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THE
POETICAL WORKS
OF
MRS. LEPROHON
(Miss R. E. Mullins)
INTRODUCTION.
When, in after ages, the literature of Canada comes to be written,
it is to be hoped that among the mighty sons and daughters of
genius now unknown, or as yet unborn, some room will be kept for
the brave and loving pioneers who "gave the people of their best,"
and sang the songs of duty and patriotism and hope, ere life in
our young land had ceased to be a struggle. With the growth of
wealth and the spread of prosperity, will come leisure for more
than material interests; and thus, in course of time, the author
who has something to say will find an audience, prepared by
culture and not too busy to listen to it. And, as supply is
generally commensurate with demand, there will then be a literary
class of corresponding merit. At least, something like this has
been the rule in the progress of nations. But if those who come
after, thus favored by circumstances, surpass their predecessors
in literary skill or power, not less deserving are the latter who,
with little prospect of reward, bore the burden and the heat of
the day. This early stage in a nation's literature has, indeed, an
interest and a value of its own, which only meet with due
appreciation from a judicious and grateful posterity. If it has
not the rich, warm splendor of the later morning, it has the
welcome promise of the dawn, and a tender beauty of its own.
In this band of pioneers Mrs. Leprohon must be conceded a
distinguished place. None of them has employed rare gifts of head
and heart to better purpose; none of them had a wider range of
sympathy; none of them did more willing service, with the purest
motives, in all good causes. And, it may be added, none of them
was more happy in attaining, during life, the admiration and
friendship of a large though select circle of every creed and race
among her compatriots. It is in order to place in the hands of
those who thus loved and honored her a memorial of what she was at
her best, intellectually and morally, that this little volume has
been prepared. It contains the emotional record of a blameless and
beautiful life, the outcome of a mind that thought no evil of any
one, but overflowed with loving kindness to all. Before pointing
out, however, what we consider the salient qualities in Mrs.
Leprohon's poetry, it may be well to give our readers a brief
sketch of her too short career.
Rosanna Eleanor Mullins was born in the city of Montreal in the
year 1832. It is almost unnecessary to state that she was educated
at the Convent of the Congregation of Notre Dame, so numerous are
her affectionate tributes to the memories of dear friends
associated with that institution. Long before her education was
completed, she had given evidence of no common literary ability.
She was, indeed, only fourteen years old when she made her
earliest essays in verse and prose. Before she had bid adieu to
the years and scenes of girlhood, she had already won a reputation
as a writer of considerable promise, and as long as Mr. John
Lovell conducted the _Literary Garland_, Miss Mullins was one of
his leading contributors. She continued to write for that
excellent magazine until lack of financial success compelled its
enterprising proprietor to suspend its publication. It was some
time before another such opportunity was given to the Canadian
votaries of the muses of reaching the cultivated public. In the
meanwhile, however, the subject of our sketch--who had, in 1851,
become the wife of Dr. J. L. Leprohon, a member of one of the most
distinguished Canadian families--was far from being idle. Some of
her productions she sent to the Boston _Pilot_, the faithful
representative in the United States of the land and the creed to
which Mrs. Leprohon was proud to belong. She was also a frequent
and welcome contributor to several of the Montreal journals. It is
a pleasing evidence of her gentle thoughtfulness for a class which
many persons in her position regard with indifference that she
wrote, year after year, the "News-boy's Address" for the _True
Witness_, the _Daily News_ and other newspapers. One of her most
pathetic poems, "The Death of the Pauper Child" may also be
mentioned as a striking instance of that sweet charity which
comprehended in its sisterly range the poor, the desolate and the
suffering. The _Journal of Education_, edited by the Hon. P. J. O.
Chauveau, himself an honor to Canadian Literature; the _Canadian
Illustrated News_, edited by Mr. John Lesperance, distinguished
both as a poet and a novelist; the _Saturday Reader_, the
_Hearthstone_, and other periodicals, both in Canada and
elsewhere, were always glad to number Mrs. Leprohon's productions
among their most attractive features. She had always a ready pen,
the result of a full heart and far-reaching sympathies, and,
therefore, was frequently asked to write on subjects of current
interest. Among her "occasional" poems; several of which are in
this volume, may be mentioned the touching stanzas on the
"Monument to the Irish Emigrants," those on the "Old Towers" at
the "Priest's Farm," those on the renewal of her vows by the Lady
Abbess of the Congregation of Notre Dame, the poem on the
"Recollect Church," and the address "To the Soldiers of Pius The
Ninth." One of her most important efforts of this kind was her
translation of the Cantata composed by M. Sempé on the occasion of
the visit of the Prince of Wales to Canada in 1860.
We have attempted such a classification of the poems as we thought
would best show the range of Mrs. Leprohon's powers. Under every
one of the headings which we have adopted the reader will find
something to profit and delight. The lover of nature will find
himself carried in fancy to the fairest or grandest of Canadian
scenes; he who loves to indulge in reveries of the past can with
her stand with Jacques Cartier on Mount Royal three centuries ago
and survey the mighty expanse of forest, destined one day to be
the home of a thriving people; those whose pleasure it is to read
of heroic deeds will hear her sing of ennobling courage and
fortitude that blenched not at death. But by many, we think, Mrs.
Leprohon will be most cherished as she tells in sweet and simple
rhyme of the tenderness of a mother's love, of a wife's devotion,
a husband's loyal trust, of the pious offices of the domestic
altar, of the parting by the death-bed that is not without hope,
of the loved and lost that yet are "not lost but only gone
before." To illustrate these varied characteristics by quotation
would demand far more, than our allotted space. We can, therefore,
only refer the reader to the book itself, confident that in its
pages he will find all that we have indicated and much more.
