And, hushed to silence by a reverent awe, Methought, O friend, I saw In thy true life of word, and work, and thought The proof of all we sought. Did we not witness in the life of thee Immortal prophecy? And feel, when with thee, that thy footsteps trod An everlasting road? Not for brief days thy generous sympathies, Thy scorn of selfish ease; Not for the poor prize of an earthly goal Thy strong uplift of soul. Than thine was never turned a fonder heart To nature and to art In fair-formed Hellas in her golden prime, Thy Philothea's time. Yet, loving beauty, thou couldst pass it by, And for the poor deny Thyself, and see thy fresh, sweet flower of fame Wither in blight and blame. Sharing His love who holds in His embrace The lowliest of our race, Sure the Divine economy must be Conservative of thee! For truth must live with truth, self-sacrifice Seek out its great allies; Good must find good by gravitation sure, And love with love endure. And so, since thou hast passed within the gate Whereby awhile I wait, I give blind grief and blinder sense the lie Thou hast not lived to die! 1881. IN MEMORY. JAMES T. FIELDS. As a guest who may not stay Long and sad farewells to say Glides with smiling face away, Of the sweetness and the zest Of thy happy life possessed Thou hast left us at thy best. Warm of heart and clear of brain, Of thy sun-bright spirit's wane Thou hast spared us all the pain. Now that thou hast gone away, What is left of one to say Who was open as the day? What is there to gloss or shun? Save with kindly voices none Speak thy name beneath the sun. Safe thou art on every side, Friendship nothing finds to hide, Love's demand is satisfied. Over manly strength and worth, At thy desk of toil, or hearth, Played the lambent light of mirth,-- Mirth that lit, but never burned; All thy blame to pity turned; Hatred thou hadst never learned. Every harsh and vexing thing At thy home-fire lost its sting; Where thou wast was always spring. And thy perfect trust in good, Faith in man and womanhood, Chance and change and time, withstood. Small respect for cant and whine, Bigot's zeal and hate malign, Had that sunny soul of thine. But to thee was duty's claim Sacred, and thy lips became Reverent with one holy Name. Therefore, on thy unknown way, Go in God's peace! We who stay But a little while delay. Keep for us, O friend, where'er Thou art waiting, all that here Made thy earthly presence dear; Something of thy pleasant past On a ground of wonder cast, In the stiller waters glassed! Keep the human heart of thee; Let the mortal only be Clothed in immortality. And when fall our feet as fell Thine upon the asphodel, Let thy old smile greet us well; Proving in a world of bliss What we fondly dream in this,-- Love is one with holiness! 1881. WILSON Read at the Massachusetts Club on the seventieth anniversary the birthday of Vice-President Wilson, February 16, 1882.