Pike County Ballads and Other Poems Part 15

And never again shall break the day, And never again shall fall the night, That shall light me, or shield me, on my way

To the presence of my sad soul's delight.

Her dead love comes like a pa.s.sionate ghost To mourn the Body it held so light,

And Fate, like a hound with a purpose lost, Goes round bewildered with shame and fright.

THROUGH THE LONG DAYS.

Through the long days and years What will my loved one be, Parted from me?

Through the long days and years.

Always as then she was, Loveliest, brightest, best, Blessing and blest,-- Always as then she was.

Never on earth again Shall I before her stand, Touch lip or hand,-- Never on earth again.

But while my darling lives Peaceful I journey on, Not quite alone, Not while my darling lives.

A PHYLACTERY.

Wise men I hold those rakes of old Who, as we read in antique story, When lyres were struck and wine was poured, Set the white Death's Head on the board-- Memento mori.

Love well! love truly! and love fast!

True love evades the dilatory.

Life's bloom flares like a meteor past; A joy so dazzling cannot last-- Memento mori.

Stop not to pluck the leaves of bay That greenly deck the path of glory, The wreath will wither if you stay, So pa.s.s along your earnest way-- Memento mori.

Hear but not heed, though wild and shrill, The cries of faction transitory; Cleave to YOUR good, eschew YOUR ill, A Hundred Years and all is still-- Memento mori.

When Old Age comes with m.u.f.fled drums, That beat to sleep our tired life's story, On thoughts of dying (Rest is good!), Like old snakes coiled i' the sun, we brood-- Memento mori.

BLONDINE.

I wandered through a careless world Deceived when not deceiving, And never gave an idle heart The rapture of believing.

The smiles, the sighs, the glancing eyes, Of many hundred comers Swept by me, light as rose-leaves blown From long-forgotten summers.

But never eyes so deep and bright And loyal in their seeming, And never smiles so full of light Have shone upon my dreaming.

The looks and lips so gay and wise, The thousand charms that wreathe them, --Almost I dare believe that truth Is safely shrined beneath them.

Ah! do they shine, those eyes of thine, But for our own misleading?

The fresh young smile, so pure and fine, Does it but mock our reading?

Then faith is fled, and trust is dead, And unbelief grows duty, If fraud can wield the triple arm Of youth and wit and beauty.

DISTICHES.

I.

Wisely a woman prefers to a lover a man who neglects her.

This one may love her some day, some day the lover will not.

II.

There are three species of creatures who when they seem coming are going, When they seem going they come: Diplomates, women, and crabs.

III.

Pleasures too hastily tasted grow sweeter in fond recollection, As the pomegranate plucked green ripens far over the sea.

IV.

As the meek beasts in the Garden came flocking for Adam to name them, Men for a t.i.tle to-day crawl to the feet of a king.

V.

What is a first love worth, except to prepare for a second?

What does the second love bring? Only regret for the first.

VI.

Health was wooed by the Romans in groves of the laurel and myrtle.

Happy and long are the lives brightened by glory and love.

VII.

Wine is like rain: when it falls on the mire it but makes it the fouler, But when it strikes the good soil wakes it to beauty and bloom.

VIII.

Break not the rose; its fragrance and beauty are surely sufficient: Resting contented with these, never a thorn shall you feel.

IX.

When you break up housekeeping, you learn the extent of your treasures; Till he begins to reform, no one can number his sins.