. , • , •;:• .-, -
• .
PROFESSOR J. S.WILL
A TREASURY OF CANADIAN VERSE
For English natures, freemen, friends, Thy brothers and immortal souls.
— Love thoti thy Land.
A TREASURY
OF
CANADIAN VERSE
WITH BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
SELECTED AND EDITED BY
THEODORE H. RAND
AUTHOR OF AT MINES BASIN AND OTHER POEMS
TORONTO: WILLIAM BRIGGS LONDON: J. M. DENT & CO.
1 900
All rights reserved
THIS ANTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH-CANADIAN VERSE
IS INSCRIBED WITH AFFECTIONATE ADMIRATION
TO
LOUIS FRECHETTE
LL.D., F.R.S. CAN. C.M.G.
THE LAMARTINE OF CANADA
PREFACE
TO one opening this book for the first time, it may be permissible to say that the verse included in the volume does not treat solely nor chiefly of Canadian themes. While Canadian environment and life necessarily supply the note of inspiration and impart its timbre and accent, the thought and emotion are of wide range, and seek response in the universal heart.
The practical energies of the Canadian people are abundantly attested by extensive systems of railways and canals, a wide commerce, systems of free public education in the several provinces and territories, liberal facilities for the higher education of men and women, and an enterprising and influential press. Thirty-two years have passed since the organization of the Dominion of Canada. These years have witnessed great progress in civil and social institu- tions, and no unworthy beginning of an adequate development of the illimitable material resources of Canada's vast domain. It is noteworthy, as marking the quality of life of the people, that from the earliest settlement of the several provinces there have not been wanting public evidences of the presence of the scientific and literary spirit. The latter has expressed itself both in prose and verse, and in these recent years there is an increased activity in literary pro- duction commensurate with the expanding life of Canada- It has been my purpose to present worthy specimens of English-Canadian verse, selected from the entire field of our history. Such a collection should be of
X
Preface
interest, not only to Canadians, but to all English- speaking peoples. Here are reflected the singular loveliness of our evanescent spring, the glow and luxuriant life of our hasting summer, the sensuous glory of our autumn, and the tingle of our frosty air and the white winter's cheer. Every form and aspect of natural beauty is, in some degree, caught and ex- pressed— sometimes in homely, sometimes in classical phrase ; often with striking simplicity, and generally with much purity of thought and an authentic note. A sane and wholesome spirit is characteristic of trie verse, and its spiritual quality seems to me to be of a high order. The sympathetic reader will notice a marked pictorial use of nature in some of the specimens given, as well as a sensuous delight in nature itself, depicted, as it is, with true feeling and not infrequently with an almost flawless art. He will notice also that nature is often humanized, and tenderness, love and pity, and the subtle problems of man's life and existence, are enshrined in original and poetic similitudes to the melody of haunting music. Nor are there altogether wanting instances of that insight and vision which beholds the phenomenal and cosmic with rapt wonder as awesome beauty-gleams, radiant symbols, or sublime manifestations of the immanent and loving One in whom all things consist. Great personalities, high achievement, and noble character, also, have inspired Canadian song. From the earliest to the latest singer, a glowing devotion to native land and a loyal and loving reverence for our gracious Sovereign are characteristic notes. If it should appear that the abundant verse inspired by these latter motives is insufficiently represented in this anthology, it may suffice to say that such verse is already widely known and is not by any means the highest product of the Canadian muse. Room has been made for r the less hackneyed and richer inspirations of our poets — the virgin freshness and promise of our country ; the life and deeds of men everywhere ; the
Preface
XI
yearnings of the individual soul ; and the aspirations of a people after the noblest and the divinest. These, with domestic loves, have kindled our singers to beautiful expression that demands a wider apprecia- tion, as supplying sustenance and stimulus essential to fulness of national and imperial life. It will be observed that not only in recent verse, but also in that of nearly fifty years ago, Canadian poets have given expression to Anglo-centric conceptions and aspirations, divining with poetic insight the coming good.
While the selections have been carefully made, it will be apparent that some verse has been included whose chief claim to recognition is found in local and popular associations. It should also be said that much popular verse has been excluded, in order that the volume be kept of usable form and size. It did not fall within the plan of this anthology to include sacred and devotional lyrics, otherwise not a few hymns must have found a place, notably Joseph Scriven's "What a Friend we have in Jesus," known as widely as the language is spoken.
