Great Throughts Treasury

"Her Last Letter - Sitting alone by the window, Watching the moonlit street, Bending my head to listen To the well-known sound of your feet, I have been wondering, darling, How I can bear the pain, When I watch, with sighs and tear-wet eyes; And wait for your coming in vain. For I know that a day approaches When your heart will tire of me; When by door and gate I may watch and wait For a form I shall not see. When the love that is now my heaven, The kisses that make my life, You will bestow on another, And that other will be-your wife. You will grow weary of sinning (Though you do not call it so), You will long for a love that is purer Than the love that we two know. God knows I have loved you dearly, With a passion strong as true; But you will grow tired and leave me, Though I gave up all for you. I was as pure as the morning When I first looked on your face; I knew I never could reach you In your high, exalted place. But I looked and loved and worshiped As a flower might worship a star, And your eyes shone down upon me, And you seemed so far-so far. And then? Well, then, you loved me, Loved me with all your heart; But we could not stand at the altar, We were so far apart. If a star should wed with a flower The star must drop from the sky, Or the flower in trying to reach it Would droop on its stalk and die. But you said that you loved me, darling, And swore by the heavens above That the Lord and all of His angels Would sanction and bless our love. And I? I was weak, not wicked. My love was as pure as true, And sin itself seemed a virtue If only shared by you. We have been happy together, Though under the cloud of sin, But I know that the day approaches When my chastening must begin. You have been faithful and tender, But you will not always be, And I think I had better leave you While your thoughts are kind of me. I know my beauty is fading- Sin furrows the fairest brow- And I know that your heart will weary Of the face you smile on now. You will take a bride to your bosom After you turn from me; You will sit with your wife in the moonlight, And hold her babe on your knee. Oh, God! I never could bear it; It would madden my brain, I know; And so while you love me dearly I think I had better go. It is sweeter to feel, my darling- To know as I fall asleep- That some one will mourn me and miss me, That some one is left to weep, Than to die as I should in the future, To drop in the street some day, Unknown, unwept and forgotten After you cast me away. Perhaps the blood of the Saviour Can wash my garments clean; Perchance I may drink of the waters That flow through pastures green. Perchance we may meet in heaven, And walk in the streets above, With nothing to grieve us or part us Since our sinning was all through love. God says, 'Love one another,' And down to the depths of hell Will he send the soul of a women Because she loved-and fell? And so in the moonlight he found her, Or found her beautiful clay, Lifeless and pallid as marble, For the spirit had flown away. The farewell words she had written She held to her cold, white breast, And the buried blade of a dagger Told how she had gone to rest. "

"The Spirit says unto the churches, 'So many the feet that have trod The road leading up into knowledge, The steep narrow path has grown broad; And the curtain held down by old dogmas Is lifted by God.' "

"Here and Now - Here, in the heart of the world, Here, in the noise and the din, Here, where our spirits were hurled To battle with sorrow and sin, This is the place and the spot For knowledge of infinite things; This is the kingdom where Thought Can conquer the prowess of kings. Wait for no heavenly life, Seek for no temple alone; Here, in the midst of the strife, Know what the sages have known. See what the Perfect Ones saw- God in the depth of each soul, God as the light and the law, God as beginning and goal. Earth is one chamber of Heaven, Death is no grander than birth. Joy in the life that was given, Strive for perfection on earth. Here, in the turmoil and roar, Show what it is to be calm; Show how the spirit can soar And bring back its healing and balm. Stand not aloof nor apart, Plunge in the thick of the fight. There in the street and the mart, That is the place to do right. Not in some cloister or cave, Not in some kingdom above, Here, on this side of the grave, Here, should we labor and love. "

"The Spirit says unto the churches, 'Ere ever the churches began I lived in the centre of Being- The life of the Purpose and Plan; I flowed from the mind of the Maker Through nature to man. 'I sleep in the glow of the jewel, I wake in the sap of the tree, I stir in the beast of the forest, I reason in man, and am free To turn on the path of Ascension To the god yet to be. 'I was, and I am, and I will be; I live in each church and each faith, But yield to no bond and no fetter, I animate all with my breath; I speak through the voice of the living, And I speak after death.' The Spirit says unto the churches 'The dead are not gone, they are near; And my voice, when I will it, speaks through them, Speaks through them in messages clear. And he that hath ears, in the silence May listen and hear.' The Spirit says unto the churches, 'So many the feet that have trod The road leading up into knowledge, The steep narrow path has grown broad; And the curtain held down by old dogmas Is lifted by God.' "

