* * * * *
WHEN the golden sun is setting,
And your heart from care is free,
When o’er a thousand things you’re thinking,
Will you sometimes think of me?
* * * * *
HOW long we live, not years, but actions tell;
That man lives twice who lives the first life well.
Make then, while yet ye may, your God your friend.
Whom Christians worship, yet not comprehend.
The trust that’s given, guard; and to yourself be just;
For, live we how we can, yet die we must.
* * * * *
LIVE well; how long or short, permit to Heaven;
They who forgive most, shall be most forgiven.
* * * * *
SOAR not too high to fall, but stoop to rise;
We masters grow of all that we despise.
* * * * *
YOUR fate is but the common fate of all;
Unmingled joys here to no man befall.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
>--*MISCELLANEOUS.*--<
MAY e’en thy failings lean to virtue’s side.
* * * * *
HOURS are golden links—God’s token—
Reaching heaven, but one by one;
Take them, lest the chain be broken
Ere thy pilgrimage be done.
* * * * *
HOUSE beautiful—your book, from end to end,
And every page a room to lodge a friend;
Fain would I enter with a seemly grace,
Attired and mannered as befits the place;
But best endeavor falls below the aim
And rests at last, content to leave a name.
* * * * *
THE brave man is not he who feels no fear,
For that were stupid and irrational;
But, he whose noble soul its fear subdues.
And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from.
* * * * *
FLING wide the portals of your heart!
Make it a temple set apart
From earthly use, for Heaven’s employ—
Adorned with prayer and love and joy;
So shall your Sovereign enter in
And new and noble life begin.
* * * * *
WE could count time by heart-throbs; he most lives who thinks most,
speaks the noblest, acts the best.
* * * * *
WE ourselves shape the joys and fears
Of which the life to come is made,
And fill our future atmosphere
With sunshine or with shade.
* * * * *
WHEN the name that I write here is dim on the page,
And the leaves of your album are yellow with age,
Still think of me kindly, and do not forget
That, wherever I am, I remember you yet.
* * * * *
THE massive gates of circumstance
Are turned upon the slightest hinge,
And thus some seeming pettiest chance,
Oft gives to life its after tinge.
* * * * *
OH, for a home in Zululand, or Arctic regions cold,
A peasant’s cot or hermit’s hut, midst solitude untold,
With Kaffirs or with Hottentots, in Egypt or Leone—
’Twere bliss to live in _any_ spot where albums are unknown.
* * * * *
IN times of prosperity our friends are many,
But the time of adversity tries and proves them.
* * * * *
GEMS of price are deeply hidden,
’Neath the rugged rocks concealed;
What would ne’er come forth unbidden,
To thy search may be revealed.
* * * * *
WHILE the fading flowers of pleasure,
Spring spontaneous from the soil,
Thou wilt find the harvest’s treasure
Yields alone to patient toil.
* * * * *
IF recollections of friends brighten moments or sadness,
What a fund of delight is here treasured for thee!
If advice and kind wishes bring goodness and gladness,
How perfect and happy thy future must be.
* * * * *
THE tissues of the Life to be—
We weave with colors all our own,
And in the field of Destiny,
We reap as we have sown.
* * * * *
THERE is seldom a line of glory written upon earth’s face, but a line of
suffering runs parallel with it; and they that read the lustrous
syllables of the one, and stoop not to decipher the spotted and worn
inscription of the other, get the least half of the lesson that earth
has to give.
* * * * *
LEAF green on ground of white,
My name, I fain would write
That you remember still
In June or in December chill,
We two are friends.
* * * * *
OH, wayward mortal who these books invented,
Why was’t thou not by some kind hand prevented?
And thereby kept from many a luckless swain,
The direful knowledge that he lacked a brain—
Lacked it, at least, where poetry was needed,
Like the poor wight who here has not succeeded.
* * * * *
THROUGH days of doubt and darkness,
In fear and trembling breath,
Through mists of sin and sorrow,
In tears and grief and death;
Through days of light and gladness,
Through days of love and life,
Through smiles and joy and sunshine,
Through days with beauty rife;
The Lord of life and glory,
The King of earth and sea,
The Lord who guarded Israel;
Keep watch, sweet friend, o’er thee.