The printing together of the selections from any author has been advisedly adopted, as affording a greater variety and interest than could be secured by an abstract or logical classification of the verse of the entire volume. The convenience of an alphabetical order of authors is apparent, while the dates supplied in the Notes afford ample chronology. Here and there the reader may find unfilled dates of birth or death, or unexpanded initials of names, but all reason- able effort has been made to furnish complete and trustworthy information.
I wish to express my gratitude to Mr. Charles C. James, M.A., Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Ontario, who has given me free access to his valuable and extensive collection of the works of Canadian poets ; to Mr. James Bain, Jr., of the Toronto Public Library, for special facilities for inspecting the
I
xii Preface
excellent collection in his charge ; and to Mr. E. S. Caswell, of the publishing house of William Briggs, for many courtesies, and specially for aid in procuring well-nigh inaccessible materials for examination. To the many persons who have so cordially responded to letters of inquiry, and whom I may not thank by name, I express my acknowledgments. The following special works have been of service : Selections from Canadian Poets (1864), by Edward Hartley Dewart; The Canadian Birthday Book (1887), by Seranus ; Songs of the Great Dominion (1889), by William Douw Lighthall, M.A., and Morgan's Canadian Men and Women of the Time.
Special thanks are rendered to the authors who have permitted the use of their poems, and to the various publishers for copyright permission. I regret that I was unable to secure permission to include any poems by Mr. William Wilfred Campbell. Perhaps the selections from my own verse should not appear in the volume. Their inclusion, it is proper to say, is in deference to the wishes of persons of acknowledged taste, rather than to any desire of my own.
A Canadian by birth, education, and life-service, as were my father and his father, my mother and her mother, I may be pardoned the expression of a feeling of national pride that the materials are so abundant from which to prepare a representative volume, much of whose contents will not suffer by comparison with the verse of older countries. I trust that this anthology may serve as an open door through which the voices of Canadian singers may vibrate yet more widely on sympathetic ears both at home and abroad.
T. H. R.
TORONTO, CANADA, February. 1900.
AUTHORS AND SELECTIONS
THE WHITE-THROAT (T. H. R.)
PAGE
I
MARGARET H. ALDEN — Mother's World .
JOSEPH ANTISELL ALLEN — From " Daydreams "
GRANT ALLEN —
Only an Insect ....
WILLIAM TALBOT ALLISON—
' ' There sat the Women weeping for Thammuz '
The Men of the North .
Vanishings ....
SOPHIE M. ALMON-HENSLEY—
Content ..... Song ..... There is no God ....
DUNCAN ANDERSON — The Death of Wolfe Sport .....
ALICE M. ARDAGH —
Sic Passim ....
ISIDORE G. ASCHER —
By the Firelight ....
6 8 8
9 10 ii
ii
17
20 22
B
SAMUEL MATHEWSON BAYLIS— In Matabele Land The Coureur-de-Bois
JOHN WILSON BENGOUGH — Sir John A. Macdonald . Restitution
CRAVEN LANGSTROTH BETTS — In Memoriam Chaucer Pope
23 25
26 27
28 3° 30
xiv Authors and Selections
BLANCHE BISHOP —
The Bride o' the Sun ..... 31
Winter Flowers . . . . . .31
Christmas Morn ...... 32
EDWARD BLACKADDER —
Annapolis Royal ...... 33
JEAN BLEWETT—
The Two Marys ...... 33
She just keeps house for me . . . 35
At Quebec ...... 36
JOHN BREAKENRIDGE —
The Troubadour . . . . . .36
JOHN HENRY BROWN—
The Parliament of Man ..... 38
A Sunset ....... 40
EDWARD BURROUGH BROWNLOW—
The Whippoorwill ..... 40
The Sonnet ...... 41
GEORGE FREDERICK CAMERON—
The Golden Text . . . . . .41
Is there a God? ...... 43
On Tiptoe ...... 43
What matters it? . . . . . .43
BLISS CARMAN- LOW Tide on Grand Pre* .... 45
The Gravedigger ..... 46
The Crimson House ..... 48
Hack and Hew ..... .49
Phillips Brooks ...... 51
The White Gull ...... 52
AMOS HENRY CHANDLER—
When Dora died . ..... 59
EDWARD J. CHAPMAN—
A Summer Night ..... 60
ANNIE ROTHWELL CHRISTIE —
The Woman's Part . . . -63
After the Battle ...... 64
Welcome Home ..... 66
GEORGE HERBERT CLARKE—
Skater and Wolves ..... 67
To a Butterfly ...... 68
Resentment ...... 69
Ecclesiastes *..... 69
A Child's Evening Hymn . . . .69
Authors and Selections
XV
HUGH COCHRAN —
Ideal
HEREWARD K. COCKIN— The Death of Burnaby .