Just a word as to Mrs. Leprohon's prose writings. Though in this
sketch we have dwelt upon her work as a poet, it is as a writer of
fiction that she has won her most marked popular successes, that
she has reached the hearts of the two great communities of which
this province is composed. For no less than four of her most
elaborate tales have been translated into French; these are, _Ida
Beresford_, the _Manor House of Villerati, Antoinette de
Mirecourt,_ and _Armand Durand_. Besides these, she has written
_Florence FitzHarding, Eva Huntingdon, Clarence FitzClarence_ and
_Eveleen O'Donnell_. In the _Manor House of Villerai_ she has
described with a skilful pen the manners and customs of the
forefathers of the French Canadian people, such as they were at
the period of the great contest which changed the destinies of
Canada. In _Armand Durand_ we have a courageous struggle with
adverse fortune, which is at last crowned with success. The sad
consequences of secret marriage, unblessed by parental consent,
are unfolded in _Antoinette de Mirecourt,_ one of the finest of
Mrs. Leprohon's novels, and of which the French translation has
lately been honored by a new edition. Of her merits as a novelist
one of the ablest of French Canadian critics writes thus: "Gifted
with a deep knowledge of the human heart, she finds in domestic
life the subject of attractive pictures, full of delicacy and good
taste, which she dramatizes with remarkable power. Her charm lies,
not in any complication of intrigue or in problems hard to solve,
but in a skilful working out of details, in incidents which fix
the reader's attention, in the conception of her characters, in
the painting of personal traits, in purity of thought, in
sweetness of sentiment, in beauty of style, in the harmony of the
parts, and in the most scrupulous regard for morality." This is
high praise, and it comes from high authority. We will simply add
that, with a few necessary changes, it may also be applied to Mrs.
Leprohon's poems.
From this imperfect sketch of Mrs. Leprohon's literary life it
will be seen that she was no sluggard. But we would leave a wrong
impression if we gave it to be understood that all her time was
passed in the writing of either poems or tales. Far from it. They
constituted but one phase in a life nobly, yet unostentatiously,
consecrated to the duties of home, of society, of charity and of
religion. Mrs. Leprohon was much more than either a poet or a
novelist--she was, also, in the highest sense, a woman, a lady.
Had she never written a verse of poetry or a page of prose, she
would still have been lovingly remembered for what she was as
wife, as mother, as friend. It is, in a great part, because they
are associated with her in these more endearing aspects, that they
are the true mental and moral offspring of her very self, that
those who knew her will find in them so much to prize. Alas! these
and loving memories, that can scarce be separated from them, are
now all that is left of her. On the 20th of September, 1879, after
a tedious illness, endured with Christian resignation, she passed
away. She did not live to receive the reward that was her due on
earth, but that which is above is hers, and her works live after
her, and a memory that will not perish.
In conclusion, we will just allow ourselves to point out that, in
connection with her comparatively early death, there is a touching
interest attached to some of her poems, such, especially, as "The
Parting Soul to her Guardian Angel" and "The Voices of the Death
Chamber." In the former she says:
"Thy soft-breathed hopes with magic might
Have chased from my soul the shades of night.
Console the dear ones I part from now,
Who hang o'er my couch with pallid brow;
Tell them, we'll meet in yon shining sky,
And, Angel Guardian, I now can die."
And in the latter, which has all the vividness of an actual
death-scene, as the husband and children from whom she must part
are kneeling by the bed-side, the sufferer says:
"Oh! if earthly love could conquer
The mighty power of death,
_His_ love would stay the current
Of my failing strength and breath;
And that voice whose loving fondness
Has been my earthly stay
Could half tempt me from the voices
That are calling me away."
But at last they come nearer and sound louder, till they "drown
all sounds of mortal birth," and "in their wild triumphal
sweetness," lure her away from earth to Heaven.
SACRED POEMS
ABRAHAM'S SACRIFICE.
The noontide sun streamed brightly down
Moriah's mountain crest,
The golden blaze of his vivid rays
Tinged sacred Jordan's breast;
While towering palms and flowerets sweet,
Drooped low 'neath Syria's burning heat.
In the sunny glare of the sultry air
Toiled up the mountain side
The Patriarch sage in stately age,
And a youth in health's gay pride,
Bearing in eyes and in features fair
The stamp of his mother's beauty rare.
She had not known when one rosy dawn,
Ere they started on their way,
She had smoothed with care his clustering hair,
And knelt with him to pray,
That his father's hand and will alike
Were nerved at his young heart to strike.
The Heavenly Power that with such dower
Of love fills a mother's heart,
Ardent and pure, that can all endure,
Of her life itself a part,
Knew too well that love beyond all price
To ask of _her_ such a sacrifice.
Though the noble boy with laughing joy
Had borne up the mountain road
The altar wood, which in mournful mood
His sire had helped to load,
Type of Him who dragged up Calvary,
The cross on which he was doomed to die.
The hot breath of noon began, full soon,
On his youthful frame to tell;
On the ivory brow, flushed, wearied now,
It laid its burning spell;
And listless--languid--he journeyed on,
The smiles from _his_ lips and bright eyes gone.
Once did he say, on their toilsome way,
"Father, no victim is near,"
But with heavy sigh and tear-dimmed eye,
In accents sad though clear,
Abraham answered: "The Lord, our guide,
A fitting sacrifice will provide."
The altar made and the fuel laid,
Lo! the victim stretched thereon
Is Abraham's son, his only one,
Who at morning's blushing dawn
Had started with smiles that care defied
To travel on at his father's side.
With grief-struck brow the Patriarch now
Bares the sharp and glittering knife;
On that mournful pyre, oh hapless sire!
Must he take his darling's life?
Will fails not, though his eyes are dim,
God gave his boy--he belongs to him.
With anguish riven, he casts towards Heaven
One look, imploring, wild,
That doth mutely pray for strength to slay
His own, his only child;
When forth on the air swells a glad command,
And an angel stays his trembling hand.
