Passion Flowers

'**'''S3S'

Class

JZS 3.^4:^

GoKyiight^J^jDI COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr.

ASPHODEL.

Passion Flowers. BY

Annah

Robinson Watson,

Lowell once said: "Write

I consider every poem I whom I hold I feel that I have made a ''

as a letter to all those

personally dear.

truer comtnunication of myself so than in any other way."

,

,

•

.

Richmond, Virginia Whittet &* Shepperson, Printers. Nineteen-One.

THE LIBRARY OF GC^GRESS, Two CoHitb Receiveo NOV. 11 1901 Cc^^tOHr ENTRY

CLASS

<«'XXo. NO,

COPY

B.

Copyright BY

Mrs.

ANNAH ROBINSON WATSON, igoi.

TIo

1bim

wbo

1Din^er0tan^e.

I have not soared among To bring

the glittering stars

to earth the secret things

of Mars

—

To yoke electric steeds, and fill the space With winged sounds aflit from place to place. I have not voyaged the faint, far ether seas. Where sails of Earth may catch the Heavenly breeze,-

Ah! no, nor great nor wondrous things Pve No seer's sight, no laurels have I won; Fve only loved and walkedfrom day

to

done.

day

A sweet home path, from which I thrust away. As chance was

mine, the thorn

and sharp-edged stone.

To save the ones I loved a tear or moan.

And that is all— tio But humblest gift,

trophies do

I bring.

the songs you've

heard me sing.

Proem, "Unbar the portal!

Open wide

The Fortress where thou dost 'Tis Poesy

We

abide.

demands reply:

stand revealed, my heart and A. R.

Memphis, Tennessee.

W.

I.

CONTENTS. Page.

Love's Lyric,

ii

Anchored,

A Ballad of Love

12

Entre Nous

13

Telepathy,

14

Heartsease

15

My Lady

16

To

Arachne's Penance,

Paradise,

18

Between the Leaves,

19

The

20

Iconoclast,

Passion Flowers,

21

Attuned

22

In October,

23

Arachne

24

In the Beginning,

25

Nobility,

27

Mia Chiquita Cara,

28

A

30

Baby's Birthday,

The Divine Passion — Mother Love, 7

31

Contents. Page,

Shakespeare,

32

With an American Beauty,

33

The Promise,

34

In Distant Arcadia,

35

Limitations

36

Consolation,

3y

A

38

Life,

Dandelions

39

On

40

the Heights,

Mammy's

Lullaby,

41

Heredity,

42

Asphodel

43

The Optimist

A

One

A

Butterfly,

Knell, of the

45

46

Weary,

Baby,

49 50

At Eventide,

51

Love's Beginning,

52

A

Mother's Quest,

53

The Message,

55

The Revealer,

57

Earth and the Rain King,

58

Contents. P^^.B.

The Master Musician,

A Little Child A Confession,

Shall

Lead Them,

f)o

rn

62

An Old-Time Silhouette My Heart and 1

63 65

Wooing Time

67

Peace,

69

A

Little

Of Such

Stranger is

the

Kingdom

Bereft

70 72

73

Night of Memorial Day,

75

A Twist

79

of Tobacco,

Constancy,

80

Under the Cypress

Si

Veiled,

82

In Quest of the Angels

S3

Widowed,

88

The Answer

89

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

— Passion Tlowers, — Frontispiece "Asphodel," Cover Design

IV. C.

West

Patty Thutn

/ '^ \/-

L. N. Campbell

Between the Leaves,

W.

October,

A

"^

''

L. N. Cainpbell

W.

At Eventide Little Child Shall

West

L. N. CatnJ>bell

Baby's Birthday,

Consolation

A

C.

Lead Them

C.

West

^

L. N. Campbell

Wooing Time, Night of Memorial Day,

Under the Cypress,

Patty

Thum

L. N. Campbell

y

-^^-v

^

I love my Love

.'

Do you

ask

me why

.'"'

Passion Flowers. Love's Lyric. I

my Love

love

Go

Go Go

ask of the tree

ask the violet

love

Go

Why

flowers,

it

they deck the earth's fair bowers.

my

Love! do you ask

ask of the stream, in

the rapturous

The ardent

Why I

why

in its bed,

ask the roses, white and red,

Why I

me why ?

do you ask

!

love

it

—

its

why?

flowing,

the eager rush

haste through the forests' leaps

my Love

Keep

bound

lue

still,

and sings

!

lest

Oh

!

in its

passionate heart,

thy fervid throbbing

Should rend the fragile Gate of Life,

And

loose thee

Thy Love,

hush-

going.

from

this

happy

strife,

of thee, quick robbing.

Passion Flowers.

Anchored. Some

time,

My

when

ship will

It will slip

I

am

not watching,

come home

to me.

through the dusk to

its

m.oorings,

From over the treacherous sea, And I'll know all my days of waiting. And prayers and heart-sick delay. Have brought my In His

own

soul into harbor,

mysterious way.

Some time, when I'm least expecting, And my eyes are turned from the

My

sea.

ship will cast her anchor,

As

she glides o'er the waves to

me;

And I'll know all my wistful longing. And all my delayed delight Have wrought

for

my

soul's safe

In His haven beyond the night.

anchor

Passion Flowers.

A

Ballad of Love. Entre Nous.

Each heart has a message

for

some other

And I have a message for you Come nearer, my love, while I whisper For

I '

'tis

the words.

sacredly entre nous.

have sought and found, and

my

passionate heart

Beats only and ever for you,

And

I

know

For me

And is

that as long as the world shall last

'twill

be entre nous.

the whole wide world

The It

heart.

love that

is

better for this

lavish on you,

I

brighter and purer and fairer because

Of

this secret

I

hold entre nous. 13

Passion Flowers.

The glory

of loving

's

the glory of

my

(Dearest heart, this

And

aureole circles your

its

This

I

would

Or

my

life

message for you),

brow with

its

light-

secret, just entre nous.

die in the

I'd live

Grant a word

tilt,

like the knights of old,

weary years for you

in reply to

my

passionate cry

'Twill be sacredly entre nous.

Telepathy. Across insensate space, where'er thou

My

art.

being's current sets, and swiftly

Fond impulse

Thou

'It

of

my

know,

flies,

inmost soul and heart

e'en

though beyond the

skies.

14

seas, the

Passion Flowers.

Heartsease. Dear

Are

little

one,

lifted to

whose azure eyes

mine

in a

dim

surprise,

Guessing their pain and deep unrest

Come,

Dear

nestle close to thy mother's breast.

little

Dumb

lips

Of some

Come

Healer, baby mine,

moving

in

mystic sign

fair vision the blue

closer,

need thee,

I

eye sees,

little

Heartsease.

Secrets are held in each pink palm,

A

subtle,

sweet and precious balm,

About my

heart, before

Of dimpled arms Dear

little

at

break,

a cordon make.

Healer, earthly woes

Thou'lt banish

For

it

;

ah

!

thy mother knows,

thy touch her sorrow

The touch

flees,

of her baby, " Little Heartsease." 15

Passion Flowers.

My My

Lady Arachne's Penance.

Lady Arachne

flits

i'

the gloom, distraught

i'

the

search for me,

An' her wee white place

it

foot for the treadle feels

was wont

She croons the song

i'

i'

the

high on

my

to be

the garret lorn,

Which lured the wheel around, The while her fingers encircle the dark, Then droop for I am not found.

