Skip to main content

I wrote a Name upon the river sands

I WROTE a Name upon the river sands,
With her who bore it standing by my side,
Her large dark eyes lit up with gentle pride,
And leaning on my arm with clasped hands.
To burning words of mine she thus replied:
" Nay, writ not on thy heart. This tablet frail
Fitteth as frail a vow. Fantastic bands
Will scarce confine these limbs. " I turned love-pale,
I gazed upon the rivered landscape wide,
And thought how little it would all avail
Without her love. 'T was on a morn of May;
Within a month I stood upon the sand,

God is Love

FOR MUSIC .

The elm-tree of old felt lonely and cold
When wintry winds blew high,
And, looking below, he saw in the snow
The ivy wandering nigh;
And he said, Come twine with those tendrils of thine
My scathed and frozen form,
For heart and hand together we 'll stand,
And mock at the baffled storm.
Ha, ha! Together.

And so when grief is withering the leaf,

Invitation, The. To Stella

Say , Stella, wilt thou rove with me,
Far from the cheerful native scene,
From smiling hill and valley flee,
From harvest fields and pasture green?
From these could'st thou contented range
The city's bustling cares to prove?
All, all these tranquil joys exchange —
The sole return thy Damon's love?

Yet hear me love, ere thou reply,
A youth that scorns deception hear;
No wealth is mine, the heart to buy;
My cot is poor; my fate severe:
Nor may'st thou look for pomp and shew,
Or hope in Pleasure's train to move.

Poem

1.

There stood nothing to keep us from each
And the world was on all sides
Pushing us together, so we took
Our fears and put them together
For a great fear gives courage.
Fear and not love held us, but I
Remember our fear as a thing of beauty
And to know beauty is to know love.

2.

The heart needs mothering, but the night is no mother.
The soul needs fathering but the day is no father.
Ah I have felt the blow — for the thought of a woman
Runs through my heart like a lonely stream at night.

The Lord Needeth Thee

Jesus, thou needest me,
Even me, thou Light divine;
O Son of God, thou needest me,
Thou needest sins like mine.

Thy fulness needs my want,
Thy wealth my poverty;
Thy healing skill my sickness needs,
Thy joy my misery.

Thy strength my weakness needs,
Thy grace my worthlessness;
Thy greatness needs a worm like me
To cherish and to bless.

Thy life needs death like mine,
To shew its quickening power;
Infinity the finite needs,
Th' eternal needs the hour.

Earth, with its vales and hills,

A Love Song

1.

Thy body
a white shell
Thy soul murmurs
Forever of seas unknown.

2.

A ship
forsaken
By crew and captain
I complain
all day and night
in muddy shallow waters

3.

Furled sails
rusted iron
My silence
Sorrow for deep waters
The champagne of night exploding light

4.

I love thee
Thou sea-gull
about me
Never resting

5.

O whither the island
The green crystal island

The First and the Last

Jesus, Sun and Shield art thou;
Sun and shield for ever!
Never canst thou cease to shine,
Cease to guard us never.
Cheer our steps as on we go,
Come between us and the foe.

Jesus, Bread and Wine art thou,
Wine and bread for ever!
Never canst thou cease to feed
Or refresh us never.
Feed we still on bread divine,
Drink we still this heavenly wine!

Jesus, Love and Life art thou,
Life and love for ever!
Ne'er to quicken shalt thou cease,
Or to love us never.
All of life and love we need

Laus Deo

E VERLASTING praises
To the Father be!
Everlasting praises
To the Saviour be!
Everlasting praises
To the Spirit be!
Everlasting praises
To the blessed Trinity!

Everlasting praises
For the Father's love!
Everlasting praises
For the Saviour's love!
Everlasting praises
For the Spirit's love!
Everlasting praises
To the Three-One God of love!