s: And flowery uplands, while the rosy flare


s: And valleys darken, and the drowsy spells


s: Of peace are woven through the purple air.


s: Dear is the magic of this hour: she seems


s: To walk before the dark by falling rills,


s: And lend a sweeter song to hidden streams;


s: She opens all the doors of night, and fills


s: With moving bells the music of my dreams,


s: That wander far among the sleeping hills.


s: And rolled the psalm, and poured the prayer,


s: Some for the strength of the gnarled root,


s: Some for the sweetness of flower or fruit;


s: Some for the roof, and some for the beam,


s: And some for a boat to breast the stream;--


s: In the wealth of the wood since the world began


s: The trees have offered their gifts to man.


s: But the glory of trees is more than their gifts:


s: 'Tis a beautiful wonder of life that lifts,


s: From a wrinkled seed in an earth-bound clod,


s: Their roots are the nurses of rivers in birth;


s: Their leaves are alive with the breath of the earth;


s: They shelter the dwellings of man; and they bend


s: O'er his grave with the look of a loving friend.


s: I have camped in the whispering forest of pines,


s: I have slept in the shadow of olives and vines;


s: In the knees of an oak, at the foot of a palm


s: I have found good rest and slumber's balm.


s: And now, when the morning gilds the boughs


s: Of the vaulted elm at the door of my house,


s: "God bless thy branches and feed thy root!


s: What makes the lingering Night so cling to


s: Thou vast, profound, primeval hiding-place


s: Of ancient secrets,--gray and ghostly gulf


s: Cleft in the green of this high forest land,


s: And crowded in the dark with giant forms!


s: Art thou a grave, a prison, or a shrine?


s: A stillness deeper than the dearth of sound


s: Broods over thee: a living silence breathes


s: The morning-stars that sang above the bower


s: With trembling bright amazement; and the


s: Steals through the glimmering pines with naked


s: Her hand upon her lips, to look on thee!


s: She peers into thy depths with silent prayer


s: For light, more light, to part thy purple veil.


s: O Earth, swift-rolling Earth, reveal, reveal,--


s: Turn to the East, and show upon thy breast


s: The mightiest marvel in the realm of Time!


s: 'Tis done,--the morning miracle of light,--


s: That die with dark, and daily rise again


s: Be still, my heart! Now Nature holds her breath


s: Across the chasm, and crown the western rim


s: Rampart of pearl, and flowing down by walls


s: Crimson of garnet, green and gray of jade,


s: Upon the blackness of the granite floor.


s: Temples, and colonnades are neighboured there


s: And amphitheatres where Gods might strive.


s: Cathedrals, buttressed with unnumbered tiers


s: Like mountains built of unconsuming flame.


s: Along the weathered walls, or standing deep


s: In riven valleys where no foot may tread,


s: Of countless forms: my vision reels and swims


s: Above them, like a bird in whirling winds.


s: Brood over all. For every shape that looms


s: From all the others by its far-flung shade,


s: Blue, blue, as if a mountain-lake were there.


s: How still it is!  Dear God, I hardly dare


s: To breathe, for fear the fathomless abyss


s: What force has formed this masterpiece of awe?


s: What hands have wrought these wonders in the waste?


s: Of gloom that cleaves the valley's nether deep,--


s: And blindly toiling still to reach the sea,--


s: Thy waters, gathered from the snows and springs


s: Amid the Utah hills, have carved this road


s: But now, O sunken stream, thy splendour lost,


s: 'Twixt iron walls thou rollest turbid waves,


s: At sight of thee, thou sullen labouring slave


s: From distant mountains by no will of thine,


s: Through thrice a hundred centuries of slow


s: Fallings and liftings of the crust of Earth,--


s: At sight of thee my spirit sinks and fails.


s: To cut this gash across the layered globe,


s: Are force and matter all? The rest a dream?


s: Of all his dearest daring hopes! The world


s: Wherein we live and move is meaningless,


s: The stars without a guide: The chance-born


s: Adrift in space, no Captain on the ship:


s: Who thinks he loves, and longs to understand,


s: Who vainly suffers, and in vain is brave,


s: Upon himself,--a conscious grain of sand


s: Thirsting for God and mocked by his own thirst.


s: From all these doubts that darken earth and


s: To bless and comfort all who see thy face?


s: Who clad thee in this more than royal robe


s: For thee, and wrought these glittering palaces?


s: Who gave thee power upon the soul of man


s: God! let the radiant cliffs bear witness, God!


s: Let all the shining pillars signal, God!


s: Hath delicately wrought the cactus-flower


s: To star the desert floor with rosy bloom.


s: Where'er thou art He tells his Love to man,


s: And lo, the day breaks, and the shadows flee!


s: Now, far beyond all language and all art


s: In thy wild splendour, Canyon marvellous,


s: The secret of thy stillness lies unveiled


s: In worldless worship! This is holy ground;


s: Thou art no grave, no prison, but a shrine.


s: Garden of Temples filled with Silent Praise,


s: If God were blind thy Beauty could not be!


s: With flowers below, above with starry lights


s: And on the curving capes of every stream:


s: Thou who hast taken to thyself the wings


s: To thee I turn, to thee I make my prayer,


s: Was breathed within him, and his soul was born;


s: There all day long in Paradise he walked,


s: And in the cool of evening with thee talked.


s: Lost, long ago, that garden bright and pure,


s: Lost, that calm day too perfect to endure,


s: And lost the child-like love that worshipped


s: For men have dulled their eyes with sin,


s: And dimmed the light of heaven with doubt,


s: And built their temple walls to shut thee in,


s: And framed their iron creeds to shut thee out.


s: But not for thee the closing of the door,


s: And thou hast wooed thy children, to restore


s: In peace of soul and simpleness of mind.


s: Joyful the heart that, when the flood rolled by,


s: Leaped up to see the rainbow in the sky;


s: And glad the pilgrim, in the lonely night,


s: For whom the hills of Haran, tier on tier,


s: Built up a secret stairway to the height


s: Where stars like angel eyes were shining clear.


s: Have hailed the rising sun and worshipped


s: And wayworn followers of the Indian sage


s: Have found the peace of God beneath a spreading


s: And perfect image of the  Love Unseen,--


s: Reading their beauty with a tranquil eye.


s: The vital joy that breathes itself in bloom;


s: And every bird that sang beside the nest


s: Told of the love that broods o'er every living


s: His flock at sundown to the welcome fold,


s: His net across the waters gray and cold,


s: And all day long the patient reaper swing


s: His curving sickle through the harvest gold.


s: So through the world the foot-path way he trod,


s: Breathing the air of heaven in every breath;


s: Beneath the open sky he gave his soul to God.


s: Him will I trust, and for my Master take;


s: Him will I follow; and for his dear sake,


s: From the prison of anxious thought that greed has builded,


s: From the fetters that envy has wrought and pride has gilded,


s: From the noise of the crowded ways and the fierce confusion,


s: From the folly that wastes its days in a world of illusion,


s: (Ah, but the life is lost that frets and languishes there!)


s: I would escape and be free in the joy of the open air.


s: By the breadth of the blue that shines in silence o'er me,


s: By the length of the mountain-lines that stretch before me,


s: By the height of the cloud that sails, with rest in motion,


s: Over the plains and the vales to the measureless ocean,


s: (Oh, how the sight of the greater things enlarges the eyes!)


s: Draw me away from myself to the peace of the hills and skies.


s: While the tremulous leafy haze on the woodland is spreading,


s: And the bloom on the meadow betrays where May has been treading;


s: (Lo, in the magic of Springtime, dreams are changed into truth!)


s: Quicken my heart, and restore the beautiful hopes of youth.


s: By the faith that the wild-flowers show when they bloom unbidden,


s: By the strength of the tree that clings to its deep foundation,


s: By the courage of birds' light wings on the long migration,


s: (Wonderful spirit of trust that abides in Nature's breast!)


s: Teach me how to confide, and live my life, and rest.


s: For the comforting warmth of the sun that my body embraces,


s: For the cool of the waters that run through the shadowy places,


s: Good cheer to help me bear the traveller's load,


s: And, for the hours of rest that come between,


s: An inward joy in all things heard and seen.


s: On all the brightness of the common day.


s: Shelter of forests, comfort of the grass,


s: And best of all, along the way, friendship and mirth.


s: In true possession, owning them by love;


s: From the green fields and from the waters clear,


s: From all that makes the world so bright and dear;


s: Of the deep sky and the far-smiling land,--


s: And breathe my body back to Nature's care,


s: My spirit out to thee, God of the open air.


s: The multitude of mankind had bewildered me and oppressed me,


s: And I complained to God, Why hast thou made the world so wide?


s: It seemed as if I had been reading a book in a foreign language,


s: This was the gentle heart of my friend who quietly understood me,


s: It is good to be glad when the day is declining,


s: And the setting of the sun is like a word of peace.


s: The stars look kindly on the close of a journey,


s: The tent says welcome when the day's march is done.


s: For now is the time of the laying down of burdens,


s: And the cool hour cometh to them that have borne the heat.


s: I have rejoiced greatly in labour and adventure;


s: My heart hath been enlarged in the spending of my strength.


s: Now it is all gone, yet I am not impoverished,


s: For thus only I inherit the treasure of repose.


s: Blessed be the Lord that teacheth my fingers to loosen,


s: And cooleth my feet with water after the dust of the way.


s: Blessed be the Lord that giveth me hunger at nightfall,


s: And filleth my evening cup with the wine of good cheer.


s: Blessed be the Lord that maketh me happy to be quiet,


s: Even as a child that cometh softly to his mother's lap.


s: O God, thy strength is never worn away with labour:


s: But it is good for us to be weary and receive thy gift of rest.


s: How wonderful are the cities that man hath builded:


s: Their walls are compacted of heavy stones,


s: And their lofty towers rise above the tree-tops.


s: These are the names of mighty enchantments,


s: They have called to the ends of the earth,


s: They have secretly summoned a host of servants.


s: They shine from far sitting beside great waters,


s: They are proudly enthroned upon high hills,


s: They spread out their splendour along the rivers.


s: Yet are they all the work of small patient fingers,


s: He hath woven his flesh and blood into their glory.


s: The cities are scattered over the world like anthills,


s: Every one of them is full of trouble and toil,


s: And their makers run to and fro within them.


s: Abundance of riches is laid up in their treasuries,


s: But they are tormented with the fear of want,


s: The cry of the poor in their streets is exceeding bitter.


s: Their inhabitants are driven by blind perturbations,


s: Seeking they know not what, they pursue it fiercely.


s: The air is heavy-laden with their breathing,


s: The sound of their coming and going is never still,


s: Even in the night I hear them whispering and crying.


s: Beside every ant-hill I behold a monster crouching:


s: He thrusteth forth his tongue and the people perish.


s: O God of wisdom thou hast made the country:


s: Why hast thou suffered man to make the town?


s: Then God answered, Surely I am the maker of man:


s: And in the heart of man I have set the city.


s: I will sing of the bounty of the big trees,


s: They are the green tents of the Almighty,


s: He hath set them up for comfort and for shelter.


s: Their cords hath he knotted in the earth,


s: Their roots take hold of the rocks like iron.


s: He sendeth into their bodies the sap of life,


s: They lift themselves lightly toward the heavens.


s: They rejoice in the broadening of their branches.


s: Their leaves drink in the sunlight and the air,


s: They talk softly together when the breeze bloweth,


s: Their shadow in the noon-day is full of coolness.


