At the golden gate of song

And the grieving DayIn a mantle grayHath let her waiting maiden robe her, —All the fields alongI can hear the songOf the meadow lark,As she flits and flutters,And laughs at the thunder when it mutters.O happy bird, of heart most gayTo sing when skies are gray!When the clouds are full,And the tempest masterLets the loud…

It shall departBefore thy smile.Search thou my soul;Be there deceit,‘T will vanish wholeBefore thee, sweet.Upon my mindTurn thy pure lens;Naught shalt thou findThou canst not cleanse.If I should pray,I scarcely knowIn just what wayMy prayers would go.So strong in meI feel love’s leaven,I ‘d bow to theeAs soon as Heaven!

Some folks tell it in a sto’y, some folks sing de rhyme,‘Peahs to me you ought to hyeahed it, case hit ‘s ol’ ez time.Well, de critters all was p’osp’ous, now would be de chanceFu’ to tease ol’ Pa’son Hedgehog, givin’ of a dance;Case, you know, de critters’ preachah was de stric’est kin’,An’ he nevah…

It may be misery never to be loved,But deeper griefs than these beset the way.To sing the perfect song,And by a half-tone lost the key,There the potent sorrow, there the grief,The pale, sad staring of Life’s Tragedy.To have come near to the perfect love,Not the hot passion of untempered youth,But that which lies aside its…

‘At the crow’s feet’s a-getherin’ aroun’ yore eyes;Tho’ it oughtn’t to cause me no su’prise,Fur there’s many a sun ‘at you’ve seen riseAn’ many a one you’ve seen go downSence yore step was light an’ yore hair was brown,An’ storms an’ snows have had their way—Hello, ole man, you’re a-gittin’ gray.Hello, ole man, you’re a-gittin’…

Where soft and white the moonbeams fall,Till, in a fantasy,Some pure white maiden’s funeral pallThe strange light seems to me.The waters break upon the shoreAnd shiver at my feet,While I dream old dreams o’er and o’er,And dim old scenes repeat;Tho’ all have dreamed the same before,They still seem new and sweet.The waves still sing the…