 | [Poems by Howe in] Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910 |  |
2. VOLUME II
136
A MOMENT'S MEDITATION IN COLOGNE CATHEDRAL
Enter Life's high cathedral
With reverential heart,
Its lofty oppositions
Matched with divinest art.
With reverential heart,
Its lofty oppositions
Matched with divinest art.
Thought with its other climbing
To meet and blend on high;
Man's mortal and immortal
Wed for eternity.
To meet and blend on high;
Man's mortal and immortal
Wed for eternity.
When noon's high mass is over,
Muse in the silent aisles;
Wait for the coming vespers
In which new promise smiles.
Muse in the silent aisles;
Wait for the coming vespers
In which new promise smiles.
When from the dome height echoes
An “Ite, missa est,”
Whisper thy last thanksgiving,
Depart, and take thy rest.
An “Ite, missa est,”
Whisper thy last thanksgiving,
Depart, and take thy rest.
137
JANUARY 9, 1878
A voice of sorrow shakes the solemn pines
Within the borders of the Apennines;
A sombre vision veils the evening red,
A shuddering whisper says: the King is dead.
Within the borders of the Apennines;
A sombre vision veils the evening red,
A shuddering whisper says: the King is dead.
Low lies he near the throne
That strange desert and fortune made his own;
And at his life's completion, from his birth
In one fair record, men recount his worth.
That strange desert and fortune made his own;
And at his life's completion, from his birth
In one fair record, men recount his worth.
Chief of the Vatican!
Heir of the Peter who his Lord denied,
Not of the faith which that offence might hide,
Boast not, “I live, while he is coldly laid.”
Say rather, in the jostling mortal race
He first doth look on the All-father's face.
Life's triple crown absolvèd weareth he,
Clear Past, sad Present, fond Futurity.
Heir of the Peter who his Lord denied,
Not of the faith which that offence might hide,
Boast not, “I live, while he is coldly laid.”
Say rather, in the jostling mortal race
He first doth look on the All-father's face.
Life's triple crown absolvèd weareth he,
Clear Past, sad Present, fond Futurity.
138
To Maud
July 8, 1888.
Grumble, grumble—tumble, tumble,For something to eat,
Fast-y fast-y nasty, nasty,
At last, at last-y,
Ma's dead beat!
286
[Such ugly noises never in my life]
Such ugly noises never in my lifeMy ears endured, such hideous fiddle-strife.
A dozen street bands playing different tunes,
A choir of chimney sweeps with various runes,
The horn that doth to farmer's dinner call,
The Chinese gong that serves in wealthier hall,
The hammer, scrub brush, and beseeching broom,
While here and there the guns of freedom boom,
“Tzing! bang! this soul is saved!” “Clang! clang! it is n't!”
And mich and dich and ich and sich and sisn't!
287
But what can pay the public that endured?
304
[Roses are the gift of God]
“Roses are the gift of God,Laurels are the gift of fame;
Add the beauty of thy life
To the glory of thy name.”
305
[Here's to Teddy]
Here's to Teddy,
Blythe and ready,
Fit for each occasion!
Who as he
Acceptably
Can represent the Nation?
Blythe and ready,
Fit for each occasion!
Who as he
Acceptably
Can represent the Nation?
Neither ocean
Binds his motion,
Undismayed explorer;
Challenge dares him,
Pullman bears him
Swifter than Aurora.
Binds his motion,
Undismayed explorer;
Challenge dares him,
Pullman bears him
Swifter than Aurora.
Here's to Teddy!
Let no eddy
Block the onward current.
Him we trust,
And guard we must
From schemes to sight abhorrent.
Let no eddy
Block the onward current.
Him we trust,
And guard we must
From schemes to sight abhorrent.
When the tuba
Called to Cuba
Where the fight was raging,
Rough and ready
Riders led he,
Valorous warfare waging.
Called to Cuba
Where the fight was raging,
Rough and ready
Riders led he,
Valorous warfare waging.
Here's to Teddy!
Safe and steady,
Loved by every section!
South and North
Will hurry forth
To hasten his election.
Safe and steady,
Loved by every section!
306
Will hurry forth
To hasten his election.
1904.
309
For Francis C. Stokes, Westtown School, Pennsylvania
Auspicious be the ruleOf love at Westtown School,
And happy, mid his youthful folks
The daily task of Master Stokes!
320
[Friends! I would not ask to mingle]
Friends! I would not ask to mingle
This, my very foolish jingle,
With the tributes more decorous of the feast we hold to-day;
But the rhymes came, thick and swarming
Just like bees when honey's forming,
And I could not find a countersign to order them away.
This, my very foolish jingle,
With the tributes more decorous of the feast we hold to-day;
But the rhymes came, thick and swarming
Just like bees when honey's forming,
And I could not find a countersign to order them away.
321
For around this sixteenth lustre
Of our friend's, such memories cluster
Of the days that lie behind it, full of glories and regrets,
Days that brought their toils and troubles,
Lit by some irradiant bubbles
Which became prismatic opals in the sun that never sets.