The offering done, the sire and son
Come down Moriah's steep,
Joy gleaming now on Abraham's brow,
In his heart thanksgiving deep;
While with love from His lofty and glorious Throne
Heaven's King hath smiled on sire and son.
THE STABLE OF BETHLEHEM.
'Twas not a palace proud and fair
He chose for His first home;
No dazz'ling pile of grandeur rare,
With pillar'd hall and dome;
Oh no! a stable, rude and poor,
Received Him at His birth;
And thus was born, unknown, obscure,
The Lord of Heaven and Earth.
No band of anxious menials there,
To tend the new-born child,
Joseph alone and Mary fair
Upon the infant smiled;
No broidered linens fine had they
Those little limbs to fold,
No baby garments rich and gay,
No tissues wrought with gold.
Come to your Saviour's lowly bed,
Ye vain and proud of heart!
And learn with bowed and humbled head
The lesson 'twill impart;
'Twill teach you not to prize too high
The riches vain of earth--
But to lay up in God's bright sky
Treasures of truer worth.
And you, poor stricken sons of grief,
Sad outcasts of this life,
Come, too, and seek a sure relief
For your heart's bitter strife;
Enter that village stable door,
And view that lowly cot--
Will it not teach you to endure,
And even bless your lot?
VIRGIN OF BETHLEHEM.
Virgin of Bethlehem! spouse of the Holy One!
Star of the pilgrim on life's stormy sea!
Humbler thy lot was than this world's most lowly one,
List to the prayers that we offer to thee!
Not for the joys that this false earth bestoweth,
Empty and fleeting as April sunshine,
But for the grace that from holiness floweth,
Grace, purest Mother, that always was thine.
Charity ardent, and zeal that abounded,
Thine was the will of thy Father above,
Thus thy life's fervor so strangely confounded
Cold hearts that mocked at religion's pure love.
Meekness in suffering, patience excelling,
Bowed thee, unmurm'ring, beneath sorrow's rod;
Spirit of purity ever indwelling
Made thee the Temple and Mother of God.
These are the gifts that thy children implore,
With hearts warmly beating, and low bended knee;
Oh! ask of thy Son, whom we humbly adore,
To grant us the prayers that we whisper to thee.
THE PURIFICATION.
Softly the sunbeams gleamed athwart the Temple proud and high--
Built up by Israel's wisest to the Lord of earth and sky--
Lighting its gorgeous fretted roof, and every sacred fold
Of mystic veil--from gaze profane that hid the ark of old.
Ne'er could man's gaze have rested on a scene more rich and
bright:
Agate and porphyry--precious gems--cedar and ivory white,
Marbles of perfect sheen and hue, sculptures and tintings rare,
With sandal wood and frankincense perfuming all the air.
But see, how steals up yonder aisle, with rows of columns high,
A female form, with timid step and downcast modest eye;--
A girl she seems by the fresh bloom that decks her lovely face--
With locks of gold and vestal brow, and form of childish grace.
Yet, no! those soft, slight arms enfold a helpless new-born
child,
Late entered on this world of woe--still pure and undefiled;
While two white doves she humbly lays before the altar there
Tell that, despite her girlish years, she knows a matron's care.
No fairer sight could heart have asked than that which met the
view,
E'en had He been the child of sin--and she a sinner, too;
But how must heavenly hosts have looked in breathless rapture on,
Knowing Him, as the Temple's Lord--the Word--th'Eternal Son!
While _she_ was that Maid Mother rare--fairest of Adam's race,
Whom Heaven's Archangel, bending low, had hailed as full of
grace,--
The Mother of that infant God close clasped unto her breast--
the Mary humble, meek and pure, above all women _blessed_.
OUR SAVIOUR'S BOYHOOD.
With what a flood of wondrous thoughts
Each Christian breast must swell
When, wandering back through ages past,
With simple faith they dwell
On quiet Nazareth's sacred sod,
Where the Child Saviour's footsteps trod.
Awe-struck we picture to ourselves
That brow serene and fair,
That gentle face, the long rich curls
Of wavy golden hair,
And those deep wondrous, star-like eyes,
Holy and calm as midnight skies.
We see Him in the work-shop shed
With Joseph, wise and good,
Obedient to His guardian's word,
Docile and meek of mood;
The Mighty Lord of Heaven and Earth
Toiling like one of lowly birth.
Or else, with His young Mother fair--
That sinless, spotless one,
Who watched with fond and reverent care,
Her high and glorious Son,
Knowing a matron's joy and pride,
And yet a Virgin pure beside.
All marvelled at the strange, shy grace
Of Mary's gentle Son;
Young mothers envied her the Boy
Who love from all hearts won;
And, gazing on that face so mild,
Prayed low to Heaven for such a child.
Though with the boys of Nazareth
He never joined in mirth,
Yet young and old felt strangely drawn
Towards His modest worth;
E'en though that quiet, wondrous Child,
Had never laughed nor even smiled.*
For even then prophetic rose
Before His spirit's gaze
The cruel Cross, the griefs reserved
For manhood's coming days,
And, worse than all, the countless host
That, spite His pangs, might yet be lost.
Silent and calm, He held His way
From morn till evening still;
His thoughts intent on working out
His Mighty Father's will;
While Heaven bent in ecstasy,
O'er the Boy-God of Galilee.
[* An old tradition avers that our Saviour was never seen to
laugh during His mortal life.]
OUR SAVIOUR AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN AT THE WELL.
Close beside the crystal waters of Jacob's far-famed well,
Whose dewy coolness gratefully upon the parched air fell,
Reflecting back the bright hot heavens within its waveless
breast,
Jesus, foot-sore and weary, had sat Him down to rest.
Alone was He--His followers had gone to Sichar near,
Whose roofs and spires rose sharply against the heavens clear,
For food which Nature craveth, whate'er each hope or care,
And which, though Lord of Nature, He disdained not to share.