s: The tall palm-trees of the plain are rich in fruit,


s: While the fruit ripeneth the flower unfoldeth,


s: The beauty of their crown is renewed on high forever.


s: The cedars of Lebanon are fed by the snow,


s: Afar on the mountain they grow like giants,


s: In their layers of shade a thousand years are dreaming.


s: How fair are the trees that befriend the home of man,


s: The oak, and the terebinth, and the sycamore,


s: The broad-leaved fig-tree and the delicate silvery olive.


s: In them the Lord is loving to his little birds,


s: The linnets and the finches and the nightingales,


s: They people his pavilions with nests and with music.


s: The cattle also are very glad of a great tree,


s: They chew the cud beneath it while the sun is burning,


s: And there the panting sheep lie down around their shepherd.


s: He that planteth a tree is a servant of God,


s: He provideth a kindness for many generations,


s: And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.


s: Lord, when my spirit shall return to thee,


s: At the foot of a friendly tree let my body be buried,


s: That this dust may rise and rejoice among the branches.


s: They are wonderful in the renewal of their strength,


s: He poureth them out from a hidden fountain.


s: They are born among the hills in the high places,


s: Their cradle is in the bosom of the rocks,


s: The mountain is their mother and the forest is their father.


s: They are nourished among the long grasses,


s: They receive the tribute of a thousand springs,


s: The rain and the snow provide their inheritance.


s: They are glad to be gone from their birthplace,


s: They are going forever and never departed.


s: The courses of the rivers are all appointed;


s: They roar loudly but they follow the road,


s: For the finger of God hath marked their pathway.


s: The rivers of Damascus rejoice among their gardens;


s: The Jordan is lost in the Lake of Bitterness.


s: Surely the Lord guideth them every one in his wisdom,


s: In the end he gathereth all their drops on high,


s: And sendeth them forth again in the clouds of mercy.


s: O my God, my life floweth away like a river:


s: Guide me, I beseech thee, in a pathway of good:


s: Let me run in blessing to my rest in thee.


s: The lizard rested on the rock while I sat among the ruins,


s: And the pride of man was like a vision of the night.


s: Lo, the lords of the city have disappeared into darkness,


s: The ancient wilderness hath swallowed up all their work.


s: There is nothing left of the city but a heap of fragments;


s: The bones of a vessel broken by the storm.


s: Behold the waves of the desert wait hungrily for man's dwellings,


s: All that he hath painfully built up is shaken down in a moment,


s: The memory of his glory is buried beneath the billows of sand.


s: Then a voice said, Look again upon the ruins,


s: These broken arches have taught generations to build.


s: Moreover the name of this city shall be remembered,


s: For here a poor man spoke a word that shall not die.


s: This is the glory that is stronger than the desert;


s: God hath given eternity to the thought of man.


s: The ways of the world are full of haste and turmoil;


s: I will sing of the tribe of the helpers who travel in peace.


s: He that turneth from the road to rescue another,


s: He shall arrive in time by the foot-path of mercy,


s: He that taketh up the burden of the fainting,


s: The Almighty will put his arms underneath him,


s: He that speaketh comfortable words to mourners,


s: In the time of grief they will come to his remembrance.


s: There are three in the darkness together,


s: He leadeth me in the lowly path of learning,


s: He bringeth me to the clear fountains of instruction,


s: Little by little he showeth me the beauty of truth.


s: The world is a great book that he hath written,


s: They are inscribed with images and letters,


s: He poureth light on the pictures and the words.


s: He taketh me by the hand to the hill-top of vision,


s: And my soul is glad when I perceive his meaning;


s: In the valley also he walketh beside me,


s: In the dark places he whispereth to my heart.


s: Even though my lesson be hard it is not hopeless,


s: For the Lord is patient with his slow scholar;


s: And help me to read the truth through tears.


s: Thou hast taken me into thy tent of the world, O God,


s: Beneath thy blue canopy I have found shelter,


s: Therefore thou wilt not deny me the right of a guest.


s: Naked and poor I arrived at thy door before sunset:


s: Thou hast refreshed me with beautiful bowls of milk,


s: As a great chief thou hast set forth food in abundance.


s: I have loved the daily delights of thy dwelling,


s: Thy moon and thy stars have lighted me to my bed,


s: In the morning I have made merry with thy servants.


s: Surely thou wilt not send me away in the darkness?


s: There the enemy Death is lying in wait for my soul:


s: Thou art the host of my life and I claim thy protection.


s: Then the Lord of the tent of the world made answer:


s: _The right of a guest endureth for a certain time,


s: After three days and nights cometh the day of departure.


s: Yet hearken to me since thou fearest to go in the dark:


s: I will make with thee a new covenant of hospitality,


s: Behold I will come unto thee as a stranger and be thy guest.


s: Poor and needy will I come that thou mayest entertain me,


s: Meek and lowly will I come that thou mayest find a friend,


s: With mercy and with truth will I come to give thee comfort.


s: Therefore open thy heart to me and bid me welcome,


s: In this tent of the world I will be thy brother of the bread,


s: And when thou farest forth I will be thy companion forever._


s: Then my soul rested in the word of the Lord;


s: And I saw that the curtains of the world were shaken,


s: Where the curving track of the double rails


s: They packed the windows with bullet heads


s: But my heart sank low with a heavy sense


s: 'Mid the gray and green of the rolling hills


s: All this I dreamed in the valley of Kyll,


s: "Will you go to war just for a scrap of paper?"--_Question of the


s: A mocking question! Britain's answer came


s: Swift as the light and searching as the flame.


s: "Yes, for a scrap of paper we will fight


s: Till our last breath, and God defend the right!


s: Is strong as duty's pledge and honor's debt.


s: "A scrap of paper holds for man and wife


s: The sacrament of love, the bound of life.


s: "A scrap of paper binds us both to stand


s: "By God, by faith, by honor, yes! We fight


s: To keep our name upon that paper white."


s: Together England, Scotland, Ireland stand


s: One in the faith that makes a mighty land,


s: True to the bond you gave and will not break


s: And fearless in the fight for conscience' sake!


s: With blood of trampled Belgium on his heel,


s: Striding through France to strike you down at last,


s: The Huns are thundering toward the citadel;


s: They prate of Culture but their path is Hell;


s: Their light is darkness, and the bloody sword


s: They wield and worship is their only Lord.


s: O land where reason stands secure on right,


s: O land where freedom is the source of light,


s: Against the mailed Barbarians' deadly blast,


s: Thou island mother of a world-wide race,


s: Whose children speak thy tongue and love thy face,


s: Their hearts and hopes are with thee in the strife,


s: Their hands will break the sword that seeks thy life;


s: Fight on until the Teuton madness cease;


s: Fight bravely on, until the word of peace


s: Is spoken in the English tongue at last,


s: O'er peaceful towns where children sleep,


s: Across the waves, as if they were not free.


s: Mad harvesters, who care not what they reap.


s: Set free from war lords, cries, "Let there be Light."


s: Read at the meeting of the American Academy, Boston,


s: _God said, "I am tired of kings._"--EMERSON.


s: I like their looks in their robes and rings."


s: And they went on playing the game as before


s: They make me pay for their lust and their war;


s: The blood of my heart is the wine they drink.


s: Read at the meeting of the American Academy, Boston.


s: For their country's life, and the right.


s: And the tramp, tramp, tramp of marching feet?


s: For the fury of the tempest they must meet.


s: And sound the taps for every hero slain;


s: And tell the world they did not die in vain.


s: Thank God we can see, in the glory of morn,


s: The invincible flag that our fathers defended;


s: And our hearts can repeat what the heroes have sworn,


s: That war shall not end till the war-lust is ended,


s: Then the bloodthirsty sword shall no longer be lord


s: Of the nations oppressed by the conqueror's horde,


s: But the banners of freedom shall peacefully wave


s: O'er the world of the free and the lands of the brave.


s: If Might made Right, life were a wild-beasts' cage;


s: If Right made Might, this were the golden age;


s: Right must gain Might to conquer and to reign.


s: Peace without Justice is a low estate,--


s: But Peace through Justice is the great ideal,--


s: We'll pay the price of war to make it real.


s: The murmuring wind in the poplar-trees,--


s: Thou art a Queen and not a dreaming child,--


s: Put on thy crown and let us hear thee reign


s: Triumphant in a world of storm and strain!


s: And the sobs of the mounting waves that rise


s: With its tossing arms that crack and clash


s: Brings the old hero-trees to the ground with a crash!


s: Trampling, trampling, trampling, to overwhelm the shore.


s: Looms, dark and huge, St. Rombold's tower.


s: Has climbed to where the keyboard stands,--


s: Breaks round the tower he loves so well,


s: Once more he strikes the well-worn keys,


s: To cheer the heart of the troubled town.


s: With the shining thoughts that lead mankind,


s: The glory of learning, the joy of art,--


s: In long, long toil and the strenuous fight


s: At the touch of a courage that knows not fear,--


s: A name like the sound of a trumpet, clear.


s: That calls three million men to their feet,


s: The foes who threaten that name with wrong,--


s: With the strength that noble griefs impart,


s: A name that speaks of the blood outpoured


s: To save mankind from the sway of the sword,--


s: When the cause at stake is the world's free life


s: And the rule of the people everywhere,--


s: A name like a vow, a name like a prayer.


s: What hast thou done, O womanhood of France,


s: Mother and daughter, sister, sweetheart, wife,


s: What hast thou done, amid this fateful strife,


s: To prove the pride of thine inheritance.


s: In this fair land of freedom and romance?


s: I hear thy voice with tears and courage rife,--


s: Smiling against the swords that seek thy life--


s: "I give France all I have, and all she asks.


s: Would it were more! Ah, let her ask and take;


s: My hands to nurse her wounded, do her tasks,--


s: My feet to run her errands through the dark,--


s: My heart to bleed in triumph for her sake,--


s: And all my soul to follow thee, Jeanne d'Arc!"


s: For she was proud of her father's ships,


s: And pride looked out of her eyes and lips


s: "Now come," she said to the captains ten,


s: So they all fared forth, and sought with care


s: She looked at them all with never a thought


s: "I am not fain of the things ye brought,


s: The last that came was the head of the fleet,


s: "I've brought thee home the best i' the world,


s: She stared at him long; her red lips curled,


s: But the grains of corn went drifting down


s: The roots were thick and the silt and sand


s: The grass-grown streets were all forlorn,


s: She walked with a scornful step and slow,


s: Yet still on the crumbling piers of the town,


s: The breath that Spring around her sheds.


s: They tell me thou art rich, my country: gold


s: In glittering flood has poured into thy chest;


s: Thy flocks and herds increase, thy barns are pressed


s: With harvest, and thy stores can hardly hold


s: Their merchandise; unending trains are rolled


s: Along thy network rails of East and West;


s: Thou art enriched in all things bought and sold!


s: But dost _thou_ prosper? Better news I crave.


s: A nobler people, hearts more wisely brave,


s: And thoughts that lift men up and make them free.--


s: In their open boats through the roaring surf,


s: The glory of ships is a light on the sea,


s: When Homer sang of the galleys of Greece


s: And Solomon lauded the barks of Tyre that


s: 'Twas little they knew, those ancient men,


s: what would come of the sail and the oar.