Of our friend's, such memories cluster
Of the days that lie behind it, full of glories and regrets,
Days that brought their toils and troubles,
Lit by some irradiant bubbles
Which became prismatic opals in the sun that never sets.
Picnics have we held together
Sailing in the summer weather,
Sitting low to taste the chowder on the sands of Newport Bay,
And that wonderful charade, sir,
You know well, sir, that you made, sir,
When so many years of earnest did invite an hour of play.
Sailing in the summer weather,
Sitting low to taste the chowder on the sands of Newport Bay,
And that wonderful charade, sir,
You know well, sir, that you made, sir,
When so many years of earnest did invite an hour of play.
He shall rank now with the sages
Who survive in classic pages,
English, German, French and Latin, Greek, so weary to construe;
Did he con his Epictetus
Ere he came to-night to greet us?
He, àoristos in reverence, among the learned few.
Who survive in classic pages,
English, German, French and Latin, Greek, so weary to construe;
Did he con his Epictetus
Ere he came to-night to greet us?
He, àoristos in reverence, among the learned few.
He may climb no more the mountain,
But he still employs the fountain
Pen from whose incisive point pure Helicon may flow,
And his “Yesterdays” so cheerful
Charm the world so wild and tearful,
And the Devil calls for copy, and he never answers “No.”
But he still employs the fountain
Pen from whose incisive point pure Helicon may flow,
And his “Yesterdays” so cheerful
Charm the world so wild and tearful,
And the Devil calls for copy, and he never answers “No.”
Do I speak for everybody,
When I utter this rhapsòdy,
To induce our friend to keep his pace in following Life's incline;
Never slacken, but come on, sir,
Eighty-four years I have won, sir;
Still the olive branch shall bless you, still the laurel wreath entwine!
When I utter this rhapsòdy,
To induce our friend to keep his pace in following Life's incline;
Never slacken, but come on, sir,
Eighty-four years I have won, sir;
Still the olive branch shall bless you, still the laurel wreath entwine!
So, you scribbling youths and lasses,
Elders, too, fill high your glasses!
Let the toast be Wentworth Higginson, of fourscore years possest;
If the Man was good at twenty,
He is four times that now, ain't he?
We declare him four times excellent, and better than his best.
Elders, too, fill high your glasses!
Let the toast be Wentworth Higginson, of fourscore years possest;
If the Man was good at twenty,
He is four times that now, ain't he?
We declare him four times excellent, and better than his best.
336
MRS. HOWE'S REPLY
Why, bless you, I ain't nothing, nor nobody, nor much,
If you look in your Directory, you'll find a thousand such;
I walk upon the level ground, I breathe upon the air,
I study at a table, and reflect upon a chair.
If you look in your Directory, you'll find a thousand such;
I walk upon the level ground, I breathe upon the air,
I study at a table, and reflect upon a chair.
I know a casual mixture of the Latin and the Greek,
I know the Frenchman's parlez-vous, and how the Germans speak;
Well can I add, and well subtract, and say twice two is four,
But of those direful sums and proofs remember nothing more.
I know the Frenchman's parlez-vous, and how the Germans speak;
Well can I add, and well subtract, and say twice two is four,
But of those direful sums and proofs remember nothing more.
I wrote a pretty book one time, and then I wrote a play,
And a friend who went to see it said she fainted right away.
Then I got up high to speculate upon the Universe,
And folks who heard me found themselves no better and no worse.
And a friend who went to see it said she fainted right away.
Then I got up high to speculate upon the Universe,
And folks who heard me found themselves no better and no worse.
Yes, I've had a lot of birthdays and I'm growing very old,
That 's why they make so much of me, if once the truth were told.
And I love the shade in summer, and in winter love the sun,
And I'm just learning how to live, my wisdom 's just begun.
That 's why they make so much of me, if once the truth were told.
And I love the shade in summer, and in winter love the sun,
And I'm just learning how to live, my wisdom 's just begun.
Don't trouble more to celebrate this natal day of mine,
But keep the grasp of fellowship which warms us more than wine.
Let us thank the lavish hand that gives world beauty to our eyes,
And bless the days that saw us young, and years that make us wise.
But keep the grasp of fellowship which warms us more than wine.
Let us thank the lavish hand that gives world beauty to our eyes,
And bless the days that saw us young, and years that make us wise.
341
[Mark the gracious, welcome guest]
“Mark the gracious, welcome guest,
Master of heroic jest;
He who cheers man's dull abodes
With the laughter of the gods;
To the joyless ones of earth
Sounds the reveille of mirth.
Master of heroic jest;
He who cheers man's dull abodes
With the laughter of the gods;
To the joyless ones of earth
Sounds the reveille of mirth.
“Well we meet, to part with pain,
But ne'er shall he and we be Twain.”
But ne'er shall he and we be Twain.”
| [Poems by Howe in] Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910 | |