"How does Love speak? - In the faint flush upon the tell-tale cheek, And in the pallor that succeeds it; by The quivering lid of an averted eye - The smile that proves the parent of a sigh: Thus doth Love speak. How does Love speak? By the uneven heart-throbs, and the freak Of bounding pulses that stand still and ache While new emotions, like strange barges, make Along vein-channels their disturbing course, Still as the dawn, and with the dawn's swift force: Thus doth Love speak. How does Love speak? In the avoidance of that which we seek The sudden silence and reserve when near; The eye that glistens with an unshed tear; The joy that seems the counterpart of fear, As the alarmed heart leads in the breast, And knows, and names, and greets its godlike guest: Thus doth Love speak. How does Love speak? In the proud spirit suddenly grown meek, The haughty heart grown humble; in the tender And unnamed light that floods the world with splendour; In the resemblance which the fond eyes trace In all fair things to one beloved face; In the shy touch of hands that thrill and tremble; In looks and lips that can no more dissemble: Thus doth Love speak. How does Love speak? In wild words that uttered seem so weak They shrink ashamed to silence; in the fire Glance strikes with glance, swift flashing high and higher, Like lightnings that precede the mighty storm In the deep, soulful stillness; in the warm, Impassioned tide that sweeps thro' throbbing veins, Between the shores of keen delights and pains; In the embrace where madness melts in bliss, And in the convulsive rapture of a kiss: Thus doth Love speak. "

"How Is It? You who are loudly crying out for peace, You who are wanting love to vanquish hate. How is it in the four walls of your home The while you wait? Do those who form your household welcome your approach in the morning As the earth welcomes the presence of dawn, Or do they dread your coming lest you censure and complain? Do you begin the day with praise to God for each blessing you possess, and do you speak frequent words of commendation to those about you? Do those you claim to love often hear you talking in love's language, Or is your softest tone and your sweetest speech saved for the sometime guest, While the harsh voice and the sharp retort are used with those you love the best? Are you trying to make your home a reflection of what you believe heaven will be? Unless you are you will never find heaven anywhere; The foundations of our heavenly mansions must first be built on earth. Unless you are striving to put in use some of the angelic virtues here and now, No angelhood will be accorded you hereafter. Unless you are illustrating your desire for peace by a peaceful, love-ruled home, You have no right to clamour for a cessation of hostilities among nations; Nations are only chains of individuals. When each individual expresses nothing but love and peace in his daily life, there will be no more war. You who are loudly crying out for peace, You who are wanting love to vanquish hate, How is it in the four walls of your home The while you wait? "

"Am I know not whence I came, I know not whither I go; But the fact stands clear that I am here In this world of pleasure and woe. And out of the mist and the murk Another truth shines plain – It is my power each day and hour To add to its joy or its pain. I know that the earth exists, It is none of my business why; I cannot find out what it’s all about, I would but waste time to try. My life is a brief, brief thing, I am here for a little space, And while I stay I would like, if I may, To brighten and better the place. The trouble, I think, with us all Is the lack of a high conceit. If each man thought he was sent to this spot To make it a bit more sweet, How soon we could gladden the world, How easily right all wrong, If nobody shirked, and each one worked To help his fellows along! Cease wondering why you came – Stop looking for faults and flaws; Rise up to-day in your pride and say, ‘I am part of the First Great Cause! However full the world, There is room for an earnest man. It had need of me, or I would not be – I am here to strengthen the plan.’ "

"I step across the mystic border-land, And look upon the wonder-world of Art. How beautiful, how beautiful its hills! And all its valleys, how surpassing fair! The winding paths that lead up to the heights Are polished by the footsteps of the great. The mountain-peaks stand very near to God: The chosen few whose feet have trod thereon Have talked with Him. and with the angels walked. Here are no sounds of discord-no profane Or senseless gossip of unworthy things- Only the songs of chisels and of pens, Of busy brushes, and ecstatic strains Of souls surcharged with music most divine. Here is no idle sorrow, no poor grief For any day or object left behind- For time is counted precious, and herein Is such complete abandonment of Self That tears turn into rainbows, and enhance The beauty of the land where all is fair, Awed and afraid, I cross the border-land. Oh, who am I, that I dare enter here Where the great artists of the world have trod- The genius-crowned aristocrats of Earth? Only the singer of a little song; Yet loving Art with such a mighty love I hold it greater to have won a place Just on the fair land's edge, to make my grave, Than in the outer world of greed and gain To sit upon a royal throne and reign. "