SARA JEANETTE DUNCAN COTES —
The Poet ....
ISABELLA VALANCY CRAWFORD — The Master-Builder The Axe of the Pioneer . From "The Helot"
The Sword ....
"These Three" ....
FRANCIS BLAKE CROFTON —
The Battle-Call of Anti-Christ .
JOHN ALLISTER CURRIE—
My Mother ....
MARGARET GILL CURRIE —
By the St John ....
SARAH ANNE CURZON —
Visit of the Prince of Wales to Laura Secord Invocation to Rain
70 70 72
73 73 74 76
77 78 81 81
83 85
NICHOLAS FLOOD DAVIN—
From " Eos" .....
A. B. DE MILLE—
The Ice King ..... Ballad ......
JAMES DE MILLE—
From " Behind the Veil "
EDWARD HARTLEY DEW ART — Shadows on the Curtain On the Ottawa .....
FREDERICK AUGUSTUS DIXON—
A Feather's Message .... Hinc Illas Lachrymae . . . .
WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND— The Habitant's Jubilee Ode
JOHN HUNTER DUVAR —
John A'Var's Last Lay .... The Minnesingers Lied .... How Balthazar the King went down into Egypt-
87
89 9i
92
96 97
98 99
101
104 106 107
xvi Authors and Selections
E
ARTHUR WENTWORTH HAMILTON EATON —
The Egyptian Lotus ... . 109
Purple Asters
Deepening the Channel .
The Phantom Light of the Baie des Chaleurs
The Meadow Lands
My Purest Longings spring
I watch the Ships
no in
112
• IJ3
114 114
JAMES DAVID EDGAR —
This Canada of Ours 116
H
CONSTANCE FAIRBANKS—
The Junction ...... 117
Halifax ....... 117
Those far-off fields . . . . .118
JOSEPH KEARNEY FORAN —
The Aurora Borealis . . . . .118
WILLIAM HENRY FULLER —
A Song of the Sea . . . . .120
ALEXANDER RAE GARVIE — From " Phantasy"
PIERCE STEVENS HAMILTON —
From " The Heroine of St John . . . . 123
S. FRANCES HARRISON —
Villanelle ....... 126
Chateau Papineau . . . . .127
September . . . . . .128
November ...... 128
THEODORE ARNOLD HAULTAIN —
Beauty ....... 129
CHARLES HEAVYSEGE —
Magnanimous and Mean .... 131
Night ....... 132
The Coming of the Morn .... 132
The Mystery of Doom ..... 133
JOHN FREDERIC HEREIN—
Simon ....... 133
The Diver ...... 137
Authors and Selections xvii
Across the Dykes The Sonnet
ANNIE CAMPBELL HUESTIS— Gentle- Breath The Little White Sun Twenty-Old and Seven- Wild
JAMES C. HODGINS— Once More A Greek Reverie .
JOSEPH HOWE —
The Flag of Old England The Deserted Nest
WILLIAM EDWARD HUNT — Golden- Rod The Sea's Influence The Passing of Summer .