—

The moonbeams lady's

sift

through the

lattice

wonderful hair

She

falters,

The

spider offers her silken thread,

a-smoothing the long gold strands to

—but

spin

Her wheel The wind With

it

to

I

am

my

not there.

lady would loan

would chant

in

her stead a rune

a spell like Arachne's own. i6

Passion Flowers.

But

may

it

\vi"

woe

!

Is

may

not shed,

making moan

me. an' a piteous plight

is

mine, for a penitent wraith

it

"Some

hopeless dole she searches

space,

tears she

it

They hae An'

\vi'

the ghostly place

i'

"Ah

an'

l)c,

awesome

the

Ashiver

not

may

I

my

ta'en

wheel, an'

not keep

my

I

may

not spin,

faith."

jealous ghoul for despite has ta'en

away my

spinning wheel.

An'

I

vowed

my

Ah

!

lover

woe

out

i'

long gold hair,

till

he came,

leal.

—my

doom is dree find me now

not

the silken threads o'

Hung r

me may

is

For he

By

my

to spin

my

the winds,

the days agone

shining hair I

trow."

Arachne scorned the lover who

loved her best.

For that it

wi' toil his

may

not

hand was

rest. 17

soiled

—

an' her soul

Passion Flowers.

His heart she brak' or An' her vow

The golden

it

is

hair that snared his heart,

r penance

for her sin.

To It

is

ere she died, to spin

Paradise.

not some far voyage cross the seas.

Where

And low

sullen

waves

in

angry billows

descending clouds,

in

beat.

phalanx bold,

Flash out their menace as they wrathful meet. It

is

not travel o'er the arid plains,

Where It is

scorching glare and burning winds unite.

not weary struggling up the path,

To dim and

Ah

!

no

;

'tis

Of song

A

distant frozen

mountain height.

sudden freedom, and the sound exultant,

and of

sinless

swift ecstatic vision of delight

mirth

!

Escape from galling manacles of earth

The Lord's

clear

promise shows

"In paradise thou'lt be with i8

me

how

short the

to-day."

way

'/Z 7i'as

'

Love's

\

But / thrill to

'oniig

DreaDi

—

a/i

.'

its iiicniorics tender.''''

vcs^

/nay hap-

Passion Flowers.

Between the Leaves. Oh

!

the day

was

bright,

and the world seemed young,

And my heart was a youthful rover; When we wandered between the alder 'Mong

How

was

fair she

Which

my

set

!

oh

!

soul

ravishing dream, all

The day we walked 'mid

a-quiver,

the clover blooms,

That grew on the path It.

to the river.

was "Love's Young Dream" But

I

thrill

And know

that

For

I

this

Her rose-red Her tones Her dear

rows,

the fragrant rose-red clover.

— ah!

yes,

to

its

memories tender,

all

of

life's

mayhap

other dreams

would gladly surrender. lips

and her azure

eyes,

of unconscious caressing;

little

hand clasped

Seemed each

love's

close in mine.

sweetness confessing. 19

Passion Flowers.

And it all comes back as I turn the page And gaze at this four-leaf clover Safe pressed

—oh

Could we

Love,

!

The

I

would

Iconoclast.

Within the shadowed temple of

Embalmed

in

The Thing Is

it

I

my

heart,

fragrance of the roses dead

That bloomed erstwhile Lies low upon

die content

dead day over.

live that

in Life's glad

its chill

Pleasurance

and narrow bed

loved, enshrouded, passionless

and

still.

a lesser crime, in careless scorn,

As thou hast done, to kill my dearest, best The Thing of Spirit and of Aspiration born Less than hadst thou sheathed Damascan blade Li flesh and blood and thus hadst taken life?

Alas

!

alas

Thou

!

'st

my And on

For

all

my

Ideal,

murdered prayers

it

pure and

fair.

in a harsh,

may

unhallowed

strife;

not breathe again.

thy soul there rests the guilt of Cain.

Passion Flowers.

Passion Flowers. Oh

!

tremulous blossom, wind-blown and a-quiver,

With tenuous There

a

"s

tendrils responsive

and

suggestiveness

vague

subtile

fine

and

be-

wildering,

Exhaled on the breath of your mystical

vine.

How palpitant, pulsing, empurpled, your petals. How clinging, caressing, and fragrant your touch. Like the pressure of

While

half

lips that

way

departing

still

linger

confessing they've loved over-

much.

Do

you guess, dimly, down

your heart, Virgin

in

Blossom,

That the loves of a

And yet And

life

are

its

most precious dower,

that full oft they are transient fragile

Flower ?

and

short-lived

as

and

you,

fleeting.

Passion

Passion Flowers.

\

I

but

It is true;

With

love

my

.

passionate heart's

—love

supreme

all

— which,

a-quiver

|

I

vow,

shall

endure, Till the

i

worlds and the suns and the

mad

circling

planets

'

Again are but chaos

—eternal

and pure.

Attuned. In the lyrics of love and the lyrics of grief,

From

May

the harp that

my

soul has strung.

be heard the elusive and haunting strains

Of

i

the songs your

own

soul has sung.

^'

\

*

^

kV

.''I

Passion Flowers.

In October. The goldenrod was aflame in the fields, With dew was the green grass wet; A faint bkie haze hung over the hills,

Where

And

the earth and the sky lines met.

the green of the grass,

Where

Were swathed

On

Ah

!

in

then

the

it

dreams that drifted slow

was morning

;

now

it

is

night.

dreams

that

danced

its

in the

morning sun

gladsome sheen.

flush of crimson, a dash of gold.

In the far. far glittering west,

And

fields,

stood.

long, long day between

Are gone with

A

summer

the breath of the russet wood.

With a

And

and the gold of the

the grain in the

nearer, the curves of a silken wing.

Where

a lone bird

flies

23

to its nest.

Passion Flowers.

A

chill

wind creeps from the russet wood,

For the joyous sun

The grass

And The

so green

is

set;

is

seared and pale,

with tears of the Night

bird

is

astir in its

empty

While the dreary dark

And

I list

is

wet.

nest.

drifts

down,

alone to the tread of the Night,

In her trailing diaphanous gown.

Arachne. She

lives in the

And The

garden beneath a

rose.

"receives" in the shade of a lily;

grasses bend to her silken touch,

And so does the daffy-down-dilly. Her hammock swings from the violet's

tips,

Their purple coverlets hide her;

She bathes herself

How

in the

dainty she

is

24

dew

—the

of their lips.

spider.

Passion Flowers.

In the Beginning. Such time

as soulless space no creature knew,

When striving forces shape nor When yet unconscious chaos held And

form had traced, sway.

darkness brooded o'er the seething waste,

There rose from out the swirling, That throbbed

A

its

wondrous

in

lurid mass,

molten waves of quivering might,

thing, a sphere set free

Athwart the blackness of the

and whirled

senseless night.

But One kept watch above the wars of force His

will attraction

and cohesion

lent;

His breath the mighty bubble trembling,

As

reeling into space 'twas

onward

felt.

sent.

Long cycles came and went. His breath slow cooled The spinning sphere and checked its restless speed, Its

molten liquid chilled and motion wild It

tamed

to feel the

yoke His word decreed. 25

Passion Flowers.

Then

granite ribs encased the restless ball,

And humid

clouds spread wings for

Then sudden Earth grew conscious

And knew

upward

flight,

of her Lord,

His smile that moment there was :

Then verdure came, and humble crawling

light

things,

And blossoms, quick to try their gladsome And birds to wing the fragrant azure sky, And fill the upper space with songful strife And then a silvern mist, a dewy sheen. Which wrapped

the earth, as in a garment fair,

For her baptismal morn, and over

A And

wondrous Presence

all

was good

life,

all

God was everywhere.