"Karma - We cannot choose our sorrows. One there was Who, reverent of soul, and strong with trust, Cried, 'God, though Thou shouldst bow me to the dust, Yet will I praise thy everlasting laws. Beggared, my faith would never halt or pause, But sing Thy glory, feasting on a crust. Only one boon, one precious boon I must Demand of Thee, O opulent great Cause. Let Love stay with me, constant to the end, Though fame pass by and poverty pursue.' With freighted hold her life ship onward sailed; The world gave wealth, and pleasure, and a friend, Unmarred by envy, and whose heart was true. But ere the sun reached midday, Love had failed. Then from the depths, in bitterness she cried, 'Hell is on earth, and heaven is but a dream; And human life a troubled aimless stream; And God is nowhere. Would God so deride A loving creature's faith?' A voice replied, 'The stream flows onward to the Source Supreme, Where things that ARE replace the things that SEEM, And where the deeds of all past lives abide. Once at thy door Love languished and was spurned. Who sorrow plants, must garner sorrow's sheaf. No prayers can change the seedling in the sod. By thine own heart Love's anguish must be learned. Pass on, and know, as one made wise by grief, That in thyself dwells heaven and hell and God.'"

"Life's Harmonies - Let no man pray that he know not sorrow, Let no soul ask to be free from pain, For the gall of to-day is the sweet of to-morrow, And the moment's loss is the lifetime's gain. Through want of a thing does its worth redouble, Through hunger's pangs does the feast content, And only the heart that has harbored trouble, Can fully rejoice when joy is sent. Let no man shrink from the bitter tonics Of grief, and yearning, and need, and strife, For the rarest chords in the soul's harmonies, Are found in the minor strains of life. "

"Life is too short for any vain regretting; Let dead delight bury its dead, I say, And let us go upon our way forgetting The joys and sorrows of each yesterday Between the swift sun's rising and its setting We have no time for useless tears or fretting: Life is too short. Life is too short for any bitter feeling; Time is the best avenger if we wait; The years speed by, and on their wings bear healing; We have no room for anything like hate. This solemn truth the low mounds seem revealing That thick and fast about our feet are stealing: Life is too short. Life is too short for aught but high endeavor— Too short for spite, but long enough for love. And love lives on forever and forever; It links the worlds that circle on above: 'Tis God's first law, the universe's lever. In His vast realm the radiant souls sigh never 'Life is too short.' "

"Immortal life is something to be earned, By slow, self-conquest, comradeship with pain, And patient seeking after higher truths. We cannot follow our own wayward wills And feed our baser appetites and give Loose reins to foolish tempers, year on year, And then cry, 'Lord, forgive me, I believe --' And straightway bathe in glory. Men must learn God's system is too great a thing for that; The spark divine dwells in each soul, and we Can fan it to a steady flame of light, Whose lustre guilds the pathway of the tomb And shines on through eternity, or else Neglect it till it simmers down to death And leaves us but the darkness of the grave. Each conquered passion feeds the living flame; Each well-borne sorrow is a step toward God. Faith cannot rescue, and no blood redeem The soul that will not reason and resolve. Lean on thyself, yet prop thyself with prayer, For these are spirits, messengers of light, Who come at call and fortify thy strength, Make friends with thee and with thine inner self, Cast out all envy, bitterness, and hate. And keep the mind's fair tabernacle pure; Shake hands with Pain, give greeting unto Grief, Those angels in disguise and thy glad soul, From light to light from star to shining star, Shall climb and claim blest immortality.' "

"Great light glorified my soul as I cried: Why home is the 'Kingdom of Love!'"

