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American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Henry Van Dyke – Poems by Henry Van Dyke
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Collections: Music – In Praise of Poets – The Red Flower And Golden Stars
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A
A Ballad of Claremont Hill
The roar of the city is low,
Muffled by new-fallen snow,
And the sign of the wintry moon is small and round and still. … Continue Reading …
A Ballad of Santa Claus
Among the earliest saints of old, before the first Hegira,
I find the one whose name we hold, St. Nicholas of Myra:
The best-beloved name, I guess, in sacred nomenclature,—… Continue Reading …
A Bunch of Trout-Flies
Here’s a half-a-dozen flies,
Just about the proper size
For the trout of Dickey’s Run,— … Continue Reading …
A Fairy Tale
Some three-score years and ten ago
A prince was born at Florida, Mo.;
And though he came incognito,… Continue Reading …
A Home Song
I read within a poet’s book
A word that starred the page:
“Stone walls do not a prison make, … Continue Reading …
A Legend of Service
It pleased the Lord of Angels (praise His name!)
To hear, one day, report from those who came
With pitying sorrow, or exultant joy, … Continue Reading …
A Lover’s Envy
I envy every flower that blows
Along the meadow where she goes,
And every bird that sings to her, … Continue Reading …
A Mile with Me
O who will walk a mile with me
Along life’s merry way?
A comrade blithe and full of glee, … Continue Reading …
A Mother’s Birthday
Lord Jesus, Thou hast known
A mother’s love and tender care:
And Thou wilt hear, … Continue Reading …
A Noon Song
There are songs for the morning and songs for the night,
For sunrise and sunset, the stars and the moon;
But who will give praise to the fulness of light, … Continue Reading …
A November Daisy
Afterthought of summer’s bloom!
Late arrival at the feast,
Coming when the songs have ceased … Continue Reading …
A Scrap of Paper
“Will you go to war just for a scrap of paper?”—Question of the German
Chancellor to the British Ambassador, August 5, … Continue Reading …
A Shrine in the Pantheon
Universal approval has been accorded the proposal made in the French Chamber that
the ashes of an unnamed French soldier, fallen for his country, shall … Continue Reading …
A Snow-Song
Does the snow fall at sea?
Yes, when the north winds blow, When the wild clouds fly low, Out of
each gloomy wing, Silently glimmering, Over the stormy sea … Continue Reading …
America
I love thine inland seas,
Thy groves of giant trees,
Thy rolling plains; … Continue Reading …
“America for Me”
‘Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down
Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings,— … Continue Reading …
America’s Prosperity
They tell me thou art rich, my country: gold
In glittering flood has poured into thy chest;
Thy flocks and herds increase, thy barns are pressed … Continue Reading …
America’s Welcome Home
Oh, gallantly they fared forth in khaki and in blue,
America’s crusading host of warriors bold and true;
They battled for the rights of man beside our brave Allies, … Continue Reading …
An Hour
You only promised me a single hour:
But in that hour I journeyed through a year
Of life: the joy of finding you,—the fear … Continue Reading …
Angler’s Fireside Song
Oh, the angler’s path is a very merry way,
And his road through the world is bright;
For he lives with the laughing stream all day,… Continue Reading …
Another Chance
Come, give me back my life again, you heavy-handed Death!
Uncrook your fingers from my throat, and let me draw my breath.