While thus He calmly waited, came a woman to the well,
With water vase poised gracefully, and step that lightly fell,
One of Samaria's daughters, most fair, alas! but frail,
Her dark locks bound with flowers instead of modest, shelt'ring
veil.
No thought of scornful anger within _His_ bosom burned,
Nor, with abhorrent gesture, His face from her He turned;
But as His gaze of purity dwelt on her, searching, meek,
Her bright eyes fell, and blushes hot burned on her brow and
cheek.
He told her with a gentleness, by God-like pity nursed,
Of wond'rous living fountains at which to slake her thirst;
That those whose lips, thrice blessed, should a draught from them
obtain,
Despite earth's toils and troubles, would ne'er know thirst
again.
He spoke, too, of the frailties which her womanhood had marred,
That priceless crown which, she, alas! had sadly failed to guard,
No word of bold denial did that woman dare to plan--
She felt that He who spoke with her was more than mortal man.
And when the twelve disciples returned, their errand done,
They wondered at His converse with that lost and erring one,
But still they asked no question, while she, with thoughtful
mien,
Returned to tell her friends at home of all that she had seen.
Not only for that daughter of Samaria's hot clime--
Child of an ancient people, of a by-gone faith and time--
Was meant the exhortation that from His lips then fell,
But for His Christian children, for us, to-day, as well.
For us, still pure and sparkling, those living waters flow
Of which He told Samaria's child long centuries ago:
Forgetting thoughts of earthly pride, and hopes of worldly gain,
Seek we but once of them to drink--we'll never thirst again.
THE TEN LEPERS.
'Neath the olives of Samaria, in far-famed Galilee,
Where dark green vines are mirrored in a placid silver sea,
'Mid scenes of tranquil beauty, glowing sun-sets, rosy dawn,
The Master and disciples to the city journeyed on.
And, as they neared a valley where a sheltered hamlet lay,
A strange, portentous wailing made them pause upon their way--
Voices fraught with anguish, telling of aching heart and brow,
Which kept moaning: "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us now!"
Softly raised the gentle Saviour His eyes like midnight star,
And His mournful gaze soon rested on ten lepers, who, afar,
Stood motionless and suppliant, in sackcloth rudely clothed,
Poor Pariahs! by their nearest, their dearest, shunned and
loathed.
Not unto Him prayed vainly those sore afflicted ten,
No! He yearned too fondly over the erring sons of men,
Even sharing in their sorrows, though He joined not in their
feasts,--
So He kindly told the Lepers: "Show yourselves unto the priests."
When, miracle of mercy! as they turned them to obey,
And towards the Holy Temple quickly took their hopeful way,
Lo! the hideous scales fell off them, health's fountains were
unsealed,
Their skin grew soft as infant's--their leprosy was healed.
O man! so oft an ingrate, to thy thankless nature true,
Thyself see in those Lepers, who did as thou dost do;
Nine went their way rejoicing, healed in body--glad in soul--
Nor once thought of returning thanks to Him who made them whole.
One only, a Samaritan, a stranger to God's word,
Felt his joyous, panting bosom, with gratitude deep stirred,
And without delay he hastened, in the dust, at Jesus' feet,
To cast himself in worship, in thanksgiving, warm and meet.
Slowly questioned him the Saviour, with majesty divine:--
"Ten were cleansed from their leprosy--where are the other nine?
Is there none but this one stranger--unlearned in Gods ways,
His name and mighty power, to give word of thanks or praise?"
The sunbeams' quivering glories softly touched that God-like
head,
The olives blooming round Him sweet shade and fragrance shed,
While o'er His sacred features a tender sadness stole:
"Rise, go thy way," He murmured, "thy faith hath made thee
whole!"
THE BLIND MAN OF JERICHO.
He sat by the dusty way-side,
With weary, hopeless mien,
On his furrowed brow the traces
Of care and want were seen;
With outstretched hand and with bowed-down head
He asked the passers-by for bread.
The palm-tree's feathery foliage
Around him thickly grew,
And the smiling sky above him
Wore Syria's sun-bright hue;
But dark alike to that helpless one
Was murky midnight or noon-tide sun.
But voices breaking the silence
Are heard, fast drawing nigh,
And falls on his ear the clamor
Of vast crowds moving by:
"What is it?" he asks, with panting breath;
They answer: "Jesus of Nazareth."
What a spell lay in that title,
Linked with such mem'ries high
Of miracles of mercy,
Wrought 'neath Judaea's sky!
Loud calls he, with pleading voice and brow,
"Oh! Jesus, on me have mercy now!"
How often had he listened
To wond'rous tales of love--
Of the Galilean's mercy,
Of power from above,
To none other given of mortal birth
To heal the afflicted sons of earth.
With faith that never wavered
Still louder rose his cry,
Despite the stern rebuking
Of many standing nigh,
Who bade him stifle his grief or joy,
Nor "the Master rudely thus annoy."
But, soon that voice imploring
Struck on the Saviour's ear,
He stopped, and to His followers
He said "Go bring him here!"
And, turning towards him that God like brow,
He asked the suppliant, "What wouldest thou?"
Though with awe and hope all trembling,
Yet courage gaineth he,
And imploringly he murmurs:
"Oh Lord! I fain would see!"
The Saviour says in accents low:
"Thy faith hath saved thee--be it so!"
Then on those darkened eye-balls
A wondrous radiance beamed,
And they drank in the glorious beauty
That through all nature gleamed;
But the fairest sight they rested on
Was the Saviour, David's royal Son.
O rapture past all telling!
The bliss that vision brought!
Could a whole life's praises thank _Him_
For the wonder He had wrought?
Yet is Jesus the same to-day as then,
Bringing light and joy to the souls of men.
THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE.
