TO THE IDEAL

TO THE IDEAL

AH! what avails it thus to dream of thee,
Thou life above me, and aspire to be
A dweller in thy air serene and pure ;
I wake, and must this lower life endure.

Look no more on me with sun-radiant eyes,
Mine droop so dimmed, in vain my weak sense tries
To find the color of this world of clay,-
Its hue has faded, its light died away.

In charity with life, how can I live?
What most I want, does it refuse to give.
Thou, who hast laid this spell upon my soul,
Must be to me henceforth a hope and goal.

Away, thou vision! Now must there be wrought
Armor from life in which may yet be fought
A way to thee, thy memory shall inspire,
Although thy presence is consuming fire.

As one who may not linger in the halls,
And fair domains of this ancestral home,

Goes forth to labor, yet resolves those walls,
Redeemed, shall see his old age cease to roam,

So exile I myself, thou dream of youth,

Thou castle where my wild thoughts wandered free, Yet, bear a heart, which, through its love and truth,

Shall earn a right to throb its last with thee.

To work! with heart resigned, and spirit strong, Subdued by patient toil Time's heavy wrong; Through nature's dullest, as her brightest ways We will march onward, singing to thy praise.

Yet when our souls are in new forms arrayed,
Like thine, immortal, by immortal aid,
And with forgiving blessing stand beside
The clay in which they toiled and long were tried.

When comes that solemn "undetermined" hour, Light of the soul's light! present be thy power; And welcome be thou, as a friend who waits With joy, a soul unsphered at heaven's gates.

Caroline Tappan

ART AND ARTIST

WITH dauntless eye the lofty one
Moves on through life ;
Majestic as the mighty sun
He knows no strife.

He sees the thought flow to the form,

And rise like bubble bright;

and it is gone,

A moment of beauty, — and it is

Dissolved in light.

AFTERNOON

I LIE upon the earth and feed upon the sky,
Drink in the soft, deep blue, falling from on high.
Walnut boughs, all steeped in gold, quiver to and

fro;

Winds like spirits murmur, as through the air they

go,

My soul is filled with joy and holy faith and love, For noble friends on earth and angels pure above.

LINES

You go to the woods- what there have you seen?
Quivering leaves glossy and green;
Lights and shadows dance to and fro,
Beautiful flowers in the soft moss grow.
Is the secret of these things known to you?
Can you tell what gives the flower its hue?
Why the oak spreads out its limbs so wide?
And the graceful grape-vine grows by its side?
Why clouds full of sunshine are piled on high?
What sends the wind to sweep through the sky?
No! the secret of Nature I do not know

A poor groping child, through her marvels I go!

THE BROOK

ALL the eyes I ever knew

In this my strange life-dream,
Hazel, gray, and deepest blue,
Are mingled in this stream.

It wins its way into my soul,
Awakes each hidden feeling,

THE HERO

Gives me a rapture beyond control,
High love fills all my being.

In earnest eyes I chiefly live,
All words to me are naught,
For me they neither take nor give,
In the eye the soul is caught.

And now to see all that I love,

And have gazed at many an hour, Blended together, — has heaven above A greater joy in store?

THE HERO

THOU hast learned the woes of all the world!

From thine own longings and lone tears,

And now thy broad sails are unfurled,
And all men hail thee with loud cheers.

The flowing sunlight is thy home,

The billows of the sea are thine,

To all the nations shalt thou roam,

Through every heart thy love shall shine.