Poems by Henry Van Dyke

Page in work. More poems will be added soon. 04/03/2024

In English – En Français – На Русском Языке – Bilingual

American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Henry Van DykePoems by Henry Van Dyke

In English

A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z

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
… Continue Reading …

A Bunch of Trout-Flies
… Continue Reading …

A Fairy Tale
… 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
… Continue Reading …

A Shrine in the Pantheon
… 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”
… Continue Reading …

America’s Prosperity
… Continue Reading …

America’s Welcome Home
… 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
… 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
… Continue Reading …

Autumn in the Garden
Waking from tender sleep,  
My neighbour’s little child
Put out his baby hand to me,… Continue Reading …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


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
… Continue Reading …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


C


“Come Back Again, Jeanne d’Arc”
… 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 …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


D


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 …

Dramatis Personæ
… 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 …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


E


Easter Road
… 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
… 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 …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


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
… Continue Reading …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


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
… 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 …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


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
… Continue Reading …

How Spring Comes to Shasta Jim
… 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 …

Hymn of Joy
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
  God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, … Continue Reading …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


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”
… Continue Reading …

In the Blue Heaven
… 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 …

Jeanne d’Arc Returns
… 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 …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


K


Keats
… Continue Reading …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


L


“Liberty Enlightening the World”
… 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
… 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
… 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 …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


M


Mare Liberum
… Continue Reading …

Master of Music
… 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
… Continue Reading …

Milton
… Continue Reading …

Mother Earth
… Continue Reading …

Music
… Continue Reading …

My April Lady
When down the stair at morning
  The sunbeams round her float,
Sweet rivulets of laughter … Continue Reading …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


N


National Monuments
… 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 …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


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 …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


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
… 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 …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


Q



A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


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
… 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
… Continue Reading …

Righteous Wrath
… Continue Reading …

Robert Browning
… Continue Reading …

Roslin and Hawthornden
Yet not within thy storied wall
Would I in adoration fall,
So gladly as within the glen … Continue Reading …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


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 …

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
… 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 …

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
… 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
… Continue Reading …

Stand Fast
… 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
… Continue Reading …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


T


Tennyson
… Continue Reading …

Texas
… 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
… 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
… 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
… 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
… 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
… 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
… 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
… 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
… Continue Reading …

The Name of France
… Continue Reading …

The Old Flute
… Continue Reading …

The Oxford Thrushes
… 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
… Continue Reading …

The Pipes o’ Pan
… Continue Reading …

The Price of Peace
… 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
… Continue Reading …

The Red Flower
… 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
… 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
… 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
… 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
… Continue Reading …

Thomas Bailey Aldrich
… 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
… Continue Reading …

To James Whitcomb Riley
… 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 …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


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 …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


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
… Continue Reading …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


W – X – Y – Z


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
… 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
… Continue Reading …


A B C D E F G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W – X – Y – Z


Bilingual

American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Henry Van DykePoems by Henry Van Dyke


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