s: The Greek ships rescued the West from the East,


s: And the Roman ships were the wings of strength


s: And the ships or Spain found a wide new world


s: Then the tribes of courage at last saw clear


s: But a broad highway, and a challenge to seek


s: So the fearless ships fared forth to the search,


s: Their hulls were heightened, their sails spread out.


s: they grew with the growth of their quest;


s: They opened the secret doors of the East,


s: The fleets of England and Holland and France


s: were at strife with each other and Spain;


s: And battle and storm sent a myriad ships


s: But the seafaring spirit could never be drowned,


s: They greatened and grew, with the aid of steam,


s: That carries the thoughts and the traffic of men


s: And now in the world-wide work of the ships


s: O well for the leading that follows the law


s: But ill for the leader who tries to hold


s: It will live if you safeguard the round-the-world road


s: For the glory of ships is a light on the sea,


s: _You_, whose black trail of butchered ships


s: Their horrors! Have you never thought,--


s: Women and children whom you sent to drown.


s: To safeguard law and freedom on the deep!


s: The "Ought" stands out above the "Must,"


s: Thou warden of the western gate, above Manhattan Bay,


s: The fogs of doubt that hid thy face are driven clean away:


s: Thine eyes at last look far and clear, thou liftest high thy hand


s: No more thou dreamest of a peace reserved alone for thee,


s: While friends are fighting for thy cause beyond the guardian sea;


s: O cruel is the conquer-lust in Hohenzollern brains;


s: They are the foemen of mankind. Up, Liberty; and smite!


s: Britain, and France, and Italy, and Russia newly born,


s: Have waited for thee in the night. Oh, come as comes the morn!


s: Serene and strong and full of faith, America, arise,


s: With steady hope and mighty help to join thy brave Allies.


s: O dearest country of my heart, home of the high desire,


s: Make clean thy soul for sacrifice on Freedom's altar-fire;


s: For thou must suffer, thou must fight, until the war-lords cease,


s: Greeting to Caius, his best friend in Rome!


s: _Salve!_ these presents will he borne to you


s: By Lucius, who is wearied with this place,


s: As simply hateful--blazing, barren, bleak,


s: And longs again to find himself in Rome,


s: After the tumult of its streets, its trains


s: Of slaves and clients, and its villas cool


s: And friends and banquets--more than all, its games--


s: This life seems blank and flat. He pants to stand


s: And quivering arms and floating robes--the air


s: Thrilled by the roaring _fremitus_ of men--


s: Swollen and strained against its corded veins


s: And flapping out its hem with loud report--


s: The wild beasts roaring from the pit below--


s: With one long yell that sends the startled blood


s: With thrill and sudden flush into the cheeks--


s: A hundred trumpets screaming--the dull thump


s: The clang of sabbards, the sharp clash of steel--


s: Live swords, that whirl a circle of grey fire--


s: Brass helmets flashing 'neath their streaming hair--


s: Worse than the tumult--all eyes staining down


s: To the arena's pit--all lips set close--


s: All muscles strained--and then that sudden yell,


s: _Habet!_--That's Rome, says Lucius! so it is!


s: That is, 'tis _his_ Rome--'tis not yours and mine.


s: The games he thus describes, and says, "That's life!


s: Life! life! my friend, and this is simply death!


s: Just as he utters them. I hate these games,


s: And all against my will he stirs my blood--


s: Letting this last page, since it is written, stand.


s: In our great Forum, there with him will walk,


s: And hear him rail and rave against the East.


s: These hills that in the sunset melt and burn,


s: This proud stern people, these dead seas and lakes,


s: These sombre cedars, this intense still sky,


s: To me, o'erwearied with life's din and strain,


s: Are grateful as the solemn blank of night


s: Detains me here, fills up my mind, and sways


s: My inmost thoughts--has got, as 'twere a gripe


s: I scarcely know how well to speak of this,


s: Even your contempt; yet, spite of all, I speak.


s: First, do not deem me to have lost my head,


s: Sunstruck, as that man Paulus was at Rome.


s: And yet I half incline to think his words,


s: Wild as they were, were not entirely wild.


s: Here in this place, surrounded by these men--


s: And then the pressure of my life-long thought


s: Trained up against it--to excuse his faith,


s: And half admit the Christus he thinks God


s: Is, at the least, a most mysterious man.


s: When next we meet I will expose my mind,


s: But now the subject I must scarcely touch.


s: How many a time, while sauntering up and down


s: The Forum's space, or pausing 'neath the shade


s: Have we discussed some knotty point of law,


s: Some curious case, whose contradicting facts


s: Looked Janus-faced to innocence and guilt.


s: Some subtle view or fact by me o'erlooked,


s: And urging me, who always strain my point


s: To pause, and press not to the issue so,


s: But more apart, with less impetuous zeal,


s: Survey as from an upper floor the facts.


s: To ride a whim beyond the term of Truth,


s: For here a case comes up to which in vain


s: I seek a clue: you could clear up my mind,


s: But you are absent--so I send these notes.


s: Who followed Christus, held by some a god,


s: But deemed by others to have preached and taught


s: Was worship of an ass; but this is false!


s: Judas, his follower, all the sect declare,


s: Bought by a bribe of thirty silver coins,


s: Act from base motives and commit a crime?


s: To study out this strange and tragic case.


s: Under whose rule, but all without his fault,


s: His words with me would have the greatest weight;


s: The chief of the Centurions, whose report


s: Not once, but many a time and oft, this man.


s: His look and bearing, Lysias thus describes:


s: "Tall, slender, not erect, a little bent;


s: Brows arched and dark; a high-ridged lofty head;


s: Thin temples, veined and delicate; large eyes,


s: To look beyond you, and whene'er he spoke


s: At times, too, gleaming with a strange wild fire


s: When taunted by the rabble in the streets;


s: Thin, high-art nostrils, quivering constantly;


s: Long nose, full lips, hands tapering, full of veins;


s: His movements nervous; as he walked he seemed


s: Scarcely to heed the persons whom he passed,


s: And for the most part gazed upon the ground.


s: "As for his followers, I knew them all--


s: A strange mad set and full of fancies wild--


s: John, Peter, James--and Judas best of all--


s: All seemed to me good men without offence--


s: A little crazed--but who is wholly sane?


s: They went about and cured the sick and halt,


s: And all their talk was charity and peace.


s: If Christus thought and said he was a god,


s: 'Twas harmless madness, not deserving death.


s: What most aroused the wealthy Rabbis' rage


s: Was that he set the poor against the rich,


s: And cried that rich men all would go to hell,


s: And, worst of all, roundly denounced the priests,


s: With all their rich phylacteries and robes--


s: Said they were hypocrites who made long prayers,


s: And robbed poor widows and devoured their means;


s: And this it was that brought him to the Cross.


s: "Those who went with him and believed in him


s: Simple and honest, dazed by what he did,


s: He led them with him in a spell-bound awe,


s: And all his cures they called miraculous.


s: They followed him like sheep where'er he went,


s: With feelings mixed of wonder, fear and love.


s: Yes! I suppose they loved him, though they fled


s: Stricken with fear when we arrested him."


s: "What! all--all fled?" I asked. "Did none remain?"


s: "Not one," he said--"all left him to his fate,


s: Not one gave witness for him of them all.


s: Stop! When I say not one of them, I mean


s: The traitor--who betrayed him to his death.


s: He rushed into the council-hall and cried,


s: ''Tis I have sinned--Christus is innocent.'"


s: And here I come to what of all I've heard


s: Most touched me--I for this my letter write.


s: Paulus, you know, had only for this man,


s: This Judas, words of scorn and bitter hate.


s: Mark now the different view that Lysias took,


s: When, urged by me, his story thus he told:


s: "Some say that Judas was a base, vile man


s: Who sold his master for the meanest bribe;


s: To overthrow the Church, subvert the law,


s: And on its ruins build himself a throne.


s: I, knowing Judas--and none better knew--


s: I, caring naught for Christus more than him,


s: But hating lies, the simple truth will tell,


s: The truth is truth, and let the truth be told.


s: Who followed Christus thought that he was God.


s: Some feared him for his power of miracles;


s: Some followed him to hear his sweet, clear voice


s: And gentle speaking, hearing with their ears,


s: And knowing not the sense of what he said--


s: He last of all. I say this friend of mine


s: Was brave when all the rest were cowards there.


s: Who took his dreams for firm realities--


s: Who once believing, all in all believed--


s: His act went from his thought straight to the butt;


s: Impressions quick and fine, yet deep as life.


s: Therefore it was that in this subtle soil


s: The master's words took root and grew and flowered.


s: He heard and followed and obeyed; his faith


s: was serious, earnest, real--winged to fly;


s: He doubted not, like some who walked with him--


s: Desired no first place, as did James and John--


s: His master said, 'Away! thou'rt an offence;


s: Get thee behind me, Satan!'--not to him,


s: Should come to rule--chosen from out the midst


s: Unselfish, honest, he among them walked.


s: "That he was honest, and was so esteemed,


s: Is plain from this--they chose him out of all


s: To bear the common purse, and take and pay.


s: John says he was a thief, because he grudged


s: The price that for some ointment once was paid,


s: And urged 'twere better given to the poor.


s: Lift up his voice--'Give all things to the poor!


s: Sell everything and give all to the poor!'


s: And Judas, who believed, not made believe,


s: Used his own words, and Christus, who excused


s: The gift because of love, rebuked him not.


s: Thief! ay, he 'twas, this very thief, they chose


s: To bear the purse and give alms to the poor.


s: I, for my part, see nothing wrong in this."


s: Frank, noble, honest"--here I interposed--


s: "Why was it that he thus betrayed his Lord?"


s: "This question oft did I revolve," said he,


s: "When all the facts were fresh, and oft revolved


s: In latter days, and with no change of mind;


s: "Daily he heard his master's voice proclaim,


s: With power and glory here upon the earth


s: To judge the quick and dead! Among you here


s: Some shall not taste of death before I come


s: God's kingdom to establish on the earth!'


s: "What meant these words? They seethed in Judas' soul.


s: Christus, the Lord--the Saviour of us all.


s: How long shall he be taunted and reviled,


s: And threatened by this crawling scum of men?


s: Oh, who shall urge the coming of that day


s: And stand before the astounded world its King?'


s: Long brooding over this inflamed his soul,


s: And, ever rash in schemes as wild in thought,


s: No man hath power to harm the Almighty One.


s: Ay, let men's hands be lifted, then at once,


s: Effulgent like the sun, swift like the sword,


s: The jagged lightning flashes from the cloud,


s: And prostrate all shall on the earth adore!'


s: "Such was his thought when at the passover


s: The Lord with his disciples met and supped:


s: And Christus saw the trouble in his mind,


s: This sop,' and he the sop to Judas gave;


s: And added--'That thou doest, quickly do;'


s: And Judas left him, hearing these last words--


s: 'Now shall the Son of man be glorified.'


s: "Ah yes! his master had divined his thought--


s: His master should be glorified through him.


s: "Straight unto me and the high priests he came,


s: Filled with this hope, and said, 'Behold me here,


s: I will point out my master whom you seek!'


s: And out at once they sent me with my band;


s: The Lord and master whom you love, to death?'


s: And, smiling, then he answered, 'Fear you not


s: 'Is not this vile?' I said; 'I had not deemed


s: Such baseness in you.' 'Though it seems so now,'


s: Still smiling he replied, 'wait till the end.'


s: Then turning round as to himself he said,


s: 'Now comes the hour that I have prayed to see--


s: The hour of joy to all who know the truth.'


