From The German Of Uhland

Three students once tarried over the Rhine,

    And into Frau Wirthin's turned to dine.

    "Say, hostess, have you good beer and wine?

    And where is that pretty daughter of thine?"

    "My beer and wine is fresh and clear.

    My daughter lies on her funeral bier."

    They softly tipped into the room;

    She lay there in the silent gloom.

The Color Sergeant

(On an Incident at the Battle of San Juan Hill)

Under a burning tropic sun,

With comrades around him lying,

A trooper of the sable Tenth

Lay wounded, bleeding, dying.

First in the charge up the fort-crowned hill,

His company's guidon bearing,

He had rushed where the leaden hail fell fast,

From The Spanish

Twenty years go by on noiseless feet,

    He returns, and once again they meet,

    She exclaims, "Good heavens! and is that he?"

    He mutters, "My God! and that is she!"

The Seasons

W'en de leaves begin to fall,

An' de fros' is on de ground,

An' de 'simmons is a-ripenin' on de tree;

W'en I heah de dinner call,

An' de chillen gadder 'round,

'Tis den de 'possum is de meat fu' me.

W'en de wintertime am pas'

An' de spring is come at las',

To Horace Bumstead

Have you been sore discouraged in the fight,

      And even sometimes weighted by the thought

      That those with whom and those for whom you fought

    Lagged far behind, or dared but faintly smite?

    And that the opposing forces in their might

      Of blind inertia rendered as for naught

      All that throughout the long years had been wrought,

    And powerless each blow for Truth and Right?

Prayer At Sunrise

O mighty, powerful, dark-dispelling sun,

Now thou art risen, and thy day begun.

How shrink the shrouding mists before thy face,

As up thou spring'st to thy diurnal race!

How darkness chases darkness to the west,

As shades of light on light rise radiant from thy crest!

For thee, great source of strength, emblem of might,

In hours of darkest gloom there is no night.

The Word Of An Engineer

"She's built of steel

From deck to keel,

And bolted strong and tight;

In scorn she'll sail

The fiercest gale,

And pierce the darkest night.

"The builder's art

Has proved each part

From The Spanish Of Placido

Enough of love! Let break its every hold!

      Ended my youthful folly! for I know

      That, like the dazzling, glister-shedding snow,

    Celia, thou art beautiful, but cold.

    I do not find in thee that warmth which glows,

      Which, all these dreary days, my heart has sought,

      That warmth without which love is lifeless, naught

    More than a painted fruit, a waxen rose.

Ghosts Of The Old Year

The snow has ceased its fluttering flight,

The wind sunk to a whisper light,

An ominous stillness fills the night,

A pause — a hush.

At last, a sound that breaks the spell,

Loud, clanging mouthings of a bell,

That through the silence peal and swell,

And roll, and rush.

The Awakening

I dreamed that I was a rose

That grew beside a lonely way,

Close by a path none ever chose,

And there I lingered day by day.

Beneath the sunshine and the show'r

I grew and waited there apart,

Gathering perfume hour by hour,

And storing it within my heart,

Sence You Went Away

Seems lak to me de stars don't shine so bright,

Seems lak to me de sun done loss his light,

Seems lak to me der's nothin' goin' right,

Sence you went away.

Seems lak to me de sky ain't half so blue,

Seems lak to me dat ev'ything wants you,

Seems lak to me I don't know what to do,

Sence you went away.

Her Eyes Twin Pools

Her eyes, twin pools of mystic light,

The blend of star-sheen and black night;

O'er which, to sound their glamouring haze,

A man might bend, and vainly gaze.

Her eyes, twin pools so dark and deep,

In which life's ancient mysteries sleep;

Wherein, to seek the quested goal,

A man might plunge, and lose his soul.