RICHARD HUNTINGTON — Sunrise on the Tusket Louisburg
PAGE
137
138 138
*39 140
147 148
141 142 142
142 144
CHARLES EDWIN JAKEWAY— An Unfinished Prophecy
E. PAULINE JOHNSON (Tekahionwake) - The Song my Paddle sings At Husking Time Shadow River
Brier .... Prairie Greyhounds
149
I5S 156 157 158 159
K
ROBERT KIRKLAND KERNIGHAN—
The Song of the Thaw . . . . ,160
Peepy is not dead ..... 161
WILLIAM KIRBY—
The Marquis of Lome's visit to the North- West . 162
At Spencer Grange ..... 163
From ' ' The Sparrows , 163
MATTHEW RICHEY KNIGHT—
Jacques Cartier ..... 166
Sovereign Moments ..... 167 The Mercy of God . . . . .167
XV111
Authors and Selections
ARCHIBALD LAMPMAN —
The Railway Station . . . .168
Outlook
Among the Millet
The Loons
The Sun Cup
After Rain
June
September
The Goal of Life
168 169 169 170 170 172 174 177
MARY JANE KATZMANN LAWSON—
The Face in the Cathedral .... 177
SOPHIA V. GILBERT LEE—
The Brook . . . . . .180
LILY ALICE LEFEVRE—
Imprisoned ...... 180
Inspiration . . . . . .181
R. E. MULLINS LEPROHON —
The Huron Chiefs Daughter . . . .182
WILLIAM Douw LIGHTHALL—
The Artist's Prayer ..... 184
The Sweet Star . . . . . .186
My Native Land . . . . . .186
STUART LIVINGSTON—
The Volunteers of '85 . . . .187
To E. N. L. . . . . . . 188
The King's Fool . . . . . .189
Keats ....... 192
ARTHUR JOHN LOCKHART—
Acadie ....... 192
The Waters of Carr . . . . 193
The Lonely Pine . . . . . .194
BURTON WELLESLEY LOCKHART—
From "The Retrospect" .... 196
Love and Song ...... 197
By the Gaspereau ..... 197
JOHN E. LOGAN—
The Indian Maid's Lament— . . . .198
M AGNES MAULE MACHAR—
William Ewart Gladstone . . . .199
Schiller's Dying Vision ..... 200
Love and Faith ...... 202
A Madonna of the Entry ..... 202
Authors and Selections
XIX
EVAN MACCOLL—
The Child of Promise . . . . .204
Glenorchy ...... 205
ELIZABETH ROBERTS MACDONALD—
A Song of Seasons ..... 205
JOHN MACFARLANE—
The Two Angels . . . . . .206
A Grave in Samoa ..... 207
A Midsummer Madrigal ..... 208
KATE SEYMOUR MACLEAN —
Ballad of the Mad Ladye . . . .208
Bird Song ...... 210
ELIZABETH S. MACLEOD—
Alexander Mackenzie . . . . .211
A. D. MACNEILL— -
The Sea-Gull . . . . . .212
DONALD M'CAIG —
The Tramp . . . . . .213
JAMES M 'CARROLL —
A Royal Race ...... 215
Dawn ....... 216
The Grey Linnet ...... 216
WILLIAM M'DONNELL—
From " Manila " ...... 217
BERNARD M'EvoY—
A Photograph in a Shop Window . . .218
Revised Proofs ...... 218
THOMAS D'ARCY M'GEE—
Our Ladye of the Snow . . . . .219
WILLIAM P. M'KENZIE—
Moonlight ...... 224
Gabrielle ....... 224
The Mother's Song ..... 225
Lullaby Song ...... 226
ALEXANDER M'LACHLAN—
Indian Summer ...... 227
Bobolink % . . . . .229
The Man who rose from Nothing . . . 230
JOHN M'PHERSON —
The Mayflower . . . . . .231
In the Woods ...... 232
CHARLES MAIR —
Untamed ....... 233
The Voice of the Pines . . . . .234
The Humming Bird . . . . . 236
Innocence ....... 236
xx Authors and Selections
PAGE
GEORGE MARTIN—
Shelley ....... 238
To My Canary Bird ..... 238
Laleet ....... 240
HELEN M. MERRILL—
The Blue Flower . . . . .241
At Edgewater ...... 243
The Promise of Spring ..... 243
Sun-Gold ...... 244
SUSANNA MOODIE —
The Maple Tree ...... 244
The Fisherman's Light ..... 247
MARY MORGAN—
" In apprehension, so like a God " . . . 247
Charity ....... 248
Life ....... 248
IRENE ELDER MORTON—
Browning ...... 249
Completeness ...... 250
My Garden Wall . . . . .251
In June ....... 252
Song of the Pagan Princess .... 254
Song . . . . . -254
CHARLES PELHAM MULVANEY—
Poppoea . 255
GEORGE MURRAY —
The Thistle . . . . . .256
N
H. M. NlCKERSON —
A Recollection 260
O CORNELIUS O'BRIEN—
St Cecilia . . . . . .261
THOMAS O'HAGAN —
Ripened Fruit . . . . . .261
The Song My Mother Sings . . . .262
P
HORATIO GILBERT PARKER—
I loved my Art ...... 264
It is enough ...... 264
Their Waving Hands ..... 265
Authors and Selections
AMY PARKINSON —
The Messenger Hours
FRANK L. POLLOCK— Ad Bellonam The Trail of Gold
XXI
PAGE
268
269
ANDREW RAMSAY — Jephtha's Daughter I will not tell Atkinson's Mill
THEODORE HARDING RAND— The Dragonfly
Beauty .... Love ....
The Hepatica
"I Am" .... The Veiled Presence The Ghost Flower Glory-Roses The Carven Shores
WALTER A. RATCLIFFE—
Wanted ....
