparkling in the sunshine glowing,
And our young hearts, its virtue knowing,
Drank in its tide,
A vein of early wisdom showing,
Now viewed with pride.
Ran sparkling in the sunshine glowing,
And our young hearts, its virtue knowing,
Drank in its tide,
A vein of early wisdom showing,
Now viewed with pride.
It tempered youth's impetuous fever,
It prompted us to good endeavor,
And bade us low pursuits to sever
That end in shame;
To walk in virtue's ways forever,
Exempt from blame.
It prompted us to good endeavor,
And bade us low pursuits to sever
That end in shame;
To walk in virtue's ways forever,
Exempt from blame.
It taught us Charity's high mission,
Controlled by scrupulous prevision;
Led on the mind to just decision
And generous scope,
And gave the humblest in condition
The loftiest hope.
Controlled by scrupulous prevision;
Led on the mind to just decision
And generous scope,
And gave the humblest in condition
The loftiest hope.
Ah, many years have slipped as fleetly,
Since those old days remembered meetly,
And as your jingle met me sweetly,
The Muse took sway,
And I, a captive made completely,
Was borne away.
Since those old days remembered meetly,
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The Muse took sway,
And I, a captive made completely,
Was borne away.
How many of the kindly hearted,
Who with us in the journey started,
Have on the longer voyage departed,
And left our side!
How many, ballasted and charted,
Sank 'neath the tide!
Who with us in the journey started,
Have on the longer voyage departed,
And left our side!
How many, ballasted and charted,
Sank 'neath the tide!
[OMITTED]
The locks are gray that then were shining,
And wrinkles on the features joining,
And gout and spectacles combining,
The crowd among;
But, ah! the heart's warm tendrils twining,
Are always young.
And wrinkles on the features joining,
And gout and spectacles combining,
The crowd among;
But, ah! the heart's warm tendrils twining,
Are always young.
Dear Jim, 'tis no more summer weather
With any of us, but together
We'll move with hearts of lightest feather,
As erst in youth;
Our Friendship bound with closest tether
In Love and Truth.
With any of us, but together
We'll move with hearts of lightest feather,
As erst in youth;
Our Friendship bound with closest tether
In Love and Truth.
162
TO A POET.
[_]
[Who, from the fullness of his own fame and genius, could recognize the claim of a humble aspirant, and give him a word of encouragement.]
A single seed the waiting air
May to some secret covert bear,
The sun and dew to haply share,
And, soon upsprung,
It blooms in efflorescence fair,
The grass among.
May to some secret covert bear,
The sun and dew to haply share,
And, soon upsprung,
It blooms in efflorescence fair,
The grass among.
So a small word in kindness said
Has to its soil congenial sped,
Within the heart's receptive bed,
Where, fondly held,
It grew the light of joy to shed,
And gloom dispelled.
Has to its soil congenial sped,
Within the heart's receptive bed,
Where, fondly held,
It grew the light of joy to shed,
And gloom dispelled.
Such word by loving lips conveyed,
—Forgotten, may be, soon as made,—
Falls like the rain upon the blade,
That, parched and dry,
Revives beneath its genial aid,
To glad the eye.
—Forgotten, may be, soon as made,—
Falls like the rain upon the blade,
That, parched and dry,
Revives beneath its genial aid,
To glad the eye.
163
It lifts the clouds that life invest,
It gives a right ambition zest,
Makes latent good more manifest,
And Hope is near,
To lead the soul, through pathways blest,
To peace and cheer.
It gives a right ambition zest,
Makes latent good more manifest,
And Hope is near,
To lead the soul, through pathways blest,
To peace and cheer.
One such, by thee in kindness spoke,
A thrill within my heart awoke,
—A thrill scarce other could evoke,—
And new-found powers
Into more earnest effort broke,
In brighter hours.
A thrill within my heart awoke,
—A thrill scarce other could evoke,—
And new-found powers
Into more earnest effort broke,
In brighter hours.
The hand that feebly touched the lyre
Felt in its veins unwonted fire,
And trust arose, and new desire,
And spirit free,
Quickening the fancy to aspire,
Because of thee.
Felt in its veins unwonted fire,
And trust arose, and new desire,
And spirit free,
Quickening the fancy to aspire,
Because of thee.
More deftly ran the reel of rhyme,
More softly flowed the measured chime
That with the beat of thought kept time,
And though the song
Was neither graceful nor sublime,
Its hope was strong.
