ay hear.
Or we can silence him and tune the ear
To caw of crows, or to the vulture's screech.

Love is a feast; and if the guests divide
With all who pass, though thousands swell the van,
There shall be food and drink for every man;
The loaves and fishes will be multiplied.

Love is the guide. I look to heights above
So beautiful, so very far away;
Yet I shall tread their sunlit peaks some day,
Since close in mine I hold the hand of love.

Love is the law. But yield to its control
And thou shalt find all things work for the best,
And in the calm, still heaven of thy breast,
That God, Himself, sits talking with thy soul.

SPIRIT OF A GREAT CONTROL

Spirit of a Great Control,
Gird me with thy strength and might,
Essence of the Over-Soul--
Fill me, thrill me with thy light;
Though the waves of sorrow beat
Madly at my very feet,
Though the night and storm are near,
Teach me that I need not fear.

Though the clouds obscure the sky,
When the tempest sweeps the lands,
Still about, below, on high,
God's great solar system stands.
Never yet a star went out.
What have I to fear or doubt?--
I, a part of this great whole,
Governed by the Over-Soul.

Like the great eternal hills,
Like the rock that fronts the wave,
Let me meet all earthly ills
With a fearless heart and brave;
Like the earth that drinks the rain,
Let me welcome floods of pain,
Till I grow in strength to be
Worthy of my source in Thee.

NOON

As some contented bird doth coo
She trilled a song of fond delight,
The while she spread the cloth of white,
And set the cups and plates for two.

She leaned beyond the window sill,
And looked along the busy street,
And listened for his coming feet.
The skies were calm, the winds were still.

'O love, my love, why art thou late?
The kettle boils, the cloth is spread,
The clock points close to noon,' she said.
O clock of time! O clock of fate!

She heard the moon's glad sound of cheer;
(The hiss, the whirl, the crash, the creak,
Of maddened wheels, the awful shriek
Of awestruck men--she did not hear.)

She lightly tripped about the room,
And near the window, where his eyes
Might greet it with a pleased surprise,
She placed a pot of fragrant bloom.

Strange nervous steps were at the gate.
Why grew her heart so cold, so numb?
The clock struck twelve, the noon had come.
Ah! noon of t