You do me wrong to take me now—too soon for me to die—… Continue Reading …
Arrival
Across a thousand miles of sea, a hundred leagues of land,
Along a path I had not traced and could not understand,
I travelled fast and far for this,—to take thee by the hand. … Continue Reading …
Ars Agricolaris
All hail, ye famous Farmers!Ye vegetable-charmers,Who know the art of making barren earthSmile with prolific mirthAnd bring forth twins or triplets at a birth!… Continue Reading …
Autumn in the Garden
Waking from tender sleep,
My neighbour’s little child
Put out his baby hand to me,… Continue Reading …
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B
Bitter-Sweet
Just to give up, and trust
All to a Fate unknown,
Plodding along life’s road in the dust, … Continue Reading …
Britain, France, America
The rough expanse of democratic sea
Which parts the lands that live by liberty
Is no division; for their hearts are one. … Continue Reading …
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C
“Come Back Again, Jeanne d’Arc”
The land was broken in despair,
The princes quarrelled in the dark,
When clear and tranquil, through the troubled air… Continue Reading …
Christmas Tears
The day returns by which we date our years:Day of the joy of giving,—that means love;Day of the joy of living,—that means hope;Day of the Royal Child,—and day … Continue Reading …
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D
VI Dance-Music
Now let the sleep-tune blend with the play-tune,
Weaving the mystical spell of the dance;
Lighten the deep tune, soften the gay tune, … Continue Reading …
Day and Night
How long is the night, brother,
And how long is the day?
Oh, the day’s too short for a happy task, … Continue Reading …
Departure
Oh, why are you shining so bright, big Sun,
And why is the garden so gay?
Do you know that my days of delight are done, … Continue Reading …
Doors of Daring
The mountains that inclose the vale
With walls of granite, steep and high,
Invite the fearless foot to scale … Continue Reading …
Dorothea, 1888-1912
A deeper crimson in the rose,A deeper blue in sky and sea,And ever, as the summer goes,A deeper loss in losing thee! … Continue Reading …
Dulciora
A tear that trembles for a little while
Upon the trembling eyelid, till the world
Wavers within its circle like a dream, … Continue Reading …
Dulcis Memoria
Long, long ago I heard a little song, (Ah, was it long ago, or yesterday?)So lowly, slowly wound the tune along, … Continue Reading …
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E
Easter Road
Under the cloud of world-wide war,
While earth is drenched with sorrow,
I have no heart for idle merrymaking, … Continue Reading …
Echoes from the Greek Anthology
With two bright eyes, my star, my love,
Thou lookest on the stars above:… Continue Reading …
Edmund Clarence Stedman
Oh, quick to feel the lightest touch
Of beauty or of truth,
Rich in the thoughtfulness of age, … Continue Reading …
Eight Echoes from the Poems of Auguste Angellier
The cradle I have made for thee
Is carved of orient ivory,
And curtained round with wavy silk … Continue Reading …
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F
Facta non Verba
Deeds not Words: I say so too!
And yet I find it somehow true, … Continue Reading …
Fire-Fly City
Like a long arrow through the dark the train is darting,
Bearing me far away, after a perfect day of love’s delight:
Wakeful with all the sad-sweet memories of parting, … Continue Reading …
Flood-Tide of Flowers
The laggard winter ebbed so slow
With freezing rain and melting snow,
It seemed as if the earth would stay … Continue Reading …
For Katrina’s Sun-Dial
Hours fly, Flowers die New days, New ways, Pass by. Love stays … Continue Reading …
For Katrina’s Window
This is the window’s message,
In silence, to the Queen:
“Thou hast a double kingdom .… Continue Reading …
For the Friends at Hurstmont
The cornerstone in Truth is laid,
The guardian walls of Honour made,
The roof of Faith is built above, … Continue Reading …
Four Things
Four things a man must learn to do
If he would make his record true: … Continue Reading …
From Glory Unto Glory
O dark the night and dim the day
When first our flag arose;
It fluttered bravely in the fray … Continue Reading …
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G
God of the Open Air
Thou who hast made thy dwelling fair
With flowers below, above with starry lights
And set thine altars everywhere,— … Continue Reading …
Golden Stars
It was my lot of late to travel far
Through all America’s domain,
A willing, gray-haired servitor … Continue Reading …
Gran’ Boule
We men hat go down for a livin’ in ships to the sea,—
We love it a different way from you poets that ‘bide on the land.