The place is fair and tranquil, Judaea's cloudless sky
Smiles down on distant mountain, on glade and valley nigh,
And odorous winds bring fragrance from palm-tops darkly green,
And olive trees whose branches wave softly o'er the scene.
Whence comes the awe-struck feeling that fills the gazer's
breast,
The breath, quick-drawn and panting, the awe, the solemn rest?
What strange and holy magic seems earth and air to fill,
That worldly thoughts and feelings are now all hushed and still?
Ah! here, one solemn evening, in ages long gone by,
A mourner knelt and sorrowed beneath the starlit sky,
And He whose drops of anguish bedewed the sacred sod
Was Lord of earth and heaven, our Saviour and our God!
Hark to the mournful whispers from olive leaf and bough!
They fanned His aching temples, His damp and grief-struck brow;
Hark! how the soft winds murmur with low and grieving tone!
They heard His words of anguish, they heard each sigh and moan.
Alone in deepest agony, while tired apostles slept;
No one to share His vigil--weep with Him as He wept;
Before Him, clearly rising, the Cross, the dying pain,
And sins of hosts unnumbered whose souls He dies to gain.
O Garden of Gethsemane! the God-like lesson, then
Left as a precious token to suff'ring, sorrowing men,
Has breaking hearts oft strengthened, that else, so sharply
tried,
Had sunk beneath sin's burden and in despair had died.
O Garden of Gethsemane! "when pressed and sore afraid,"
May I in spirit enter beneath thine olive shade,
And, great though be my anguish, still, like that God-like One,
Submissive say: "Oh Father! Thy will, not mine, be done!"
MYSTICAL ROSE, PRAY FOR US!
O aptly named, Illustrious One!
Thou art that flower fair
That filled this vast and changeful world
With mystic perfume rare--
Shedding on all the balmy breath
Of countless virtues high,
Rising like fragrant odours rich,
To God's far, beauteous sky.
Mystical Rose! O aptly named!
For, as 'mid brightest flowers
The lovely Rose unquestioned reigns
The Queen of Nature's bowers,
So 'mid the daughters fair of Eve
Art thou the peerless One!
The chosen handmaid of the Lord!
The Mother of His Son!
Yes, He endowed thee with all gifts
Which could thy beauty grace;
And ne'er did sin, e'en for one hour,
Thy spotless soul deface,
For from the first thou had'st the power
God's fav'ring love to win;
It was His will that thou should'st be
Conceived devoid of sin.
Oh, Mother dear, obtain for us
That we from evil flee;
Throughout this, fleeting life's career
Mayst thou our model be!
Seek we to imitate the gifts
That thy pure soul adorn--
Sweet flower of beauty and of grace!
Fair Rose without a thorn!
MATER CHRISTIANORUM, ORA PRO NOBIS!
In the hour of grief and sorrow,
When my heart is full of care,
Seeking sadly hope to borrow
From heaven's promises and prayer;
When around me roll the waters
Of affliction's stormy sea,
Mary, gentle Queen of Mercy,
In that hour, oh! pray for me!
When life's pulses high are bounding
With the tide of earthly joy,
And when in mine ears are sounding
Strains of mirth without alloy;
When the whirl of giddy pleasure
Leaves no thought or feeling free,
And I slight my heavenly treasure,
Watchful Mother, pray for me!
When the soft voice of Temptation
Lures my listening soul to sin,
And, with baleful fascination,
Strives my vain, weak heart to win;
With the combat faint and weary,
If I call not then on thee--
In that time of peril dreary,
Tender Mother, pray for me!
If, in some unguarded hour
Of dark passion or of pride,
Evil thoughts, with serpent power
To my inmost bosom glide--
Ah! while I from bonds unholy,
Vainly seek myself to free--
Mary, pure and meek and lowly,
Pray, oh! Mary, pray for me!
When with Heaven high communing
In the solemn hour of prayer--
To its strains my soul attuning,
I forget all worldly care;
When earth's voices for a season
My vex'd spirit have left free--
Still, dear Mother, near me hover!
Still, sweet Mary, pray for me!
And in that supremest hour,
When life's end is drawing nigh--
When earth's scenes and pomps and power
Fade before my tear-dimmed eye--
When I on the shore am lying
Of eternity's wide sea--
Then, O Refuge of the dying,
Tender Mother, pray for me!
THE MAGDALEN AT THE MADONNA'S SHRINE.
O Madonna, pure and holy,
From sin's dark stain ever free,
Refuge of the sinner lowly,
I come--I come to thee!
Now with wreaths of sinful pleasure
Yet my tresses twined among;
From the dance's giddy measure,
From the idle jest and song.
See! I tear away the flowers
From my perfumed golden hair,
Closely tended in past hours
With such jealous, sinful care;
Never more for me they blossom,
Not for me those jewels vain:
On my arms or brow or bosom,
They shall never shine again.
Dost thou wonder at my daring
Thus to seek thy sacred shrine,
When the sinner's lot despairing,
Wretched--hopeless--should be mine?
To the instincts high of woman
Most unfaithful and untrue;
Yet Madonna, hope inspires me,
For thou wast a woman too.
Evil promptings, dark-despairing,
Whisper: "Leave this sacred spot;
Back to sinful joys, repairing,
In them live and struggle not!"
But a bright hope tells that heaven
May by me e'en yet be won,
That I yet may be forgiven,
Mary, by thy spotless Son!
Yes! I look on thy mild features,
Full of dove-like, tender love--
Once the humblest of God's creatures,
Now with Him enthroned above!
Every trait angelic breathing
Sweetest promises of peace;
And the smile thy soft lips wreathing
Tell me that my griefs shall cease.
Soft the evening shadows gather
But no longer shall I wait,
I will rise and seek the Father,
For it is not yet too late;
And when earthly cares oppress me,
When life's paths my bruised feet pain;
Hither shall I come to rest me,
And new strength and courage gain!