"Whoever you are as you read this, Whatever your trouble or grief, I want you to know and to heed this: The day draweth near with relief. No sorrow, no woe is unending, Though heaven seems voiceless and dumb; So sure as your cry is ascending, So surely an answer will come. Whatever temptation is near you, Whose eyes on this simple verse fall; Remember good angels will hear you And help you to stand, if you call. Though stunned with despair I beseech you, Whatever your losses, your need, Believe, when these printed words reach you, Believe you were born to succeed. You are stronger, I tell you, this minute, Than any unfortunate fate! And the coveted prize - you can win it; While life lasts 'tis never too late! "

"All in the dark we grope along, And if we go amiss We learn at least which path is wrong, And there is gain in this. We do not always win the race, By only running right, We have to tread the mountain's base Before we reach its height. But he who loves himself the last And knows the use of pain, Though strewn with errors all his past, He surely shall attain. Some souls there are that needs must taste Of wrong, ere choosing right; We should not call those years a waste Which led us to the light. "

"The longer I live and the more I see Of the struggle of souls towards the heights above, The stronger this truth comes home to me--- That the Universe rests on the shoulders of love, A love so limitless, deep, and broad, That men have re-named it, and called it God. And nothing that was ever born or evolved, Nothing created by light or force But deep in its system there lies dissolved A shining drop from the great Love source; A shining drop that shall live for aye; Though kingdoms may perish and stars decay. "

"Life is a privilege. If some sad fate Sends us alone to seek the exit gate, If men forsake us and as shadows fall, Still does the supreme privilege of all Come in that reaching upward of the soul To find the welcoming Presence at the goal, And in the Knowledge that our feet have trod Paths that led from, and must wind back, to God. "

"Memory's River - In Nature's bright blossoms not always reposes That strange subtle essence more rare than their bloom, Which lies in the hearts of carnations and roses, That unexplained something by men called perfume. Though modest the flower, yet great is its power And pregnant with meaning each pistil and leaf, If only it hides there, if only abides there, The fragrance suggestive of love, joy and grief. Not always the air that a master composes Can stir human heart-strings with pleasure or pain. But strange, subtle chords, like the scent of the roses, Breathe out of some measures, though simple the strain. And lo! when you hear them, you love them and fear them, You tremble with anguish, you thrill with delight, For back of them slumber old dreams without number, And faces long vanished peer out into sight. Those dear foolish days when the earth seemed all beauty, Before you had knowledge enough to be sad; When youth held no higher ideal of duty Than just to lilt on through the world and be glad. On harmony's river they seemed to float hither With all the sweet fancies that hung round that time- Life's burdens and troubles turn into air-bubbles And break on the music's swift current of rhyme. Fair Folly comes back with her spell while you listen And points to the paths where she led you of old. You gaze on past sunsets, you see dead stars glisten, You bathe in life's glory, you swoon in death's cold. All pains and all pleasures surge up through those measures, Your heart is wrenched open with earthquakes of sound; From ashes and embers rise Junes and Decembers, Lost islands in fathoms of feeling refound. Some airs are like outlets of memory's oceans, They rise in the past and flow into the heart; And down them float shipwrecks of mighty emotions, All sea-soaked and storm-tossed and drifting apart: Their fair timbers battered, their lordly sails tattered, Their skeleton crew of dead days on their decks; Then a crash of chords blending, a crisis, an ending- The music is over, and vanished the wrecks. "

"I coldly sit in judgment on each error, To my soul's gaze I hold each fault of me, Until my pride is lost in abject terror, Lest I become inadequate to thee."

"Hear, oh, hear, and apply! Thou the beautiful Star – The voiceless silence, I. "

"The more I give, the more remains for giving, The more receive, the more remains to win. Ah! only in eternities of living Will life be long enough to love thee in. "

"How does Love speak? "

"Morning Prayer - Let me to-day do something that shall take A little sadness from the world’s vast store, And may I be so favoured as to make Of joy’s too scanty sum a little more. Let me not hurt, by any selfish deed Or thoughtless word, the heart of foe or friend; Nor would I pass, unseeing, worthy need, Or sin by silence when I should defend. However meagre be my worldly wealth, Let me give something that shall aid my kind – A word of courage, or a thought of health, Dropped as I pass for troubled hearts to find. Let me to-night look back across the span ‘Twixt dawn and dark, and to my conscience say – Because of some good act to beast or man – “The world is better that I lived today.” "

"Let me to-day do something that shall take A little sadness from the world’s vast store, And may I be so favoured as to make Of joy’s too scanty sum a little more. Let me not hurt, by any selfish deed Or thoughtless word, the heart of foe or friend; Nor would I pass, unseeing, worthy need, Or sin by silence when I should defend. However meagre be my worldly wealth, Let me give something that shall aid my kind – A word of courage, or a thought of health, Dropped as I pass for troubled hearts to find. Let me to-night look back across the span ‘Twixt dawn and dark, and to my conscience say – Because of some good act to beast or man – “The world is better that I lived today.” "

