PART III SONGS FOR THE SEASONS |
CREATION MORN An oily tide on a shining beach,
Then, out as far as the eye can reach,
The spaceless plain of waiting sea
And hush of glad expectancy,
Breathed from the gray, cool, sunless light
That weds the day with darkest night.
While out where ocean greets the sky,
A range of purple cloud-peaks lie,
That circle round the silent sea
And hide the glorious mystery
Of God's great secrets which the day
May bring to us, or bear away.
Then palest rose tints up the crest
Of some peaks more than all the rest,
And soon a single line of gold
Comes tracing them in etchings bold,
Till, lo; the ramparts disappear,
God's sun of righteousness is here.
Men's little ships sail out to sea
And from the depths, call back to me,
Who find in this day newly born
A glimpse of earth's creation morn. |
THANKSGIVING Many mansions, Lord, are Thine
In the universe, Thy home;
Glowing planets bear Thy sign,
Seething yet with primal foam.
Star-clouds, still a shapeless horde,
Nascent cells
And burned-out shells,
Unborn worlds that wait Thy word
Hold Thee as their tenant, Lord. Yet no fairer home is Thine
Than the fields of Autumn Earth,
Where the fruit of tree and vine
Spread a feast of matchless worth;
Every field her gift hath sent,
All the year her labor spent;
Every man hath shared his gain
From the wealth of mine and plain. Yes, the stars of newer birth
By their beauty praise Thy name,
All the heavens joining Earth
Thy wide bounty to proclaim;
All Thy mansions, Lord are fair,
Yet can none with Earth compare,
For Thy Holy Son dwelt there,
When He came, man's life to share. |
ON EASTER DAY My waking eyes
Behold new skies
With Easter's dawning glory bright.
Since Thou didst rise
New meaning lies
In morning's young, transforming light. For Thou art the dawn of the world, dear Lord,
Our Christ of the breaking day.
Death was the night
And Thou, the first light
That showed where God's pathway lay;
Sin was the dark
And Thou, the first spark
That rolled the late shadows away.
Thou art the dawn of the world, dear Lord,
Our Christ of the coming day. |
A CHRISTMAS CAROL Come, weary ones, with care oppressed,
Cease earth-born care and strife.
Come children, too, rejoice in life,
The Holy Child is born. Disease and sorrow, yea, e'en death,
Have reigned on earth too long;
Her rightful monarch praise in song,
The Child of Bethlehem. Behold the night in silence wrapped,
With perfect peace bespread,
The star above Christ's infant head
Which guides the Wise Men there. Glad angels guard yon manger-bed;
Now hearken how they sing
The praises of their new-born King,
The Child of Bethlehem. |
THE MESSAGE OF THE CHIMES “Joy to all, this Christmas morn,
Christ our Saviour has been born.”
Peal the chimes in yonder steeple
Ringing forth to all the people. “Joy to all, this Christmas morn!
None are friendless, none forlorn.
Those whose hearts by grief were saddened
By the Saviour's birth are gladdened. “Joy to all this Christmas morn!
Barrier gold and selfish scorn
Vanish, while in hymns of praise
Rich and poor their voices raise. “Joy to all this Christmas morn!
Overflowing plenty's horn,
Wondrous treasures round us fall,
Gifts from God to great and small. “Nature's gift's a cloak of snow,
Under which to live and grow;
But to man is given love,
Love of Christ, from God above.” |
A WINTER LULLABY[2] Hushaby, lullaby, rockaby, dear,
Sleep, little one, thou hast nothing to fear;
Safe in thy crib by the blazing log fire,
Rocked by a hand that never can tire;
Under thy coverlets dainty and warm,
Thou knowest naught of the keen winter's storm.
Hushaby, lullaby, rockaby, dear,
Sleep, little one, thou hast nothing to fear. Under the skies of night, crystal and cold,
Studded with all the bright stars it can hold,
Sleep the wild flowers that fell with the frost,
Sleep the wild flowers the autumn breeze tossed.
Leaves and new snow keep them dainty and warm,
What can they know of the keen winter's storm? Some day will Spring with her torch and her rain
Come to the place where the flowers have lain,
Melting their covers of glistening snow,
Bidding her zephyrs through treetops to blow,
Thus she will wake them and kiss them with dew,
Calling them forth to life that is new. So, baby dear, when to-morrow's fresh light
Dawns on the world that is shrouded in night,
Then will the angels who guarded thy sleep,
Give me their watch o'er my baby to keep.
Thou with thine eyes of the heaven's own blue,
Waking, will call me to life that is new.
Hushaby, lullaby, rockaby, dear,
Sleep, little one, thou hast nothing to fear. |
RAINY DAY FUN [For Children] One day it rained, and we all cried
Because we couldn't play outside. But mother said, “Dears, don't complain,
We'll still have fun in spite of rain.” And so we fixed a big parade
With really guns, and weren't afraid, Because we knew they wouldn't shoot.
Our Dotty wore her bathing suit, While overalls we found for Jack,
With Daddy's old blue fishing sack. Leroy was oldest, so he wore
A scout suit from the boy next door. Then— “Left, right.” Up and down we marched.
“Hurray, Hurrah,” till all our throats were parched.
Storming round our mother's chair,
Giving her an awful scare,
“Hurray, hurrah,” up and down we marched. And when we captured her at last,
We kept her there and held her fast Until she bought us off with lunch,
Then how we ran, her hungry bunch! |
APPLES IN WINTER A heartsome thing it is to look
At evening in your study
And find beside your favorite book
Some apples cool and ruddy,
Whose russet, yellow, brown, and red
Are memories of the richness shed
When lovely Autumn tossed her head
And from the hilltops lightly fled. Their spicy skin, so crisp and tart,
Recalls a nook where winds have been
To flavor them with highest art
By driving dew and sunshine in,
While foaming juice and luscious meat
Suggest the fragrance of the rain
That flavored them with essence sweet
And ripened them to match the grain. A heartsome thing it is to look
At evening in your study
And find beside your favorite book
Some apples cool and ruddy,
Whose russet, yellow, brown, and red
Are memories of the richness shed
When lovely Autumn tossed her head
And from the hilltops lightly fled. |
THE BIRTH OF SPRING 1 Quick streams of little waters flow
Beneath the winter's crusty snow,
And everywhere that you may go
'Tis Spring, 'tis Spring you know!
For bubbling till they break the snow
The little waters singing go: | Chorus “Come join the Company of Spring,
Come robins, wrens, come all and sing.
We'll make our ice-caves laugh and ring,
We'll blend our torrent-song of Spring.” | 2 The gardener trims the anxious trees
And little twigs fly in the breeze;
“Come float, come float, play you're a boat,”
The waters call, “Come float.
The noisy robins' earliest note
Is bursting from his tiny throat, come float.” | Chorus “O, join the Company of Spring,
All you whose hearts are on the wing.
Our winter-cares away we'll fling,
And rhapsodize the living Spring.” | Transcriber's note: What appeared to be clear typographical errors were silently corrected; any other mistakes or inconsistencies were retained. |
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