JOHN READE —
Rizpah ....
Pictures of Memory (i.-iv. )
In My Heart
To Louis Frechette
Kings of Men
Dominion Day ROBERT REID—
Poesie ....
A Song of Canada CHARLES GEORGE DOUGLAS ROBERTS—
A Nocturne of Consecration
A Nocturne of Spiritual Love
An Ode for the Canadian Confederacy
Canadian Streams
The Silver Thaw
Epitaph for a Sailor Buried Ashore
The Train among the Hills
A Song of Growth
Sleepy Man
Night in a down-town Street » .
The Falling Leaves
An Epitaph for a Husbandman
Origins ....
The Wrestler
Recessional
Ascription
270 271 272
273 276 277 277 278 279 280 280 281
282
283 285 286 288 288 289
290 290
292
295 296
297 299 300
301 301
302 3°3 304 304 3°5 306
307 309
xxii Authors and Selections
PAGE
THEODORE ROBERTS —
The Spears of Kan-Mar .... 309
Cold . .... 310
The Men of my Heart's Desire . . . .311
The Chase . . . . . .312
WILLIAM CARMAN ROBERTS—
History ....... 313
An Easter Memory . , . . 313
My Comrade Canoe ..... 314
GEORGE JOHN ROMANES —
I ask not for Thy love, O Lord .... 315
CARROLL RYAN—
From ' ' Malta " . . . . . . 316
S CHARLES SANGSTER —
England and America ..... 318
A Living Temple ...... 320
The Illumined Goal ..... 321
Love's Renewal ...... 321
'Tis Summer Still ..... 322
DUNCAN CAMPBELL SCOTT—
The Fifteenth of April ..... 322
Above St Ire'ne'e ...... 323
Off Riviere Du Loup ..... 325
The End of the Day . . . . .326
A Flock of Sheep . . . . . .326
Memory . . . . . . 327
Home Song ...... 328
Life and Death ...... 329
Ottawa ....... 329
FREDERICK GEORGE SCOTT—
A Reverie ....... 330
Easter Island . . . . . 331
A Dream of the Prehistoric .... 332
Dawn ....... 335
Van Elsen . . . . . -335
CHARLES DAWSON SHANLY —
The Walker of the Snow . . . .336
FRANCIS SHERMAN —
The Builder . . . . . .338
Between the Battles ..... 339
From " The Prelude " ..... 340
A Little While before the Fall was done . . 341
GOLDWIN SMITH—
Flossy to her Mistress . . . . .341
Authors and Selections xxiii
LYMAN C. SMITH—
Canada to Columbia
From "A Day with Homer "
WILLIAM WYE SMITH— . \
The Canadians on the Nile I * Jl
ALBERT E. STAFFORD SMYTHE— The Forgotten Poet Death the Revealer
HIRAM LADD SPENCER — The River A Hundred Years to come
EZRA HURLBURT STAFFORD— Chinook . The Strange Vessel The last Orison .
ALEXANDER CHARLES STEWART — From " The Wanderer ".
PHILLIPS STEWART— Hope .
From ' ' Corydon and Amaryllis " From ' ' De Profundis "
BARRY STRATON — Love's Harvest Charity . America .
ARTHUR J. STRINGER— A Song in Autumn Beside the Martyr's Memorial Canada to England Beethoven .
ALAN SULLIVAN—
Venice ,
The White Canoe
342 343
344
34^
346 347
348 349 350
352 353
353 354 356
356 357 357 358
BERTRAM TENNYSON— Gordon
EDWARD WILLIAM THOMSON A Day- Dream . ' The Song-Sparrow The Bad Year
JOHN STUART THOMSON — The Vale of Estabelle Even-Time Late Autumn
361
363 364 364
365
XXIV
Authors and Selections
w
FRANCIS L. DOMINICK WATERS —
Fro m " The Water Lily " . . . .369
ARTHUR WEIR
A Snowshoe Song ..... 370
Voyageur Song ...... 372
The Little Trooper . . . . -373
Little Miss Blue Eyes ..... 374
A Christmas Lullaby ..... 375
AGNES ETHELWYN WETHERALD
The House of the Trees . . . . .376
At the Window ...... 377
To February ...... 377
The Hay Field ...... 378
WILLIAM HENRY WITHROW —
October ....... 379
Cloud Castles ...... 379
R. WALTER WRIGHT—
Easter Morn ...... 380
A Still Small Voice . . . . .381
G. F. W.
Sense and Spirit ...... 382
Y
EVA ROSE YORK —
I shall not pass this way again .... 382
PAMELIA VINING YULE—
The Beautiful Artist ..... 384 Warble thy lays to me ... . 386
NOTES OF AUTHORS . . . . . .387
INDEX OF FIRST LINES . . . .405
A TREASURY OF CANADIAN VERSE
THE WHITETHROAT
SHY bird of the silver arrows of song, That cleave our Northern air so clear, Thy notes prolong, prolong,
I listen, I hear — " I — love — dear — Canada, Canada, Canada."
