“cui pauca relicti Jugera ruris erant; nec fertilis illa juvencis Nec pecori opportuna seges, nec commoda Baccho. Hic rarum tamen in dumis olus, albaque circùm Lilia, verbenasque premens, vescumque pa...

My Dear Badeley, I have not been without apprehension lest in dedicating to you a number of poetical compositions, I should hardly be making a suitable offering to a member of a grave profession, whic...

Let the sun summon all his beams to hold Bright pageant in his court, the cloud-paved sky Earth trim her fields and leaf her copses cold; Till the dull month with summer-splendours vie. It is my Birth...

O that Thou wouldest rend the breadth of sky, That veils Thy presence from the sons of men! O that, as erst Thou camest from on high Sudden in strength, Thou so would’st come again! Track’d out by jud...

Dear Frank, this morn has usher’d in The manhood of thy days; A boy no more, thou must begin To choose thy future ways; To brace thy arm, and nerve thy heart, For maintenance of a noble part. And thou...

“Man goeth forth”4 with reckless trust Upon his wealth of mind, As if in self a thing of dust Creative skill might find; He schemes and toils; stone, wood and ore Subject or weapon of His power. By ar...

I am a harp of many chords, and each Strung by a separate hand;⁠—most musical My notes, discoursing with the mental sense, Not the outward ear. Try them, they will reply With wisdom, fancy, graceful g...

I am rooted in the wall Of buttress’d tower or ancient hall; Prison’d in an art-wrought bed. Cased in mortar, cramp’d with lead; Of a living stock alone Brother of the lifeless stone. Else unprized, I...

In childhood, when with eager eyes The season-measured year I view’d, All, garb’d in fairy guise, Pledged constancy of good. Spring sang of heaven; the summer flowers Bade me gaze on, and did not fade...

Death was full urgent with thee, Sister dear, And startling in his speed;⁠— Brief pain, then languor till thy end came near⁠— Such was the path decreed, The hurried road To lead thy soul from earth to...

She is not gone;⁠—still in our sight That dearest maid shall live, In form as true, in tints as bright, As youth and health could give. Still, still is ours the modest eye; The smile unwrought by art;...

Ladies, well I deem, delight In comely tire to move; Soft, and delicate, and bright, Are the robes they love. Silks, where hues alternate play, Shawls, and scarfs, and mantles gay, Gold, and gems, and...

Fair Cousin, thy page is small to encage the thoughts which engage the mind of a sage, such as I am; ’Twere in teaspoon to take the whole Genevese lake, or a lap-dog to make the white Elephant sac- -r...

Weep not for me;⁠— Be blithe as wont, nor tinge with gloom The stream of love that circles home, Light hearts and free! Joy in the gifts Heaven’s bounty lends; Nor miss my face, dear friends! I still ...

Hid are the saints of God;⁠— Uncertified by high angelic sign; Nor raiment soft, nor empire’s golden rod Marks them divine. Theirs but the unbought air, earth’s parent sod, And the sun’s smile benign;...

Lord, in this dust Thy sovereign voice First quicken’d love divine; I am all Thine⁠—Thy care and choice, My very praise is Thine. I praise Thee, while Thy providence In childhood frail I trace, For bl...

Why, dear Cousin, why Ask for verses, when a poet’s fount of song is dry? Or, if aught be there, Harsh and chill, it ill may touch the hand of lady fair. Who can perfumed waters bring From a convent s...

Birthday gifts, with the early year, Lo! we bring thee, Mary dear! Prayer and praise upon thy death Twined together in a wreath, Grief and gladness, such as may Suit a solemn holiday. Christmas snow, ...

Bloom, beloved Flower!⁠— Unknown;⁠—’tis no matter. Courts glitter brief hour, Crowds can but flatter. Plants in the garden See best the Sun’s glory; They miss the green sward in A conservatory. —prize...

’Tis long, dear Annie, since we met, Yet deem not that my heart, For all that absence, can forget A kinsman’s pious part. How oft on thee, a sufferer mild, My kindly thoughts I turn, He knows, upon wh...

Could I hit on a theme To fashion my verse on, Not long would I seem A lack-courtesy person. But I have not the skill, Nor talisman strong, To summon at will The Spirit of song.⁠— Bright thoughts are ...