:

that was,

and yet was not

Inscribed by angels on stupendous scroll

Of

things created, one which might aspire

Among them Then God took

all

was not a

Slow length'ning shadows

Her wand on

God

spake,

living soul.

counsel with Himself, the while

listening hill

and man

in 26

fell,

and

and Silence

vale,

and

laid

lo

His own image made.

Passion Flowers.

Complete the

From

it

grow

dismal nothingness to vernal sod

Instinct with

A

Long- eons saw

cartli.

life,

but incomplete,

'till

breathed

which shared the nature of

soul

its

God.

Nobility. If

thou wouldst grow a soul serene and great, If

The

thou wouldst noble be, then put away

pett}'

things that

mark

the low estate.

And cumber him who 'd reach the fuller day. What matter that the winds be hot or cold, What matter that the sky be overcast What matter that thy coffers teem with gold, Or whether worldlings' smiles or frowns thou hast ?

I;

jl

|i

\

J!

But

it

doth matter that thou leave behind

The whims and

The

vision,

! '

fancies, trifles

which obscure

and the aspirations bind

j

To

smaller reaches and to aims impure.

So mayst thou

The

fair

find,

with soul uplifted, free,

and tranquil realm of true 27

nobility.

i

!_'

Passion Flowers.

Mia Chiquita Cara. Just over the casement hangs the moon,

And While

mirrors

far

And

itself in

on the lake

is

the silent moat, the dip of an oar.

over the terrace a song

The Troubadour "

"

so

mournful

is afloat.

sings,

Mia Chiquita Cara," sings, Mia Chiquita Cara."

" Fairest in fair Castile," he sings "

My

But love

And

Love it

in her

tower strong and high-

shall burst her prison bars,

release her,

The Troubadour,

ah

!

the

moments

imploring, sings,

"

Mia

"

Mia Chiquita Cara."

Chiquita Cara," sings,

28

fly."

Passion Flowers.

List

There

!

And

's

a

sound on the winding

a rustle astir

For they come

on the oaken

to search in the

tower high,

While sounds afar the dip of

And

the passionate lay the

Mia Chiquita Cara,"

"

Mia Chiquita Cara."

She dons

's

its

Flits thro' the

And To

the

his oar,

Troubadour

"

Hush, there

stair

floor

sings,

sings,

a spectre that walketh the place

robe and in ghostly guise,

gloom, and adown the

stair.

out, 'neath the love-lit starry skies,

Troubadour she goes. "

Mia Chiquita Cara,"

"

Mia Chiquita Cara."

29

He

sings,

sings,

Passion Flowers.

A me

Let

Baby's Birthday.

you awhile

clasp

have longed for

Of Let

me me

little

one

harm

all

the rapturous bliss.

this,

think just a

my

that she has

that

come back-

dead

's

eyes and smother the cries

tell

is

it

you

—you

while

little

moment baby

little

close

That would Just a

heart,

a baby's encircling arms.

My own Let

my

you safe from

I will shelter I

to

instead.

will ease

my

pain,

As none but a baby can For so did

she,

who

tarried with

me

Just one year's meagre span.

me

Let

clasp

I will

And

you awhile

smile again, as

My

to

my

heart,

brush the hot tears aside,

own

little

I

did on her

darling

who 30

died.

little

one;

'Let

me

clasp yoii awhile to

my

heart,

little one.''''

'

Passion Flowers.

The Divine

Passion.

Mother Love.

When

she

Along

is

gone and solemn

the

When upward

way her eager

stilhiess

feet

Hes

have trod;

glances of your tender eyes

Would follow her who has gone home to God: What will you cherish most of gifts she wore, Her tender eyes, a fancied grace of speech,

A

fancied cleverness in ancient lore,

A Of

fancied scope or an aspiring reach

thought, original and pure and strong?

What

will

you cherish most when she has

left

This earthly tabernacle, and you long

With sad and aching heart because bereft?

Of

all

her gifts you'll cherish one above:

The

gift

none

else

can give

31

— her mother-love.

Passion Flowers.

Shakespeare. What The

time the earth was young and

felt

the thrill

ecstasy of life new-found and strange,

Across the fresh-made downs, the swelling

He

hills.

passed, the finite image of the Infinite,

The human voicing Since then the

God

So overcast with It is

of the in

man

One

Divine;

so faint hath grown.

earthly lust, with greed for gain,

not strange that clouded vision sees,

But evidenced an earth-born, mongrel

Which

lives

But through the

The

faith of

man

This speech of

'Twas

Who

dies.

ages, as to save alive

this

Infinite

inspired

most

in kinship

Hath sometime been

Then him

race,

a fleeting day and strives and

divine.

marvel wrought anew.

through

men have

in this wise inspired

finite

He

the bard.

sang into the eager ear of earth 32

voice,

list'ning called;

Passion Flowers.

The grandest

strains since sanc^ the

The sweetest songs of

God

stars

since limpid waters tuned

Their silver drops to

The breath

morning

tell

a rhythmic tale

breathes through his wondrous

lays,

And God

is

proved

making such

in

a man.

With an American Beauty. There

A And

's

a Mystic

who

draught for the he

's

delves and in secret distils

spirit's repose.

hidden a few of the magical drops

Deep down

in the heart of the rose.

33

Passion Flowers.

The

Promise.

Ho! thou who toilest, and art heavy laden; Thou weary one, with care and labor pressed Thou who hast found the day's long round of duty, Heavy beyond thy strength, there cometh rest

A Ho

!

long, long rest,

thou

who

His promised

thirsteth,

rest.

who, with longing

vision,

Lifteth tear-dimmed eyes to glowing west.

Where dying day hath To shine upon the There cometh

Ho! thou who

rest,

set

a crimson jewel

evening's throbbing breast

His promised

rest.

waitest, while the twilight lingers

The night draws on

apace, with slumber blest

Stand ready, loose thy cares and many burdens. Discard them

He

all

as garments, ere thou rest

giveth His beloved 34

rest.

Passion Flowers.

In Distant Arcadie. I

g^aze

That

upon the

far,

far light

glorifies the fragrant night,

Where still and calm, serene and high, The moon drifts in an azure sky.

And

my

o'er

soul, so wistful

grown.

There

steals the thought, each is alone-

Alone

in

Which

longings undefined,

float

upon the sensuous wind

From I

hear the

distant Arcadie.

far, far

That rock and

And

swish of waves o'er silent graves,

roll

in their tone

I

catch the faint

Sad echo of a nameless While slowly

With dim

A

plaint

steals, elusive,

sweet,

suggestions, soaring,

fleet,

thought of care-free, joyous days,

When

life

Of

began

in

flowered ways,

primal Arcadie. 35

Passion Flowers.

Who

has not

known

that yearning cry,

That longing for the pure and high,

That homesick sense of something

A

lost-

something far beyond the cost

Of

all

May With

the paltry things this

offer,

though

its

rife

Alas! the soul

prideful gifts?

Craves ever, spurning Its distant

life

realm be

all life's

dole,

Arcadie.

Limitations. "So

The

And

no farther

far,

!"

though decreed,

noblest soul will scorn to fret.

noblest effort make, e'en though

There

is

a limitation

36

set.

''•But life for

With

me

is

just a lute,

all the string's to in out.'''

Passion Flowers.

Consolation. I

stand alone and silent look

My

future in the face

Alone, as though none other breathed

The world's great empty I strain

In

But

my

all

life

With

ears for sound of hope,

this land of

for all

space.

me

is

doubt

just a lute,

the strings torn out.