We are fond of it, sure! But, you take it as comin’ from me, … Continue Reading …
Gratitude
“Do you give thanks for this?—or that?” No, God be thanked
I am not grateful
In that cold, calculating way, with blessings ranked … Continue Reading …
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H
Heroes of the “Titanic”
Honour the brave who sleep
Where the lost “Titanic” lies,
The men who knew what a man must do … Continue Reading …
Hesper
Her eyes are like the evening air,
Her voice is like a rose,
Her lips are like a lovely song, … Continue Reading …
Hide and Seek
All the trees are sleeping, all the winds are still,All the fleecy flocks of cloud, gone beyond the hill;Through the noon-day silence, down the woods of June, … Continue Reading …
Homeward Bound
Home, for my heart still calls me;
Home, through the danger zone;
Home, whatever befalls me, … Continue Reading …
How Spring Comes to Shasta Jim
I never seen no “red gods”; I dunno wot’s a “lure”;
But if it’s sumpin’ takin’, then Spring has got it sure;
An’ it doesn’t need no Kiplins, ner yet no London Jacks,… Continue Reading …
Hudson’s Last Voyage
One sail in sight upon the lonely sea,
And only one! For never ship but mine
Has dared these waters. We were first, … Continue Reading …
V Hunting Song
Out of the garden of playtime, out of the bower of rest,
Fain would I follow at daytime, music that calls to a quest.
Hark, how the galloping measure … Continue Reading …
Hymn of Joy
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, … Continue Reading …
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I – J
If All the Skies
If all the skies were sunshine,
Our faces would be fain
To feel once more upon them … Continue Reading …
“In Memoriam”
The record of a faith sublime,
And hope, through clouds, far-off discerned;
The incense of a love that burned … Continue Reading …
In the Blue Heaven
In the blue heaven the clouds will come and go,
Scudding before the gale, or drifting slow
As galleons becalmed in Sundown Bay: … Continue Reading …
Indian Summer
A silken curtain veils the skies,
And half conceals from pensive eyes
The bronzing tokens of the fall; … Continue Reading …
Inscription for a Tomb in England
Read here, O friend unknown,
Our grief, of her bereft;… Continue Reading …
II Invocation
Where wilt thou lead me first?
In what still region
Of thy domain, … Continue Reading …
IX Iris
Light to the eye and Music to the ear,—
These are the builders of the bridge that springs
From earth’s dim shore of half-remembered things … Continue Reading …
Jeanne d’Arc Returns
What hast thou done, O womanhood of France,
Mother and daughter, sister, sweetheart, wife,
What hast thou done, amid this fateful strife, … Continue Reading …
Joy and Duty
“Joy is a Duty,”—so with golden lore
The Hebrew rabbis taught in days of yore,
And happy human hearts heard in their speech… Continue Reading …
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K
Keats
The melancholy gift Aurora gained
From Jove, that her sad lover should not see
The face of death, no goddess asked for thee, … Continue Reading …
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L
“Liberty Enlightening the World”
Thou warden of the western gate, above Manhattan Bay,
The fogs of doubt that hid thy face are driven clean away:
Thine eyes at last look far and clear, thou liftest high thy hand … Continue Reading …
Light Between the Trees
Long, long, long the trail
Through the brooding forest-gloom,
Down the shadowy, lonely vale … Continue Reading …
Lights Out
“Lights out” along the land,
“Lights out” upon the sea.
The night must put her hiding hand … Continue Reading …
“Little Boatie”
Furl your sail, my little boatie;
Here’s the haven still and deep,
Where the dreaming tides in-streaming … Continue Reading …
Longfellow
In a great land, a new land, a land full of labour and riches and confusion,
Where there were many running to and fro, and shouting, and striving together, … Continue Reading …
Love and Light
There are many kinds of love, as many kinds of light,
And every kind of love makes a glory in the night. … Continue Reading …
Love in a Look
Let me but feel thy look’s embrace,
Transparent, pure, and warm,
And I’ll not ask to touch thy face, … Continue Reading …
Love’s Nearness
I think of thee when golden sunbeams glimmer
Across the sea;
And when the waves reflect the moon’s pale shimmer … Continue Reading …
Love’s Reason
For that thy face is fair I love thee not;
Nor yet because thy brown benignant eyes
Have sudden gleams of gladness and surprise, … Continue Reading …
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M
Mare Liberum
You dare to say with perjured lips,
“We fight to make the ocean free”?
