FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   >>  
day: Pain--has been its friend and comrade; Fate--it can defy; Only by its own sword, sometimes Love can choose to die. And its grave shall be more noble And more sacred still, Than a throne, where one less worthy Reigns and rules at will. Tell me then, do you dare offer This true Love to me? . . . Neither you nor I can answer; We will--wait and see! VERSE: GOLDEN WORDS Some words are played on golden strings, Which I so highly rate, I cannot bear for meaner things Their sound to desecrate. For every day they are not meet, Or for a careless tone; They are for rarest, and most sweet, And noblest use alone. One word is POET: which is flung So carelessly away, When such as you and I have sung, We hear it, day by day. Men pay it for a tender phrase Set in a cadenced rhyme: I keep it as a crown of praise To crown the kings of time. And LOVE: the slightest feelings, stirred By trivial fancy, seek Expression in that golden word They tarnish while they speak. Nay, let the heart's slow, rare decree, That word in reverence keep Silence herself should only be More sacred and more deep. FOR EVER: men have grown at length To use that word, to raise Some feeble protest into strength, Or turn some tender phrase. It should be said in awe and fear By true heart and strong will, And burn more brightly year by year, A starry witness still. HONOUR: all trifling hearts are fond Of that divine appeal, And men, upon the slightest bond, Set it as slighter seal. That word should meet a noble foe Upon a noble field, And echo--like a deadly blow Turned by a silver shield. Trust me, the worth of words is such They guard all noble things, And that this rash irreverent touch Has jarred some golden strings. For what the lips have lightly said The heart will lightly hold, And things on which we daily tread Are lightly bought and sold. The sun of every day will bleach The costliest purple hue. And so our common daily speech Discolours what was true. But as you keep some thoughts apart In sacred honoured care, If in the silence of your heart, Their utterance too be rare; Then, while a thousand words repeat Unmeaning clamours all, Melodious golden echoes sweet Shall answer when you call. ***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEGENDS AND LYRICS: FIRST SERIES*** ******* This file should be named 2303.txt or 2303.zip ******* This and all associated files of va
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   >>  



Top keywords:

golden

 

things

 

lightly

 
sacred
 
slightest
 

strings

 
phrase
 

tender

 

answer

 

SERIES


deadly
 

silver

 

irreverent

 

LYRICS

 

shield

 
Turned
 

starry

 

witness

 

HONOUR

 
brightly

trifling

 
hearts
 

slighter

 

LEGENDS

 

appeal

 

divine

 

GUTENBERG

 
strong
 

common

 

purple


bleach

 

costliest

 

utterance

 

thoughts

 

silence

 

speech

 

Discolours

 

thousand

 

PROJECT

 

honoured


jarred

 

Unmeaning

 

bought

 

repeat

 

clamours

 

echoes

 
Melodious
 

Expression

 

GOLDEN

 

played