Through black despair

there only gleams

This one consoling thought, Since Death hath sealed to-day thy heart.

No

My

change can there be wrought.

kiss

And The

is

on thy

vision of

To

pallid lids,

shut within their keep.

my

deathless love,

cheer thy lonely sleep. 37

Passion Flowers

I

shudder, thinking evils might

Have thrust our lives apart; Thou might'st have ceased to love, Have hurled some poisoned

And

so,

enwrapped within

my

or Fate

dart.

grief,

This thought illumes the day;

Our

love

is

safe, I

Thou'lt love

calmly wait

me now

A

Life.

'Twas springtime, we met. Lavished

The

its

it

The

heart of the

summer

fragrance upon us, wed;

bliss of the angels the

And now

for aye.

is

autumn brought

winter, for she lies dead.

38

us,

Passion Flowers.

Dandelions. Abroad, the song of

And

birds,

intoxicant perfume!

Again hath come the time

When

the dandelions bloom.

Again among

Where I

flit

!

shadows gloom,

in childish joy,

Where

Oh

the trees,

the locust

]

the dandelions bloom.

j

days forever gone,

Oh!

heart that held no

For sorrow's

i

room

'

bitter pang,

i

Come, the dandelions bloom Their gold

is

i

in the grass,

Where each blue bell waves And my heart is wistful grown Since the dandelions bloom. 39

i

a plume,

\

'

i

!

Passion Flowers.

A

sweet, elusive voice

Floats as from a shadowed tomb

"Come, come, oh

How

On Stand

still,

Where

!

Sweet, and see

the dandelions bloom

oh

!

!"

the Heights.

doubting

soul,

upon the height,

floods of ambient, pulsing light.

Burst sudden from the mighty heart of

To

glad the waiting earth, to

thrill

God

the sod

Uplift thy chalice where the incense clouds Arise, and float, and

The

hills eternal,

wrap

as filmy shrouds

while they tireless stand.

To do His

bidding in the beauteous land.

Stand

and lave

still,

thee,

oh

!

thou dormant soul,

In morn's baptismal mist, and hear the

Of sweet concordant

And

strains

roll

from Nature's

choir,

say,

if

thou dost dare, while they inspire.

That

life

of

man

And

is

is

but as grass or flower,

not crowned by an immortal dower. 40

Passion Flowers.

Mammy's De

stars

Up De

birds

Up Go

sleep,

my

in

in

is all

Lullaby.

a-shinin'

de silunt sky, is all

a-noddin'

de cedars high.

darlin' babies, ole

Mammy's

Ter hep de angils gward yuh from eb'ry

De flow's is De honey An'

De

my

bee's at res'

my

baby

Mammy's

darlin',

sort er fear.

a-foldid,

all

close I hole

'Gin his Fol' de lids,

settin' near,

bres'.

ober yer eyes so blue,

angils sho ter be watchin' an' tekkin kere er you.

De vvurl is all es quiet As do duh wus no kere, As do duh wus no sorrer Ter eber

start er tear 41

Passion Flowers.

But

still

duh's lots

o' suff'rin' all

de wide wurl

o'er,

Folks wid heart-strin's breakin', folks wid hearts dat's so'.

Froo bofe

We's Dat

and darkness, long de

way

leads us sho' an' sartin

On I

light

trablin'

tuh jedgmen' day.

hopes de angil Gabril, on resserrection morn,

Ull fine us

whar we

my

So

sleep,

De

angils an' yo'

orter be, a-lis'nin' fuh de horn.

darlin' babies, all de

Mammy's

long night froo,

bofe er tekkin kere

o'

you.

Heredity. Thou

art

no aimless

drift

from wreck of ocean,

Upon a shore, unconscious, idly cast Thou art inheritor of primal forces To-day holds

in solution all the Past.

42

Passion Flowers.

Asphodel. The time Lifts

it

up

was when heart of the earth its

gold to the waiting- sky,

And moulds its pelf into shining cups, And nectar brews for them wantonly. And over the earth was shimmer of green And hint of secrets the buds would tell, And all abloom in a garden fair Was the gold of earth, the Asphodel.

A

maiden came, I

A

I

saw her pause

stood

entranced;

in the

garden

glint of gold in the

And

fair;

brown, brown eyes.

a glint of gold in the shining hair.

Caressing blooms around her sprang

The yellow blooms

And

of the Asphodel,

sudden, athwart the hush of earth.

The yellow glory

of sunset 43

fell.

Passion Flowers.

My

soul

it

swooned

in

vvildering rush

Of rapturous joy and ecstasy, And Fate and Time seemed empty And life a delicious mystery.

We

stood revealed,

Each

heart,

my Love

though

and

silent,

words,

I

quick to

tell

glad sweet thought, and from that day

Its

I

fondly called her Asphodel.

And now When

again have come the days,

Are

with nectar to the brim

golden cups of Asphodel

filled

Of

every ruffled yellow

But, ah

And

!

my

soul

is

bell.

steeped in woe.

over the garden sounds a knell,

For cold and Lies low

still,

my

beneath the sod,

Love,

my

44

Asphodel.

Passion Flowers.

The Optimist There

's

Butterfly,

a waiting sweet.

Though hidden

it lie

In the heart of the sheltered rose,

Then

search, say

Say

you

I, till

find,

I,

The Optimist

Butterfly.

What need to doubt. To groan or sigh, Though I'll

thorns should

ever try, I'll

be;

try—

The Optimist

The

many

for the sweets

pessimist

Butterfly.

worm,

Creeps frowning by,

With never a glance

Nor

a thought that

Yes,

I

at the sky,

was a worm,

I—

The Optimist

Butterfly. 45

Passion Flowers.

A Hush

Friar

!

The Far

Time

is

Knell. telling his beads,

old year lies a-dying

in the belfry rings the knell,

"Slumber well

— slumber well"

While the winds are mockingly crying.

Hark

there

!

And "There

's

a sound in the graveyard dim.

's

List

!

the sleepers,

a passing soul," the belfry rings,

While a bird of

Of

among

a whisper

ill

omen croaks and

sings

Death, most cruel of reapers.

there

's

a stir in the long dead grass.

For the earth

is

awake and

While the wind laughs

shrill

a-quiver,

and shrieks aloud.

And one sits hastily weaving a shroud. And the trees are all a-shiver. 46

Passion Flowers.

Hark

to the loom,

Back and forth

how

the shuttle

in its

weaving;

For woof and warp of the shroud

Lo! broken hopes and hearts

Of See

it

makes,

takes

the old year's fierce bereaving.

here

!

it

flies,

's

a chaplet to wind his brows.

Salt tears encrust the flowers

Here

A

are brazen coins his lids to press,

thistle posie

And Hist

!

his

hands

to caress,

clasp through eternal

hours.

there are eerie sounds afloat.

With

spectres the place

They'll hold a

wake

is

filling;

and gibe at the dead

In whispers hoarse around his bed,

With See

!

As

he a

the last hard struggle thrilling.

'11

be swathed in a winding sheet.

mummy

his secrets folding,

In tissue of dreams and

Of human

cries

stifled

songs

and human wrongs,

His peace forever holding. 47

Passion Flowers.

Quick! see the grave the ghouls have scooped,

With There

a ghostly laugh, the coffin

's

"Ashes

thick-ribbed ice for lining;

ashes

to

But there

Here

lay

!

