Verses and Rhymes By the Way Part 24

Shall earth's glory or its gold Make his heart to mine grow cold?

Or can new love kill the old?

Leaving me for love and fame

Oh, my brother fair to see!

Idol of my lonely heart, Parting is a time of test, Father, give him what is best, Father keep him from the rest, Bless him though we fall apart.

Well I know love will not die, It will cause us bliss or pain; We may part for many years, But my loving prayers and tears, Rising up to Him who hears, Will yet draw him back again.

From the fount of tenderness, All the past comes br.i.m.m.i.n.g up; When his brow is touched with care, When no grief of his I share, When we're separated far, It will be a bitter cup; Bless him from before Thy throne, Thus my heart to Thee makes moan, Keep him Lord where he is gone

TO ANNE ON HER BIRTHDAY

Let mirth and joy a season reign And sorrow flee away Sadness were perfect sin it is My Anne's natal day

And now a birthday rhyme for her This sister of my own Accept the song then for my sake Sister and only one

So long we've lived together here Our hopes and fears the same Like two of autumn's last grown leaves Last of our race and name

The past we know its grief and joy Its pleasure and its pain But know not what may happen ere Your birthday comes again

Shall we be cradled in the deep Beneath the briny wave?

Or shall the white deer lightly bound Over my forest grave?

Or living yet divided far With lands and seas between And sorrow reigning in the hearts Where childhood's joy has been

The future's sealed we know it not But wander where we will On this broad earth we shall remain Lone loving sisters still

TO ISABEL.

(ISABELLA STEWART)

Since ere I left my native isle, My childhood's home, life's happy smile And crossed the separating seas, Nothing my lonely heart could please Till now--and oh, I cannot tell How I admire thee, Isabel!

There are, in my dear island green, Most lovely faces to be seen, Beautiful eyes, with kindly glee, Beamed there in laughing love on me Now I'm alone from day to day, They're all three thousand miles away.

A stranger's face each face I see, And every eye is cold to me, No friendly voice, no kind caress, No spell to break the loneliness, Until I fell beneath the spell Of thy rare beauty, Isabel

I watch thee from my window pane In hopes a stolen glimpse to gain I know that purely lovely face, I know that form of stately grace, The sweet blue eye, the silken hair Whose tresses shade thy forehead fair

Thy beauty, like G.o.d's summer flowers Blesses and cheers this world of ours.

Thy smile, the suns.h.i.+ne clear and true Of a bright spirit looking through But words of mine can never tell All of thy praise fair Isabel

Fair Isabel fair Isabel I learned to know thy beauty well It rose upon my exiled sight A very treasure of delight My loneliness so comforting That my caged heart began to sing

And if I sing thy beauty's fame Thy loveliness is all to blame I loved before I understood That in thy veins flowed Erin's blood And I could not help but tell Of the fair maiden Isabel

On earth the fairest sweetest spot I'll leave and shall regret it not Since I have left my earthly home What matter is it where I roam Not to the hill I bid farewell But to the gentle Isabel

Accept then from an Irish heart This humble tribute ere we part For thou to me art very dear The lone star of my sojourn here To thee I sadly bid farewell G.o.d bless the maiden Isabel

V K HILL 1846

ISABEL.

(ISABELLA STEWART)

Heart of mine, by thy quick beating, Thou knowest Isabel is near, And the gladness of the greeting Dims my eye with rapture's tear.

Heart of mine, each beat will tell How I love young Isabel.

When I first beheld the maiden, So fair to see, so sweet to bless, I, a stranger, sorrow laden, Arrested by her loveliness, Then I thought some hand would set, On that brow a coronet.

She had grace all hearts beguiling, She had the wealth of silken hair, And sweet lips, half proud, half smiling, Neck of snow and bosom fair, And each eye a sapphire gem For a monarch's diadem

Oh, she was peerless in her beauty, Like the fair moon she walked alone, And loving her was but a duty, A spell her loveliness had thrown; And I thought that I could trace Erin's pencil on her face

With the fervour of my nation, I wors.h.i.+pped her as months went by, She was the one constellation, In my cheerless sky; Though on me there never fell One kind glance from Isabel.

Heart of mine we love, we love her, She is still our lady bright, Fairest of them all we prove her Queen of beauty as her right.

And in simple verse we tell The praises of fair Isabel.

THOUGHTS.

I am glad when men of genius Array a common thought, In imperishable beauty That it cannot be forgot.

The heart thoughts all bright and burnished By high poetic art, As sweet as the wood-bird's warble Touching the very heart.

Have not I, poor workday mortal, Some thoughts of living light, In the spirit's inner chambers, Moving with spirit might?

And they come in the fair spring time Of heart and life and year, When sweet Nature's wild rejoicings, Draws votaries very near

To the heart of all that's lovely On earth and in the sky; Making audible the music Of the inner melody.

Underlying all the suns.h.i.+ne, Whispering through every breeze, As it crests the ruffled ocean Or sways the forest trees.