s: "'Is this man mad?' I thought, and looked at him;


s: And, in the darkness creeping swiftly on,


s: His face was glowing, almost shone with light;


s: "Passing at last beyond the Cedron brook


s: Dark vines were loosely swinging. Here we paused


s: Against the blank white wall a shadowy group,


s: There waiting motionless, without a word;


s: Judas alone advanced, and, as he reached


s: The tallest figure lifted quick his head;


s: And crying, 'Master! Master!' kissed his cheek.


s: We, knowing it was Christus, forward pressed.


s: A sword flashed out from one among them there,


s: And sheared his ear. At once our swords flashed out,


s: But Christus, lifting up his hand, said, 'Peace,


s: Sheathe thy sword, Peter--I must drink the cup.'


s: And I cried also, 'Peace, and sheathe your swords,'


s: Then on his arm I placed my hand, and said,


s: 'In the law's name.' He nothing said, but reached


s: His arm out, and we bound his hands with cords.


s: This done I turned, but all the rest had fled,


s: They moved away, I, seeing not our guide,


s: Cried, 'Judas!' but no answer: then a groan


s: So sad and deep it startled me. I turned,


s: And there against the wall, with ghastly face,


s: And eyeballs starting in a frenzied glare,


s: Hung lifeless down, his mouth half open twitched,


s: His hands were clutched and clinched into his robes,


s: And now and then his breast heaved with a gasp.


s: Frightened I dashed some water in his face,


s: Spoke to him, lifted him, and rubbed his hands.


s: At last the sense came back into his eyes,


s: And to the ground he dropped. I searched him o'er,


s: Fearing some mortal wound, yet none I found.


s: Then with a gasp again the life returned,


s: And stayed, but still with strong convulsion twitched.


s: 'Speak, Judas! Speak!' I cried. What does this mean?


s: No answer! 'Speak, man!' Then at last he groaned.


s: 'Go, leave me, leave me, Lysias. Oh, my God!


s: What have I done? Oh, Christus! Master, Lord.


s: As groveling on the ground he turned away


s: And hid his face, and shuddered in his robes.


s: Shone with a joy so strange? What means it all?


s: Is this a sudden madness? 'Speak!' I cried.


s: 'What means this, Judas? Be a man and speak?'


s: Yet there he lay, and neither moved nor spoke.


s: I thought that he had fainted, till at last,


s: Sudden he turned, grasped my arm, and cried,


s: 'Say, Lysias, is this true, or am I mad?'


s: 'What true?' I said. 'True that you seized the Lord!


s: You could not seize him--he is God the Lord!


s: I thought I saw you seize him. Yet I know


s: And yet you live--you live. He spared you, then.


s: Where am I? what has happened? A black cloud


s: Came o'er me when you laid your hands on him.


s: Where are they all? Where is he? Lysias, speak?'


s: "'Judas,' I said, 'what folly is all this?


s: Christus my men have bound and borne away!


s: The rest have fled. Rouse now and come with me;


s: My men await me, rouse yourself and come!'


s: "Throwing his arms up, in a fit he fell,


s: With a loud shriek that pierced the silent night.


s: I could not stay, but, calling instant aid,


s: We bore him quick to the adjacent house.


s: And placing him in kindly charge, I left,


s: "Straight to the high priest's house we hurried on,


s: And Christus in an inner room we placed,


s: Set at his door a guard, and then came out.


s: Where round the blazing coals we sat, a man,


s: Who in the corner crouched. 'What man are you?'


s: Cried some one; and I turning, looked at him.


s: 'Twas Peter. ''Tis a fellow of that band


s: That followed Christus, and believed in him.'


s: ''Tis false!' cried Peter; and he cursed and swore.


s: "That night I saw not Judas. The next day,


s: With robes all soiled and torn, and tangled beard,


s: Came feebly staggering: scarce should I have known


s: 'Twas Judas, with that haggard, blasted face:


s: So had that night's great horror altered him.


s: He to the table came--against it leaned--


s: Glared wildly round a while; then, stretching forth,


s: from his torn robes, a trembling hand, flung down,


s: As if a snake had stung him, a small purse,


s: That broke and scattered its white coins about,


s: And, with a shrill voice, cried, 'Take back the purse


s: 'Twas not for that foul dross I did the deed--


s: 'Twas not for that--oh, horror! not for that!


s: And that he is the Lord I still believe.


s: But oh, the sin!--the sin! I have betrayed


s: The innocent blood, and I am lost!--am lost!'


s: So crying, round his face his robes he threw,


s: And blindly rushed away; and we, aghast,


s: Looked round--and no one for a moment spoke.


s: "Seeing that face, I could but fear the end;


s: For death was in it, looking through his eyes.


s: That drove him madly on with scorpion whip.


s: And night came on. Forth from the gates I went,


s: Anxious and pained by many a dubious thought,


s: The sky was dark with heavy lowering clouds;


s: A lifeless, stifling air weighed on the world;


s: Crouched on its bosom, waiting, grim and grey.


s: In horrible suspense of some dread thing.


s: A creeping sense of death, a sickening smell,


s: Infected the dull breathing of the wind.


s: A thrill of ghosts went by me now and then,


s: And made my flesh creep as I wandered on.


s: At last I came to where a cedar stretched


s: Its black arms out beneath a dusky rock,


s: And, passing through its shadow, all at once


s: I started; for against the dubious light


s: Slung slowly with its weight, before me grew.


s: A sick dread sense came over me; I stopped--


s: I could not stir. A cold and clammy sweat


s: Oozed out all over me; and all my limbs,


s: Bending with tremulous weakness like a child's,


s: Gave way beneath me. Then a sense of shame


s: Aroused me. I advanced, stretched forth my hand


s: And pushed the shapeless mass; and at my touch


s: It yielding swung--the branch above it creaked--


s: And back returning struck against my face.


s: Swiftly my sword I drew and cut it down,


s: I plucked the robes away, exposed the face--


s: 'Twas Judas, as I feared, cold, stiff, and dead;


s: That suffering heart of his had ceased to beat."


s: This story of poor Judas touched me much.


s: What horrible revulsions must have passed


s: Across that spirit in those few last hours!


s: What storms, that tore up life even to its roots!


s: Say what you will--grant all the guilt--and still


s: What pangs of dread remorse--what agonies


s: And its last sad atonement!--life, the while,


s: Laden with horror all too great to bear,


s: This was no common mind that thus could feel--


s: _Was_ he a villain lost to sense of shame?


s: And yet--and yet this tale that Lysias tells


s: Weighs with me more the more I ponder it;


s: A creature lost to shame and base at heart--


s: Or else, which is the view that Lysias takes,


s: Whose faith was firm, who had no thought of crime,


s: Take but John's view, and all to me is blind.


s: Call him a villain who, with greed of gain,


s: Does not the bribe seem all too small and mean?


s: He held the common purse, and, were he thief,


s: So doing, he had nothing risked of fame,


s: While here he braved the scorn of all the world.


s: Besides, why chose they for their almoner


s: A man so lost to shame, so foul with greed?


s: Or why, from some five-score of trusted men,


s: (And who can hide his baseness at all times?)


s: Keep him in close communion to the last?


s: Naught in his previous life, or acts, or words,


s: Shows this consummate villain that, full-grown,


s: Leaps all at once to such a height of crime.


s: Again, how comes it that this wretch, whose heart


s: Is eased to shame, flings back the paltry bribe?


s: And, when he knows his master is condemned,


s: Whose fingers pointed at him in the crowd?


s: Did all men flee his presence till he found


s: Death came too close upon the heels of crime,


s: He had but done what all his tribe deemed just:


s: All the great mass--I mean the upper class--


s: Ay, and the lower mob as well who cried,


s: "Give us Barabbas! Christus to the cross!"


s: These men were all of them on Judas's side,


s: And Judas had done naught against the law.


s: Were he this villain, he had but to say,


s: "I followed Christus till I found at last


s: He aimed at power to overthrow the State.


s: I traitor! you are traitors who reprove."


s: Besides, such villains scorn the world's reproof.


s: Or he might say--"You call this act a crime?


s: What crime was it to say I know this man?


s: I said no ill of him. If crime there be,


s: 'Twas yours who doomed him unto death, not mine."


s: This coarse and vulgar way will never do.


s: Grant him a villain, all his, acts must be


s: Remorse so bitter that it leads to death,


s: And death so instant on the heels of crime,


s: So sensitive that life can yield no joys


s: To counterbalance one bad act;--but then


s: A nature such as this, though led astray,


s: When greatly tempted, is no thorough wretch.


s: Was the temptation great? could such a bribe


s: Tempt such a nature to a crime like this?


s: He cursed and swore, denying that he knew


s: But take the other view that Lysias takes,


s: All is at once consistent, clear, complete.


s: Firm in the faith that Christus was his God


s: The great Messiah sent to save the world,


s: He, seeking for a sign--not for himself,


s: But to show proof to all that he was God


s: Conceived this plan, rash if you will, but grand.


s: "Thinking him man," he said, "mere mortal man,


s: They seek to seize him--I will make pretence


s: To take the public bribe and point him out,


s: And they shall go, all armed with swords and staves,


s: Strong with the power of law, to seize on him--


s: And at their touch he, God himself, shall stand


s: Revealed before them, and their swords drop,


s: And prostrate all before him shall adore,


s: And cry, 'Behold the Lord and King of all!'"


s: But when the soldiers laid their hands on him


s: And bound him as they would a prisoner vile,


s: With taunts, and mockery, and threats of death--


s: He all the while submitting--then his dream


s: Burst into fragments with a crash: aghast


s: The whole world reeled before him; the dread truth


s: Swooped like a sea upon him, bearing down


s: His thoughts in wild confusion. He who dreamed


s: Opened in their stead the prison's jarring door,


s: Change to a Fury stained with blood and crime.


s: And then a madness seized him, and remorse


s: With pangs of torture drove him down to death.


s: Conceive with me that sad and suffering heart


s: If this be true that Lysias says--Conceive!


s: Thy Furies were appeased, thy peace returned,


s: And long as Christus shall be known of men


s: His name shall bear the brand of infamy,


s: Thus much of him: I leave the question here,


s: Touching on naught beyond, for Lucius waits--


s: The sun is sinking--all the sky's afire--


s: And vale and mountain glow like molten ore


s: In the intense full splendor of its rays.


s: A half-hour hence all will be dull and grey;


s: Sweeps down the plain then mounts and makes his way


s: On through the blinding desert to the sea,


s: And thence his galley bears him on to Rome.


s: On you and all your household! Greet for me


s: Titus and Livia--in a word, all friends.


s: Last night I dreamed this dream: That I was dead;


s: And lo, thou, Dear, didst touch me on the breast,


s: Saying: "What shall I write against thy name


s: Where we must walk alone a little space,


s: My hand shall seek thine own to hold it fast;


s: Nor wilt thou think for this the heart ingrate,


s: Less strong to bear the utmost of its fate.


s: Then strove to go. Should love not spare?


s: "Nay, Dearest, this is love's sweet share


s: To give is more than to receive, men say.


s: But thou hast made them one! What if, some day,


s: Men bade me render back the gifts I cannot pay,--


s: Since all were undeserved! should I obey?


s: Lo, all these years of giving, when we try


s: To own our thanks, we hear the giver cry;


s: "Nay, it was thou who givest, Dear, not I."