And

a phantom

falls,

calls,

not a breath of repining.

him deep

'neath the frozen sod.

hide in his grave forever

The days The

's

!"

that are gone, the tears that are shed.

griefs that

were borne and words that were said

Unearth them never

—never.

Hush the tapers burn out in the sky, The Shades to their haunts are hieing, And Time bends low his beads to tell, !

While slow

"The

in the belfry tolls the knell,

old year lies a-dying."

48

Passion

One Hush! do

Flowers.

of the Weary.

not grieve; keep

still,

let

the passing

Of seraphs be felt, mayhap seen, in the place. Hush for the faint, fitful flutter of breathing Grows less, and disturbs not the peace of her face !

Life at the best

She

is

is

so weary.

heart of thy heart

Is safer

than thine.

?

Let her rest

Be it Thou

so,

—

rest.

but God's keeping

would'st shield from

His hand

Thy Dearest?

Be

"Dear Love"

quiet, she listens,

— with

is

speaking

that thought she has passed

to the land

Of

those

who

zvcrc weary, but arc blest

49

and

at rest.

Passion Flowers.

A What can you You sweet

do,

Baby.

you dearest of babies

lazy baby, say

what can you do?

Mother and father and brother are working All of us working, sweet baby, but you.

Sitting

all

day a-blinking and winking,

Winking and thinking Nursey

to hold you,

the whole day long;

no one to scold you.

Crowing and crooning

a sweet

Crooning and tuning myself

That seem very strange

to

little

to the lessons

me, fresh from the

Learning your language and learning

Watching you

all

my

with

song.

to love you,

blue baby eyes.

Then, when I've grown as wnse as

my

brother,

These dimpled white hands as strong as

Oh

!

then

I will

help you

Are surely enough

;

his, too

now, thinking and loving

for a 50

skies.

baby

to do.

ir%%^'^ "ZV'i-

now,

'tivixt the

The world seems

daylight

and darkness

the farthest away.^''

Passion Flowers.

At Eventide. I'm alone, and the day with

Has Paying

A 'Tis

burdens

its

passed through the gates of the west, toll

with a

bit of rich

princess might claim

raiment her best.

as

now, when Night's handmaid, Twilight,

Comes over

the grass, wet with dew,

In sandals of silence, and blesses 'Tis

'Tis

now, Love, I'm nearest to you.

now, 'twixt the daylight and darkness

The world seems

And

a conjurer's

Transforms 'Tis

the farthest away.

wand dipped

all

in

Lethe

the cares of the day.

now, when the pansy-eyed Twilight

From

a mystical garland of rue,

Gives her potion for rest and forgetting 'Tis ncnv. Love, I'm nearest to you. 51

Passion Flowers.

I'm alone, and afar through the

stillness

Steals faintly the voice of the stream,

While the Twilight, with long

Enwraps me

And

I

bridge

all

in vision

the distance between us

With hopes and with

And you So

'tis

trailing tresses,

and dream

faith strong

and

true,

cross on the bridge with the Twilight-

now. Love, I'm nearest to you.

Love's Beginning.

How lonely the walks of the freshly-made Eden, How gloomy the place, though so wondrously fair, 'Till

God

sent

His love

in the

To Adam, who wandered

52

shape of a

woman

disconsolate there.

Passion Flowers.

A Oh

!

Mother's Qiiest.

where has he

And These

classic

!

I

how

With

piles,

a darksome way.

ye sages wise

shall I find,

have searched

The boy who

pray?

with their sombre

aisles,

Have many

Oh

with his g^olden hair,

g:one,

his bkie, blue eyes, I

left

this

my

crowded place;

arms

sheltering

the love light on his face.

He came

in the flush of his

boyish pride.

His heart unstained and true;

No

worldly blot was upon his soul, I

my

trusted

I've searched

And

A

through

to you.

all

the dim,

dmi

over the campus green

youth

But

boy

I

my

met who clasped boy

I

my

have not seen. 53

hand.

aisles

Passion Flowers.

The youth bowed

And But

his eye held not the tender light

Of I

low, in a courtly way,

spoke with an accent low,

the boy's I used to

my

came, for

So strong

I

know.

ceaseless longing

You do

not know a mother's Though your learning be

But

sure, with all

And

all

grew

could not wait heart,

so great.

your cunning

your wondrous

lore,

art,

You'll find the lad, though you cannot see

His picture

in

my

heart.

You cannot give me back my boy You cannot grant my plea Alas

!

—

I

will

long through

all

the days

For the boy you took from me.

54

Passion Flowers.

The Awake

Message.

Awake

King

they come, the heralds of the

!

Hig-h float their banners on exultant their footfalls

!

air.

echo 'cross the plains,

Glad tidings of a hope divine they bear,

A Around

The

And

message from the King.

the world speed answers to the call hillocks green uplift

list'ning

For

them

at the

sound,

tombs respond with glad acclaim

in their hearts,

most sacred kept, are found

Dear tokens of the King.

Unbar

thy gates,

O

Earth

—the

flowers loose;

They wait within thy sepulchre below.

And long to greet the morn when He arose. To tell from perfumed lips with love aglow

How

tender

is

the 55

King.

Passion Flowers.

In mould so pure where 'Tis hallowed, for the

And

He

has

lahi,

King did

they were;

rest within;

in the heart of every flower that blows,

A

dim remembrance

Some

To

it

has been

time anear the King.

them

'Tis this that lends

Then

lives that

power

subtle

to cheer,

glad the earth- worn pilgrim, soothe his care;

some day

shall wfe fear

Where He

to lay us

down

has been, the narrow bed to share.

That held the King? I

do

believe,

when

this

poor senseless clay

Shall, wearied, court the rest

In blind and voiceless, but It will

rejoice to feel that

Aneath the I

all

sod,

profound and deep; conscious way,

He

did sleep

our King.

do believe, each Easter when the throng

Of

When Of

heaven's heralds crowd the gladsome land

song and blossom and rejoicing hosts spirits

freed,

They reach

make harmonies the

King 56

so grand,

Passion Flowers.

That

it

chance, these bodies laid so low,

will

May somehow That haply

feel the universal thrill

in the flowers, the air, the vine,

They'll conscious live, and speak

—

full

sure they

will

Themselves soon see the Kinsf.

The How

Revealer.

Upon

her brow

The look

of peace

Before.

There

New'-born to her.

Of

with that sweet calm

fair she looks, ; •

it

upon her face

has not

is

known

a wondrous grace

She

lived a life

constant, unimportant strife

In homely things, no hero deeds Filled

How

up

fair she

'Till

its

span.

Is she the

same?

was we did not know,

Death, the greater Revealer, came. 57

Passion Flowers.

Earth and the Rain King. In 1'me of Drouth.

Be

pitiful,

Sun,

languish and shrink

I

from thy

amorous gaze.

While weary and drooping I'm watching

his

pennons

of slow circling haze;

For

presence I'm yearning; for balm of

bliss of his

his touch I sigh.

Oh! Sun, know

I

hate thy caresses; for kiss of his

lips I die.

I lift

up

my

heart;

is

he coming?

Say, cool, startled

winds that creep out

From your

haunts in the forests, oh

answer, faint zephyrs,

And

my

!

answer

;

oh

doubt;

say, ye impalpable odors that steal to

my

hot,

fevered brow,

Do

ye waft

me

his quick

a thought from

coming now? 58

my

Lover, or herald

Passion Flowers.

Hush!

luisli

he

!

coming, coming! be

is

still,

oh

!

my

heart in thy place

Keep

silence, his tread stirs the

I

know

step

his

doubting

The

wakes the heavens,

his voice

measureless space.

is

on the mountains, the torture of past,

current, electric, resistless

is athrill

through

my

soul at last.