* * * * *
TRUTH—Freedom—Virtue—these have power;
If rightly cherished, to uphold, sustain,
And bless thy spirit, in its darkest hour.
* * * * *
THY own trim, modest form,
Is always neatly clad,
Thou surely will make the tidiest wife
That ever husband had.
* * * * *
AMONG the many friends who claim
A kind remembrance in thy heart,
I too, would add my simple name,
Among the rest.
* * * * *
MAY God’s mercy ever guide thee,
Safe o’er all thy thorny road;
And His grace what’er betide thee,
Lead thee home to His abode.
* * * * *
THE large are not the sweetest flowers;
The long are not the happiest hours;
Much talk doth not much friendship tell;
Few words are best—I wish you well.
* * * * *
LET your life be like a snowflake, which leaves a mark, but not a stain.
* * * * *
BEGIRT with roses of the royal June,
A resurrected day swings highest morn
In every year; and so through life I pray
Nay never failing changes, bring their day,
And flames of love in swinging censers rise
While all thy thoughts leads on toward the skies.
* * * * *
SMALL service is true service while it last;
Of friends, however humble, scorn not one:
The daisy, by the shadow that it cast,
Protects the lingering dew-drop from the sun.
* * * * *
MAKE good use of time, if thou lovest eternity; yesterday cannot be
recalled—to-morrow cannot be secured—to-day only is thine, which, if
once lost, is lost forever.
* * * * *
IN time we transact business for eternity; whatever, therefore, we do
now, should be done well.
* * * * *
MAY each thought be pure, and sincere,
Addressed upon these spotless pages;
Reflections fond, they’ll always prove,
Youthful friend, through many ages.
* * * * *
THEY who have light in themselves, will not revolve as satellites.
* * * * *
THROUGH time we’ll change, and then,
This little book will somewhat bind us;
You’ll take it up, and think of me
And all the joys we’ve left behind us.
* * * * *
AS the shadow of the sun is largest when his beams are lowest, so we are
always least when we make ourselves the greatest.
* * * * *
ACROSS the page of spotless white
Friends trail the pen, and in our sight
Grow precious all the lines they write.
As for some white-sailed ship at sea,
So, little book, my watch for thee;
Return with freight of love to me.
* * * * *
EVERY hour comes to us charged with duty, and the moment it is past,
returns to Heaven to register itself how spent.
* * * * *
THERE’S a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.
* * * * *
OUR eyes see all around in gloom or glow,
Hues of their own, fresh borrowed from the heart.
* * * * *
WRITE your name by kindness, love and mercy upon the hearts of those you
come in contact with, and you will never be forgotten.
* * * * *
LET Fate do her worst; there are relics of joy,
Bright dreams of the past, she cannot destroy;
They come in the night-time of sorrow and care,
And bring back the features that joy used to wear.
Like the vase, in which roses have once been distilled,
You may break—you may shatter the vase, if you will;
But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.
* * * * *
IF you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend,
experience your wise counsel, caution your elder brother, and hope your
guardian genius.
* * * * *
COUNT that day lost whose low descending sun
Views from thy hand no worthy action done.
* * * * *
’TIS but a trifle that you ask,
But this you will admit,
That trifles, more than greater tasks,
Will sometimes strain our wit.
I wish thee health, and wealth, and joy,
As others have before:
And were I in poetic mood,
I’d surely wish thee more.
* * * * *
OUR greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every
time we fall.
* * * * *
HERE’S a sigh for those who love me,
And a smile for those who hate,
And whatever sky’s above me,
Here’s a heart for every fate.
* * * * *
IN all thy humors, whether grave or mellow,
Thou art such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow;
Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen, about thee,
There is no living with thee, nor without thee.
* * * * *
MAY you live in bliss, from sorrow away,
Having plenty laid up for a rainy day;
And when you are ready to settle in life,
May you find a good husband and make a good wife.
* * * * *
I WRITE here a name which I hope shall be known
To all of the ages which follow my own.
