Bitterness Casteth Out Love

Over the hill where the white road sweeps,
And the dead fern holds the snow,
Love flew by, and the black night sky
Shadowed the vales below.

Down in the creek, where the ice-pools gleam
And the trees stand gaunt and bare,
I crouched me down, and the sullen frown
Of earth entombed me there.

"Ah," mocked the ice-pool, hard and clear,
"Man with the frozen soul;
Love sailed by, on a cloud-bound sky,
With the tears that sorrow stole."

"Gone," said the fern, "from your frost-bound touch;
Gone from your winter's heart.
Love flew by, like the tattered sigh
Bitterness tore apart."

And the aching trees bowed branch and twig
And a shrivelled leaf made cry,
"If you are cold, and your heart be old,
For certain, Love must die."

Over the hill, where the white road sweeps,
And the dead fern holds the snow,
Sweet Love fled; and a spirit dead
Spectres the slopes below.

The Hour of Happiness

The world is fair! The circling swell
Of fresh tumultuous sea
Holds life within its rhythmic rise
And bursts of harmony;
And storm-clouds chasing down the sky
Empty their hearts as they sweep by.

The world is gay!--Such lilt and song,
Such mellowness of tune,
Such drifting airs from wave and shore,
From rock and sand and dune.
I did not know that clouds of spray
Splashed as they fell, a roundelay.

A magic day! A magic hand
Has raised a magic mood.
Oh! years ago God made the world
And saw that it was good.
And from His ecstasy divine
I borrowed this sweet hour of mine.

Thoughts

So fair, so delicate the thoughts,
He marvelled they could be his own;
He did not dream that they were birds
From heaven flown.

Birds with a message in their throats,
Limpid and golden from the sky.
Most wonderful his song. 'Twas strange
He knew not why.

They fluttered their white wings awhile
Then soared again to paradise,
Leaving a trail of limpid notes
For sacrifice.

The Things Unsaid are the Things that Count!

You told me you had done with love,
You showed me why;
You said it often, just to prove
Inconstancy!
I never heard--
I only marked--the _unsaid_ word.

You told me you