More softly flowed the measured chime
That with the beat of thought kept time,
And though the song
Was neither graceful nor sublime,
Its hope was strong.
Fame's trumpet note may ne'er attend,
To help the struggling thought ascend,
And with supernal glories blend;
But, more than this,
It to its little sphere may lend
A world of bliss.
To help the struggling thought ascend,
And with supernal glories blend;
164
It to its little sphere may lend
A world of bliss.
The humble brook its song may pour,
The ripple murmur on the shore,
The bird with simple note upsoar,
As perfect shown,
As is Niagara's thunder-roar,
Or tempest's tone.
The ripple murmur on the shore,
The bird with simple note upsoar,
As perfect shown,
As is Niagara's thunder-roar,
Or tempest's tone.
He that may touch the humblest heart
By stroke of unassuming art,
Acts, in degree, as grand a part
As bards of might,
Who make the world's emotion start
And glow with light.
By stroke of unassuming art,
Acts, in degree, as grand a part
As bards of might,
Who make the world's emotion start
And glow with light.
To sing in gentle, loving lays,
Not waiting for approving bays,
Possessed of such sweet word of praise
As that you spoke,
Were better than the grandest blaze
That Fame e'er woke.
Not waiting for approving bays,
Possessed of such sweet word of praise
As that you spoke,
Were better than the grandest blaze
That Fame e'er woke.
Within my heart of heart I hold,
—Cherished more sacredly than gold,—
That word which made its hopes unfold,
In olden time,
And freights with gratitude untold
My present rhyme.
—Cherished more sacredly than gold,—
That word which made its hopes unfold,
In olden time,
And freights with gratitude untold
My present rhyme.
165
TRIBUTARY VERSES,
[To H. A. M'Glenen on the twentieth anniversary of his marriage, November 29, 1869.]
A happy sign it is, I wis,
Where, as at seasons such as this,
The feelings glow with primal bliss,
And love, most true,
Asserts itself, with vow and kiss,
As good as new.
Where, as at seasons such as this,
The feelings glow with primal bliss,
And love, most true,
Asserts itself, with vow and kiss,
As good as new.
Such pauses are like stages passed,
And seated in life's shade, to cast
Our backward glance where, far and fast,
Our steps have sped,
We brave untried the Future, vast,
Without a dread.
And seated in life's shade, to cast
Our backward glance where, far and fast,
Our steps have sped,
We brave untried the Future, vast,
Without a dread.
Marriage, when “rightly understood,”
Old Cotton sang, is full of good;
And yours is proof that hath withstood
The timely test,
And now, in ripe beatitude,
It beams the best.
Old Cotton sang, is full of good;
And yours is proof that hath withstood
The timely test,
And now, in ripe beatitude,
It beams the best.
166
Happy are they who thus restore
The time that's past, and live once more
In joys that strewed their path before,
In love's first state;
Enough there are who'd this ignore,
And clean the slate.
The time that's past, and live once more
In joys that strewed their path before,
In love's first state;
Enough there are who'd this ignore,
And clean the slate.
And yet, that time of twenty years
In most momentous guise appears,
Marked with its varied hopes and fears,
And joy and woe;
But banished have been clouds and tears
In love's bright glow.
In most momentous guise appears,
Marked with its varied hopes and fears,
And joy and woe;
But banished have been clouds and tears
In love's bright glow.
I know the story all by heart,
And know that she, your better part,
Has, by the charm of woman's art,
As you'll allow,—
Enhanced life's joy and eased its smart,
As she knew how.
And know that she, your better part,
Has, by the charm of woman's art,
As you'll allow,—
Enhanced life's joy and eased its smart,
As she knew how.
We all the lesson well are taught
That our endeavors are as nought,
Unless, with loving kindness fraught,
She gives her powers
Of gentle care and tender thought
To soften ours.
That our endeavors are as nought,
Unless, with loving kindness fraught,
She gives her powers
Of gentle care and tender thought
To soften ours.
These give the home its joyous zest,
These crown the life with blissful rest,
These soothe the busy, burdened breast
To tranquil peace,
And cares, the soul might else infest,
Forever cease.
These crown the life with blissful rest,
167
To tranquil peace,
And cares, the soul might else infest,
Forever cease.