O plumes of the pointed dusky fir, Screen of a swelling patriot heart,
The copse is all astir
And echoes thy part ! . . .
Now willowy reeds tune their silver flutes As the noise of the day dies down ;
And silence strings her lutes, The Whitethroat to crown. .
O bird of the silver arrows of song, Shy poet of Canada dear,
Thy notes prolong, prolong, We listen, we hear —
" I — love — dear — Canada, Canada, Canada."
A Treasury of
MARGARET H. ALDEN
MOTHER'S WORLD
EYES of blue and hair of gold, Cheeks all brown with summer tan, Lips that much of laughter hold, That is mother's little Man.
Shining curls like chestnut brown, Long-lashed eyes, demure and staid,
Sweetest face in all the town, That is mother's little Maid.
Dainty room with snow-white beds, Where, like flowers with petals curled,
Rest in peace two dreaming heads, That— is mother's little World !
JOSEPH ANTISELL ALLEN From "DAY-DREAMS"
AH, what if the mind, By sense-law confined,
In time, 'neath this stratum of stars, Secretes by her spell This fair, wondrous shell
Self-substanced, till bursting the bars Of chrysalis time, Free, joyous, sublime,
She mounts the blue space, winged with light, Where, deep in the soul, Is mirrored the whole,
As in a calm lake the pure night !
Canadian Verse 3
And what, if the whole Are things of the soul,
This frame, Earth, bright Moon, garnished Skies, If- from the great Sun Of spirit are spun
All systems which gravity ties To their focal source, By a hidden force
Mysterious, dynamic, unknown — A power that controls Each orb as it rolls,
And links to the great central throne ! . .
When the dew-drops shine, On each sunlit line,
Of gossamer network, on sod Of emerald green, In the morning's sheen,
'Tis a miniature sky- work of God. . . .
Arachne how oft, In the twilight soft,
Seems poised in mid-air ; yet some tie Holds spider, moon, mote, All known, near, remote,
From mind to yon azure-domed sky !
GRANT ALLEN ONLY AN INSECT
ON the crimson cloth Of my study desk A lustrous moth Poised statuesque.
A Treasury of
Of a waxen mould
Were its light limbs shaped, And in scales of gold
Its body was draped : While its luminous wings
Were netted and veined With silvery strings,
Or golden grained, Through whose filmy maze
In tremulous flight Danced quivering rays
Of the gladsome light.
ii
On the desk hard by
A taper burned, Towards which the eye
Of the insect turned. In its vague little mind
A faint desire Rose, undefined.
For the beautiful fire. Lightly it spread
Each silken van ; Then away it sped
For a moment's span. And a strange delight
Lured on its course With resistless might
Towards the central source : And it followed the spell
Through an eddying maze, Till it fluttered and fell
In the deadly blaze.
in
Dazzled and stunned By the scalding pain,
Canadian Verse
One moment it swooned,
Then rose again ; And again the fire
Drew it on with its charms To a living pyre
In its awful arms ; And now it lies
On the table here Before my eyes
Shrivelled and sere.
IV
As I sit and muse
On its fiery fate, What themes abstruse
Might I meditate ! For the pangs that thrilled
Through that martyred frame As its veins were filled
With the scorching flame, A riddle enclose
That, living or dead, In rhyme or in prose,
No seer has read. " But a moth," you cry,
" Is a thing so small ! " Ah, yes ; but why
Should it suffer at all ? Why should a sob
For the vaguest smart One moment throb
Through the tiniest heart ? Why in the whole
Wide universe Should a single soul
Feel that primal curse ? Not all the throes
Of mightiest mind,
A Treasury of
Nor the heaviest woes
Of human kind, Are of deeper weight
In the riddle of things Than that insect's fate
With the mangled wings.