You, whose black trail of butchered ships … Continue Reading …
Master of Music
Glory architect, glory of painter, and sculptor, and bard,
Living forever in temple and picture and statue and song,— … Continue Reading …
Matins
Flowers rejoice when night is done,
Lift their heads to greet the sun;
Sweetest looks and odours raise, … Continue Reading …
Mercy for Armenia
Stand back, ye messengers of mercy!
Stand Far off, for I will save my troubled folk
In my own way. So the false Sultan spoke; … Continue Reading …
Might and Right
If Might made Right, life were a wild-beasts’ cage;
If Right made Might, this were the golden age; … Continue Reading …
Milton
Lover of beauty, walking on the height
Of pure philosophy and tranquil song;
Born to behold the visions that belong … Continue Reading …
Mother Earth
Mother of all the high-strung poets and singers departed,
Mother of all the grass that weaves over their graves the glory of the field, … Continue Reading …
My April Lady
When down the stair at morning
The sunbeams round her float,
Sweet rivulets of laughter … Continue Reading …
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N
National Monuments
Count not the cost of honour to the dead!
The tribute that a mighty nation pays
To those who loved her well in former days … Continue Reading …
Nepenthe
Yes, it was like you to forget,
And cancel in the welcome of your smile
My deep arrears of debt, … Continue Reading …
New Year’s Eve
The other night I had a dream, most clear
And comforting, complete
In every line, a crystal sphere, … Continue Reading …
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O
Ode to Peace
Two dwellings, Peace, are thine.
One is the mountain-height,
Uplifted in the loneliness of light … Continue Reading …
One World
The worlds in which we live at heart are one,
The world “I am,” the fruit of “I have done”;… Continue Reading …
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P
Pan Learns Music
Limber-limbed, lazy god, stretched on the rock,
Where is sweet Echo, and where is your flock? … Continue Reading …
Patria
I would not even ask my heart to say
If I could love another land as well
As thee, my country, had I felt the spell … Continue Reading …
Peace
With eager heart and will on fire,
I strove to win my great desire.
“Peace shall be mine,” I said; but life … Continue Reading …
Peace-Hymn of the Republic
O Lord our God, Thy mighty hand
Hath made our country free;
From all her broad and happy land… Continue Reading …
III Play Song
O lead me by the hand,
And let my heart have rest,
And bring me back to childhood land, … Continue Reading …
Portrait and Reality
If on the closed curtain of my sight
My fancy paints thy portrait far away, I see thee still the same, by night or day; … Continue Reading …
I Prelude
Daughter of Psyche, pledge of that wild night
When, pierced with pain and bitter-sweet delight,
She knew her Love and saw her Lord depart, … Continue Reading …
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Q – R
Rappel d’Amour
Come home, my love, come home!
The twilight is falling,
The whippoorwill calling, … Continue Reading …
“Rappelle-Toi”
Remember, when the timid light
Through the enchanted hall of dawn is gleaming;
Remember, when the pensive night … Continue Reading …
Reliance
Not to the swift, the race:
Not to the strong, the fight:
Not to the righteous, perfect grace … Continue Reading …
Remarks About Kings
God said, “I am tired of kings,”—
But that was a long while ago!
And meantime man said, “No,— … Continue Reading …
“Rencontre”
Oh, was I born too soon, my dear, or were you born too late,
That I am going out the door while you come in the gate?
