FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29  
30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   >>  
ll angels greet him with a sweeter one In heaven, on earth we call him EMERSON. I start; I wake; the vision is withdrawn; Its figures fading like the stars at dawn; Crossed from the roll of life their cherished names, And memory's pictures fading in their frames; Yet life is lovelier for these transient gleams Of buried friendships; blest is he who dreams! OUR DEAD SINGER H. W. L. PRIDE of the sister realm so long our own, We claim with her that spotless fame of thine, White as her snow and fragrant as her pine! Ours was thy birthplace, but in every zone Some wreath of song thy liberal hand has thrown Breathes perfume from its blossoms, that entwine Where'er the dewdrops fall, the sunbeams shine, On life's long path with tangled cares o'ergrown. Can Art thy truthful counterfeit command,-- The silver-haloed features, tranquil, mild,-- Soften the lips of bronze as when they smiled, Give warmth and pressure to the marble hand? Seek the lost rainbow in the sky it spanned Farewell, sweet Singer! Heaven reclaims its child. Carved from the block or cast in clinging mould, Will grateful Memory fondly try her best The mortal vesture from decay to wrest; His look shall greet us, calm, but ah, how cold! No breath can stir the brazen drapery's fold, No throb can heave the statue's stony breast; "He is not here, but risen," will stand confest In all we miss, in all our eyes behold. How Nature loved him! On his placid brow, Thought's ample dome, she set the sacred sign That marks the priesthood of her holiest shrine, Nor asked a leaflet from the laurel's bough That envious Time might clutch or disallow, To prove her chosen minstrel's song divine. On many a saddened hearth the evening fire Burns paler as the children's hour draws near,-- That joyous hour his song made doubly dear,-- And tender memories touch the faltering choir. He sings no more on earth; our vain desire Aches for the voice we loved so long to hear In Dorian flute-notes breathing soft and clear,-- The sweet contralto that could never tire. Deafened with listening to a harsher strain, The Maenad's scream, the stark barbarian's cry, Still for those soothing, loving tones we sigh; Oh, for our vanished Orpheus once again! The shadowy silence hears us call in vain! His lips are hushed; his song shall never die. TWO POEMS TO HARRIET BEECHER STOWE ON HER SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY, JUNE 14, 1882 I. AT THE SUMMIT SISTER, we bid
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29  
30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   >>  



Top keywords:

fading

 
statue
 

disallow

 
chosen
 

clutch

 

envious

 
breast
 

minstrel

 

children

 

evening


hearth

 
divine
 

saddened

 

confest

 

laurel

 

leaflet

 

Nature

 
sacred
 

placid

 

Thought


SISTER

 

SUMMIT

 

shrine

 

behold

 

priesthood

 
holiest
 
tender
 

vanished

 
Orpheus
 

loving


barbarian
 

scream

 

soothing

 

shadowy

 
silence
 

HARRIET

 

BEECHER

 

SEVENTIETH

 
BIRTHDAY
 

hushed


Maenad

 
strain
 

drapery

 

desire

 

faltering

 
joyous
 

doubly

 
memories
 

contralto

 

Deafened