"Our lives are songs. God writes the words, And we set them to music at pleasure; And the song grows glad, or sweet, or sad, As we choose to fashion the measure. We must write the music, whatever the song, Whatever its rhyme, or metre; And if it is sad, we can make it glad, Or if sweet, we can make it sweeter. One has a song that is free and strong; But the music he writes is minor; And the sad, sad strain is replete with pain, And the singer becomes a repiner. And he thinks God gave him a dirge-like lay, Nor knows that the words are cheery; And the song seems lonely and solemn-only Because the music is dreary. And the song of another has through the words An under current of sadness; But he sets it to music of ringing chords, And makes it a pean of gladness. So whether our songs are sad or not, We can give the world more pleasure, And better ourselves, by setting the words To a glad, triumphant measure."

"All perfect things are saddening in effect. The autumn wood robed in its scarlet clothes, The matchless tinting on the royal rose Whose velvet leaf by no least flaw is flecked, Love's supreme moment, when the soul unchecked Soars high as heaven, and its best rapture knows— These hold a deeper pathos than our woes, Since they leave nothing better to expect. Resistless change, when powerless to improve, Can only mar. The gold will pale to gray; Nothing remains tomorrow as to-day; The lose will not seem quite so fait, and love Must find its measures of delight made less. Ah, how imperfect is all Perfectness! "

"Don't shift your load on another man's back: Don't pass the buck. "

"When first I looked upon the face of Pain I shrank repelled, as one shrinks from a foe Who stands with dagger poised, as for a blow. I was in search of Pleasure and of Gain; I turned aside to let him pass: in vain; He looked straight in my eyes and would not go. 'Shake hands,' he said; 'our paths are one, and so We must be comrades on the way, 'tis plain.' I felt the firm clasp of his hand on mine; Through all my veins it sent a strengthening glow. I straightway linked my arm in his, and lo! He led me forth to joys almost divine; With God's great truths enriched me in the end: And now I hold him as my dearest friend. "

"At morn the wise man walked abroad, Proud with the learning of great fools. He laughed and said, ‘There is no God – ‘Tis force creates, ‘tis reason rules.’ Meek with the wisdom of great faith, At night he knelt while angels smiled, And wept and cried with anguished breath, ‘Jehovah, God, save Thou my child.’ "

"The stork flew over a town one day, And back of each wing an infant lay; One to a rich man’s home he brought, And one he left at a labourer’s cot. The rich man said, ‘My son shall be A lordly ruler o’er land and sea.’ The labourer sighed, ‘’Tis the good God’s will That I have another mouth to fill.’ The rich man’s son grew strong and fair, And proud with the pride of a millionaire. His motto in life was, ‘Live while you may, ’ And he crowded years in a single day. He bought position and name and place, And he bought him a wife with a handsome face. He journeyed over the whole wide world, But discontent his heart lay curled Like a serpent hidden in leaves and moss, And life seemed hollow and gold was dross. He scoffed at woman, and doubted God, And died like a beast and went back to the sod. The son of the labourer tilled the soil, And thanked God daily for health and toil. He wedded for love in his youthful prime, And two lives chorded in tune and time. His wants were simple, and simple his creed, To trust God fully: it served his need, And lightened his labour, and helped him to die With a smile on his lips and a hope in his eye. When all is over and all is done, Now which of these men was the richer one? "

"Recompense - Straight through my heart this fact to-day, By Truth’s own hand is driven: God never takes one thing away, But something else is given. I did not know in earlier years, This law of love and kindness; I only mourned through bitter tears My loss, in sorrow’s blindness. But, ever following each regret O’er some departed treasure, My sad repining heart was met With unexpected pleasure. I thought is only happened so; But time this truth taught me – No least thing from my life can go, But something else is brought to me. It is the Law, complete, sublime; And now, with Faith unshaken, In patience I but bide my time When any joy is taken. No matter if the crushing blow May for the moment down me, Still, back of it waits Love, I know With some new gift to crown me. "