‘How conceited!’ you say; but my lines shall remain;
’Tis my hope, you’ll discover, not I, that is vain.
* * * * *
OUR lives are albums; each new day’s a page
As spotless as the leaf on which I write.
Whene’er those books of ours shall be read,
May few unwise inscriptions meet the sight.
* * * * *
ON the broad highway of action
Friends of worth are far and few;
But when one has proved her friendship,
Cling to her who clings to you.
* * * * *
WERE mine the power I’d twine for thee
A crown of jewels rare;
Each gem should be a kingdom,
Each pearl an humble prayer.
* * * * *
THERE are few friends in this wide world
That love is fond and true;
But ---- when you count them o’er
Place me among the few.
* * * * *
THERE is a small and simple flower
That twines around the humblest cot,
And in the sad and lonely hours
It whispers low: “Forget me not.”
* * * * *
WHEN asked in an album to write,
I feel quite inclined to refuse;
For what should I dare to indite
That would a young lady amuse?
Not wit, for I have none of that,
Nor romance—my fancy is tame;
And compliments sound so flat,
I’m forced to write merely my name.
* * * * *
MAY you always be happy,
And live at your ease;
Get a kind husband,
And do as you please.
* * * * *
TRUE friends, like ivy and the wall,
Both stand together or together fall.
* * * * *
BEAUTY is but a vain, a fleeting good,
A shining gloss that fadeth suddenly,
A flower that dies when almost in the bud,
A bright glass that breaketh suddenly;
A fleeting good, a glass, a gloss, a flower,
Lost, faded, broken, dead within the hour.
* * * * *
MAY happiness ever be thy lot,
Wherever thou shalt be;
And joy and pleasure light the spot
That may be home to thee.
* * * * *
HOW sweet to have a faithful friend,
In whom we can confide:
To bless us if we act aright,
And if we err to chide.
* * * * *
HOPE the best, get ready for the worst, and take what God sends.
* * * * *
BE content with the lot God has marked out for you. Love, honor and obey
Him in all things, and your last days will be peaceful and happy.
* * * * *
MAY the morn of thy life be bright and joyous, the noontide peaceful and
happy, and the sunset gloriously hopeful, is the wish of your friend.
* * * * *
LIFE, Death and Immortality—these three—the first, the Road—the second,
the Gate. May you walk safely the first, pass triumphantly the second,
and rest forever in the third.
* * * * *
MAY the Angels twine for thee
A wreath of immortality.
* * * * *
YES, ----, I will write my name
In here, as you request;
And, if to you its all the same,
I’ll add a line—though rather tame—
For Critics eyes, as my bequest.
My wishes and my hopes for you,
Find glad expression here;
Although, indeed, it’s very true,
There is no room for all that’s due
To one we hold so dear.
Good health—first wish of all—
Of all God’s gifts the best;
A happy heart, that loves to call
On Him who notes the sparrow’s fall
And promises sweet rest.
Although beset by worldly care,
Fix all your hopes on Heaven,
And view by faith the glories fair,
Which, in that world beyond the air,
To faithful ones are given.
* * * * *
ALTHOUGH I am advised not to write fast,
I hope the thought I would express may last.
* * * * *
YOU ask for your Album a rhyme;
With pleasure I hear and obey;
Refusal were folly or crime—
For who could to ---- say “nay?”
* * * * *
MAY Heaven on you its choicest blessings shower—
Is the sincere wish of your friend.
* * * * *
BE kind to all; be intimate with few;
And may the few be well chosen.
* * * * *
EVILS in the journey of life are like the hills which alarm travelers
upon their road; they both appear great in the distance, but when we
approach them, we find them far less insurmountable than we had
conceived.
* * * * *
MISS ----! O Miss ----!
What can I write that’s new
Among so very many
Pretty compliments to you?
In poetry, I fear I’d fail—
I’m very sure I’d stammer—
You cannot drive the ponderous nail
With a small ten-cent tack hammer.
Since, then, so high I cannot soar,
Nor chirp notes like the lark,
Please cancel what I’ve said before,
I’ll simply make my mark.
