Thee finds me in the garden, Hannah,—come in! ’T is kind of thee
To wait until the Friends were gone, who came to comfort me.
The still and quiet company a peace may give, indeed,
But blessed is the single heart that comes to us at need.
Come, sit thee down! Here is the bench where Benjamin would sit
On First-day afternoons in spring, and watch the...
Four straight brick walls, severely plain,
A quiet city square surround;
A level space of nameless graves,—
The Quakers’ burial-ground.
In gown of gray, or coat of drab,
They trod the common ways of life,
With passions held in sternest leash,
And hearts that knew not strife.
To yon grim meeting-house they fared,...
More shy than the shy violet,
Hiding when the wind doth pass,
Nestled in the nodding grass,
With morning mist all wet,
In open woodland ways
The Quaker Lady strays.
Pale as noonday cloudlets are,
Floating in the blue,
This little wildwood star
Blooms in light and dew.
Sun and shadow on her hair,...
Four straight brick walls, severely plain,
A quiet city square surround;
A level space of nameless graves,—
The Quakers’ burial-ground.
In gown of gray, or coat of drab,
They trod the common ways of life,
With passions held in sternest leash,
And hearts that knew not strife.
To yon grim meeting-house they fared,...
Like two little doves in gray
On the boughs of a greenwood tree,
My two Quaker grandmothers sit
In my gay genealogy.
The Cavalier struts in my heart,
The Puritan tugs at my will,
But the Quaker faces say “Peace,”
And passion and pride are still.
Dear faces of infinite calm,
Ye have wrought a spell in my blood...
Respected Wife: By these few lines my whereabouts thee ’ll learn:
Moreover, I impart to thee my serious concern.
The language of this people is a riddle unto me;
For words with them are figments of a reckless mockery.
For instance, as I left the cars, a youth with smutty face
Said, “Shine?” “Nay I ’ll not shine,” I said, “except with inward grace.”...