"Give us the open mind, O God, The mind that dares believe In paths of thought as yet untrod; The mind that can conceive Large visions of a wider way Than circumscribes our world to-day. May tolerance temper our own faith, However great our zeal; When others speak of life and death, Let us not plunge a steel Into the heart of one who talks In terms we deem unorthodox. Help us to send our thoughts through space, Where worlds in trillions roll, Each fashioned for its time and place, Each portion of the whole; Till our weak minds may feel a sense Of Thy Supreme Omnipotence. Let us not shame Thee with a creed That builds a costly church But blinds us to a brother's need Because he dares to search For truth in his own soul and heart And finds his church in home and mart. Give us the faith that makes us kind, Give us the open sight and mind- O God, the open mind That lifts itself to meet the Ray Of the New Dawning Day: Lord, let us pray. "

"‘Anticipation is sweeter than realisation.’ It may be, yet I have not found it so. In those first golden dreams of future fame I did not find such happiness as came When toil was crowned with triumph. Now I know My words have recognition, and will go Straight to some listening heart, my early aim, To win the idle glory of a name, Pales like a candle in the noonday’s glow. So with the deeper joys of which I dreamed: Life yields more rapture than did childhood’s fancies, And each year brings more pleasure than I waited. Friendship proves truer than of old it seemed, And, all beyond youth’s passion-hued romances, Love is more perfect than anticipated. "

"Whenever I am prone to doubt or wonder - I check myself, and say, 'That mighty One Who made the solar system cannot blunder - And for the best all things are being done.' Who set the stars on their eternal courses Has fashioned this strange earth by come sure plan. Bow low, bow low to those majestic forces, Nor dare to doubt their wisdom - puny man. You cannot put one little star in motion, You cannot shape one single forest leaf, Nor fling a mountain up, nor sink an ocean, Presumptuous pigmy, large with unbelief. You cannot bring one dawn of regal splendour Nor bid the day to shadowy twilight fall, Nor send the pale moon forth with radiance tender, And dare you doubt the One who has done all? 'So much is wrong, there is such pain - such sinning.' Yet look again - behold how much is right! And He who formed the world from its beginning Knows how o guide it upward to the light. Your task, O man, is not to carp and cavil At God's achievements, but with purpose strong To cling to good, and turn away from evil - That is the way to help the world along. "

"Let there be many windows to your soul, That all the glory of the universe May beautify it. Not the narrow pane Of one poor creed can catch the radiant rays That shine from countless sources. Tear away The blinds of superstition; let the light Pour through fair windows broad as truth itself And high as God. Why should the spirit peer Through some priest-curtained orifice, and grope Along dim corridors of doubt, when all The splendor from unfathomed seas of space Might bathe it with the golden waves of Love? Sweep up the debris of decaying faiths; Sweep down the cobwebs of worn-out beliefs, And throw your soul wide open to the light Of Reason and of knowledge. Tune your ear To all the wordless music of the stars, And to the voice of Nature; and your heart Shall turn to truth and goodness as the plant Turns to the sun. A thousand unseen hands Reach down to help you to their peace-crowned heights, And all the forces of the firmament Shall fortify your strength. Be not afraid To thrust aside half-truths and grasp the whole. "

"Build on resolve, and not upon regret, The structure of thy future. Do not grope Among the shadows of old sins, but let Thine own soul’s light shine on the path of hope And dissipate the darkness. Waste no tears Upon the blotted record of lost years, But turn the leaf, and smile, oh! smile, to see The fair white pages that remain for thee. Prate not of thy repentance. But believe The spark divine dwells in thee: let it grow. That which the unpreaching spirit can achieve, The grand and all creative forces know; They will assist and strengthen as the light Lifts up the acorn to the oak-tree’s height. Thou hast but to resolve, and lo! God’s whole Great universe shall fortify thy soul. "

"Seeking for happiness we must go slowly; The road leads not down avenues of haste; But often gently winds through by ways lowly, Whose hidden pleasures are serene and chaste. Seeking for happiness we must take heed Of simple joys that are not found in speed. Eager for noon-time's large effulgent splendour, Too oft we miss the beauty of the dawn, Which tiptoes by us, evanescent, tender, Its pure delights unrecognised till gone. Seeking for happiness we needs must care For all the little things that make life fair. Dreaming of future pleasures and achievements We must not let to-day starve at our door; Nor wait till after losses and bereavements Before we count the riches in our store. Seeking for happiness we must prize this- Not what will be, or was, but that which is. In simple pathways hand in hand with duty (With faith and love, too, ever at her side), May happiness be met in all her beauty The while we search for her both far and wide. Seeking for happiness we find the way Doing the things we ought to do each day. "