* * * * *
IT has been beautifully said: The water that flows from a spring does
not congeal in winter; and those sentiments which flow from the heart
cannot be chilled by adversity.
* * * * *
ROSES, without thorns, for thee.
* * * * *
I’LL just write a few words here; so that when
You turn these and life’s pages o’er again,
Your memory back to the time will go,
When you and I were “O” and “Jo.”[1]
How we worked together in ’79,
Wafting lightning over the W. U. Line
To W. M.—called “our quod,” you know—
When you and I were “O” and “Jo.”
How Lu talked by the hour to us,
(And we stood it like martyr’s making no fuss),
How we used to get “snatched”—we hated that so—
When you and I signed “O” and “Jo.”
I’LL not wish you all sunshine; for life is made
Up of installments of sunlight and shade.
May you never be worse off through life, as you go,
Than when on W. M. wire we signed “O” and “Jo.”
Footnote 1:
Initials used by telegraph operators.
* * * * *
MAY the hinges of our Friendship never rust.
* * * * *
MAY your days in joy be passed
With friends to bless and cheer,
And each year exceed the last
In all that earth holds dear.
* * * * *
THERE’S many a trouble
Would break like a bubble,
And into the waters of Lethe depart,
Did not we rehearse it
And tenderly nurse it,
And give it a permanent place in the heart.
Resolve to be merry,
All worry to ferry,
Across the famed waters that bid us forget.
And no longer fearful,
But happy and cheerful,
We feel life has much that’s worth living for yet.
* * * * *
MAY we always remain as good friends as we are neighbors.
* * * * *
THE night has a thousand eyes;—
The day but one;
Yet the light of the whole world dies
With the setting sun.
The mind has a thousand eyes—
The day but one;
Yet the light of the whole world dies
When love is done.
* * * * *
ON this spotless page my pen essays to trace a record of affection; and,
as I write, a wish is in my heart that, for thee, every life-leaf will
be written with the golden pen of love.
* * * * *
THOUGH many friends have signed their names,
And some have left their mark,
I see a place for me remains
To add my small remark.
My wish for thee is: joy through life;
And bliss supreme, when some one’s wife.
* * * * *
I PRAY the prayer of Plato old:
God make thee beautiful within;
And let thine eye the good behold
In everything, save sin.
* * * * *
A FEW true friends to aid us and love us,
And cordial hands to warmly clasp our own;
O! surely God hath never made us
To live distrustingly, selfish, and alone.
* * * * *
A VERSE you ask this fine day:
Of course I’ll write you one.
The task of writing finds its pay
In joy that it is done.
* * * * *
WHY ask a name;
Small is the good it brings;
Names are but breath—
Deeds—deeds alone—are things.
* * * * *
WHEN years and months have glided by,
And on this page you cast your eye,
Remember ’twas a friend sincere
That left this kind remembrance here.
With best wishes for your future cheer.
* * * * *
DEAR ----, may your life be blest
With friendship, love and happiness;
May all your friends prove true,
And cheer you all the journey through.
* * * * *
MAY Future, with her kindest smile,
Wreath laurels for thy brow;
May loving angels guard and keep thee
Ever pure as thou art now.
* * * * *
IF writing in Albums remembrance insures,
With the greatest of pleasure I’ll scribble in yours.
* * * * *
IN after years when you recall
The days of pleasures past,
And think of joyous hours and all
Have flown away so fast,
When some forgotten air you hear
Brings back past scenes to thee,
And gently claims your listening ear
Keep one kind thought for me.
* * * * *
THE truest happiness is found in making others happy.
* * * * *
ACCEPT my friend these lines from me,
They show that I remember thee,
And hope some thought they will retain
Till you and I shall meet again.
* * * * *
FOR thee, my fair and gentle friend,
I ask not wealth or fame,
I only ask thy path may be
Free from life’s toil and care.
* * * * *
AMONG the many friends that claim
A kind remembrance in thy breast,
I too would add my simple name.
Among the rest.
* * * * *
NEVER grow weary doing good.