For you the garden blooms galore, the castle is en fête; … Continue Reading …
Rendez-vous
I count that friendship little worth
Which has not many things untold,
Great longings that no words can hold, … Continue Reading …
Richard Watson Gilder
Soul of a soldier in a poet’s frame,
Heart of a hero in a body frail;
Thine was the courage clear that did not quail … Continue Reading …
Righteous Wrath
There are many kinds of anger, as many kinds of fire;
And some are fierce and fatal with murderous desire;
And some are mean and craven, revengeful, sullen, slow, … Continue Reading …
Robert Browning
How blind the toil that burrows like the mole,
In winding graveyard pathways underground,
For Browning’s lineage! What if men have found … Continue Reading …
Roslin and Hawthornden
Yet not within thy storied wall
Would I in adoration fall,
So gladly as within the glen … Continue Reading …
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S
Santa Christina
Saints are God’s flowers, fragrant souls
That His own hand hath planted,
Not in some far-off heavenly place, … Continue Reading …
School
I put my heart to school
In the world where men grow wise:
“Go out,” I said, “and learn the rule; … Continue Reading …
X Sea and Shore
Music, I yield to thee
As swimmer to the sea,
I give my spirit to the flood of song! … Continue Reading …
Sea-Gulls of Manhattan
Children of the elemental mother,
Born upon some lonely island shore
Where the wrinkled ripples run and whisper,… Continue Reading …
Shelley
Knight-errant of the Never-ending Quest,
And Minstrel of the Unfulfilled Desire;
For ever tuning thy frail earthly lyre … Continue Reading …
Sicily, December, 1908
O garden isle, beloved by Sun and Sea,
Whose bluest billows kiss thy curving bays,
Whose light infolds thy hills with golden rays,… Continue Reading …
Sierra Madre
O Mother mountains! billowing far to the snow-lands,
Robed in aërial amethyst, silver, and blue,
Why do ye look so proudly down on the lowlands? … Continue Reading …
IV Sleep Song
Forget, forget!
The tide of life is turning;
The waves of light ebb slowly down the west: … Continue Reading …
Song of a Pilgrim-Soul
March on, my soul, nor like a laggard stay!
March swiftly on. Yet err not from the way
Where all the nobly wise of old have trod,— … Continue Reading …
Spirit of the Everlasting Boy
The British bard who looked on Eton’s walls,
Endeared by distance in the pearly gray
And soft aerial blue that ever falls … Continue Reading …
Spring in the North
Ah, who will tell me, in these leaden days,
Why the sweet Spring delays,
And where she hides,—the dear desire … Continue Reading …
Spring in the South
Now in the oak the sap of life is welling,
Tho’ to the bough the rusty leafage clings;
Now on the elm the misty buds are swelling; … Continue Reading …
Stain not the Sky
Ye gods of battle, lords of fear,
Who work your iron will as well
As once ye did with sword and spear, … Continue Reading …
Stand Fast
Stand fast, Great Britain!
Together England, Scotland, Ireland stand
One in the faith that makes a mighty land,— … Continue Reading …
Stars and the Soul
“Two things,” the wise man said, “fill me with awe:
The starry heavens and the moral law.”
Nay, add another wonder to thy roll,—… Continue Reading …
Storm-Music
O Music hast thou only heard
The laughing river, the singing bird,
The murmuring wind in the poplar-trees,— … Continue Reading …
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T
Tennyson
From the misty shores of midnight, touched with splendours of the moon,
To the singing tides of heaven, and the light more clear than noon, … Continue Reading …
Texas
All along the Brazos river,
All along the Colorado,
In the valleys and the lowlands… Continue Reading …
The After-Echo
How long the echoes love to play
Around the shore of silence, as a wave
Retreating circles down the sand! … Continue Reading …
The Ancestral Dwellings
Dear to my heart are the ancestral dwellings of America,
Dearer than if they were haunted by ghosts of royal splendour;
They are simple enough to be great in their friendly dignity,— … Continue Reading …
The Angler’s Reveille
What time the rose of dawn is laid across the lips of night,
And all the little watchman-stars have fallen asleep in light,
‘Tis then a merry wind awakes, and runs from tree to tree, … Continue Reading …
The Ballad of the Solemn Ass
Come all ye good Centurions and wise men of the times,You’ve made a Poet Laureate, now you must hear his rhymes.Extend your ears and I’ll respond by shortening up my tale:—… Continue Reading …
The Bargain
What shall I give for thee,
Thou Pearl of greatest price?
