Part 27

The hours of day are like the waves That fret against the shores of sin: They touch the human everywhere, The Bright-Divine fades in their glare; And God's sweet voice the spirit craves Is heard too faintly in the din.

When all the senses are awake, The mortal presses overmuch Upon the great immortal part -- And God seems further from the heart. Must souls, like skies, when day-dawns break, Lose star by star at sunlight's touch?

But when the sun kneels in the west, And grandly sinks as great hearts sink; And in his sinking flings adown Bright blessings from his fading crown, The stars begin their song of rest, And shadows make the thoughtless think.

The human seems to fade away; And down the starred and shadowed skies The heavenly comes -- as memories come Of home to hearts afar from home; And thro' the darkness after day Many a winged angel flies.

And somehow, tho' the eyes see less, Our spirits seem to see the more; When we look thro' night's shadow-bars The soul sees more than shining stars, Yea -- sees the very loveliness That rests upon the "Golden Shore".

Strange reveries steal o'er us then, Like keyless chords of instruments, With music's soul without the notes; And subtle, sad, and sweet there floats A melody not made by men, Nor ever heard by outer sense.

And "what has been", and "what will be", And "what is not", but "might have been", The dim "to be", the "mournful gone", The little things life rested on In "Long-ago's", give tone, not key, To reveries beyond our ken.

Sunless Days

They come to ev'ry life -- sad, sunless days, With not a light all o'er their clouded skies; And thro' the dark we grope along our ways With hearts fear-filled, and lips low-breathing sighs.

What is the dark? Why cometh it? and whence? Why does it banish all the bright away? How does it weave a spell o'er soul and sense? Why falls the shadow where'er gleams the ray?

Hast felt it? I have felt it, and I know How oft and suddenly the shadows roll From out the depths of some dim realm of woe, To wrap their darkness round the human soul.

Those days are darker than the very night; For nights have stars, and sleep, and happy dreams; But these days bring unto the spirit-sight The mysteries of gloom, until it seems

The light is gone forever, and the dark Hangs like a pall of death above the soul, Which rocks amid the gloom like storm-swept bark, And sinks beneath a sea where tempests roll.

____ Winter on the Atlantic.

A Reverie ["Did I dream of a song? or sing in a dream?"]

Did I dream of a song? or sing in a dream? Why ask when the night only knoweth? The night -- and the angel of sleep! But ever since then a music deep, Like a stream thro' a shadow-land, floweth Under each thought of my spirit that groweth Into the blossom and bloom of speech -- Under each fancy that cometh and goeth -- Wayward, as waves when evening breeze bloweth Out of the sunset and into the beach. And is it a wonder I wept to-day? For I mused and thought, but I cannot say If I dreamed of a song, or sang in a dream. In the silence of sleep, and the noon of night; And now -- even now -- 'neath the words I write, The flush of the dream or the flow of the song -- I cannot tell which -- moves strangely along. But why write more? I am puzzled sore: Did I dream of a song? or sing in a dream? Ah! hush, heart! hush! 'tis of no avail; The words of earth are a darksome veil, The poet weaves it with artful grace; Lifts it off from his thoughts at times, Lets it rustle along his rhymes, But gathers it close, covering the face Of ev'ry thought that must not part From out the keeping of his heart.

St. Mary's

Back to where the roses rest Round a shrine of holy name, (Yes -- they knew me when I came) More of peace and less of fame Suit my restless heart the best.

Back to where long quiets brood, Where the calm is never stirred By the harshness of a word, But instead the singing bird Sweetens all my solitude.

With the birds and with the flowers Songs and silences unite, From the morning unto night; And somehow a clearer light Shines along the quiet hours.

God comes closer to me here -- Back of ev'ry rose leaf there He is hiding -- and the air Thrills with calls to holy prayer; Earth grows far, and heaven near.

Every single flower is fraught With the very sweetest dreams, Under clouds or under gleams Changeful ever -- yet meseems On each leaf I read God's thought.

Still, at times, as place of death, Not a sound to vex the ear, Yet withal it is not drear; Better for the heart to hear, Far from men -- God's gentle breath.

Where men clash, God always clings: When the human passes by, Like a cloud from summer sky, God so gently draweth nigh, And the brightest blessings brings.

List! e'en now a wild bird sings, And the roses seem to hear Every note that thrills my ear, Rising to the heavens clear, And my soul soars on its wings

Up into the silent skies Where the sunbeams veil the star, Up -- beyond the clouds afar, Where no discords ever mar, Where rests peace that never dies.

So I live within the calm, And the birds and roses know That the days that come and go Are as peaceful as the flow Of a prayer beneath a psalm.

De Profundis