Oh

hilltops

!

I

feel

that he's near

me

—oh

!

valleys

arouse and rejoice

Oh

!

streamlet, sing softly thy carol

and barken the

tones of his voice

Oh dumb, !

thirsting leaves, take comfort

;

and

blos-

soms with mute, folded lips Panting meadows, look up

to the heavens,

where are

sailing his purple cloud-ships.

"I

am

coming, coming!" shouts grandly his trumpet athwart the black

As

skies.

flash of his swift lightning glances

echoed

replies. 59

awaken

half

Passion Flowers.

He

is

Oh

!

coming

!

my

king,

along the glad Sun,

I

can laugh

glad

Oh

!

!

his love-call flies pulsing

air at

—

thy wooing

to

be wantonly

dare.

I

quivering ing

Oh

now

leaflets

!

oh broad, parch-

;

!

grain;

fields of

Valley, oh

and flowers

Streamlet, awaken, cur Rain-King

with us again.

is

Down, down, pour

his passionate kisses, he holds

me

enthralled in his power;

Expectancy yields

to

fruition

—

could die in this

I

ecstatic hour.

The Master He

Musician.

tightens, lengthens, loosens, snaps the strings,

While

He may

all

my

soul with

agony

is

nnite

not stay His hand, else were untuned

The harsh and jangling chords

of Life's sad Lute

To Heaven's Symphonies. 60

" The

little

child

who

strayed beyond

my

call.''''

Passion Flowers.

A Oh

Little

me, gentle seraphs,

tell

!

The

little

who

child

he here

is

my

strayed beyond

when he

followed

I

My I

Child Shall Lead Them.

call?

left,

heart so sad, bereft,

needs must seek him, weeping, far and near.

Oh

!

help me, gentle seraphs

It

seemed

Take

saw

seemed

It

Of

And

I

I

all

My If

Since he

seraphs

the world

is

;

I

be too

let

empty

me

late.

in

since he

mother's heart must break.

my is

on the way!

dream,

hastened, lest

pity, gentle

For

ope the gate

caught a gleam

I

his tresses in a

quick

;

his footsteps

little

here,

one you take.

oh

!

seraphs, let

6i

me

in

's

gone.

Passion Flowers.

A Say, what doth

That

I

Confession. profit,

it

my

weep and cry

as

my

soul, I

soul,

longing wait?

the most worthless of earthly things

Alas!

Is repentance,

I loved

him?

my

Yes,

when

soul,

I will

comes too

it

swear

now,

it

With a madness never confessed nor I

late.

told;

loved him, and yet for a triumph small,

His heart Could

I

broke

draw near

I

—

honor

his

I

the anguished cry of

each passionate

my

tear,

tortured soul,

would rend the heavens, but he should hear.

"Oh! Love," If

sold.

to his distant place,

Where he might know

And

I

I

would cry; "Forgive, forgive!"

he answered, then

But, ah

!

I

could bear

my

fate

the most hopeless of earthly things

Is repentance,

my

soul,

62

when

it

comes too

late.

Passion Flowers.

An Old Time Fse de king

o' all

de "Qua'tuhs,"

Ain' you nevvuh heani

Dey I

o'

Jake?

run de "Place" d'out'n me;

coiildn'

dances fuh old Marsa,

Wile I rattles o' de bones, En keeps de flies frum I'se

En

good

En En

at

de coon

wadin' fuh de crawfish in de stream.

at ketchin' o'

En

de minners,

grubbin fuh de wurms, at heppin' hitch de sorril kerridge

team.

hes time tuh loaf en lissin

Wen En I

at

pesterin' o' he.

at trackin* rabbits,

at huntin' o'

En

I

Silhouette.

hes

En

I'se

comp'nin wid de burds,

a-layin'

beam

whar de clovuh's sweet en

high.

de bees er dronin',

de crickits whut dey chu'ps

Ter de katydids dat answers hoppin' by. 63

Passion Flowers.

Ole Marsa he looks

En

En

I'se

Fuh dey

En

ti'ed,

old Miss she's po'ly too,

glad dat

sees er

I'se notice

Dat

I is

Jake instid

many

er

dey

w'ite folks,

no time tuh play.

'

I'de ruther be er rollin'

O' de cabin, w'en

De

dey;

day ain' got

De "Big House" mighty fine. En de cheers look mighty sof But

o'

heap er trouble,

on de

flo*

at night

niggers hes er sight

O' fun whut Marsa could'n hev, yuh know. He's skeer'd 'bout de craps, 'Bout de rain en 'bout de shine; I ain't skeer'd 'bout er nothin' I'se

de king

Crackin'

o' all

whups en

An', folks,

'tall,

yuh

see.

de "Qua'tuhs," crackin' jokes,

now doan yuh wush

64

dat

yuh wuz me?

Passion Flowers.

My We

Heart and

I.

ventured out one sunn)- morn

My

Heart and

With shimmer

I

of shifting, gladsome light

Athwart the pathway

Which we would

My

With

staff

scale ere

Heart and

With song and

My

to the height,

came

laughter, went

Heart and

we twain

I

and eager joyous

tread.

Bedecked with roses white and

We

the night

I.

red,

quickly up the pathway sped

My "How

Heart and

I.

tranquil seems the fragrant slope!"

My

Heart and

Said each to each.

Of which

"Is this the land

they spake, the pilgrim band.

In warning?"

My

I

— we

did not understand

Heart and 65

I.

Passion Flowers.

But, ah

!

how long ago

My Have

Was

Heart and

long

!

I

struggled on: true,

—how

the pilgrim's tale

and many

a bitter wail

We've heard through mountain gorge and

My And

Heart and

oftentimes

My And

lie

Adrift,

we

would

fain

Heart and

where

rest

I

petals of the

woo each

vale-

I.

rose,

to sweet repose,

In solitudes the song bird knows

My

Heart and

I.

But pilgrims may not pause, and so

My Must

Heart and

haste,

still

With humble

May

lead us,

I

gazing

to the height,

prayer, that

when

"

My

some

shall fall

Heart and

66

I.

faint light

the night

WOOING TIME.

Passion Flowers.

Wooing Time. 'Tis choosing time!

's

Are

a whir of wings, the sparrows

everywhere.

flitting

and the songster

'Tis building time, Trills,

To

a quiver

expectant air;

Along- the

There

Comes

from the budding

vine.

a tiny coquette of a sweetheart

He

chants a valentine.

'Tis choosing time

!

There's a thrilling

Beneath the sombre sod

The

clover wakes and stretches.

The

The

blue bells

daffodil

donning

is

Her gown

Of

the Iris

She

's

wake and nod

tall

of gold spun fine

and slender

the chosen valentine. 67

Passion Flowers.

wooing

'Tis

Astir in

And

There

time.

my

's

a

wonder

eager breast,

a rush of passionate gladness

Of There

all

things, love

a query

's

the best.

is

—^who

will

answer,

And whisper how / shall divine And know, as each of the sparrows Knows his own valentine? wooing time

'Tis

With

To

learn

The

I listen,

!

ear to the sensitive mould. if

his

coming footsteps

earth to the moss hath told.

'Tis loving time!

There

Oh

!

's

a

heart, a herald

''He cometh

Oh

!

I

heart of

am

I

waiting;

spell in the air like

my

swoon with

crying,

is

—thy

valentine!"

heart, give

a

wine-

mad'ning

answer delight.