THE VESPER HOUR.
Soft and holy Vesper Hour--
Precursor of the night--
How I love thy soothing power,
The hush, the fading light;
Raising those vain thoughts of ours
To higher, holier things--
Mingling gleams from Eden's bowers
With earth's imaginings!
How thrilling in some grand old fane
To hear the Vesper prayer
Rise, with the organ's solemn strain,
On incense-laden air;
While the last dying smiles of day
Athwart the stained glass pour--
Flooding with red and golden ray
The shrine and chancel floor.
Who, at such moment, has not felt
Those yearnings, vague, yet sweet,
For Heaven's joys at last to melt,
Into fruition meet;
And wished, as with rapt soul he viewed
That glorious Home above,
That earth's vain thoughts would ne'er intrude
On visions of God's love?
To this calm hour belongs a sway
The bright day cannot wield--
Sweet as the evening star's first ray,
Transforming wood and field;
Soft'ing gay flowers else too bright
And silvering hill and dell;
And clothing earth in that mild light
The sad heart loves so well.
THE PARTING SOUL AND HER GUARDIAN ANGEL.
(_Written during sickness_).
_Soul_--
Oh! say must I leave this world of light
With its sparkling streams and sunshine bright,
Its budding flowers, its glorious sky?
Vain 'tis to ask me--I cannot die!
_Angel_--
But, sister, list! in the realms above,
That happy home of eternal love,
Are flowers more fair, and skies more clear
Than those thou dost cling to so fondly here.
_Soul_--
Ah! yes, but to reach that home of light
I must pass through the fearful vale of night;
And my soul with alarm doth shuddering cry--
O angel, I tell thee, I dare not die!
_Angel_--
Ah! mortal beloved, in that path untried
Will I be, as ever, still at thy side,
Through gloom to guide till, death's shadows passed,
Thou nearest, unharmed, God's throne at last.
_Soul_--
Alas! too many close ties of love
Around my wavering heart are wove!
Fond, tender voices, press me to stay--
Think'st thou from them I would pass away?
Daily my mother, with anguish wild,
Bends o'er the couch of her dying child,
And one, nearer still, with silent tears,
Betrays his anguish, his gloomy fears--
Yes, even now, while to thee I speak,
Are hot drops falling upon my cheek;
Think you I'd break from so close a tie?
No, my guardian angel, I cannot die!
_Angel_--
Poor child of earth! how closely clings
Thy heart to earth and to earthly things!
Wilt thou still revolt if I whisper low
That thy Father in Heaven wills it so--
Wills that with Him thou should'st henceforth dwell,
To pray for those whom thou lovest so well,
Till a time shall come when you'll meet again,
To forget for ever life's grief and pain?
_Soul_--
Spirit, thy words have a potent power
O'er my sinking heart in this awful hour,
And thy soft-breathed hopes, with magic might.
Have chased from my soul the shades of night.
Console the dear ones I part from now,
Who hang o'er my couch with pallid brow,
Tell them we'll meet in yon shining sky--
And, Saviour tender, now let me die!
ASH-WEDNESDAY.
Glitt'ring balls and thoughtless revels
Fill up now each misspent night--
'Tis the reign of pride and folly,
The Carnival is at its height.
Every thought for siren pleasure,
And its sinful, feverish mirth;
Who can find one moment's leisure
For aught else save things of earth?
But, see, sudden stillness falling
O'er those revels, late so loud,
And a hush comes quickly over
All the maddened giddy crowd,
For a voice from out our churches
Has proclaimed in words that burn:
"Only dust art thou, proud mortal,
And to dust shall thou return!"
And, behold, Religion scatters
Dust and ashes on each brow;
Thus replacing gem and flower
With that lowly symbol now:
On the forehead fair of beauty,
And on manhood's front of pride,
Rich and poor and spirit weary--
All receive it, side by side.
And the hearts that throbbed so wildly
For vain pleasure's dreams alone,
For its gilded gauds and follies,
Now at length have calmer grown.
Oh! that voice with heavenly power
Through each restless breast hath thrilled,
And our churches, late so lonely,
Now with contrite hearts are filled.
Fair and lovely are our altars
With their starry tapers bright,
With dim clouds of fragrant incense,
Fair young choristers in white,
And the dying gleam of day-light,
With its blushing crimson glow,
Streaming through the lofty casement
On the kneeling crowd below.
Tis an hour of golden promise
For the hearts that secret burn
With contrite and anxious wishes
To the Father to return;
For a Saviour, full of mercy,
On His altar-throne is there,
Waiting but that they should ask Him,
For response to whispered prayer.
THE WHITE CANOE.
A LEGEND OF NIAGARA FALLS.
In days long gone by it was the custom of the Indian warriors of
the forest to assemble at the Great Cataract and offer a human
sacrifice to the Spirit of the Falls. The offering consisted of a
white canoe, full of ripe fruits and blooming flowers, which was
paddled over the terrible cliff by the fairest girl of the tribe.
It was counted an honor not only by the tribe to whose lot it
fell to make the costly sacrifice, but even by the doomed maiden
herself. The only daughter of a widowed Chief of the Seneca
Indians was chosen as a sacrificial offering to the Spirit of
Niagara. Tolonga, the Great Elk, was bravest among the warriors,
and devotedly attached to his child, but, when the lot fell on
her, he crushed down in the pride of Indian endurance the
feelings of grief that filled his bosom. The eventful night
arrived. The moon arose and shone brightly down oh the turmoil of
Niagara, when the White Canoe and its precious freight glided
from the bank and swept out into the dread rapid. The young girl
calmly steered towards the centre of the stream, when suddenly
another canoe shot forth upon the water and, under the strong
impulse of the Seneca Chief, flew like an arrow to destruction.