And I am of the fact assured,
That, taking things as they occurred,
The fun enjoyed, the ills endured,
In time that's flown,
A good return you have secured—
The best one known
That, taking things as they occurred,
The fun enjoyed, the ills endured,
In time that's flown,
A good return you have secured—
The best one known
With children gathered round your chair,
A wife your loving thoughts to share,
And friends in multitude most rare,
And honest fame,
In life's great bowl you hold a “spare,”
And win the game.
A wife your loving thoughts to share,
And friends in multitude most rare,
And honest fame,
In life's great bowl you hold a “spare,”
And win the game.
And thus, upon your festal night,
While happiness is burning bright,
My spirit to your side takes flight,
On viewless wings,
And o'er the scene of love and light
A blessing flings.
While happiness is burning bright,
My spirit to your side takes flight,
On viewless wings,
And o'er the scene of love and light
A blessing flings.
168
A PICTURE.
I paint a man of merit rare,
With look of grace and gentle air,
A presence welcome everywhere,
But strangely shy,
Who might earth's proudest honors share,
Yet puts them by.
With look of grace and gentle air,
A presence welcome everywhere,
But strangely shy,
Who might earth's proudest honors share,
Yet puts them by.
The discords of the world offend;
He has no hungry ear to lend
To hoarse refrains that to him wend
Of human strife,
Nor craves with noisy crowds to blend
That make up life.
He has no hungry ear to lend
To hoarse refrains that to him wend
Of human strife,
Nor craves with noisy crowds to blend
That make up life.
He moves the ranks of men among
With absent eye and silent tongue;
And out where Nature's song is sung
By myriad choirs,
The tuneful anthem broadcast flung
His verse inspires.
With absent eye and silent tongue;
And out where Nature's song is sung
By myriad choirs,
The tuneful anthem broadcast flung
His verse inspires.
169
But, from the bustle of the street,
With quiet throned and converse meet,
Then flow his words in channels sweet,
With truth imbued,
And hours fly by, on pinions fleet,
With bright flowers strewed.
With quiet throned and converse meet,
Then flow his words in channels sweet,
With truth imbued,
And hours fly by, on pinions fleet,
With bright flowers strewed.
But his is no exclusive part;
He feels for those 'neath sorrow's smart,
Who wander without guide or chart,
And strikes the strain,
Till softened grows the fallow heart
That cold hath lain.
He feels for those 'neath sorrow's smart,
Who wander without guide or chart,
And strikes the strain,
Till softened grows the fallow heart
That cold hath lain.
Like King Admetus' bard's, his lyre
Pours forth the strain that all admire,
And wakes in other breasts the fire
Of Hope and Love,
And bids the good in man aspire
To scenes above.
Pours forth the strain that all admire,
And wakes in other breasts the fire
Of Hope and Love,
And bids the good in man aspire
To scenes above.
How grand his strain of faith and trust
That points the mourner from the dust
To where, in airs more pure and just,
The lost one waits,
Where no obstruction mars nor rusts
The golden gates!
That points the mourner from the dust
To where, in airs more pure and just,
The lost one waits,
Where no obstruction mars nor rusts
The golden gates!
The dying outcast's “bed of stone,”
The lonely orphan's piteous moan,
The soul from which all hope has flown,
His pity wake,
And from his muse rare light has shone
Woe's clouds to break.
The lonely orphan's piteous moan,
The soul from which all hope has flown,
His pity wake,
170
Woe's clouds to break.
And royal verse has graced his pen,
Where true nobility in men
Has flashed athwart his vision's ken,
And late it shed
Bright lustre on a hero, when
His spirit fled.
Where true nobility in men
Has flashed athwart his vision's ken,
And late it shed
Bright lustre on a hero, when
His spirit fled.
But whose the portrait? Does it need
That line to give the dullard heed
“This is a man,” or some such screed,
To make it clear,
Or do its manly lines, indeed,
Self-shown appear?
That line to give the dullard heed
“This is a man,” or some such screed,
To make it clear,
Or do its manly lines, indeed,
Self-shown appear?
Not one whose greatness fills the frame,
With nostrils breathing fire and flame,
Who fights, or trades, or speaks for fame,
Yet grander far
Than these, and more the tongue could name,
As is a star.
With nostrils breathing fire and flame,
Who fights, or trades, or speaks for fame,
Yet grander far
Than these, and more the tongue could name,
As is a star.
