Oh, mountain monarch, at whose feet I stand,--
Clouds to adorn thy brow, skies clasp thy hand,--
Nature divine, in harmony profound,
With peaceful presence hath begirt thee round.
And thou, majestic oak, from yon high place
Guard'st thou the earth, asleep in night's embrace,--
And from thy lofty summit, pouring down
Thy sheltering shade, her noonday glories crown?
Whate'er thy mission, mountain sentinel,
To my lone heart thou art a power and spell;
A lesson grave, of life, that teacheth me
To love the Hebrew figure of a tree.
Faithful and patient be my life as thine;
As strong to wrestle with the storms of time;
As deeply rooted in a soil of love;
As grandly rising to the heavens above.
_WOMAN'S RIGHTS_
Grave on her monumental pile;
She won from vice, by virtue's smile,
Her dazzling crown, her sceptered throne,
Affection's wreath, a happy home;
The right to worship deep and pure,
To bless the orphan, feed the poor;
Last at the cross to mourn her Lord,
First at the tomb to hear his word;
To fold an angel's wings below;
And hover o'er the couch of woe;
To nurse the Bethlehem babe so sweet,
The right to sit at Jesus' feet;
To form the bud for bursting bloom,
The hoary head with joy to crown;
In short, the right to work and pray,
"To point to heaven and lead the way."
Lynn, Mass., _May 6, 1876_.
_THE NEW CENTURY_
Thou God-crowned, patient century,
Thine hour hath come! Eternity
Draws nigh--and, beckoning from above,
One hundred years, aflame with Love,
Again shall bid old earth good-by--
And, lo, the light! far heaven is nigh!
New themes seraphic, Life divine,
And bliss that wipes the tears of time
Away, will enter, when they may,
And bask in one eternal day.
'Tis writ on earth, on leaf and flower:
Love hath one race, one realm, one power.
Dear God! how great, how good Thou art
To heal humanity's sore heart;
To probe the wound, then pour the balm--
A life perfected, strong and calm.
The dark domain of pain and sin
Surrenders--Love doth enter in,
And peace is won, and lost is vice:
Right reigns, and blood was not its price.
Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., _January, 1901_.
_TO MY ABSENT BROTHER_
Dwells there a shadow on thy brow--
A look that years impart?
Does there a thought of vanished hours
Come ever o'er thy heart?
Or give those earnest eyes yet back
An image of the soul,
Mirrored in truth, in light and joy,
Above the world's control?
So may their gaze be ever fraught
With utterance deep and strong,
Yielding a holy strength to right,
A stern rebuke to wrong!
Thy soul, upborne on wisdom's wings,
In brighter morn will find
Life hath a higher recompense
Than just to please mankind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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