s: This is the truest; that we know because we love,


s: Let it not grieve thee, Dear, that Love is sad,


s: Who, changeless, loveth so the things that change,--


s: The morning in thine eyes, the dusk within thy hair,


s: Of his service knows its incompleteness,


s: Of life eternal, feels the coldness of Death's wings.


s: From out these parched and thirsty lands,


s: And lost all heart when on the crest we stood


s: Swept exultant from the woodland shadows;


s: And when at last upon the baffling plain


s: We thought it scattered like a ravelled skein,--


s: Its longed-for home, the wide unfathomable sea!


s: Thy names are like sweet flowers that grow


s: This one I take which holds within its own


s: For none were half so dear were it not best.


s: My every purpose fashioned by some thought of thee,


s: Though thy share be the star and mine its shadow in the sea;


s: Thy very pulse my pulse, thy every prayer my prayer.


s: Thy love my blue o'erreaching sky that bounds me everywhere,--


s: Yet free, Beloved, free! for this encircling air


s: I cannot leave behind, doth but love's boundlessness declare.


s: Last night the angel of remembrance brought


s: Me while I slept--think, Dear! of all his store


s: Thy sob of pain when once I hurt thee sure.


s: For when Death shuts them, where thy skies?


s: To tell, eyes fill with thoughts I scarce divine,


s: One last gem from the heart of the mine,


s: One last cup from the veins of the vine,


s: From the rose to the wind one last sweet breath,


s: On the shore of dreams, on the edge of sleep,


s: But it holds two words for thee, dear Friend,--


s: Of all who ever dared to fight with wrong.


s: All the blood of their hearts, the prime


s: Of their eyes, the thought of their brain,


s: Oh, when the Silence speaks, and the scroll


s: Of the pain gone waste and the labor lost!


s: We thought when Love at last should come,


s: The thorns shall wound our hearts again,


s: Like thine above thy flowers, smiles through


s: I have a friend who came,--I know not how,


s: I feel the pressure of his hand, and hear


s: Our hands were empty,-his and mine alike,


s: The gifts he brought; but where were mine


s: That he should say "I too have need of thee?"


s: Without the threshold of his heart I wait


s: Whether his hand shall press my latch to-night,


s: And yet, dear friend, in whom I rest content,


s: A little word of friendship be less sweet.


s: _(Oh I heard the doves in the ladyricks coop!)_


s: As he crossed the meadows beyond the corn,


s: The song of the blood where the pulses are!


s: Straight through the fields he came to me,


s: As the starling hides in the maize her nest.


s: _(Oh little he cared where his falcon flew!)_


s: And my heart lay still in the hand of pain,


s: The cry of the dove when the cummers die!


s: But I hid my pain that he might not see--


s: Where the heart that can ache no more is laid.


s: Last night, where grows the river grass,


s: _(Oh the stream was dark though the moon was new!)_


s: "Give me," said Death, "thy purse well-filled,


s: And thy mantle-clasp which the moonbeams gild;


s: Save the heart which beats for thy dear sake,"


s: "All life hath given is Death's to take."


s: If thou takest the heart that loves away!


s: The wind a hawk, and the fields in snow;


s: No screening cover of leaves in the wood,


s: Do they part in peace, soul with its clay?


s: I heard just now as the face turned gray?


s: The shelter and rest of the Isle of Time,


s: And knocked at the door of its house of pain!


s: But without, the wind and the trackless sky,


s: And night at the gates where a soul would go!


s: Deem not this book a creed, 't is but the cry


s: Of one who fears not death, yet would not die;


s: Who at the table feigns with sorry jest.


s: To love the wine the Master's hand has pressed,


s: The while he loves the absent Master best,--


s: The bitter cry of Love for love's reply!


s: Like the south-flying swallow the summer has flown,


s: Like a fast-falling star, from unknown to unknown


s: Life flashes and falters and fails from our sight,--


s: Like home-coming swallows that seek the old eaves,


s: Like the buds that wait patient beneath the dead leaves,


s: Love shall sleep in our hearts till our hands meet again,


s: Cramped are their stems by winter's cold,


s: And stained their leaves with last year's mould;


s: For these are flowers which fought their way


s: Should yield the tired eyes of man delight,


s: No sweet beguiling power had stars at night


s: To soothe his fainting heart when day is done,


s: Might nature own, were not each sound and sight


s: So had these lips, so early sealed with sleep,


s: How more than all he said, he was,--how, deep


s: Of some cathedral at the close of the day,


s: And seen its softened splendors fade away


s: As if a parting guest who comes no more,--


s: Till over all silence and blackness lay,


s: Then rose sweet murmurings of them that pray,


s: And shone the altar lamps unseen before,


s: So, Dear, as here I stand with thee alone,


s: The voices of the world sound faint and far,


s: The glare and glory of the moon grow dim,


s: And in the stillness, what I had not known,


s: I know,--a light, pure shining as a star,


s: The other for the ends they seek, yet smile


s: Forgiveness, as two friends that love the while


s: The folly against which each feigns to preach.


s: And while one barters in the market-place,


s: Or drains the cup before the tavern fire,


s: And if o'ercome with pleasure this one sleeps,


s: Upon some lip just cold, perchance to hear


s: Those wondrous secrets which it knows--and keeps!


s: In converse sweet the lily-fields of God,


s: Was sweet with songs celestial, came a prayer


s: From earth afar and mingled with the strain,


s: A bird sought shelter at my casement light,


s: A wounded soul should flutter to thy breast,


s: 'T WAS night. The tranquil moonlight smile


s: With which Heaven dreams of Earth, shed down


s: On broad green field and white-walled town;


s: Rose, mellowed through the silver gleam,


s: Crossing the nightshade's solemn gloom,--


s: Hark to that cry! long, loud, and shrill,


s: It told of hate, full, deep, and strong,


s: Trod, fierce and free, the brute he made;


s: For bloodied arms were round her thrown,


s: And dark cheeks pressed against her own!


s: Now, when oppression's heart is bleeding;


s: That curse which, through long years of crime,


s: Has gathered, drop by drop, its flood,--


s: Yes, dark-souled chieftain! if the light


s: Yea, on his thousand war-fields striven,


s: The white man stood, prepared and still,


s: The horn winds through their caverned hill.


s: Our brethren from their graves have spoken,


s: The yoke is spurned, the chain is broken;


s: Through all the vales red blood is flowing


s: Yet, though Toussaint has vengeance sworn


s: The white man's veins shall pour a flood;


s: As, headlong, through the cracking cane,


s: Howled through the dark, like sounds from hell.


s: Which still hath spurned the base control


s: Built I' the eclipse, and rigged with curses dark."


s: individual), and by the extreme impurity of the air in which they


s: While fiercely on that lone ship's track


s: Where rolled the storm of Freedom's war!


s: Slaves, slaves are breathing in that air


s: Caught from her scourging, warm and fresh!


s: What! mothers from their children riven!


s: Say, shall these writhing slaves of Wrong


s: What! shall we send, with lavish breath,


s: By Vendome's pile and Schoenbrun's wall,


s: Clank o'er our fields his hateful chain?


s: "Go, loose your fettered slaves at home,


s: The Christian's scorn, the heathen's mirth,


s: Oh! rouse ye, ere the storm comes forth,


s: And Freedom's gift, and Freedom's prayer,


s: And clustered vine, and blossomed grain,


s: SHE sings by her wheel at that low cottage-door,


s: Which the long evening shadow is stretching before,


s: With a music as sweet as the music which seems


s: Breathed softly and faint in the ear of our dreams!


s: How brilliant and mirthful the light of her eye,


s: Like a star glancing out from the blue of the sky!


s: And lightly and freely her dark tresses play


s: O'er a brow and a bosom as lovely as they!


s: Who comes in his pride to that low cottage-door,


s: The haughty and rich to the humble and poor?


s: 'T is the great Southern planter, the master who waves


s: His whip of dominion o'er hundreds of slaves.


s: "Nay, Ellen, for shame! Let those Yankee fools spin,


s: Who would pass for our slaves with a change of their skin;


s: Let them toil as they will at the loom or the wheel,


s: Too stupid for shame, and too vulgar to feel!


s: "But thou art too lovely and precious a gem


s: To be bound to their burdens and sullied by them;


s: For shame, Ellen, shame, cast thy bondage aside,


s: And away to the South, as my blessing and pride.


s: "Oh, come where no winter thy footsteps can wrong,


s: But where flowers are blossoming all the year long,


s: Where the shade of the palm-tree is over my home,


s: And the lemon and orange are white in their bloom!


s: "Oh, come to my home, where my servants shall all


s: Depart at thy bidding and come at thy call;


s: They shall heed thee as mistress with trembling and awe,


s: And each wish of thy heart shall be felt as a law."


s: "Oh, could ye have seen her--that pride of our girls--


s: Arise and cast back the dark wealth of her curls,


s: With a scorn in her eye which the gazer could feel,


s: And a glance like the sunshine that flashes on steel!


s: "Go back, haughty Southron! thy treasures of gold


s: Are dim with the blood of the hearts thou halt sold;


s: Thy home may be lovely, but round it I hear


s: The crack of the whip and the footsteps of fear!


s: "And the sky of thy South may be brighter than ours,


s: And greener thy landscapes, and fairer thy' flowers;


s: But dearer the blast round our mountains which raves,


s: Than the sweet summer zephyr which breathes over slaves!


s: With the iron of bondage on spirit and heel;


s: Yet know that the Yankee girl sooner would be


s: In fetters with them, than in freedom with thee!"


s: HAVE ye heard of our hunting, o'er mountain and glen,


s: Through cane-brake and forest,--the hunting of men?


s: The lords of our land to this hunting have gone,


s: As the fox-hunter follows the sound of the horn;


s: Hark! the cheer and the hallo! the crack of the whip,


s: And the yell of the hound as he fastens his grip!


s: All blithe are our hunters, and noble their match,


s: Though hundreds are caught, there are millions to catch.


s: So speed to their hunting, o'er mountain and glen,


s: Through cane-brake and forest,--the hunting of men!


s: Gay luck to our hunters! how nobly they ride


s: In the glow of their zeal, and the strength of their pride!


s: The priest with his cassock flung back on the wind,


s: Just screening the politic statesman behind;


s: The saint and the sinner, with cursing and prayer,


s: The drunk and the sober, ride merrily there.


s: And woman, kind woman, wife, widow, and maid,


s: For the good of the hunted, is lending her aid


s: Her foot's in the stirrup, her hand on the rein,


s: How blithely she rides to the hunting of men!


s: Oh, goodly and grand is our hunting to see,


s: In this "land of the brave and this home of the free."


s: Priest, warrior, and statesman, from Georgia to Maine,


s: All mounting the saddle, all grasping the rein;


s: Right merrily hunting the black man, whose sin


s: Is the curl of his hair and the hue of his skin!


s: Woe, now, to the hunted who turns him at bay


s: Will our hunters be turned from their purpose and prey?


s: Will their hearts fail within them? their nerves tremble, when


s: All roughly they ride to the hunting of men?


s: Ho! alms for our hunters! all weary and faint,


s: Wax the curse of the sinner and prayer of the saint.


s: The horn is wound faintly, the echoes are still,


s: Over cane-brake and river, and forest and hill.


s: Haste, alms for our hunters! the hunted once more


s: Have turned from their flight with their backs to the shore


s: What right have they here in the home of the white,


s: Shadowed o'er by our banner of Freedom and Right?


s: Ho! alms for the hunters! or never again


s: Will they ride in their pomp to the hunting of men!