With agony sweet and compelling, With joy

resistless in

68

might.

Passion Floiveis.

Uh

My

if

tell

!

Oh

!

ihcy presage his coming-,

answer, give token or sign

heart for his heart

Come

my

swiftly,

is

waiting.

valentine!

Peace. Come

lift

the filmy curtain

where

it

falls

Athwart the shadowed portal of her room

Her

bird within

And may The

place

is

its

gilded cage

not fathom

all

still calls,

this

brooding gloom.

thronged with roses, rare and white,

She loved them

so,

it

seemeth meet and right

To fill the pulseless hand, and 'neath the feet To make a snowy path of petals sweet, Whose fragrance may as heralds mount on high. And tell the angels that she draweth nigh. Her prisoned It

soul hath burst

its

gilded bars;

soareth higher than the moon, the stars.

And backward wings

the sweetest gift of grace,

'The peace which passeth understanding,' to her 69

face.

Passion Flowers.

A Has

Little Stranger.

a tiny speechless pilgrim

Strayed within your open door;

Mute and wonder-struck Asking

Have you

gifts

—a

stranger,

from out your store?

seen the mystic message

In the peaceful, azure eyes.

Have you paused

Of

to guess the

their sweet, yet

Did you catch the

meaning

dumb, surprise?

faint,

low echoes

Wafted from the land afar;

When

the eager

little

pilgrim

Left the gates of heaven ajar In the hush of orient midnight,

When the And the cool Wrapped

shepherds lay asleep.

and slanting shadows the silent, 70

drowsy sheep?

Passion Flowers.

When

tlie

angels with

Roused the

tlicir

chanting

startled shepherd throng,

'Twas the message of the

Christ-child,

to their song.

Lent the gladness

"Love," they sang; "Divine, compelling. Self-surrendered,

Heaven unsealed

All the mystery celestial

By

now

the Christ-child

Not a mortal babe more

revealed."

lowly.

Neither robe nor diadem

Only heralded by seraphs.

Came

Babe of Bethlehem.

the

Since that night each tiny pilgrim

Welcomed

to

the

homes

of earth

Brings anew the precious tidings

Which proclaimed Every

little

Since the

one

is

the Christ-child's birth.

sacred

Lord of

light

and

life

Could descend an infant stranger, Helpless in a world of 71

strife.

Passion Flowers.

Every

one brings tidings

little

In a speech beyond our ken

And

'tis

the sweet translation,

love,

Must make

men.

clear to hearts of

Of Such

Is

the

Kingdom.

\

i

He wandered

out, but not

beyond the

call

j

Of angels, watching at the little gate, From which on either side the path leads For baby

To

earth,

Who

feet, so

tender and so small.

and up

to

1

straight.

Mary, mother mild.

with a love, compassionate, divine,

Keeps every

little

one

whom we

resign.

In joyous durance, an immortal child.

He

had but touched the tiny roseate

To But

earth,

faintly caught the

When came One It

one moment

a call

gift of earth

sound of

he knew,

life's

alarms.

fair place

his mother's face. 72

arms.

resistless, sweet.

he bore to that

was the memory of

feet

thrilled to eager

Passion

Flowers.

Bereft. I

knew

just

how much to me

I

loved him

there comes no

;

reveahng

Of

the depths of passionate feehng;

I

knew what

the

measured

its

world would be

Without

I

had visions of

its

liim.

desolation, I had

emptiness drear,

And had

looked with frighted eyes often, to this

possible

woe

—now here

Without him.

You

need not talk about sorrow, nor

tell

me

the value

of tears

Be

quiet, the height of

my

thro' the years

Without him. 73

effort will be only to live

Passion Flowers.

Ambition

the children

!

name them

to

In this vast soHtude

seem

How

be quiet.

!

dare you

me? I

shadows they

inhabit only

to be,

Without him.

Oh

!

God, forgive

this first

moment's despairing and

hopeless regret;

Oh!

help

me

to stifle this

moaning;

'tis

all

that I

feel as yet,

Without him.

Oh

!

To

help

me

on

my its

still

its

be

silent,

submissive

;

oh

!

lay thy

hand

heart,

rebellious beatings

and teach

it

to

do

part

Without him.

Without him, oh I

Oh

!

grope

!

;

without him

in despair

angels, reach I'll

terror of darkness

down from

not be there

Without him. 74

heaven, and

tell

me

NICHT OF MEMORIAL DAY.

Passion Flowers.

Night of Memorial Day. The sun droops low The The

stars

to

westward,

straggle out

in

the

sky;

breeze creeping after the shadows

Goes shuddering

fitfully

The crowd has gone,

by.

not a murmur's

Astir in the desolate place,

And

only a squadron of flowers

Keeps watch

No

at the statue's base.

longer the sound of music

Gives measure for reverent tread

Of maidens

tender and matrons

O'er the sacred homes of the dead.

But now, when the throng has vanished,

The

place, grcnvn silent

Comes one through

A

the

promise of love

to

and

chill.

gloom and darkness fulfill.

75

Passion Flowers.

And

he keeps watch with the blossoms

Who

charged

in the thick of the fight,

His heart the "gray"

is

still

wearing,

He's sentinel here to-night.

A

warrior feeble and weary In the

of the day no part.

life

But a deathless love

The

The

down

light dies

A

is

thrilling

veteran's changeless heart.

in the heavens,

radiance, flickering, dim,

Is a-tremble over the hillocks

As They

if

're

it

were beckoning him.

coming, his comrades

loyal.

Faint quivers along the grass

He

hears as the spectral

In review

They

're

The

is

coming

!

The

stars to pale

The moon

to shiver

Ailfrighted,

army

beginning to pass.

'way

earth seems to

up on high.

and

flutter

off in the sky. 76

waken

Passion Flowers.

There

's

An The

something alive essence pervading

place

And

is

Of

silence

tlie

the air!

crowded with phantoms, "gray" they wear.

the dear old

They come

in

like

tent fires

vaporous waitings

smouldering low,

Like smoke blown far from battle Adrift on the breezes slow.

All the night

's

memories

instinct with

Of deeds of highest emprise, Of whisperings of wondrous valor, And echoes of battle cries. They

Of

When

live

again in the glory

glad and exultant days. fortunes of

The path

war seemed blessing

of our valiant "grays."

Just once each year,

This day

to their

They camp 'mong

when

the faithful

memory

their

For a night the old

tents

give.

of em'rald

life to live.

77

Passion Flowers.

Of

the fragrance, the wine of the flowers.

They

quaff, each a spirit's

For even That

's

And when

in

Heaven

's

fill

nothing

sweeter than love to them

Peace,

Her watch Sounds a

there

in

reveille

who

keepeth eternal

high tower above, faint

and

recalls

All of earth they forget but

The moon droops low

The

stars

in

its

them

love

the heavens,

have forgot to shine.

There are conscious things

in the grasses,

A-watch, but they give no sign.

The crowd has gone,

not a

murmur

's

Astir in the desolate place;

And

still.

only a squadron of flowers

Keeps watch

at the

statue's base.

78

Passion Flowers.

A From

Twist of Tobacco. Araby

plains of

Through

the Blest,

Inde, the lotus-land of rest.

O'er sunny Spain, each on

The

A

secret

quest.

its

breezes go.

on the pulsing wings,

With odors

laden'd

— wondrous things

Each breeze from haunts

Upon

its

elysian brings

mission.

Now

fields of

They

loose their rare and precious store

Of

emerald

spices, sweets,

Where The

The crumpled It lies

and mystic

leaflets

secret theirs

flitting o'er,

—

I

wait.

may

not

tell

leaves have kept

within each dusky

So

lore.

safe enfolded. 79

cell

it

well;

Passion Flowers.