For all the treasures I possess … Continue Reading …
The Bells of Malines
The gabled roofs of old Malines
Are russet red and gray and green,
And o’er them in the sunset hour … Continue Reading …
The Black Birds
Once, only once, I saw it clear,—
That Eden every human heart has dreamed
A hundred times, but always far away! … Continue Reading …
The Builders
Into the dust of the making of man
Spirit was breathed when his life began,
Lifting him up from his low estate, … Continue Reading …
The Child in the Garden
When to the garden of untroubled thought
I came of late, and saw the open door,
And wished again to enter, and explore … Continue Reading …
The Echo in the Heart
It’s little I can tell
About the birds in books;
And yet I know them well, … Continue Reading …
The Empty Quatrain
A flawless cup: how delicate and fine
The flowing curve of every jewelled line!… Continue Reading …
The Fall of the Leaves
In warlike pomp, with banners flowing,
The regiments of autumn stood:
I saw their gold and scarlet glowing … Continue Reading …
The First Bird o’ Spring
Winter on Mount Shasta,
April down below;
Golden hours of glowing sun, … Continue Reading …
The Foolish Fir-Tree
A little fir grew in the midst of the wood
Contented and happy, as young trees should.
His body was straight and his boughs were clean; … Continue Reading …
The Gentle Traveller
“Through many a land your journey ran,
And showed the best the world can boast:
Now tell me, traveller, if you can, … Continue Reading …
The Glory of Ships
The glory of ships is an old, old song,
since the days when the sea-rovers ran,
In their open boats through the roaring surf, … Continue Reading …
The Grand Canyon
What makes the lingering Night so cling to thee?
Thou vast, profound, primeval hiding-place
Of ancient secrets,—gray and ghostly gulf … Continue Reading …
The Great River
O mighty river! strong, eternal Will,
Wherein the streams of human good and ill… Continue Reading …
The Heavenly Hills of Holland
The heavenly hills of Holland,—
How wondrously they rise
Above the smooth green pastures … Continue Reading …
The Hermit Thrush
O wonderful! How liquid clear
The molten gold of that ethereal tone
,Floating and falling through the wood alone, … Continue Reading …
The House of Rimmon Act 1 – Act 2 – Act 3 – Act 4
Night,
in the garden of Naaman at
Damascus. At the left the palace, with softly gleaming lights and music
coming from the open latticed windows. … Continue Reading …
The Lily of Yorrow
Deep in the heart of the forest the lily of Yorrow is growing;
Blue is its cup as the sky, and with mystical odour o’erflowing; … Continue Reading …
The Little-Neck Clam
A modern verse-sequence, showing how a native American subject, strictly
realistic, may be treated in various manners adapted to the
requirements of different magazines, … Continue Reading …
The Maryland Yellow-Throat
When May bedecks the naked trees
With tassels and embroideries,
And many blue-eyed violets beam … Continue Reading …
The Message
Waking from tender sleep,
My neighbour’s little child
Put out his baby hand to me, … Continue Reading …
The Mocking-Bird
In mirth he mocks the other birds at noon,
Catching the lilt of every easy tune; … Continue Reading …
The Monument of Francis Makemie
To thee, plain hero of a rugged race,
We bring the meed of praise too long delayed!
Thy fearless word and faithful work have made … Continue Reading …
The Name of France
Give us a name to fill the mind
With the shining thoughts that lead mankind,
The glory of learning, the joy of art,— … Continue Reading …
The Old Flute
The time will come when I no more can play
This polished flute: the stops will not obey
My gnarled fingers; and the air it weaves … Continue Reading …
The Oxford Thrushes
I never thought again to hear
The Oxford thrushes singing clear,
Amid the February rain, … Continue Reading …
The Parting and the Coming Guest
Who watched the worn-out Winter die?