s: Alms, alms for our hunters! why will ye delay,


s: When their pride and their glory are melting away?


s: The parson has turned; for, on charge of his own,


s: The politic statesman looks back with a sigh,


s: There is doubt in his heart, there is fear in his eye.


s: Oh, haste, lest that doubting and fear shall prevail,


s: And the head of his steed take the place of the tail.


s: Oh, haste, ere he leave us! for who will ride then,


s: For pleasure or gain, to the hunting of men?


s: Shall ruffian threats of cord and steel,


s: The dungeon's gloom, the assassin's blow,


s: Shall tongues be mute, when deeds are wrought


s: Shall freemen lock the indignant thought?


s: Shall Honor bleed?--shall Truth succumb?


s: Where Freedom weeps her children's fall;


s: By Griswold's stained and shattered wall;


s: For truth, and right, and suffering man,


s: What! shall we guard our neighbor still,


s: Which should have filled the world with flame?


s: Who minister at thine altar, God of Right!


s: Men who their hands with prayer and blessing lay


s: Give thanks, and rob thy own afflicted poor?


s: The homeless and the outcast, fettering down


s: Chief priests and rulers, as of old, combine!


s: Just God and holy! is that church, which lends


s: Of those high words of truth which search and burn


s: And, in your tasselled pulpits, thank the Lord


s: That, from the toiling bondman's utter need,


s: Shall such a priesthood barter truth away,


s: Visibly in the heavens, to awe and smite?


s: Shall not the living God of all the earth,


s: To all who plunder from the immortal mind


s: To those whose hire is with the price of blood;


s: Perverting, darkening, changing, as they go,


s: Shall perish; and their very names shall be


s: Vile before all the people, in the light


s: When Wrong shall cease, and Liberty and Love


s: And Truth and Right throughout the earth be known


s: Written on the adoption of Pinckney's Resolutions in the House of


s: MEN of the North-land! where's the manly spirit


s: Of the true-hearted and the unshackled gone?


s: Is the old Pilgrim spirit quenched within us,


s: Stoops the strong manhood of our souls so low,


s: That Mammon's lure or Party's wile can win us


s: Now, when our land to ruin's brink is verging,


s: In God's name, let us speak while there is time!


s: Now, when the padlocks for our lips are forging,


s: What! shall we henceforth humbly ask as favors


s: Rights all our own? In madness shall we barter,


s: For treacherous peace, the freedom Nature gave us,


s: Here shall the statesman forge his human fetters,


s: Here the false jurist human rights deny,


s: And in the church, their proud and skilled abettors


s: Torture the pages of the hallowed Bible,


s: To sanction crime, and robbery, and blood?


s: And, in Oppression's hateful service, libel


s: Shall our New England stand erect no longer,


s: But stoop in chains upon her downward way,


s: Thicker to gather on her limbs and stronger


s: Oh no; methinks from all her wild, green mountains;


s: From valleys where her slumbering fathers lie;


s: From her blue rivers and her welling fountains,


s: From her rough coast, and isles, which hungry Ocean


s: Gnaws with his surges; from the fisher's skiff,


s: With white sail swaying to the billows' motion


s: From the free fireside of her untought farmer;


s: From her free laborer at his loom and wheel;


s: From the brown smith-shop, where, beneath the hammer,


s: From each and all, if God hath not forsaken


s: Our land, and left us to an evil choice,


s: Loud as the summer thunderbolt shall waken


s: Startling and stern! the Northern winds shall bear it


s: And buried Freedom shall awake to hear it


s: Oh, let that voice go forth! The bondman sighing


s: By Santee's wave, in Mississippi's cane,


s: Shall feel the hope, within his bosom dying,


s: Let it go forth! The millions who are gazing


s: And unto God devout thanksgiving raising


s: Oh for your ancient freedom, pure and holy,


s: For the deliverance of a groaning earth,


s: For the wronged captive, bleeding, crushed, and lowly,


s: Sons of the best of fathers! will ye falter


s: With all they left ye perilled and at stake?


s: Prayer-strenthened for the trial, come together,


s: And, with the blessing of your Heavenly Father,


s: Our tears are shed, our sighs are given;


s: With feebler strength and hearts less lowly,


s: From scourge and chain the hunted slave;


s: Even where the fires of Hate were burning,


s: Sorrowing of heart, thy brethren bore thee.


s: Wept as the broken earth closed o'er thee;


s: And, through the storm which round her swept,


s: Their strife is past, their triumph won;


s: THANK God for the token! one lip is still free,


s: One spirit untrammelled, unbending one knee!


s: Like the oak of the mountain, deep-rooted and firm,


s: Erect, when the multitude bends to the storm;


s: When traitors to Freedom, and Honor, and God,


s: Are bowed at an Idol polluted with blood;


s: When the recreant North has forgotten her trust,


s: And the lip of her honor is low in the dust,--


s: Thank God, that one arm from the shackle has broken!


s: Thank God, that one man as a freeman has spoken!


s: O'er thy crags, Alleghany, a blast has been blown!


s: Down thy tide, Susquehanna, the murmur has gone!


s: To the land of the South, of the charter and chain,


s: Of Liberty sweetened with Slavery's pain;


s: Where the cant of Democracy dwells on the lips


s: Of the forgers of fetters, and wielders of whips!


s: Where "chivalric" honor means really no more


s: Than scourging of women, and robbing the poor!


s: Where the Moloch of Slavery sitteth on high,


s: And the words which he utters, are--Worship, or die!


s: Right onward, oh, speed it! Wherever the blood


s: Of the wronged and the guiltless is crying to God;


s: Wherever a slave in his fetters is pining;


s: Wherever the lash of the driver is twining;


s: Wherever from kindred, torn rudely apart,


s: Comes the sorrowful wail of the broken of heart;


s: In silence and darkness, the God-given mind;


s: There, God speed it onward! its truth will be felt,


s: The bonds shall be loosened, the iron shall melt.


s: And oh, will the land where the free soul of Penn


s: Still lingers and breathes over mountain and glen;


s: Will the land where a Benezet's spirit went forth


s: To the peeled and the meted, and outcast of Earth;


s: Where the words of the Charter of Liberty first


s: From the soul of the sage and the patriot burst;


s: Where first for the wronged and the weak of their kind,


s: The Christian and statesman their efforts combined;


s: Will that land of the free and the good wear a chain?


s: Will the call to the rescue of Freedom be vain?


s: No, Ritner! her "Friends" at thy warning shall stand


s: Erect for the truth, like their ancestral band;


s: Forgetting the feuds and the strife of past time,


s: Counting coldness injustice, and silence a crime;


s: Turning back front the cavil of creeds, to unite


s: Once again for the poor in defence of the Right;


s: Breasting calmly, but firmly, the full tide of Wrong,


s: Overwhelmed, but not borne on its surges along;


s: Unappalled by the danger, the shame, and the pain,


s: And counting each trial for Truth as their gain!


s: And that bold-hearted yeomanry, honest and true,


s: Who, haters of fraud, give to labor its due;


s: Whose fathers, of old, sang in concert with thine,


s: On the banks of Swetara, the songs of the Rhine,--


s: The German-born pilgrims, who first dared to brave


s: The scorn of the proud in the cause of the slave;


s: Will the sons of such men yield the lords of the South


s: One brow for the brand, for the padlock one mouth?


s: They cater to tyrants? They rivet the chain,


s: No, never! one voice, like the sound in the cloud,


s: When the roar of the storm waxes loud and more loud,


s: Wherever the foot of the freeman hath pressed


s: From the Delaware's marge to the Lake of the West,


s: On the South-going breezes shall deepen and grow


s: Till the land it sweeps over shall tremble below!


s: Pennsylvania's watchword, with Freedom at stake,


s: Thrilling up from each valley, flung down from each height,


s: alienation and division," and called attention to the dangers now


s: Was it thus with those, your predecessors,


s: Who sealed with racks, and fire, and ropes


s: Your pastoral rights and powers from harm,


s: Think ye, can words alone preserve them?


s: And sword of temporal power to serve them.


s: Oh, glorious days, when Church and State


s: Then, wholesome laws relieved the Church


s: And priest and bailiff joined in search,


s: They bored the tongue with red-hot steel,


s: And flayed the backs of "female preachers."


s: And Salem's streets could tell their story,


s: And signs in earth and heaven are showing


s: On kindred, tongue, and people breaking,


s: Whose slumbering millions, at the sight,


s: Which God's right arm of power hath riven;


s: Whose lips are wet at Freedom's fountains,


s: With malice vex, with slander wound them,


s: And tried and manly hearts surround them.


s: With wisdom and with strength from Heaven,


s: Thine ear hath heard the bondman's prayer.


s: Written for the celebration of the third anniversary of British


s: There no brother's voice shall greet them;


s: NOT with the splendors of the days of old,


s: The spoil of nations, and barbaric gold;


s: No weapons wrested from the fields of blood,


s: Where dark and stern the unyielding Roman stood,


s: A world, war-wasted, crouching to his law;


s: Nor blazoned car, nor banners floating gay,


s: Like those which swept along the Appian Way,


s: The victor warrior came in triumph home,


s: And trumpet peal, and shoutings wild and high,


s: Stirred the blue quiet of the Italian sky;


s: But calm and grateful, prayerful and sincere,


s: As Christian freemen only, gathering here,


s: Far statelier Halls, 'neath brighter skies than these,


s: Stood darkly mirrored in the AEgean seas,


s: Pillar and shrine, and life-like statues seen,


s: Graceful and pure, the marble shafts between;


s: Where glorious Athens from her rocky hill


s: And the chaste temple, and the classic grove,


s: The hall of sages, and the bowers of love,


s: Arch, fane, and column, graced the shores, and gave


s: And statelier rose, on Tiber's winding side,


s: The Pantheon's dome, the Coliseum's pride,


s: The Capitol, whose arches backward flung


s: The deep, clear cadence of the Roman tongue,


s: Whence stern decrees, like words of fate, went forth


s: To the awed nations of a conquered earth,


s: Where the proud Caesars in their glory came,


s: And Brutus lightened from his lips of flame!


s: Lurked the sad bondman, and his tears of woe


s: And fetters clanked beneath the silver dome


s: Of the proud Pantheon of imperious Rome.


s: Oh, not for hint, the chained and stricken slave,


s: By Tiber's shore, or blue AEgina's wave,


s: In the thronged forum, or the sages' seat,


s: The bold lip pleaded, and the warm heart beat;


s: But this fair Hall to Truth and Freedom given,


s: Pledged to the Right before all Earth and Heaven,


s: Shall thrill with echoes such as ne'er of old


s: From Roman hall or Grecian temple rolled;


s: Thoughts shall find utterance such as never yet


s: Shall win applauses with the waste of life;


s: No lordly lictor urge the barbarous game,


s: But here the tear of sympathy shall flow,


s: Here in stern judgment of the oppressor's wrong


s: Shall strong rebukings thrill on Freedom's tongue,


s: No partial justice hold th' unequal scale,


s: No pride of caste a brother's rights assail,


s: No tyrant's mandates echo from this wall,


s: But a fair field, where mind may close with mind,


s: Free as the sunshine and the chainless wind;


s: Where the high trust is fixed on Truth alone,


s: And bonds and fetters from the soul are thrown;


s: Where wealth, and rank, and worldly pomp, and might,


s: Yield to the presence of the True and Right.


