From “Bitter Sweet” THUS is it all over the earth! That which we call the fairest, And prize for its surpassing worth, Is always rarest. Iron is heaped in mountain piles, And gluts the laggard forges; But gold-flakes gleam in dim defiles And lonely gorges. The snowy marble flecks the land With heaped and rounded ledges, But diamonds hide within the sand Their starry edges. The finny armies clog the twine That sweeps the lazy river, But pearls come singly from the brine With the pale diver. God gives no value unto men Unmatched by meed of labor; And Cost of Worth has ever been The closest neighbor.* * * * * All common good has common price; Exceeding good, exceeding; Christ bought the keys of Paradise By cruel bleeding; And every soul that wins a place Upon its hills of pleasure, Must give it all, and beg for grace To fill the measure.* * * * * Up the broad stairs that Value rears Stand motives beck’ning earthward, To summon men to nobler spheres, And lead them worthward.
The Cost of Worth
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From “Bitter Sweet” THUS is it all over the earth! That which we call the fairest, And prize for its surpassing worth, Is always rarest. Iron is heaped in mountain piles, And gluts the laggard forges; But gold-flakes gleam in dim defiles And lonely gorges. The snowy... |
From “Bitter Sweet” SIXTEEN barrels of cider Ripening all in a row! Open the vent-channels wider! See the froth, drifted like snow, Blown by the tempest below! Those delectable juices Flowed through the sinuous sluices Of sweet springs under the orchard; Climbed into fountains that chained them... |
From “Bitter-Sweet” WHAT is the little one thinking about? Very wonderful things, no doubt; Unwritten history! Unfathomed mystery! Yet he laughs and cries, and eats and drinks, And chuckles, and crows, and nods, and winks, As if his head were as full of kinks And curious riddles as any... |
Rockaby, lullaby, bees in the clover! Crooning so drowsily, crying so low, Rockaby, lullaby, dear little rover! Down into wonderland, Down to the under-land, Go, now go! Down into wonderland go. Rockaby, lullaby, rain on the clover, (Tears on the eyelids that waver and... |
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there ’s a song in the air! There ’s a star in the sky! There ’s a mother’s deep prayer And a baby’s low cry! And the star rains its fire while the Beautiful sing, For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a king. There ’s a tumult of joy O’er the wonderful birth, For the... |