Who, peering through the window-pane
At nightfall, under sleet and rain … Continue Reading …
The Peaceful Warrior
I have no joy in strife,
Peace is my great desire;
Yet God forbid I lose my life … Continue Reading …
The Pipes o’ Pan
Great Nature had a million words,
In tongues of trees and songs of birds, … Continue Reading …
The Price of Peace
Peace without Justice is a low estate,—
A coward cringing to an iron Fate! … Continue Reading …
The Prison and the Angel
Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul;
Love is the only angel who can bid the gates unroll;… Continue Reading …
The Proud Lady
When Stävoren town was in its prime
And queened the Zuyder Zee,
Her ships went out to every clime … Continue Reading …
The Red Cross
Sign of the Love Divine
That bends to bear the load
Of all who suffer, all who bleed, … Continue Reading …
The Red Flower
In the pleasant time of Pentecost,
By the little river Kyll,
I followed the angler’s winding path … Continue Reading …
The Red Flower And Golden Stars
These verses were written during the terrible world-war, and immediately
after. The earlier ones had to be unsigned because America was still … Continue Reading …
The River of Dreams
The river of dreams runs quietly down
From its hidden home in the forest of sleep,
With a measureless motion calm and deep; … Continue Reading …
The Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
Where’s your kingdom, little king?
Where the land you call your own,
Where your palace and your throne? … Continue Reading …
The Shepherd of Nymphs
The nymphs a shepherd took
To guard their snowy sheep;
He led them down along the brook, … Continue Reading …
“The Signs”
Who knows how many thousand years ago
The twelvefold Zodiac was made to show
The course of stars above and men below?… Continue Reading …
The Song-Sparrow
There is a bird I know so well,
It seems as if he must have sung
Beside my crib when I was young; … Continue Reading …
The Standard-Bearer
“How can I tell,” Sir Edmund said,
“Who has the right or the wrong o’ this thing?
Cromwell stands for the people’s cause, … Continue Reading …
The Statue of Sherman by St. Gaudens
This is the soldier brave enough to tellThe glory-dazzled world that ‘war is hell’: … Continue Reading …
The Sun-Dial at Morven
Two hundred years of blessing I record
For Morven’s house, protected by the Lord: … Continue Reading …
The Sun-Dial at Wells College
The shadow by my finger cast
Divides the future from the past:
Before it, sleeps the unborn hour, … Continue Reading …
The Surrender of the German Fleet
Ship after ship, and every one with a high-resounding name,
From the robber-nest of Heligoland the German war-fleet came;
Not victory or death they sought, but a rendezvous of shame. … Continue Reading …
VIII The Symphony
Music, they do thee wrong who say thine art
Is only to enchant the sense.
For every timid motion of the heart, … Continue Reading …
The Talisman
What is Fortune, what is Fame?
Futile gold and phantom name,—… Continue Reading …
The Three Best Things
Let me but do my work from day to day,
In field or forest, at the desk or loom,
In roaring market-place or tranquil room; … Continue Reading …
The Toiling of Felix
Hear a word that Jesus spake
Nineteen hundred years ago,
Where the crimson lilies blow … Continue Reading …
The Vain King
In robes of Tyrian blue the King was drest,
A jewelled collar shone upon his breast,
A giant ruby glittered in his crown: … Continue Reading …
The Valley of Vain Verses
The grief that is but feigning,
And weeps melodious tears
Of delicate complaining … Continue Reading …
The Veery
The moonbeams over Arno’s vale in silver flood were pouring,
When first I heard the nightingale a long-lost love deploring.
So passionate, so full of pain, it sounded strange and eerie; … Continue Reading …
The Way
Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul,
May keep the path, but will not reach the goal;… Continue Reading …
The Whip-Poor-Will
Do you remember, father,—
It seems so long ago,—
The day we fished together … Continue Reading …
The White Bees
Long ago Apollo called to Aristæus, youngest of the shepherds,
Saying, “I will make you keeper of my bees.
