Poems | Page 8

within our household
Because of a vacant chair.?Our mother, so loved and precious,
No longer was sitting there.
JAMIE'S PUZZLE. 35
Our hearts grew heavy with sorrow,
Our eyes with tears were blind,?And little Jamie was wondering,
Why we were left behind.
We had told our little darling,
Of the land of love and light,?Of the saints all crowned with glory,
And enrobed in spotless white.
We said that our precious mother,
Had gone to that land so fair,?To dwell with beautiful angels,
And to be forever there.
But the child was sorely puzzled,
Why dear grandmamma should go?To dwell in a stranger city,
When her children loved her so.
But again the mystic angel
Came with swift and silent tread,?And our sister, Jamie's mother,
Was enrolled among the dead.
To us the mystery deepened,
To Jamie it seemed more clear;
36 TRUTH.
Grandma, he said, must be lonesome,
And mamma has gone to her.
But the question lies unanswered
In our little Jamie's mind,?Why she should go to our mother,
And leave her children behind;
To dwell in that lovely city,
From all that was dear to part,?From children who loved to nestle
So closely around her heart.
Dear child, like you, we are puzzled,
With problems that still remain;?But think in the great hereafter
Their meaning will all be plain.
TRUTH.
A rock, for ages, stern and high,?Stood frowning 'gainst the earth and sky,?And never bowed his haughty crest?When angry storms around him prest.?Morn, springing from the arms of night,?Had often bathed his brow with light.
TRUTH. 37
And kissed the shadows from his face?With tender love and gentle grace.
Day, pausing at the gates of rest,?Smiled on him from the distant West,?And from her throne the dark-browed Night?Threw round his path her softest light.?And yet he stood unmoved and proud,?Nor love, nor wrath, his spirit bowed;?He bared his brow to every blast?And scorned the tempest as it passed.
One day a tiny, humble seed--?The keenest eye would hardly heed--?Fell trembling at that stern rock's base,?And found a lowly hiding-place.?A ray of light, and drop of dew,?Came with a message, kind and true;?They told her of the world so bright,?Its love, its joy, and rosy light,?And lured her from her hiding-place,?To gaze upon earth's glorious face.
So, peeping timid from the ground,?She clasped the ancient rock around,?And climbing up with childish grace,?She held him with a close embrace;
38 DEATH OF THE OLD SEA KING.
Her clinging was a thing of dread;?Where'er she touched a fissure spread,?And he who'd breasted many a storm?Stood frowning there, a mangled form;?A Truth, dropped in the silent earth,?May seem a thing of little worth,?Till, spreading round some mighty wrong,?It saps its pillars proud and strong,?And o'er the fallen ruin weaves?The brightest blooms and fairest leaves.
DEATH OF THE OLD SEA KING.
'Twas a fearful night--the tempest raved
With loud and wrathful pride,?The storm-king harnessed his lightning steeds,
And rode on the raging tide.
The sea-king lay on his bed of death,
Pale mourners around him bent;?They knew the wild and fitful life
Of their chief was almost spent.
His ear was growing dull in death
When the angry storm he heard,
DEATH OF THE OLD SEA KING. 39
The sluggish blood in the old man's veins
With sudden vigor stirred.
"I hear them call," cried the dying man,
His eyes grew full of light;?"Now bring me here my warrior robes,
My sword and armor bright.
"In the tempest's lull I heard a voice,
I knew 'twas Odin's call.?The Valkyrs are gathering round my bed
To lead me unto his hall.
"Bear me unto my noblest ship,
Light up a funeral pyre;?I'll walk to the palace of the braves
Through a path of flame and fire."
Oh! wild and bright was the stormy light
That flashed from the old man's eye,?As they bore him from the couch of death
To his battle-ship to die,
And lit with many a mournful torch
The sea-king's dying bed,?And like a banner fair and bright
The flames around him spread.
40 SAVE THE BOYS.
But they heard no cry of anguish
Break through that fiery wall,?With rigid brow and silent lips
He was seeking Odin's hall.
Through a path of fearful splendor,
While strong men held their breath,?The brave old man went boldly forth
And calmly talked with death.
SAVE THE BOYS.
Like Dives in the deeps of Hell?I cannot break this fearful spell,?Nor quench the fires I've madly nursed,?Nor cool this dreadful raging thirst.?Take back your pledge--ye come too late!?Ye cannot save me from my fate,?Nor bring me back departed joys;?But ye can try to save the boys.
Ye bid me break my fiery chain,?Arise and be a man again,
SAVE THE BOYS. 41
When every street with snares is spread,?And nets of sin where'er I tread.?No; I must reap as I did sow.?The seeds of sin bring crops of woe;?But with my latest breath I'll crave?That ye will try the boys to save.
These bloodshot eyes were once so bright;?This sin-crushed heart was glad and light;?But by the wine-cup's ruddy glow?I traced a path to shame and woe.?A captive to my galling chain,?I've tried to rise, but tried in vain--?The cup allures and then destroys.?Oh! from its thraldom save the boys.
Take from your streets those traps