But if only I
In my simple song Could tell you the Why
Of that one little wrong, I could tell you more
Than the deepest page Of saintliest lore
Or of wisest sage. For never as yet
In its wordy strife Could Philosophy get
At the import of life ; And Theology's saws
Have still to explain The inscrutable cause
For the being of pain. So I somehow fear
That in spite of both, We are baffled here
By this one singed moth.
WILLIAM TALBOT ALLISON
" THERE SAT THE WOMEN WEEPING FOR THAMMUZ"
THE days begin to wane, and evening lifts Her eyes the sooner towards the vales of sleep ; The yellow leaf upon the night-breeze drifts And winter-voices thunder from the deep ;
Canadian Verse 7
Thammuz grows pale in death, the Queen of Shades Mocks sad-eyed Ishtar and her mourning maids.
Prostrate along the Babylonish halls,
On alabaster floors the women moan, All unadmired the lilac-tinted walls
Bespangled wantonly, and sculptured stone ; For Thammuz dies ; bereft, the Queen of Love ; Melt into tears, O Earth, O Heaven above !
Let all the Land between the Rivers sigh,
And such as ever danced with throbbing veins
To Ishtar's music, fill the sodden sky,
With lamentation and most doleful strains.
Thammuz is dead ; no more the shepherd leads
His golden flock adown Im's jewelled meads.
Proud Larsam of Chaldean cities blest,
Famed for the glories of her sun-god's home,
Erech, where countless Kings are laid to rest, And Eridhu, wet with the salt sea-foam ; —
Princes and priests and lustrous maidens there
Sing plaintive hymns to Thammuz, young and fair.
And out upon Shumir-Accadian plains,
Beneath the orient night, the shepherd boy
Blows from his oaten pipe the sweet refrains That tell of Ishtar's one-time joy ;
Ana, lord of the starry realms of space,
Roams near to earth seeking the warm god's face.
Yet full-zoned Ishtar will not weep for aye, Nor will the land forever saddened be ;
For Thammuz is not dead, some spring-time day He will appear in greater majesty :
Chaldean lovers will take heart again,
The Queen of Love will kiss the sons of men.
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THE MEN OF THE NORTH
FROM out the cold house of the north Thor's stalwart children hurtled forth, Forsook their sullen seas ; Southward the Gothic waggons rolled, While bards foretold a realm of gold, And fame, and boundless ease.
Loud rang the shields with sounding blows, The furious din of war arose
Adown the dreary land ; But Woden held them in his ken, And safely passed the Teuton men
By every hostile band.
At length,- one day, the host was thrilled At that glad cry the foremost shrilled, —
"The sea ! A southern sea !" As breathless stood the northmen there, The wind swept through their yellow hair,
And sang of empery.
Rome's doom was written in their eyes, Fell tumult under sunny skies,
Death on the Golden Horn : Now, by the rood, what southron slaves, Or land that any south sea laves,
Can face the northern born ?
VANISHINGS
THE dark has passed, and the chill Autumn morn Unrolls her faded glories in the fields ; Dead are the gilded air-hosts newly-born, The hardiest flowers droop their sodden shields,
Canadian Verse
For lovely Summer hath cut short her stay — The fickle goddess, loaded with delight, Grown wantonly unconstant, fled away Under a hoar-frost mantle yesternight.
In one brief hour, the warm and flashing skies Pale in the marble dawn ; we cannot choose, But marvel that hearts turn to stone, and eyes
Brimful of passion all their lustre lose.
Drear is the morning ; love is gone for aye, Love done to death in one bright peerless day.
SOPHIE M. ALMON-HENSLEY
CONTENT
I HAVE been wandering where the daisies grow, Great fields of tall, white daisies, and I saw Them bend reluctantly, and seem to draw Away in pride when the fresh breeze would blow From timothy and yellow buttercup, So by their fearless beauty lifted up.
Yet must they bend at the strong breeze's will, Bright, flawless things, whether in wrath he sweep Or, as ofttimes, in mood caressing, creep
Over the meadows and adown the hill. So Love in sport or truth, as Fates allow, Blows over proud young hearts and bids them bow.
So beautiful is it to live, so sweet
To hear the ripple of the bobolink,
To smell the clover blossom white and pink, To feel oneself far from the dusty street,
From dusty souls, from all the flare and fret
Of living, and the fever of regret.
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I have grown younger ; I can scarce believe It is the same sad woman full of dreams Of seven short weeks ago, for now it seems
I am a child again, and can deceive
My soul with daisies, plucking, one by one, The petals dazzling in the noonday sun.