”Golden were the hives and golden was the honey; golden, too, the music … Continue Reading …
The Wind of Sorrow
The fire of love was burning, yet so low
That in the peaceful dark it made no rays,
And in the light of perfect-placid days … Continue Reading …
The Window
All night long, by a distant bell The passing hours were notchedOn the dark, while her breathing rose and fell;… Continue Reading …
The Winds of War-News
The winds of war-news change and veer:
Now westerly and full of cheer,
Now easterly, depressing, sour … Continue Reading …
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
Dear Aldrich, now November’s mellow days
Have brought another Festa round to you,
You can’t refuse a loving-cup of praise … Continue Reading …
Thorn and Rose
Far richer than a thornless rose
Whose branch with beauty never glows,… Continue Reading …
Three Alpine Sonnets
At dawn in silence moves the mighty stream,
The silver-crested waves no murmur make;
But far away the avalanches wake … Continue Reading …
Three Prayers for Sleep and Waking
Ere thou sleepest gently lay
Every troubled thought away:
Put off worry and distress … Continue Reading …
To a Young Girl Singing
Oh, what do you know of the song, my dear,
And how have you made it your own?
You have caught the turn of the melody clear, … Continue Reading …
To James Whitcomb Riley
Yours is a garden of old-fashioned flowers;
Joyous children delight to play there;
Weary men find rest in its bowers, … Continue Reading …
To Joseph Jefferson
May 4th, 1898.—To-day, fishing down the Swiftwater, I found Joseph
Jefferson on a big rock in the middle of the brook, casting the fly for
trout. … Continue Reading …
To Julia Marlowe
Long had I loved this “Attic shape,” the brede
Of marble maidens round this urn divine: … Continue Reading …
To Mark Twain
With memories old and wishes new
We crown our cups again,
And here’s to you, and here’s to you … Continue Reading …
To the Child Jesus
Could every time-worn heart but see
Thee once again,A happy human child, among the homes of men,
The age of doubt would pass,—the vision of Thy face… Continue Reading …
Transformation
Only a little shrivelled seed,
It might be flower, or grass, or weed;
Only a box of earth on the edge … Continue Reading …
Turn o’ the Tide
The tide flows in to the harbour,—
The bold tide, the gold tide, the flood o’ the sunlit sea,—
And the little ships riding at anchor, … Continue Reading …
Two Songs of Heine
A fir-tree standeth lonely
On a barren northern height,
Asleep, while winter covers … Continue Reading …
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U
“Undine”
‘Twas far away and long ago,
When I was but a dreaming boy,
This fairy tale of love and woe … Continue Reading …
Urbs Coronata
O youngest of the giant brood
Of cities far-renowned;
In wealth and glory thou hast passed… Continue Reading …
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V
Vera
A silent world,—yet full of vital joy
Uttered in rhythmic movements manifold,
And sunbeams flashing on the face of things … Continue Reading …
Victor Hugo
Heart of France for a hundred years,
Passionate, sensitive, proud, and strong,
Quick to throb with her hopes and fears, … Continue Reading …
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W – X – Y – Z
VII War-Music
Break off! Dance no more!
Danger is at the door.
Music is in arms. … Continue Reading …
When Tulips Bloom
When tulips bloom in Union Square,
And timid breaths of vernal air
Go wandering down the dusty town, … Continue Reading …
Who Follow the Flag
All day long in the city’s canyon-street,
With its populous cliffs alive on either side,
I saw a river of marching men like a tide … Continue Reading …
Wings of a Dove
At sunset, when the rosy light was dying
Far down the pathway of the west,
I saw a lonely dove in silence flying, … Continue Reading …
Without Disguise
If I have erred in showing all my heart,
And lost your favour by a lack of pride;
If standing like a beggar at your side … Continue Reading …
Wordsworth
Wordsworth, thy music like a river rolls
Among the mountains, and thy song is fed
By living springs far up the watershed; … Continue Reading …
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Bilingual
American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Henry Van Dyke – Poems by Henry Van Dyke
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