POEMS. PAST AND PRESENT. Let us now improve the present, |
  POEMS. PAST AND PRESENT. Let us now improve the present, Waiting not for something more; For the past is gone forever And its troubles all are o'er. Let us hope not in the future Golden days will be at hand; Try, keep trying, for that country, In a fairer, better land. Up, be doing in the present, Waiting not for something more; For the past is gone forever And its troubles all are o'er. Those who wait are ne'er receiving-- Those who act are always blest; Up, be doing, still be acting, This is not a time for rest. Let us now improve the present, Waiting not for something more; For the past is gone forever And its troubles all are o'er. GONE TO REST. Little Ada now has gone To that land above, Where no trouble ever comes; All is brightness, all is love. Now an angel far away In that land of light; Cheer up, oh, afflicted ones, She is gone where all is bright. Father, cheer the grieving parents; Help them now to bear the woe; Pity us, thy simple children, In this land so far below. Angels carried her to heaven, Clothed her in their robes of light; She is gone, but not forever, From the loving parents' sight. Little Ada now has gone To that land above, Where no trouble ever comes, All is brightness, all is love.
A DREAM. On the summit of a mountain
Stood I in the twilight gray,
There were many standing with me
In the closing light of day.
Two paths led out from the summit—
One to lands so clear and bright,
And the other to a dark land
Where reigned eternal night.
Many chose the road to darkness—
Pathway leading down to hell;
Few there were that took the other—
They that chose it, chose it well.
’Twas a dream I dreamed in slumber,
But ’tis real every day;
Many take the downward path,
Few that go the brighter way.
THE LAST DRINK. An old man entered a dram-shop,
He staggerd and stumbled in;
His face was as hard as granite,
His hair was light and thin.
The bar-keeper’s daughter entered
In a dress of purest white,
And she looked as sweet as could be
In her nice new clothes that night.
The old man stopped, and reasoned,
For his own dear child he knew
Was shoeless and cold and ragged
And his wife was starving, too.
So the dime that lay in his pocket,
Bought bread for his wife that night,
And the old bar-keeper’s daughter
Still dressed in her snowy white.
But soon ere the winter was over
The drunkard was drunkard no more,
And the wife and child were happy
As they never had been before.
IN SPRING TIME. Oh, fresh from the woodland comes the breath—
The breath of the beautiful spring;
And the gentle zephyrs that float about
Scents from the meadow and forest bring.
And in every tree
A robin in glee
Is chanting a joyous melody.
Oh the sweet calm breath of beautiful spring—
And the azure sky is bright above,
And the warm sunshine makes the whole world glad
For every beam is a message of love.
And in every tree
The robin in glee
Is chanting a joyous melody.
The warm sun shines and the sweet flowers bloom,
But ah, the wild winds will be raving amain,
And the cold gray winter will ravish our joys—
The beauties of earth will be vanished again.
From every tree
The robin will flee
And fly to the South with his melody.
But let us enjoy these transient delights
And gaze on their beauty while linger they here.
Let us thank our dear Father such grandeur may come
While spring claims her place in every year;
And in every tree
A robin will be
Chanting a beautiful melody.
THE RAIN STORM. Through the din of patt’ring rain drops
Comes the thunder in the night,
While the bold electric flashes
Dazzle for a while the sight.
Patter, patter come the rain-drops
Streaming down the window-pane.
On the roof, unceasing, patter
Noisy little drops of rain.
All the stars have left and hidden
And the cresent is no more;—
When will come the day and sunshine
As it came in days of yore?
But the patter of the rain-drops
Music to my thoughts they make,
When the rumbling peals of thunder
Rhyme and even rhythm break.
May we thankful be for sunshine
May we thankful be for rain;—
Come again, oh patt’ring rain-drops,
With your music come again.
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