s: And fitting is it that this Hall should stand


s: Where Pennsylvania's Founder led his band,


s: From thy blue waters, Delaware!--to press


s: Here, where all Europe with amazement saw


s: The soul's high freedom trammelled by no law;


s: Here, where the fierce and warlike forest-men


s: Gathered, in peace, around the home of Penn,


s: Awed by the weapons Love alone had given


s: Where Nature's voice against the bondman's wrong


s: First found an earnest and indignant tongue;


s: Where Lay's bold message to the proud was borne;


s: And Keith's rebuke, and Franklin's manly scorn!


s: Fitting it is that here, where Freedom first


s: From her fair feet shook off the Old World's dust,


s: Spread her white pinions to our Western blast,


s: And her free tresses to our sunshine cast,


s: One Hall should rise redeemed from Slavery's ban,


s: If the dead fathers of the land look forth


s: From their fair dwellings, to the things of earth,


s: Is it a dream, that with their eyes of love,


s: They gaze now on us from the bowers above?


s: Lay's ardent soul, and Benezet the mild,


s: Steadfast in faith, yet gentle as a child,


s: Meek-hearted Woolman, and that brother-band,


s: The sorrowing exiles from their "Father land,"


s: Leaving their homes in Krieshiem's bowers of vine,


s: And the blue beauty of their glorious Rhine,


s: To seek amidst our solemn depths of wood


s: Freedom from man, and holy peace with God;


s: Against the oppressor, for the outcast slave,


s: Is it a dream that such as these look down,


s: And with their blessing our rejoicings crown?


s: Let us rejoice, that while the pulpit's door


s: Is barred against the pleaders for the poor;


s: While the Church, wrangling upon points of faith,


s: Forgets her bondmen suffering unto death;


s: While crafty Traffic and the lust of Gain


s: Unite to forge Oppression's triple chain,


s: Where men may speak, unshackled and unawed,


s: High words of Truth, for Freedom and for God.


s: And when that truth its perfect work hath done,


s: And rich with blessings o'er our land hath gone;


s: When not a slave beneath his yoke shall pine,


s: And from Virginia's plains, Kentucky's shades,


s: And through the dim Floridian everglades,


s: Rises, to meet that angel-trumpet's sound,


s: The voice of millions from their chains unbound;


s: Then, though this Hall be crumbling in decay,


s: Its strong walls blending with the common clay,


s: Yet, round the ruins of its strength shall stand


s: The best and noblest of a ransomed land--


s: Pilgrims, like these who throng around the shrine


s: Than that which lingers round the Parthenon.


s: Here shall the child of after years be taught


s: The works of Freedom which his fathers wrought;


s: Our weary strife with prejudice and power;


s: How the high errand quickened woman's soul,


s: And touched her lip as with a living coal;


s: How Freedom's martyrs kept their lofty faith


s: True and unwavering, unto bonds and death;


s: The pencil's art shall sketch the ruined Hall,


s: And History's pen for after times record


s: Spring, with her change of sun and shower,


s: And streams released from Winter's chain,


s: And Autumn's fruits and clustering sheaves,


s: Have soothed or burned in manhood's breast,


s: And Wealth has filled his halls with mirth,


s: Toiled, shivering by her cheerless hearth,


s: The sport of lust, and pride, and scorn!


s: Blackened with slavery's blight and ban,


s: Just braying through their purchased throats


s: That Slavery's guilty fears might cease,


s: East, West, and North, the shout is heard,


s: The strengthening light of freedom shines,


s: O'er lakes and prairies, streams and glades,


s: Before that light poured full and strong,


s: Earth's noblest aim, man's holiest thought,


s: Pure thoughts and sweet like flowers unfold,


s: Of courts where Peace with Freedom trod,


s: Where Mercy's voice of love was pleading


s: The fire-scorched stones themselves are crying,


s: O'er wrongs which Earth's sad children know;


s: Thence let them come, and greet each other,


s: Yes, let them come! from each green vale


s: Or, midst the camp their banners drooping,


s: The fountain which His lip hath blessed,--


s: Who came to raise Earth's drooping poor,


s: For these, o'er all the earth hath passed


s: And Wales, from Snowden's mountain wall,


s: When o'er that harp, 'mid bursts of gladness


s: And from those bright and ransomed Isles


s: Where morning's keen and earliest glance


s: "Friends of the Blacks," as true and tried


s: Still let them come; from Quito's walls,


s: Or, that earth's tyrant powers, which heard,


s: Awe-struck, the shout which hailed thy dawning,


s: Would rise so soon, prince, peer, and king,


s: Like Hades when her thrones were stirred


s: Shall Slavery's darkest depths be stirred:


s: Where Freedom's praise is loud and long,


s: THE blast from Freedom's Northern hills, upon its Southern way,


s: Bears greeting to Virginia from Massachusetts Bay.


s: No word of haughty challenging, nor battle bugle's peal,


s: No trains of deep-mouthed cannon along our highways go;


s: Around our! silent arsenals untrodden lies the snow;


s: And to the land-breeze of our ports, upon their errands far,


s: A thousand sails of commerce swell, but none are spread for war.


s: We hear thy threats, Virginia! thy stormy words and high,


s: Swell harshly on the Southern winds which melt along our sky;


s: Yet, not one brown, hard hand foregoes its honest labor here,


s: No hewer of our mountain oaks suspends his axe in fear.


s: Wild are the waves which lash the reefs along St. George's bank;


s: Cold on the shore of Labrador the fog lies white and dank;


s: Through storm, and wave, and blinding mist, stout


s: The fishing-smacks of Marblehead, the sea-boats of Cape Ann.


s: The cold north light and wintry sun glare on their icy forms,


s: What means the Old Dominion? Hath she forgot the day


s: When o'er her conquered valleys swept the Briton's steel array?


s: How side by side, with sons of hers, the Massachusetts men


s: Forgets she how the Bay State, in answer to the call


s: Of her old House of Burgesses, spoke out from Faneuil Hall?


s: When, echoing back her Henry's cry, came pulsing on each breath


s: Of Northern winds, the thrilling sounds of "Liberty or Death!"


s: What asks the Old Dominion? If now her sons have proved


s: False to their fathers' memory, false to the faith they loved;


s: If she can scoff at Freedom, and its great charter spurn,


s: Must we of Massachusetts from truth and duty turn?


s: We hunt your bondmen, flying from Slavery's hateful hell;


s: Our voices, at your bidding, take up the bloodhound's yell;


s: We gather, at your summons, above our fathers' graves,


s: From Freedom's holy altar-horns to tear your wretched slaves!


s: Thank God! not yet so vilely can Massachusetts bow;


s: The spirit of her early time is with her even now;


s: Dream not because her Pilgrim blood moves slow and calm and cool,


s: All that a sister State should do, all that a free State may,


s: Heart, hand, and purse we proffer, as in our early day;


s: But that one dark loathsome burden ye must stagger with alone,


s: And reap the bitter harvest which ye yourselves have sown!


s: Still shame your gallant ancestry, the cavaliers of old,


s: By watching round the shambles where human flesh is sold;


s: Gloat o'er the new-born child, and count his market value, when


s: The maddened mother's cry of woe shall pierce the slaver's den!


s: Lower than plummet soundeth, sink the Virginia name;


s: We wash our hands forever of your sin and shame and curse.


s: In all our sunny valleys, on every wind-swept hill.


s: And when the prowling man-thief came hunting for his prey


s: Beneath the very shadow of Bunker's shaft of gray,


s: A hundred thousand right arms were lifted up on high,


s: A hundred thousand voices sent back their loud reply;


s: Through the thronged towns of Essex the startling summons rang,


s: And up from bench and loom and wheel her young mechanics sprang!


s: The voice of free, broad Middlesex, of thousands as of one,


s: The shaft of Bunker calling to that of Lexington;


s: From Norfolk's ancient villages, from Plymouth's rocky bound


s: To where Nantucket feels the arms of ocean close her round;


s: From rich and rural Worcester, where through the calm repose


s: Of cultured vales and fringing woods the gentle Nashua flows,


s: To where Wachuset's wintry blasts the mountain  larches stir,


s: Swelled up to Heaven the thrilling cry of "God save Latimer!"


s: And sandy Barnstable rose up, wet with the salt sea spray;


s: And Bristol sent her answering shout down Narragansett Bay


s: Along the broad Connecticut old Hampden felt the thrill,


s: The voice of Massachusetts! Of her free sons and daughters,


s: Deep calling unto deep aloud, the sound of many waters!


s: Against the burden of that voice what tyrant power shall stand?


s: No fetters in the Bay State! No slave upon her land!


s: Look to it well, Virginians! In calmness we have borne,


s: In answer to our faith and trust, your insult and your scorn;


s: You've spurned our kindest counsels; you've hunted for our lives;


s: We wage no war, we lift no arm, we fling no torch within


s: The fire-clamps of the quaking mine beneath your soil of sin;


s: We leave ye with your bondmen, to wrestle, while ye can,


s: With the strong upward tendencies and godlike soul of man!


s: But for us and for our children, the vow which we have given


s: For freedom and humanity is registered in heaven;


s: No slave-hunt in our borders,--no pirate on our strand!


s: No fetters in the Bay State,--no slave upon our land!


s: advertisement a slave was noted as "a Baptist preacher."


s: Who bids for God's own image? for his grace,


s: Which that poor victim of the market-place


s: Hast Thou not said that whatsoe'er is done


s: Child of Thy pitying love, I see Thee stand;


s: Once more the jest-word of a mocking band,


s: Wet with her blood your whips, o'ertask her frame,


s: Make her life loathsome with your wrong and shame,


s: Back on your heads the gathered wrong of years:


s: But her low, broken prayer and nightly tears,


s: Thou prudent teacher, tell the toiling slave


s: No dangerous tale of Him who came to save


s: Of God's free Gospel from her simple heart,


s: The market price of human flesh; and while


s: On thee, their pampered guest, the planters smile,


s: From Northern pulpits how thy work was blest,


s: While in that vile South Sodom first and best,


s: Who, with his master, to the Prophet kneels,


s: The dark slave-dungeons open, and hath borne


s: Turns to the Christian shrine his aching eyes;


s: Its rites will only swell his market price,


s: Shall priestly robbers at Thine altar stand,


s: Lifting in prayer to Thee, the bloody hand


s: From the low rice-swamp, from the trader's cell;


s: From the black slave-ship's foul and loathsome hell,


s: O'erclustered with such fruits of crime?


s: Like flints which strike the fire from steel.


s: Plead robbery's right with purchased lips,


s: The frieze and moulding, chains and whips!


s: Breathe forth once more those tones sublime


s: Which thrilled the burdened prophet's lyre,


s: Borne to us from the Old World's thrones,


s: GOD bless New Hampshire! from her granite peaks


s: Once more the voice of Stark and Langdon speaks.


s: The long-bound vassal of the exulting South


s: For very shame her self-forged chain has broken;


s: Torn the black seal of slavery from her mouth,


s: And in the clear tones of her old time spoken!


s: Oh, all undreamed-of, all unhoped-for changes


s: The tyrant's ally proves his sternest foe;


s: To all his biddings, from her mountain ranges,


s: Who is it now despairs? Oh, faint of heart,


s: Look upward to those Northern mountains cold,


s: Flouted by Freedom's victor-flag unrolled,


s: And gather strength to bear a manlier part


s: All is not lost. The angel of God's blessing


s: Encamps with Freedom on the field of fight;


s: Still to her banner, day by day, are pressing,


s: Unlooked-for allies, striking for the right


s: Courage, then, Northern hearts! Be firm, be true:


s: What one brave State hath done, can ye not also do?


