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January

To herald in another year,
With rhythmic note the snowflakes fall
Silently from their crystal courts,
To answer Winter's call.
Wake, mortal! Time is winged anew!
Call Love and Hope and Faith to fill
The chambers of thy soul to-day;
Life hath its blessings still!

Sonnet on the Sale by Auction of Keats' Love Letters

These are the letters which Endymion wrote
To one he loved in secret, and apart.
And now the brawlers of the auction mart
Bargain and bid for each poor blotted note,
Ay! for each separate pulse of passion quote
The merchant's price: I think they love not Art
Who break the crystal of a poet's heart
That small and sickly eyes may glare and gloat.

Is it not said that many years ago,
In a far Eastern town, some soldiers ran
With torches through the midnight, and began
To wrangle for mean raiment, and to throw

Hymne of Heavenly Love, An

Love , lift me up upon thy golden wings,
From this base world unto thy heavens hight,
Where I may see those admirable things
Which there thou workest by thy soveraine might,
Farre above feeble reach of earthly sight,
That I thereof an heavenly hymne may sing
Unto the God of Love, high heavens king.

Many lewd layes (ah, woe is me the more!)
In praise of that mad fit which fooles call love,
I have in th' heat of youth made heretofore,
That in light wits did loose affection move.
But all those follies now I do reprove,

Hymne in Honour of Love, An

Love , that long since hast to thy mighty powre
Perforce subdude my poore captived hart,
And raging now therein with restlesse stowre,
Doest tyrannize in everie weaker part,
Faine would I seeke to ease my bitter smart
By any service I might do to thee,
Or ought that else might to thee pleasing bee.

And now t' asswage the force of this new flame,
And make thee more propitious in my need,
I meane to sing the praises of thy name,
And thy victorious conquests to areed;
By which thou madest many harts to bleed

Whom Jesus Loved

Come, little John, tell me the lovely tale
Of your fine friendship with The Man, nor fail
To whisper every detail that shall prove
His glorious love.

Were things as difficult with you as now?
You were the younger, weren't you? Tell me how
You met Him. Did his eyes so soft and sad
Attract you, lad?

Or was it first the charm of that deep voice
That thrilled and made your boyish heart rejoice?
I know He won you not by force or stealth
But by Himself.

And did He recognize His image, you, in truth,

First Advent of Love

O fair is Love's first hope to gentle mind!
As Eve's first star thro' fleecy cloudlet peeping;
And sweeter than the gentle south-west wind,
O'er willowy meads and shadow'd waters creeping,
And Ceres' golden fields; — the sultry hind
Meets it with brow uplift, and stays his reaping.

Dead Love

Two loves had I. Now both are dead,
And both are marked by tombstones white.
The one stands in the churchyard near,
The other hid from mortal sight.

The name on one all men may read,
And learn who lies beneath the stone;
The other name is written where
No eyes can read it but my own.

On one I plant a living flower,
And cherish it with loving hands;
I shun the single withered leaf
That tells me where the other stands.

To that white tombstone on the hill
In summer days I often go;

O Hari, I am mad with love: none knows my anguish

O Hari, I am mad with love: none knows my anguish.
My bed is upon the cross: how can I hope for sleep?
My love's bed is in the vault of heaven: how can I hope to find Him?
The wounded knows the wounded's state, or he who caused the wound.
The jeweller knows the jeweller's luck, or he who has the jewel.
Stricken with pain I wander from jungle to jungle, but meet with no physician there.
O Lord, Mira's pain will never cease, till Samvaliya be her physicián.

Within our Lives

Unto the calmly gathered thought
The innermost of truth is taught—
The mystery dimly understood,
That love of God is love of Good;

That to be saved is only this—
Salvation from our selfishness;
From sin itself and not the pain
That warns us of its chafing chain;

That worship's deeper meaning lies
In mercy, and not sacrifice—
Not proud humilities of sense,
But love's unforced obedience;

But here amid the poor and blind,
The bound and suffering of our kind,
In works we do, in prayers we pray,