"Listening patiently For some voice speaking from the mighty deep, Revealing all the things that it doth keep In secret there for me. Come back and wait, my soul! Day after day thy search has been in vain. Voiceles and silent o'er the future's plain Its mystic waters roll. God, seeing, knoweth best, And in His time the waters shall subside, And thou shalt know what lies beneath the tide, Then wait, my soul, and rest. "

"He who smiles achieves. Though you meet with loss and sorrow In the passing years, Smile a little, smile a little, Even through your tears. "

"Alone I climb the steep ascending path Which leads to knowledge. In the babbling throngs That hurry after, shouting to the world Small fragments of large truths, there is not one Who comprehends my purpose, or who sees The ultimate great goal. Why, even she, My heaven intended Spouse, my other self, Religion, turns her beauteous face on me With hatred in the eyes, where love should dwell. While those who call me Master blindly run, Wounding the ear of Faith with blasphemies, And making useless slaughter in my name. Mine is the difficult slow task to blaze A road of Facts, through labyrinths of dreams To tear down Maybe and establish IS: And substitute I Know for I Believe. I follow closely where the Seers have led: But that intangible dim path of theirs, Which may be trodden but by other Seers, I seek to render solid for the feet Of all mankind. With reverent hands I lift The mask from Mystery: and show the face Of Reason, smiling bravely on the world. The visions of the prophets, one by one, Grew visible beneath my tireless touch: And the white secrets of elusive stars I tell aloud, to listening multitudes. To fit the better world my toil ensures, Time will impregnate with a better race The Future's womb: and when the hour is ripe, To ready eyes of men, the alien spheres Shall seem as friendly neighbours: and my skill Shall make their music audible to ears Which will be tuned to those high harmonies. Mine is the work to fashion, step by step, The shining Way that leads from man to God. Though I demolish obstacles of creeds And blast tradition, from the face of earth, My hand shall open wide the door of Truth, Whose other name is Faith: and at the end Of this most holy labour, I shall turn To see Religion, with enlightened eyes, Seeking the welcome of my outstretched arms. While all the world stands hushed and awed before The proven splendour of the Fact Supreme. "

"Solitude - Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone. For the sad old earth must borrow it's mirth, But has trouble enough of its own. Sing, and the hills will answer; Sigh, it is lost on the air. The echoes bound to a joyful sound, But shrink from voicing care. Rejoice, and men will seek you; Grieve, and they turn and go. They want full measure of all your pleasure, But they do not need your woe. Be glad, and your friends are many; Be sad, and you lose them all. There are none to decline your nectared wine, But alone you must drink life's gall. Feast, and your halls are crowded; Fast, and the world goes by. Succeed and give, and it helps you live, But no man can help you die. There is room in the halls of pleasure For a long and lordly train, But one by one we must all file on Through the narrow aisles of pain. "

"Methinks ofttimes my heart is like some bee That goes forth through the summer day and sings, And gathers honey from all growing things In garden plot, or on the clover lea. When the long afternoon grows late, and she Would seek her hive, she cannot lift her wings, So heavily the too sweet burden clings, From which she would not, and yet would, fly free. So with my full fond heart; for when it tries To lift itself to peace-crowned heights, above The common way where countless feet have trod. Lo! then, this burden of dear human ties, This growing weight of precious earthly love, Binds down the spirit that would soar to God. "

"Show me the way that leads to the true life. I do not care what tempests may assail me, I shall be given courage for the strife; I know my strength will not desert or fail me; I know that I shall conquer in the fray: Show me the way. Show me the way up to a higher plane, Where body shall be servant to the soul. I do not care what tides of woe or pain Across my life their angry waves may roll, If I but reach the end I seek, some day: Show me the way. Show me the way, and let me bravely climb Above vain grievings for unworthy treasures; Above all sorrow that finds balm in time; Above small triumphs or belittling pleasures; Up to those heights where these things seem child's-play: Show me the way. Show me the way to that calm, perfect peace Which springs from an inward consciousness of right; To where all conflicts with the flesh shall cease, And self shall radiate with the spirit's light. Though hard the journey and the strife, I pray, Show me the way. "