It overtook the first; the eyes of father and child met in a
parting gaze of love, and then they plunged together over the
Cataract into Eternity.
THE WHITE CANOE.
_A Legend of Niagara Falls_
A CANTATA.
MINAHITA, Indian Maiden.
OREIKA, Her Friend.
TOLONGA, Minahita's Father.
DOLBREKA, Indian Chief.
I.
_Chorus._
In summer's rare beauty the earth is arrayed,
Gay flowers are blooming on hill-side and glade,
Embalming the air with sweet subtle perfume,
Enriching the earth with their beautiful bloom;
The moss, like green velvet, yields soft 'neath the tread,
The forest trees wave in luxuriance o'er head,
Whilst fresh dawning beauties of sky, wood and plain,
Proclaim that fair summer is with us again.
Let the choice, then, be made of the thrice-favored one
Whom Niagara's Spirit will soon call his own!
At morn, when the sun wakes refulgent on high
In billows of gold, hooding earth, sea and sky,
How glorious the music that welcomes his rays,
One loud choral song of rejoicing and praise:
The clear notes of birds and the soft rustling breeze
The murmur of waters, the sighing of trees,
And the thousand sweet voices, so tender and gay,
That haunt our old woods through the bright summer day.
Let the choice, then, be made of the thrice-favored one
Whom Niagara's Spirit will soon call his own!
DOLBREKA.
Ah! yes, the time and hour have come
To choose a fitting bride
For that Spirit who from his wat'ry home,
Speaks forth in might and pride;
Whilst the zephyrs toy with his sapphire waves,
He would bear her down to his crystal caves.
Seek the woods for buds to deck her brow;
And offerings must she bring,
Ripe blooming fruits and fragrant bough,
As gifts for the River King--
Gifts of earth's loveliest things, while she,
'Mid our maidens fair, must the fairest be!
II.
OREIKA.
The Sachems all have spoken, and the lot has fallen on one
As fair as any wild rose that blossoms 'neath the sun,
Her eyes, like starlit waters, are liquid, soft and clear;
Her voice like sweetest song-bird's in the springtime of the
year;
No merry fawn that lightly springs from forest tree to tree
Hath form so light and graceful, or footstep half as free;
Like plumage of the raven is her heavy silken hair,
Which she binds with scarlet blossoms--with strings of wampum
rare;
And the crimson hue that flushes her soft though dusky cheek
Is like the sunbeam's parting blush upon the mountain peak.
O, never since Niagara first thundered down in pride
Had the Spirit of its waters so beautiful a bride!
_Chorus of Indian Women._
Ah, Minahita! sister fair,
What lot with thine can now compare?
'Mid all the daughters of our race
Peerless in beauty and in grace.
More blest than if in wifehood's pride
Thou stood'st at some young warrior's side,
Or with fair children round thy knee
Didst crown thy young maternity!
III.
MINAHITA.
My heart is throbbing with solemn joy,
May no earthly thoughts that bliss alloy,
By Sachems chosen and tribesmen all--
I gladly lead, and obey the call!
TOLONGA.
Ah, spoken well, my daughter, and worthy of thy sires,
Who've ever held an honored place around our council fires!
My foot treads earth more proudly, my heart beats quick and high,
To know that, like a Sachem's child, my daughter goes to die!
Though Mamtou denied me a son to glad mine age,
To follow in the warpath when our foes fierce combat wage.
I offer him, with grateful heart, thanksgiving deep and warm
That he has placed a warrior's heart within thy fragile form.
_Aria._
Just sixteen spring-tides hast thou seen
Beneath the forest shade,
And ever sweet and mild of mien,
Like sunbeam hast thou played
Around my widowed home and heart--
Yet thou and I must quickly part.
As firmly as the towering oak,
Deep rooted in the earth,
Can brave the storm and thunder stroke,
So, even from thy birth,
Deep love for thee hath held my heart,
And yet, ungrieving, must we part.
And closely as the ivy clings
Around some forest tree,
Till from its glossy em'rald rings,
No bough or limb is free,
So art thou twined around my heart,
And yet, rejoicing, must we part!
IV.
OREIKA.
Alas, my sister, do not chide
That thoughts of grief, instead of pride,
Within my heart lie deep;
Fain would I speak with mien elate
Of thy predestined glorious fate,
And yet I can but weep.
When come the short'ning Autumn days,
While gathering in the golden maize,
I'll miss thy tender voice,
And when our merry maidens say:
"Oreika, join us in our play,"
How can I then rejoice?
And, oh! I will not grieve alone,
For when another moon has flown,
And Osseo will return,
Hopeful, to seek thee for his bride,
How deeply will his heart be tried
When he thy fate shall learn!
MINAHITA.
Enough, my sister, wouldst make me sad,
When my smile should be bright and my heart be glad?
You know 'tis an honor to sire and race,
And to shrink from my lot would bring dire disgrace.
For no earthly love must I weakly pine,
I yield to a suitor of rank divine.
To my girlhood's love must I say farewell--
To the dreams that were sweeter than words can tell!
The chill embrace of the waters cold,
Clasping my form in their viewless hold,
Laving my brow in their terrible play,
Tangling my locks with their glittering spray,
Freezing my warm blood, stifling my breath,
With awful kisses that bring but death,--
To such endearments I now must go
Where my Spirit bridegroom dwells below.
OREIKA.
'Tis fearful, alas! and must it be?
MINAHITA.
What would'st thou?
OREIKA.
Flee, oh quickly flee!
Through secret paths seek Osseo's side,
Who will gladly welcome and shield his bride;
To far-off lands thou with him canst fly,
In mutual love to live and die!
MINAHITA.
Thou forgettest, my sister! An Indian maid
Not of death, but dishonor, should be afraid.
Thou did'st couple love with dear Osseo's name,
But love would be short-lived if joined with shame!