s: LIFT again the stately emblem on the Bay State's


s: Give to Northern winds the Pine-Tree on our banner's


s: Sons of men who sat in council with their Bibles


s: Answering England's royal missive with a firm,


s: Rise again for home and freedom! set the battle


s: What the fathers did of old time we their sons


s: Tell us not of banks and tariffs, cease your paltry


s: Shall the good State sink her honor that your


s: Would ye barter man for cotton? That your


s: Must we kiss the feet of Moloch, pass our children


s: Is the dollar only real? God and truth and right


s: Weighed against your lying ledgers must our manhood


s: O my God! for that free spirit, which of old in


s: Smote the Province House with terror, struck the


s: For another strong-voiced Adams in the city's


s: "Up for God and Massachusetts! Set your feet


s: Perish banks and perish traffic, spin your cotton's


s: But in Heaven's name keep your honor, keep the


s: Where's the man for Massachusetts! Where's


s: Where's the hand to light up bonfires from her


s: Has she none to break the silence? Has she none


s: O my God! for one right worthy to lift up her


s: And to plant again the Pine-Tree in her banner's


s: Is this thy voice whose treble notes of fear


s: Wail in the wind? And dost thou shake to hear,


s: Actieon-like, the bay of thine own hounds,


s: Spurning the leash, and leaping o'er their bounds?


s: Sore-baffled statesman! when thy eager hand,


s: With game afoot, unslipped the hungry pack,


s: To hunt down Freedom in her chosen land,


s: Hadst thou no fear, that, erelong, doubling back,


s: These dogs of thine might snuff on Slavery's track?


s: Where's now the boast, which even thy guarded tongue,


s: Cold, calm, and proud, in the teeth o' the Senate flung,


s: O'er the fulfilment of thy baleful plan,


s: Like Satan's triumph at the fall of man?


s: How stood'st thou then, thy feet on Freedom planting,


s: Whence all could see, through the south windows slanting,


s: Crimson as blood, the beams of that Lone Star!


s: The Fates are just; they give us but our own;


s: Nemesis ripens what our hands have sown.


s: Doubtless, to thee, of one whose magic skill


s: Called demons up his water-jars to fill;


s: But, when the task was done, kept pouring still.


s: In vain with spell and charm the wizard wrought,


s: Faster and faster were the buckets brought,


s: Higher and higher rose the flood around,


s: Till the fiends clapped their hands above their master drowned


s: For God still overrules man's schemes, and takes


s: Craftiness in its self-set snare, and makes


s: The wrath of man to praise Him. It may be,


s: May leave to freer States the same wide door


s: Through which thy slave-cursed Texas entered in,


s: From out the blood and fire, the wrong and sin,


s: Of the stormed-city and the ghastly plain,


s: Beat by hot hail, and wet with bloody rain,


s: And the wild West with the roused North combine


s: And heave the engineer of evil with his mine.


s: Broadly, vaguely, all around me, lies the half-built


s: Through this broad street, restless ever,


s: Toiler, idler, slave and master, in the same quick


s: Which the hand of Power is scattering, crumbs


s: For to-day's poor pittance turning from the great


s: And the low quick pulse of music beats its measure


s: With the tongue of flattery glozing deeds which


s: From the parlor to the prison must the scene and


s: Such a light as leaves to terror whatsoe'er it does


s: Are they men whose eyes of madness from that sad


s: That the slave-ship lies in waiting, rocking


s: Shall the pleading voice of sorrow, shall the slave


s: Hateful seems the earnest sorrow, beautiful the


s: In the coming strife for Freedom, yet shall bear


s: With the Evil by their hearth-stones grappling at


s: Tarrieth long the land's Good Angel, but his


s: Shaking off thy dust, I thank thee, City of the


s: Thus, above the city's murmur, saith a Voice, or


s: Where from Freedom's sunrise drifted slowly


s: And of hope each hour's denial seemed an echo of


s: Would to God that ye were listeners to the Voice


s: Unto one another giving in the darkness blow for


s: And their harmonies of feeling overtasked and


s: Better is the storm above it than the quiet of


s: Always he who most forgiveth in his brother is


s: Through the silence, down the spaces, falling on


s: Shall we grieve the holy angels? Shall we cloud


s: Ere the long night-silence cometh, and with us it is


s: WELCOME home again, brave seaman! with thy


s: And the old heroic spirit of our earlier, better day;


s: With that front of calm endurance, on whose


s: Pressed the iron of the prison, smote the fiery


s: Is the tyrant's brand upon thee? Did the brutal


s: To make God's truth thy falsehood, His holiest


s: When, all blood-quenched, from the torture the


s: How laughed their evil angel the baffled fools to


s: They change to wrong the duty which God hath


s: On the great heart of humanity, too legible for


s: They, the loathsome moral lepers, blotched from


s: Give to shame what God hath given unto honor


s: Why, that brand is highest honor! than its traces


s: Upon old armorial hatchments was a prouder blazon


s: And thy unborn generations, as they tread our


s: Shall tell with pride the story of their father's


s: As the Templar home was welcome, bearing back-


s: The scars of Arab lances and of Paynim scimitars,


s: The pallor of the prison, and the shackle's crimson span,


s: So we meet thee, so we greet thee, truest friend of


s: He suffered for the ransom of the dear Redeemer's grave,


s: Thou for His living presence in the bound and


s: He for a soil no longer by the feet of angels trod,


s: Thou for the true Shechinah, the present home of God.


s: For, while the jurist, sitting with the slave-whip


s: From the tortured truths of freedom the lie of


s: And the solemn priest to Moloch, on each God-


s: Broke the bondman's heart for bread, poured the


s: While the multitude in blindness to a far-off Saviour


s: And spurned, the while, the temple where a present


s: Thou beheld'st Him in the task-field, in the prison


s: And thy mercy to the bondman, it was mercy unto Him!


s: In thy lone and long night-watches, sky above and


s: Thou didst learn a higher wisdom than the babbling


s: God's stars and silence taught thee, as His angels


s: That the one sole sacred thing beneath the cope of


s: That he who treads profanely on the scrolls of law


s: In the depth of God's great goodness may find


s: But woe to him who crushes the soul with chain


s: And herds with lower natures the awful form of God!


s: Then lift that manly right-hand, bold ploughman


s: Its branded palm shall prophesy, "Salvation to


s: Hold up its fire-wrought language, that whoso


s: His heart swell strong within him, his sinews


s: Hold it up before our sunshine, up against our


s: Ho! men of Massachusetts, for the love of God,


s: Take it henceforth for your standard, like the


s: In the dark strife closing round ye, let that hand


s: And the masters of the slave-land shall tremble at


s: When it points its finger Southward along the


s: Can the craft of State avail them? Can a Christless


s: In the van of Freedom's onset, the coming of that


s: Written for the anniversary celebration of the first of August,


s: Which thrilled along the bondman's veins.


s: Take heart! The promised hour draws near;


s: Supposed to be written by the chairman of the "Central Clique" at


s: His lips seemed thick; his nose seemed flat;


s: "Look there!" they said, "the Old Stone Head


s: The newsboys, peddling off their sheets,


s: Our smooth words fed the people's mouth,


s: Whose hand shall serve, whose pen shall draw,


s: Speak through him words of power and fear,


s: Shall, childlike, claim the love of Thee!


s: FRIEND of the Slave, and yet the friend of all;


s: The need of battling Freedom called for men


s: Yet firm and steadfast, at his duty's post


s: Fronting the violence of a maddened host,


s: Like some gray rock from which the waves are


s: Knowing his deeds of love, men questioned not


s: The faith of one whose walk and word were


s: Who tranquilly in Life's great task-field wrought,


s: And, side by side with evil, scarcely caught


s: Prompt to redress another's wrong, his own


s: Leaving to Time and Truth and Penitence alone.


s: Such was our friend. Formed on the good old plan,


s: A true and brave and downright honest man


s: Supplied with cant the lack of Christian grace;


s: Loathing pretence, he did with cheerful will


s: What others talked of while their hands were still;


s: And, while "Lord, Lord!" the pious tyrants cried,


s: Who, in the poor, their Master crucified,


s: In acts than words, was simply doing good.


s: That by his loss alone we know its worth,


s: And feel how true a man has walked with us on earth.


s: Through the strange world round us growing,


s: THRICE welcome to thy sisters of the East,


s: With spray-wet locks to Northern winds released,


s: And hardy feet o'erswept by ocean's foam;


s: And to the young nymphs of the golden West,


s: Whose harvest mantles, fringed with prairie bloom,


s: Trail in the sunset,--O redeemed and blest,


s: To the warm welcome of thy sisters come!


s: Broad Pennsylvania, down her sail-white bay


s: Shall give thee joy, and Jersey from her plains,


s: And the great lakes, where echo, free alway,


s: Moaned never shoreward with the clank of chains,


s: Shall weave new sun-bows in their tossing spray,


s: And all their waves keep grateful holiday.


s: And, smiling on thee through her mountain rains,


s: Vermont shall bless thee; and the granite peaks,


s: And vast Katahdin o'er his woods, shall wear


s: Their snow-crowns brighter in the cold, keen air;


s: And Massachusetts, with her rugged cheeks


s: O'errun with grateful tears, shall turn to thee,


s: Shall tremble northward with its words of fire;


s: Glory and praise to God! another State is free!


s: FROM Yorktown's ruins, ranked and still,


s: Two lines stretch far o'er vale and hill


s: Ploughed deep with hurrying hoof and wheel,


s: Stand moveless as the neighboring pines;


s: While through them, sullen, grim, and slow,


s: While they who hunt her quail with fear;


s: With household stuffs, and fowl, and swine,


s: Lo! fourscore years have passed; and where


s: And, through breached batteries, side by side,


s: And brave foes grounded, pale with pain,


s: Oh, fields still green and fresh in story,


s: Old thoughts which stirred the hearts of men,


s: Your world-wide honor stained with shame,--


s: Where flows its stripe? Where burns its star?


s: Still through each change of fortune strange,


s: From quenched hearths, where thy exiled sons


s: Written on hearing of the death of Silas Wright of New York.


s: As they who, tossing midst the storm at night,


s: While turning shoreward, where a beacon shone,


s: Meet the walled blackness of the heaven alone,


s: So, on the turbulent waves of party tossed,


s: In gloom and tempest, men have seen thy light


s: Quenched in the darkness. At thy hour of noon,


s: While life was pleasant to thy undimmed sight,


s: As through thy rural quiet, not in vain,


s: Pierced the sharp thrill of Freedom's cry of pain,


s: Man of the millions, thou art lost too soon


s: Portents at which the bravest stand aghast,--


s: The birth-throes of a Future, strange and vast,


s: Alarm the land; yet thou, so wise and strong,


s: Lapped in its slumbers deep and ever long,


s: Hear'st not the tumult surging overhead.


s: Who now shall rally Freedom's scattering host?


s: Who stay the march of slavery? He whose voice


s: Hath called thee from thy task-field shall not lack


s: Yet bolder champions, to beat bravely back


s: The wrong which, through his poor ones, reaches Him:


s: Yet firmer hands shall Freedom's torchlights trim,


s: And wave them high across the abysmal black,


s: BEAMS of noon, like burning lances, through the