"I am care-free, and careless, and happy to-day. Can it be there approaches a dark, dreary to-morrow? Can shadows e’er fall on this beautiful earth? Ah! To-day is my own! No forebodings of sorrow Shall darken my skies, or shall dampen my mirth. "

"Song Of The Spirit - Too sweet and too subtle for pen or for tongue In phrases unwritten and measures unsung, As deep and as strange as the sounds of the sea, Is the song that my spirit is singing to me. In the midnight and tempest when forest trees shiver, In the roar of the surf, and the rush of the river, In the rustle of leaves and the fall of the rain, And on the low breezes I catch the refrain. From the vapours that frame and envelop the earth, And beyond, from the realms where my spirit had birth, From the mists of the land and the fogs of the sea, For ever and ever the songs come to me. I know not its wording - its import I know - For the rhythm is broken, the measure runs low, When vexed or allured by the things of this life My soul is merged into its pleasures or strife. When up to the hill tops of beauty and light My soul like a lark in the ether takes flight, And the white gates of heaven shine brighter and nearer, The song of the spirit grows sweeter and clearer. Up, up to the realms where no mortal has trod - Into space and infinity near to my God - With whiteness, and silence, and beautiful things, I am bourne when the voice of eternity sings. When once in the winds or the dropp of the rain Thy spirit shall listen and hear the refrain, Thy soul shall soar up like a bird on the breeze, And the things that have pleased thee will never more please. "

"But blessings are like friends, I hold, Who love and labor near us. We ought to raise our notes of praise While living hearts can hear us. Full many a blessing wears the guise Of worry or of trouble. Farseeing is the soul and wise Who knows the mask is double. But he who has the faith and strength To thank his God for sorrow Has found a joy without alloy To gladden every morrow."

"Just a little every day- That's the way! Seeds in darkness swell and grow, Tiny blades push through the snow; Never any flower of May Leaps to blossom in a burst, Slowly, slowly, as the first, That's the way. Just a little every day. Just a little every day- That's the way, Children learn to read and write Bit by bit and mite by mite, Never any one I say Leaps to knowledge and its power; Slowly, slowly, hour by hour, That's the way! Just a little every day. "

"There is much in life that makes me sorry as I journey down life’s way. And I seem to see more pathos in poor human Lives each day. I’m sorry for the strong brave men, who shield the weak from harm, But who, in their own troubled hours find no Protecting arm. I’m sorry for the victors who have reached success, to stand As targets for the arrows shot by envious failure’s hand. I’m sorry for the generous hearts who freely shared their wine, But drink alone the gall of tears in fortune’s drear decline. I’m sorry for the souls who build their own fame’s funeral pyre, Derided by the scornful throng like ice deriding fire. I’m sorry for the conquering ones tho know not sin’s defeat, But daily tread down fierce desire ‘neath scorched and bleeding feet. I’m sorry for the anguished hearts that break with passions strain, But I’m sorrier for the poor starved souls that Never knew love’s pain. Who hunger on through barren years not tasting joys they crave, For sadder far is such a lot than weeping o’er a grave. I’m sorry for the souls that come unwelcomed into birth, I’m sorry for the unloved old who cumber up the earth. I’m sorry for the suffering poor in life’s great maelstrom hurled, In truth I’m sorry for them all who make this aching world. But underneath whate’er seems sad and is not understood, I know there lies hid from our sight a mighty germ of good. And this belief stands firm by me, my sermon, motto, text – The sorriest things in this life will seem grandest in the next. "

"This is the world's stupendous hour- The supreme moment for the race To see the emptiness of power, The worthlessness of wealth and place, To see the purpose and the plan Conceived by God for growing man. And they who see and comprehend That ultimate and lofty aim Will wait in patience for the end, Knowing injustice cannot claim One lasting victory, or control Laws that bar progress for the whole. This is an epoch-making time; God thunders through the universe A message glorious and sublime, At once a blessing and a curse. Blessings for those who seek His light, Curses for those whose law is might. Ephemeral as the sunset glow Is human grandeur. Mortal life Was given that souls might seek and know Immortal truths; and through the strife That shakes the earth from land to land The wise shall hear and understand. Out of the awful holocaust, Out of the whirlwind and the flood, Out of old creeds to Bedlam tossed, Shall rise a new earth washed in blood- A new race filled with spirit power, This is the world's stupendous hour. "

"God! though all other sins on earth persist, Strike dumb the blatant, loud-mouthed atheist. "