But

hazy rings that

in the

Above

Of him on whom

May Dim

its

Some

lies

dwell magicians of the

air,

grant the gifts the breezes bear

These blessed

And

power

be discerned

outlines of the castles fair,

Where

Who

rise

the dreamful, tranquil eyes

leaves.

secret every heart doth hold. roses,

Each with

To

lilies,

its it

violets fold

sweets what hath been told

alone.

Constancy. He The

treasures the

trifle

of cast-off bloom.

rose-red petals that share his

doom

Because they were worn on her cruel heart,

They are

kissed in her stead as he walks apart.

^^

''Oh, Love !

Reaching

is

there

any remembrance

back to this desolate place

.^

Passion Flowers.

Under Oh

!

Love,

is

it

Christmas

Do seraphs with Awaken the echoes As on

the

Dear Love

the Cypress.

first

in

ecstatic

Heaven ?

lay

celestial

Christmas Day?

do you roam the

!

Where never

is

fair

And gather the undying flowers To garland the throne for His

Oh

!

Love,

is

there any

Reaching back

Do you know Can you

Oh

!

I I

it

is

I

sight?

remembrance

to this desolate place

Christmas, in Heaven

see there are tears

Dearest,

uplands

darkness nor night,

on

my

face?

envy the angels

envy each one that

is

near

envy the blossoms you smile on

Your

smiles,

how

I

long for them here 8i

Passion Flowers.

I

envy the casket that holds you

I

envy the sod that enfolds you,

Away from my And It

is

shuts from

Each stroke

I

my

close

kisses

embrace

your

face.

Christmas, but bells only jangle.

The music All

heart's

is

is

a heart throb of pain

gone from

would they were

life is

But

their pealing,

silent again.

but blank desolation

bitterness,

woe and

despair;

There gleams but one hope

One Christmas

I'll

in the darkness.

wake with you

there.

Veiled. Behind a

veil,

the commonplace.

Behind a screen of homely things.

The

Self

may

And plume

dwell in glorious realm. for flight 82

its

hidden wings.

Passion Flowers.

In Quest of the Angels. "Oh

wist ye whither went they

!

?

The joyous angel throng

Who

sang to the

heavens

wonderful Christmas song?

Tlieir

Oh!

list'ning

wist ye whither went they?

Cleaving the ambient light

When

the stars

With

"Oh

!

as 'neath a veil

the flash of wintrs in flisfht?

one went northward

E'en

Of

grew pale

now may

flying,

ye catch the gleam

the trailing line of glory,

Like the sweep of a golden stream.

And one went Wings

floating southward,

steeped in a rare perfume,

The song

to take

Where

endless

and the world

to

summers bloom. 83

wake

Passion Flowers.

"Another swift

to

eastward

Faint rays shot up the sky,

Across the sentient heavens

There passed a gladsome

cry,

And one turned off, still singing, To the crimson flushing west, As precious dews the priceless news He carried to the blest.

—

"Another there was whose pinions

Were

lifted

for farther sweep.

In upward widening circles

They

To

cleft the

azure deep:

those in the Beautiful City,

In Paradise he sped.

They'd waited long for the joyous song

Which should

"Oh

!

search I've

glad the souls of the dead,

made

But the angel was I

to

northward,

not there.

only heard in the silence

One

note so rich and rare. 84

Passion Flowers.

must have been an echo

It e'en

Of song which had swept

And

seemed

it

Of

"And

to

me, as

the place,

might

it

be,

a seraph's voice a trace.

search I've

made

to

southward,

looked where white and red,

I

In wanton joy of living,

The

rose

its

petals shed.

'Twas the haunt of delight and beauty,

And But

I

joy w'as abroad in the land,

found not

there,

though

I

sought with care,

E'en one of the angel band.

"And

then

I

turned, sore longing

So gladly would

Where To

the

the song which

But the gate of I

The

I

go

happy dead are

list'ning

must banish woe

that land,

was

it

fastened,

could only see from afar faintest

As

loosed

gleam of a

silver

from a distant 85

beam

star.

Passion Flowers.

"My

soul

As

it

was

thought

I

Soft shadows

and weary

faint

fell

me

of the west,

with the evening

Like a benison of

But

heard, as

I

Of

air

Which had

around was drifted

the world not gaze again

those

"They

who sang when

the heavens rang will to

men?"

bide in the earth, yet mortals

May is

with sound

from a height.

With Peace and good

It

a-thrill

whither, whither, went they?

May

On

rest.

were, the quiver

pinions swift in flight,

While the

"Oh!

it

not see them face to face.

only given the faithful

Their blissful steps to

Look on such

Who walk grief's Who smile, but bend Be

trace.

as are burdened,

path along. 'neath the yoke the while-

sure they've heard the song. 86

Passion Flowers.

"And

look to the bed of anj^^uish,

On

Forgetting

Of

who

those

self

serve and pray,

— the

footsteps

the angels went that way.

Where'er love seeks the

Or

fallen

comforts the sick and sad,

*Tis there has been seen

and heard,

I

ween.

Full oft the tidings glad.

"The search

leads ever upward.

Through doubts mayhap and For the way

is

girt with

And dimmed Not here But

Though

shalt thou

this great

faint

Along

with

fear,

shadows,

many

a tear.

see the angels.

boon may win,

and weak,

to follow

the path they've been."

87

meek.

Passion Flowers.

Widowed. not she alone whose Idol sleeps

It is

Beneath the green of kindly flowering sod Is

widowed.

Ah

Who may

uplift her tearful eyes to

And

!

no,

it

is

say, with tender sobs,

There walks,

alas

!

not she

Thy

God,

will be done.

in secret grief

and woe

Another, doubly widowed, though no weeds

Reveal her

soul.

She may not moan nor go

To any mound where She walks

others

in silence

weep

;

alone

on her separate way

From which he has elected to depart. Her heart is broken cold and ashen gray The rose-hued Palace, where she dwelt at rise Of life's glad sun, 'tis there she slowly dies.

—

LoFC.

Passion

Flowers.

The Answer. I

had sought

From I

the palpitant

had gazed

And I

called

wind

in the

of each blossom that blows

on the

in flight,

hush of the night.

in the

sapphire sheen of the deep,

stars

when

the world

was

asleep

had delved in the wisdom of sages of old,

Encrusted with

I

lips

had asked of the swift winged swallow

Of I

in the heart of the red, red rose,

the perfumed

rust,

and with dust and with mould.

had sought for the solving of

For the purpose of

life,

life's

why men

mystic "why,

"

should not die

.\nd escape from the turmoil, the weight and the pain

Which humanity ever has But

And

A

baffled

battled in vain.

by rose and by swallow and wind,

inscrutable deep,

nowhere could

— for

reason for being, for toiling

For grinding existence and 89

I

life

pitiful strife.

find

Passion Flowers.

But sudden there passed, as a swift

A

radiant soul, gift divine to

Enraptured,

my

ecstatic, transported,

For the vision

it

brought

me

flash of lig^ht,

sight I

rose,

the balm of life's woes.

Ah the problem, 'tis solved, worked out and unsealed To my heart comes the answer, by thy heart revealed !

Life's purpose

Vow

;

and reason, on earth and above.

ha\ e tau";ht

me

—

all

!

dearest,

90

'tis

love,

it is

love.

A/

A' ^.

/

^'

NOV 11 1901

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

015 988 829