* * * * *
I WANT a warm and faithful friend,
To cheer the adverse hour;
Who ne’er to flatter will descend,
Nor bend the knee to power;
A friend to chide me when I’m wrong;
My inmost soul to see;
And that my friendship prove as strong
For him as his for me.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
>*ESTEEM and CONFIDENCE.*<
SOME little token of regard,
You wish from me to claim;
But as time is pressing hard,
I will but write my name.
* * * * *
EVERY joy that heaven can send;
Wealth, and every kind of treasure;—
Health and love to thee, my friend,
And happiness without measure.
* * * * *
IN future years, should trusted friends
Depart like summer birds;
And all the comfort memory lends,
Is false and honeyed words,
Turn then to me who fain would prove,
However thy lot be cast,
That naught his heart can ever move
From friendship of the past.
* * * * *
MAY your path be strewn with roses,
Fair and flowery to the end;
And when your body in death reposes,
May your Maker be your friend.
* * * * *
WELL, ----, I surely would like to please;
But can’t think what to say.
All your friends have wishes bright,
To cheer your life so gay.
I will add: May all their words
Be symbols of love and truth;
That when you grow weary, and seek for rest,
You will rejoice in the friends of your youth.
* * * * *
TO write in your Album, dear friend you ask;
Ah, well! it is not such a difficult task.
All I can say is contained here in one line:
May the blessings of Heaven forever be thine.
* * * * *
LET not our friendship be like the rose, to sever;
But, like the evergreen, may it last forever.
* * * * *
HE who does good to another, does also good to himself—not only in the
act, but in the consciousness of well-doing is his reward.
* * * * *
IN the evening of life, cherish the remembrance of one who loved thee in
its morning.
* * * * *
SPEAK of me kindly when life’s dreams are o’er;
Speak of me gently when I am no more.
* * * * *
SAFELY down Life’s ebbing tide,
May our vessels smoothly glide,
And anchor side by side—in heaven.
* * * * *
THAT Hope and you,
Bright days will view.
* * * * *
GUARD well thy thoughts; our thoughts are heard in heaven.
* * * * *
MAY He who hath pencilled the leaves with beauty, given the flowers
their bloom, and lent music to the lay of the timid bird, graciously
remember thee in that day when He shall gather His jewels.
* * * * *
FROM memory’s leaves,
I fondly squeeze
Three little words—
Forget Me Not.
* * * * *
A LONG life, and a happy one;
A tall man, and a jolly one—
Like—well—you know who!
* * * * *
THE hills are shadows, and they flow
From form to form, and nothing stands;
They melt like mist, the solid lands,
Like clouds they shape themselves and go.
But in my spirit will I dwell,
And dream my dream and hold it true;
For though my pen doth write adieu,
I cannot say for aye farewell.
* * * * *
GOD’S love and peace be with thee, when
Soe’r this soft Autumnal air
Lifts the dark tresses of thy hair.
Thou lack’st not friendship’s spellword, nor
The half-unconscious power to draw
All hearts to thine by Love’s sweet law.
With such a prayer, on this sweet day,
As thou mayest hear and I may say,
I greet thee, dearest, far away.
* * * * *
THIS Album’s a mansion which offers its best,
To the friends who have written their thoughts,
And the banquet is spread with festal fare,
Where guests mingle enjoyment with rest;
And they leave their memorials under thy roof,
Sometimes in sorrow, more oft in joy divine,
Nor think a single thought quite good enough,
To measure its faintest pulse with thine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
>*BIRTHDAY VERSES.*<
I WISH thee every blessing
That can attend thee here;
And may each future birthday prove
My wish to be sincere.
* * * * *
YOUR Birthday will always be green in the memory of your friends.
* * * * *
MAY these flowers, presented on your birthday, be emblematical of the
purity of your life.
* * * * *
WAKE early this morning,
Nor miss the grey dawning;
Take this greeting from me
As it goes straight to thee:
May joy and gladness e’er be thine;
And endless brightness round thee shine.
* * * * *
THIS is thy Birthday, may it be,
A source of happiness to thee,
And may each Birthday yet in store,
Be brighter than the one before.