Almost with old-time eagerness I try
My fate, and say : " un peu," a soft " beaucoup," Then, lower, " passionement, pas du tout " ;
Quick the white petals fall, and lovingly
I pluck the last, and drop with tender touch The knowing daisy, for he loves me " much."
I can remember how, in childish days,
I deemed that he who held my heart in thrall Must love me "passionately" or "not at all."
Poor little wilful ignorant heart that prays It knows not what, and heedlessly demands The best that life can give with outstretched hands !
Now I am wiser, and have learned to prize Peace above passion, and the summer life Here with the flowers above the ceaseless strife
Of armed ambitions. They alone are wise Who know the daisy-secrets, and can hold Fast in their eager hands her heart of gold.
SONG
JOY came in Youth as a humming bird, (Sing hey ! for the honey and bloom of life !) And it made a home in my summer bower With the honeysuckle and the sweet-pea flower. (Sing hey ! for the blossoms and sweets of life !)
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Joy came as a lark when the years had gone,
(Ah ! hush, hush still, for the dream is short !) And I gazed far up to the melting blue Where the rare song dropped like a golden dew. (Ah ! sweet is the song tho' the dream be short !)
THERE IS NO GOD
HpHERE is no God ! If one should stand at noon J- Where the glow rests, and the warm sunlight
plays,
Where earth is gladdened by the cordial rays And blossoms answering, where the calm lagoon Gives back the brightness of the heart of June,
And he should say : " There is no sun " — the day's Fair show still round him, — should we lose the blaze And warmth, and weep that day has gone so soon ?
Nay, there would be one word, one only thought, "The man is blind ! " and throbs of pitying scorn Would rouse the heart, and stir the wondering mind.
We/££/, and see, and therefore know, — the morn With blush of youth ne'er left us till it brought Promise of full-grown day. " The man is blind ! "
DUNCAN ANDERSON
THE DEATH OF WOLFE, i
BEHIND Jacques Cartier's hills the sun sinks low Low burn the beacon fires along the shore ; The drowsy watch dreams of his Norman home, And dusky warriors sleep, and deem their toils are o'er.
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Beneath the raven wing of sable night,
A little band, with martial fire aglow, Sweeps down, while he who nobly leads them on
Chides every tardy hour that parts him from the foe.
Not glory's star allures that dauntless breast, Nor lust of conquest fires that eagle eye ;
For hearth and home, for King and Crown, his brand Unsheathes at duty's call, and Wolfe will win or die.
And while no ghostly form unveils the fate That, ere to-morrow's eve, awaits the brave, —
Love's gifts all laid aside, — he grasps his sword, And sighs, "The paths of glory lead but to the grave."
Adown the stream, past watch and ward they glide ;
And as the keel grates on the rocky shore, Silent and stern, and lithe as roe, each Gael
Upsprings o'er crag and fell, to meet the battle's roar.
And had New France no arm to rule the fight, Or guard her oriflamme with dauntless breast ?
Had the great Marquis wearied of the strife,
His war-worn blade to sheathe, and claim a soldier's rest?
Deserted by a ribald court and King, —
Ruled by a shameless minion's reckless hand, —
A thousand vampires battening on her blood, — And knaves, or boastful fools deemed noblest of the land ; —
Cape Breton's capital laid with the ground, — Acadia lost,— of Western Empire shorn,—
No friendly fleet to shield her smouldering homes, And Stadacona's walls crumbling in sun and storm.
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Such was New France ; — but in her bosom glowed That patriot fire that burned while life was there ;
Not Vandreuil's iron rule could cool her love,
Nor Bigot's vile Friponne hound her to mad despair.
To arms ! Grandsire and striplings seek the field ;
The Censitaires obey their Seigneurs' call ; Both high and low together ply the spade,
And dainty hands weave gabions for the battered wall.
And on that morn, when like their mountain mist The Highland plumes waved o'er the beetling height,
One sentinel stood faithful at his post, —
One watchful eye gazed wondering at the sight.
But ere the warning shot could tell the tale,
The Scottish steel found sheath within his breast ;
Long may his mother wait to greet her boy ; —
He sleeps with kindred brave on Abraham's lofty crest.
One cheer above ! one answering shout below !
Swift ply the boats across the ebbing tide ; Victors of Louisbourg press proudly on,
And cheerily the gun toils up the mountain side.
The pass is won, and as grey morning breaks,
The living wave rolls o'er the grassy plain, — Grass that ere noon shall reek with human blood From heaps of dead, like weeds upheaved by storm- tost main.
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