Poems of Cheer | Page 9

fool prate of
luck. The fortunate
Is he whose earnest purpose never swerves,
Whose slightest action or
inaction serve.
The one great aim.
Why, even Death stands still,
And waits an hour sometimes for such
a will.
WINTER RAIN
Falling upon the frozen world last
I heard the slow beat of the Winter
rain -
Poor foolish drops, down-dripping all in vain;
The ice-bound
Earth but mocked their puny might,
Far better had the fixedness of
white
And uncomplaining snows--which make no sign,
But coldly
smile, when pitying moonbeams shine -
Concealed its sorrow from
all human sight.
Long, long ago, in blurred and burdened years,
I
learned the uselessness of uttered woe.
Though sinewy Fate deals her
most skilful blow,

I do not waste the gall now of my tears,
But feed my pride upon its
bitter, while
I look straight in the world's bold eyes, and smile.
LIFE
Life, like a romping schoolboy, full of glee,
Doth bear us on his
shoulder for a time.
There is no path too steep for him to climb.

With strong, lithe limbs, as agile and as free,
As some young roe, he
speeds by vale and sea,
By flowery mead, by mountain peak sublime,
And all the world
seems motion set to rhyme,
Till, tired out, he cries, "Now carry me!"
In vain we murmur; "Come," Life says, "Fair play!"
And seizes on us.
God! he goads us so!
He does not let us sit down all the day.
At each new step we feel the
burden grow,
Till our bent backs seem breaking as we go,
Watching for Death to meet us on the way.
BURDENED
"Genius, a man's weapon, a woman's burden."--Lamartine.
Dear God! there is no sadder fate in life
Than to be burdened so that you can not
Sit down contented with the
common lot
Of happy mother and devoted wife.
To feel your brain wild and your bosom rife
With all the sea's commotion; to be fraught
With fires and frenzies
which you have not sought,
And weighed down with the wild world's
weary strife;
To feel a fever always in your breast;

To lean and hear, half in affright, half shame,
A loud-voiced public
boldly mouth your name;
To reap your hard-sown harvest in unrest,
And know, however great your meed of fame,
You are but a weak
woman at the best.
LET THEM GO
Let the dream go. Are there not other dreams
In vastness of clouds hid from thy sight
That yet shall gild with
beautiful gold gleams,
And shoot the shadows through and through with light?
What matters
one lost vision of the night?
Let the dream go!!
Let the hope set. Are there not other hopes
That yet shall rise like new stars in thy sky?
Not long a soul in sullen
darkness gropes
Before some light is lent it from on high;
What folly to think
happiness gone by!
Let the hope set!
Let the joy fade. Are there not other joys,
Like frost-bound bulbs, that yet shall start and bloom?
Severe must
be the winter that destroys
The hardy roots locked in their silent tomb.
What cares the earth for
her brief time of gloom
Let the joy fade!

Let the love die. Are there not other loves
As beautiful and full of sweet unrest,
Flying through space like
snowy-pinioned doves?
They yet shall come and nestle in thy breast,
And thou shalt say of
each, "Lo, this is best!"
Let the love die!
FIVE KISSES
I--THE MOTHER'S KISS
Love breathed a secret to her listening heart,
And said "Be silent." Though she guarded it,
And dwelt as one within
a world apart,
Yet sun and star seemed by that secret lit.
And where she passed,
each whispering wind ablow,
And every little blossom in the sod,
Called joyously to her, "We
know, we know,
For are we not the intimates of God?"
Life grew so radiant, and so
opulent,
That when her fragile body and her brain
By mortal throes of agony
were rent,
She felt a curious rapture in her pain.
Then, after anguish, came the
supreme bliss -
They brought the little baby, for her kiss!
II--THE BETROTHAL
There was a little pause between the dances;

Without, somewhere, a tinkling fountain played.
The dusky path was
lit by ardent glances
As forth they fared, a lover and a maid.
He chose a nook, from
curious eyes well hidden -
All redolent with sweet midsummer charm,
And by the great
primeval instinct bidden,
He drew her in the shelter of his arm.
The words that long deep in his
heart had trembled
Found sudden utterance; she at first dissembled,
Refused her lips, and half withdrew her hand,
Then murmured "Yes,"
and yielded, woman fashion,
Her virgin mouth to young love's kiss of
passion.
III--THE BRIDAL KISS
As fleecy clouds trail back across the skies,
Showing the sweet young moon in azure space,
The lifted veil
revealed her shining face -
A sudden wonder to his eager eyes.
In
that familiar beauty lurked surprise:
For now the wife stood in the maiden's place -
With conscious dignity,
and woman's