* * * * *
DEAR friend, on this thy natal day,
I send to thee a little lay,
And wishes tender
And only ask that thou’lt repay
My thoughts with thine, and fondly say,
“I thank the sender.”
May Spring its blossoms round thee strew,
And Summer, deck’d in mantle new,
Come forth to greet thee;
May Autumn fruitage crown the year,
And Winter, with its jovial cheer,
Bring friends to meet thee.
And if I still must absent be,
Do not forget to send to me
One kind word only,
By home birds passing by the door,
Who, flying towards this distant shore,
May greet me lonely.
* * * * *
LIKE sunbeams to the drooping flowers,
Good-will our lives doth bless;
It furthers every wish of ours,
And joys in our success.
So may its rays towards you flow,
That none but friends your heart may know.
* * * * *
IN these days of mirth and glee,
What shall my message be to thee?
What can I wish for one so blest?
Thou sunny bird in a sunny nest!
This I wish, and this I pray:
May the joys of life never pass away,
But only merge in a sigh of bliss—
Into a life far brighter than this!
* * * * *
IF words could all my wishes say,
Oh! how my tongue would talk away.
I wish this day and many more
Might on dear ---- blessings pour.
May health, wealth, love, and peace
With each succeeding year increase;
And oh! the last, come when it may,
Be unto thee a happy day.
* * * * *
ON this Birthday morn arise
From thy placid slumber!
Soon to meet love’s longing eyes
And greetings without number.
Heaven’s dearest gifts be thine
To crown all earthly treasure,
For gifts that God gives unto thee
Know neither stint or measure.
* * * * *
AS beauteous flowers in garlands intertwine,
May Peace and Love to cheer thy heart combine,
To give you a very happy Birthday.
* * * * *
LOVE in every bosom live,
And the truest pleasure give:
And happy smiles each lip adorn,
On this happy birthday morn.
* * * * *
LITTLE trouble and still less care,
With ever a faithful heart to share;
Birthdays many, and happy too,
This is the life I wish for you.
* * * * *
DEAR, happy birthdays, how fair ye seem,
Along the path of time:
Foot-prints whereon sweet-heart flowers blow,
By worldly storms unriven,
That we may mark them as they go,
And find our way to heaven.
BRIGHT as a flower may thy Birthday be.
* * * * *
TRUE love shall live thro’ sorrow’s wintry storm,
And bloom afresh on this glad Birthday morn.
* * * * *
LOVINGLY take this birthday souvenir,
And for my sake esteem it dear!
* * * * *
MAY the morning of thy birth break in gladness, and the day teem with
light-hearted mirth that shall last always!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
>*HUMOROUS.*<
I DIP my pen into the ink,
And grasp your album tight;
But for my life I cannot think
One single word to write.
* * * * *
IN the storms of life,
When you need an umbrella,
May you have to uphold it
A handsome young fellow.
* * * * *
MAY beauty and truth,
Keep you in youth;
Green tea and sage,
Preserve your old age.
* * * * *
SOME people can be very funny;
I never could be so.
So I’ll just inscribe my name;
It’s the funniest thing I know.
* * * * *
FEE SIMPLE and simple fee,
And all the fees entail
Are nothing when compared to thee—
Thou best of fees—fe-male.
* * * * *
WHAT! write in your album, for critics to spy,
For the learned to laugh at?—No, not I!
* * * * *
ACCEPT my valued friendship,
And roll it up in cotton,
And think it not illusion,
Because so easily gotten.
* * * * *
WITHSOEVER is this for why?
Wherefore. Ain’t it?
* * * * *
WHEN I, poor elf, shall have vanished in vapor,
May still my memory live—on paper.
* * * * *
ROUND went the book, and here it came,
In it for me to write my name;
I would write better, if I could,
But nature said I never should.
* * * * *
IF you wish to laugh;
Glance at my autograph.
* * * * *
WHEN on this page you chance to look,
Think of me and close the book.
* * * * *
SAILING down the stream of life,
In your little bark canoe,
May you have a pleasant trip,
With just room enough for two.
* * * * *