I wish I were the little key
That locks Love’s Captive in,
And lets Him out to go and free
A sinful heart from sin.
I wish I were the little bell
That tinkles for the Host,
When God comes down each day to dwell
With hearts He loves the most.
I wish I were the chalice fair,
That holds the Blood of Love,...
Know i not who thou mayst be
Carved upon this olive-tree,—
“Manuela of La Torre,”—
For around on broken walls
Summer sun and spring rain falls,
And in vain the low wind calls
“Manuela of La Torre.”
Of that song no words remain
But the musical refrain,—
“Manuela of La Torre.”
Yet at night, when...
Beautiful! sir, you may say so. Thar is n’t her match in the county;
Is thar, old gal,—Chiquita, my darling, my beauty?
Feel of that neck, sir,—thar ’s velvet! Whoa! steady,—ah, will you, you vixen!
Whoa! I say. Jack, trot her out; let the gentleman look at her paces.
Morgan!—she ain’t nothing else, and I ’ve got the papers to prove it.
Sired by...
Coward,—of heroic size,
In whose lazy muscles lies
Strength we fear and yet despise;
Savage,—whose relentless tusks
Are content with acorn husks;
Robber,—whose exploits ne’er soared
O’er the bee’s or squirrel’s hoard;
Whiskered chin, and feeble nose,
Claws of steel on baby toes,—
Here, in solitude and shade,
...
No life in earth, or air, or sky;
The sunbeams, broken silently,
On the bared rocks around me lie,—
Cold rocks with half-warmed lichens scarred,
And scales of moss; and scarce a yard
Away, one long strip, yellow-barred.
Lost in a cleft! T is but a stride
To reach it, thrust its roots aside,
And lift it on thy stick astride!...
Say there! P’r’aps
Some on you chaps
Might know Jim Wild?
Well,—no offense:
Thar aint no sense
In gittin’ riled!
Jim was my chum
Up on the Bar:
That ’s why I come
Down from up yar,
Lookin’ for Jim.
Thank ye, sir! You
Ain’t of that crew,—
Blest if you are!
Money? Not much...
I reside at Table Mountain, and my name is Truthful James;
I am not up to small deceit, or any sinful games;
And I ’ll tell in simple language what I know about the row
That broke up our Society upon the Stanislow.
But first I would remark, that it is not a proper plan
For any scientific gent to whale his fellowman,
And, if a member don’t agree...
“i was with Grant”—the stranger said;
Said the farmer, “Say no more,
But rest thee here at my cottage porch,
For thy feet are weary and sore.”
“I was with Grant”—the stranger said;
Said the farmer, “Nay, no more,—
I prithee sit at my frugal board,
And eat of my humble store.
“How fares my boy,—my soldier boy,...
Captain of the Western wood,
Thou that apest Robin Hood!
Green above thy scarlet hose,
How thy velvet mantle shows!
Never tree like thee arrayed,
O thou gallant of the glade!
When the fervid August sun
Scorches all it looks upon,
And the balsam of the pine
Drips from stem to needle fine,
Round thy compact shade...
O joy of creation
To be!
O rapture to fly
And be free!
Be the battle lost or won,
Though its smoke shall hide the sun,
I shall find my love,—the one
Born for me!
I shall know him where he stands,
All alone,
With the power in his hands
Not o’erthrown;
I shall...