My father bowed 'neath dark disgrace,
My name a bye-word to all my race,
I would find no joy in my rescued life,
Dogged by remorse and inward strife,
Till, hiding myself from all friendly ken,
I should die, despised by both Gods and men.
No, sister, better an early grave
In yon lone dell where the pine-trees wave;
Better a fiery death at the stake,
While foes fierce sport of the captive make,
With cruelest tortures that man can frame,--
Thrice better, than life with dishonored name!
V.
TOLONGA, MINAHITA, DOLBREKA.
TOLONGA.
Daughter of a dauntless race,
Now draws nigh the solemn hour,
Which, O maid of childlike grace,
Well might make the bravest cower!
Thundering down the awful steep,
Hear Niagara's waters leap,
Tossing, surging, flecked with foam,
Child, my child, they call thee home!
MINAHITA.
I am ready! See, I wear
Wampum belt and garments gay;
Mark my smoothly braided hair,
Decked with shells and wild flower spray,
My wrists their silver circlets bear,
Polished with maiden's patient care;
Unshrinking from the stormy foam,
I'm ready for my wild, chill home!
DOLBREKA.
Girl, thou art a worthy bride
For Niagara's fierce King!
Men will think of thee with pride,
Maidens will thy courage sing,
Sachems tell of thee with praise,
Warriors on thee proudly gaze,
While pure and fair as ocean foam,
Thou passest to the Spirit's home.
_Chorus of Indian Braves._
We have launched the light canoe
Upon Niagara's waters blue,
'Tis white and bright as an ocean shell,
Swifter than the sea gull's wing,
Worthy the hand that will guide it well,
Amid the foam wreaths the wild waves fling.
_Chorus of Indian Women._
And it is freighted with fragrant flowers,
The brightest culled 'mid our forest bowers,
Fruits ripened beneath the sun's warm rays--
And silky tassels of golden maize,
And with them the maid who is doomed to bring
These gifts to the pitiless Cataract King.
_Chorus of Male and Female Voices._
Fair are the flowers, but she's fairer far,
Lovelier she than the Evening Star,
Pure as the moonbeams that tremulous shine,
Flooding the earth with their sheen divine.
VI.
TOLONGA.
Oh weary heart! I have wandered lone
Close to Niagara's awful throne;
I've gazed till his roar and fearful might
Have dulled mine ear and blinded my sight;
I've heard the hoarse and terrible song
Of the mountain waves as they rolled along,
And plunged down the watery precipice steep,
Like white-robed furies that whirl and leap.
I thought of my child's fair form and face
Grasped in their stormy, cruel embrace,
The tender arms that have clasped me oft
In dying agony flung aloft,
The delicate limbs a helpless prey
To their maddened rage, or demon play;
And I turned aside in anguish wild.
Oh, wretched Father! My child, my child!
But I must be calm and act a part,
Nor show the fierce grief that rends my heart;
A Seneca chief must learn to hide
His pangs 'neath a mask of stoic pride.
VII.
MINAHITA. _Prayer._
Hear me, Thou great and glorious One!
Protector of my race!
Whom in the far-off Spirit Land
I shall soon see face to face;
I ask Thee, humbly bending
Before Thy Mighty Throne,
To cleanse me from all stain of sin
And make me soon thine own:
My people guard and bless,
All wrongs and ills redress,
Their enemies subdue,
And for the youth, the life, I freely yield,
Give them peace, plenty, victory in the field,
And honest hearts and true.
VIII.
TOLONGA. _Duet_
My daughter, let me press thee
Close to my yearning heart,
Ah! once more softly bless thee
Ere we for ever part!
I adjure thee not to falter
In the trial now so nigh,
But, as victim on the altar,
A Sachem's daughter die.
MINAHITA.
Father, courage will be given
In that awful hour supreme,
When all earth's ties are riven,
And I float down death's dark stream.
_Both Voices._
Yes, courage not to falter
In the trial now so nigh,
But, as victim on the altar,
A Sachem's daughter die.
IX.
OREIKA.
One lingering, last, farewell embrace I take!
MINAHITA.
Yes, one for thine and one for Osseo's sake.
OREIKA.
How solace him beneath his trial sore?
MINAHITA.
Tell him I loved him well, but honor more.
_Chorus--Voices approaching._
The moon is gilding the Cataract's brow,
And tinging his foam-robe as white as snow,--
Like silver it gleams
'Neath the bright moon beams,
Whilst soft and slow
The waters flow;
For his lovely bride he is waiting now!
OREIKA.
The hour is come! despair--despair!
TOLONGA.
Girl, such idle words forbear!
MINAHITA.
In the Spirit Land we shall meet again,
Where unknown are parting and grief and pain.
X.
OREIKA.
Ah! the cruel rite is over
And the fearful Spirit Lover
Clasps the dear pearl of our race;
Like the blushing summer flower,
Or the clouds of sunset hour,
She has passed, and left no trace!
DOLBREKA.
Thou wast not there? Then listen, child,
Unto a tale of sorrow wild,
That has o'erwhelmed with gloom and grief
Heart of warrior brave and chief:
Rose from the banks the sound of song,
Lights were gleaming the trees among,
All were awaiting the hour of fate
When the white canoe and precious freight
From shore swept out and swiftly sped
Into the boiling rapid dread--
OREIKA.
Ah me! in that last moment drear
How looked she?
DOLBREKA.
Tranquil, without fear,
But steered her course with quiet mien,
And the stately grace of a maiden Queen.
Then rose beneath the moon's full rays
Glad voices, blent in love and praise,
Till, sudden as arrow from the bow,
Flashed 'mid the rapid's dark, swift flow
Another bark--it held--oh grief!
Tolonga, our brave, Beloved chief.
OREIKA.
What! her father, didst thou say?
Our chief--our Sachem?
DOLBREKA.