171
TO WARRINGTON.
My dear old Paladin of Print!
I must complain—the deuce is in't—
That not a relic of the mint
With me remains,
Of my affection's depth to hint,
In silvery strains.
I must complain—the deuce is in't—
That not a relic of the mint
With me remains,
Of my affection's depth to hint,
In silvery strains.
But no one of your wedding guests,
Whose gift his loving heart attests,
More in the silver scene invests
Than I, old friend;
Though not a stiver manifests
For me to send.
Whose gift his loving heart attests,
More in the silver scene invests
Than I, old friend;
Though not a stiver manifests
For me to send.
My heart is yours, this festive time,
As when, in youth's exuberant clime,
We, side by side, in aim sublime,
Pursued our course;
And Stebbings fired both prose and rhyme
Till they were hoarse.
As when, in youth's exuberant clime,
We, side by side, in aim sublime,
Pursued our course;
And Stebbings fired both prose and rhyme
Till they were hoarse.
172
Since then divergently we've turned;
In different schools our tasks have learned,
But ne'er that early spark have spurned
—'Bove party plight—
That in its fealty has burned
With constant light.
In different schools our tasks have learned,
But ne'er that early spark have spurned
—'Bove party plight—
That in its fealty has burned
With constant light.
I've loved your active past to scan,
Of every movement in the van,
To lead, to serve—to do, or plan—
Though not with me;—
Wearing that jewel best in man—
Integrity!
Of every movement in the van,
To lead, to serve—to do, or plan—
Though not with me;—
Wearing that jewel best in man—
Integrity!
Though striking trenchantly thy hits,
That give contesting parties “fits,”
No one who has respect for wit's
Performance rife
Can help admitting, though it grits,
Its manly strife.
That give contesting parties “fits,”
No one who has respect for wit's
Performance rife
Can help admitting, though it grits,
Its manly strife.
An honest purpose guides the blow,
And public virtue, running slow,
Like oil in winter, wakes to glow,
As falls the thong;
And “Warrington,” in sharpest show,
Is rarely wrong.
And public virtue, running slow,
Like oil in winter, wakes to glow,
As falls the thong;
And “Warrington,” in sharpest show,
Is rarely wrong.
The friendship of life's early hour
Still holds with unremitting power,
And nought that tends the heart to sour
Has hap'd to chill
That accident-implanted flower,
Perennial still.
Still holds with unremitting power,
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Has hap'd to chill
That accident-implanted flower,
Perennial still.
And so, in lieu of silver dimes,
I send a screed of jingling rhymes
To greet you, at this best of times,
With wishes full,
That, mingling with the wedding chimes,
Mayn't seem so dull.
I send a screed of jingling rhymes
To greet you, at this best of times,
With wishes full,
That, mingling with the wedding chimes,
Mayn't seem so dull.
Wishes are little worth at most;
Of that which should be but the ghost,
The creaming of a dinner toast,—
But still they show
Just how, upon life's social coast,
The heart would go.
Of that which should be but the ghost,
The creaming of a dinner toast,—
But still they show
Just how, upon life's social coast,
The heart would go.
Thus, wishing health, and wealth, and peace,
And love's unlimited increase,
And friendship's presence ne'er to cease,
Content your lot:
No wheel denied the needed grease,
And care forgot,—
And love's unlimited increase,
And friendship's presence ne'er to cease,
Content your lot:
No wheel denied the needed grease,
And care forgot,—
Believe me, it is all sincere,
As if 'twere backed by chinking “gear,”
And in my dull seclusion here,
Away in this city,
I say, in tone of heartiest cheer,
Benedicite!
As if 'twere backed by chinking “gear,”
And in my dull seclusion here,
Away in this city,
I say, in tone of heartiest cheer,
Benedicite!
174
DR. HAYES.
Undoubtedly great revelations waitThe search of our indomitable Hayes,
Who boldly knocketh at the Boreal gate,
Ne'er half unfolded to explorer's gaze.
Perhaps 'twill be his enviable fate
To find what makes the borealis blaze,
See the big hole about which Symmes did prate,
That oped its ponderous jaws up thereaways,
Discover and annex another state
That he may govern some of these odd days,
Know if the pole be tall and very straight
About which people long have felt a craze;—
An ice-king he, about whose regal pate
Shall twine the wreath of many Arctic bays.
| Lines in Pleasant Places | |