THE MIRACLE
AND OTHER POEMS
FIRST EDITION | September 1913 |
REPRINTED | October 1913 |
TORONTO: J. M. DENT & SONS LTD.
27 MELINDA STREET 1913
TO MY DEAR BROTHER
ELDRIDGE STANTON (JUNIOR)
WHO DIED BRAVELY AT NIAGARA, ON THE AFTERNOON OF
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH, 1912.
No tears for thee, no tears, or sighs, VIRNA SHEARD. |
PAGE | |
THE MIRACLE | 1 |
THE CROW | 7 |
WHEN APRIL COMES | 9 |
KISMET | 10 |
A SONG OF SUMMER DAYS | 11 |
AT THE PLAY | 12 |
CHRISTMAS | 14 |
THE HEART COURAGEOUS | 16 |
A SONG | 17 |
THE CALL | 18 |
THE KNIGHT-ERRANT | 20 |
A SOUTHERN LULLABY | 22 |
THE FAIRY CLOCK | 24 |
THE SLUMBER ANGEL | 26 |
THE LONELY ROAD | 27 |
SEA-BORN | 29 |
THE ANGEL | 30 |
WHEN CHRISTMAS COMES | 32 |
THE OPAL MONTH | 34 |
NOCTURNE | 36 |
A SONG OF LOVE | 37 |
THE UNKNOWING | 38 |
THE PETITION | 40 |
HALLOWE'EN | 41 |
THE GLEANER | 42 |
THE ROVER | 43 |
IN SOLITUDE | 45 |
THE ROBIN | 46 |
A SONG OF ROSES | 47 |
PRAIRIE | 49 |
THE CLIMBER | 50 |
THE DAISY | 52 |
THE VISION | 53 |
SAINTS | 54 |
AT MIDNIGHT | 56 |
NOVEMBER | 58 |
THE LILY-POND | 60 |
LILACS | 61 |
APRIL | 63 |
PAEANS | 64 |
THE HARP | 65 |
GULLS | 66 |
THE SHEPHERD WIND | 68 |
THE TEMPLE | 70 |
REQUEST | 72 |
A SONG | 74 |
THE TOAST | 75 |
THE SEA-SHELL | 77 |
AT DAWN | 78 |
THE WHISTLER | 79 |
COMMON-WEALTH | 81 |
DON CUPID | 82 |
HEAVEN | 83 |
SIR HENRY IRVING | 85 |
JEAN DE BREBŒUF | 87 |
IN EGYPT | 93 |
A SONG OF POPPIES | 109 |
A PAGAN PRAYER | 110 |
A LOVE SONG | 111 |
UP from the templed city of the Jews, ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Now it was noon, and life at its full tide ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Oh, Bartimeus of the mask-like face, |
HAIL, little herald!–Art thou then returning |
WHEN April comes with softly shining eyes, |
LOVE came to her unsought, ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Long were the days she watched |
AS pearls slip off a silken string and fall into the sea, |
JUST above the boxes and where the high lights fall |
WITH all the little children, far and near, |
WHO hath a heart courageous |
LOVE maketh its own summer time, |
ACROSS the dusty, foot-worn street |
KEEN in his blood ran the old mad desire ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
Down in the city the people but noted |
LITTLE honey baby, shet yo' eyes up tight;– |
SILVER clock! O silver clock! tell to me the time o' day! |
WHEN day is ended, and grey twilight flies ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Even so, in peace, comes that great Lord of rest |
WE used to fear the lonely road ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ We fear no more the lonely road |
AFAR in the turbulent city, |
DOWN the white ward with slow, unswerving tread ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Within the long white ward one lay alone, |
FOR thee, my small one–trinkets and new toys, |
NOW cometh October–a nut-brown maid, |
INFOLD us with thy peace, dear moon-lit night, |
LOVE reckons not by time–its May days of delight |
IF the bird knew how through the wintry weather |
SWEET April! from out of the hidden place |
There is an old Italian legend which says that on the eve of
HARK! Hark to the wind! 'Tis the night, they say, ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
Have you reached the country of all content, |
AS children gather daisies down green ways |
THOUGH I follow a trail to north or south, |
HE is not desolate whose ship is sailing |
LITTLE brown brother, up in the apple tree, |
'TIS time to sing of roses: of roses all ablow, |
WHERE yesterday rolled long waves of gold |
HE stood alone on Fame's high mountain top, |
AN angel found a daisy where it lay |
LONG had she knelt at the Madonna's shrine, |
THE Saints of Thy great Church, O Christ, |
TURN Thou the key upon our thoughts, dear Lord, |
HOW like a hooded friar, bent and grey, |
ON this little pool where the sunbeams lie, |
IN lonely gardens deserted–unseen– |
APRIL! April! April! |
OH! I will hold fast to Joy! |
ACROSS the wind-swept spaces of the sky |
WHEN the mist drives past and the wind blows high, |
WHEN hills and plains are powdered white, |
ENTER the temple beautiful! The house not made with hands! |
(To E. M.)
SING me a song–a song to ease old sorrows, |
O HEART of mine–if I were but a swallow– |
A TOAST to thee, O dear old year, |
OH, fairy palace of pink and pearl |
TURN to thy window in the silver hour |
THROUGHOUT the sunny day he whistled on his way– |
GIVE thanks, my soul, for the things that are free! |
OH! little pink and white god of love, |
NOT with the haloed saints would Heaven be |
"THOU trumpet made for Shakespeare's lips to blow!" |
Jean de Brebœuf, a priest of the Jesuit Order, came to Canada ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Northward into the silence, night and day, ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
When the red sun came creeping up the sky |
It was the Angel Azrael the Lord God sent below ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Nine plagues had wasted Egypt with their tortures grim and slow; ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
O when the desert blossomed like a mystic silver rose, ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
Hard through the city rode the king, unarmed, unhelmeted, ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
The moon that shineth overhead once saw these mysteries– |
I LOVE red poppies! Imperial red poppies! |
LORD of all Life! When my hours are done, |
OH haste, my Sweet! Impatient now I wait, |
LETCHWORTH
THE TEMPLE PRESS
PRINTERS
On February 4, 1912, the ice bridge across the Niagara river, with dozens of tourists on it, broke loose below the American Falls. Three people were unable to get to shore: a honeymoon couple, Mr. & Mrs. Eldridge Stanton of Toronto, and Burrell Hecock of Cleveland, Ohio. The Burrell Hecock Memorial at the Maid of the Mist Plaza top level Observation Deck of Niagara Falls, has the following dedication: "To the Memory of Burrell Hecock of Cleveland Ohio Aged 17 Years Who lost his life in an heroic attempt to save the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Eldridge Stanton of Toronto Ontario when the ice bridge in the gorge immediately below was swept down the Niagara River and into the Whirlpool Rapids, February 4th 1912."