There stray’d awhile, amid the woods of Dart, One who could love them, but who durst not love. A vow had bound him, ne’er to give his heart To streamlet bright, or soft secluded grove. ’Twas a hard hu...

Where’er I roam in this fair English land, The vision of a Temple meets my eyes: Modest without; within, all-glorious rise Its love-encluster’d columns, and expand Their slender arms. Like olive-plant...

I bear upon my brow the sign Of sorrow and of pain; Alas! no hopeful cross is mine, It is the brand of Cain. The course of passion, and the fret Of godless hope and fear⁠— Toil, care, and guilt⁠—their...

And would’st thou reach, rash scholar mine, Love’s high unruffled state? Awake! thy easy dreams resign, First learn thee how to hate:⁠— Hatred of sin, and Zeal, and Fear, Lead up the Holy Hill; Track ...

Say, who is he in deserts seen, Or at the twilight hour? Of garb austere, and dauntless mien, Measured in speech, in purpose keen, Calm as in Heaven he had been, Yet blithe when perils lower. My Holy ...

Thou to wax fierce In the cause of the Lord, To threat and to pierce With the heavenly sword! Anger and Zeal, And the Joy of the brave, Who bade thee to feel, Sin’s slave. The Altar’s pure flame Consu...

Once, as I brooded o’er my guilty state, A fever seized me, duties to devise, To buy me interest in my Saviour’s eyes; Not that His love I would extenuate, But scourge and penance, masterful self-hate...

Whene’er across this sinful flesh of mine I draw the Holy Sign, All good thoughts stir within me, and renew Their slumbering strength divine; Till there springs up a courage high and true To suffer an...

O prophet, tell me not of peace, Or Christ’s all-loving deeds; Death only can from sin release, And death to judgment leads. Thou from thy birth hast set thy face Towards thy Redeemer Lord; To tend an...

My smile is bright, my glance is free, My voice is calm and clear; Dear friend, I seem a type to thee Of holy love and fear. But I am scann’d by eyes unseen, And these no saint surround; They mete wha...

Are these the tracks of some unearthly Friend, His foot-prints, and his vesture-skirts of light, Who, as I talk with men, conforms aright Their sympathetic words, or deeds that blend With my hid thoug...

They do but grope in learning’s pedant round, Who on the fantasies of sense bestow An idol substance, bidding us bow low Before those shades of being which are found, Stirring or still, on man’s brief...

Ere yet I left home’s youthful shrine, My heart and hope were stored Where first I caught the rays divine, And drank the Eternal Word. I went afar; the world unroll’d Her many-pictured page; I stored ...

O aged Saint! far off I heard The praises of thy name;⁠— Thy deed of power, thy prudent word, Thy zeal’s triumphant flame. I came and saw; and, having seen, Weak heart, I drew offence From thy prompt ...

Poor wand’rers, ye are sore distress’d To find that path which Christ has bless’d, Track’d by His saintly throng; Each claims to trust his own weak will, Blind idol!⁠—so ye languish still, All wrangle...

Faint not, and fret not, for threaten’d woe, Watchman on Truth’s grey height! Few though the faithful, and fierce though the foe, Weakness is aye Heaven’s might. Infidel Ammon and niggard Tyre, Ill-fi...

Cease, Stranger, cease those piercing notes, The craft of Siren choirs; Hush the seductive voice, that floats Upon the languid wires. Music’s ethereal fire was given Not to dissolve our clay, But draw...

O Father, list a sinner’s call! Fain would I hide from man my fall⁠— But I must speak, or faint⁠— I cannot wear guilt’s silent thrall: Cleanse me, kind Saint! “Sinner ne’er blunted yet sin’s goad; Spe...

My home is now a thousand miles away; Yet in my thoughts its every image fair Rises as keen, as I still linger’d there, And, turning me, could all I loved survey. And so, upon Death’s unaverted day, A...

Whence is this awe, by stillness spread O’er the world-fretted soul? Wave rear’d on wave its godless head, While my keen bark, by breezes sped, Dash’d fiercely through the ocean bed, And chafed toward...

O Lord! when sin’s close-marshall’d line Assails Thy witness on his way, How should he raise Thy glorious sign, And how Thy will display? Thy holy Paul, with soul of flame, Rose on Mars’ hill, a soldi...

Thy words are good, and freely given, As though thou felt them true; Friend, think thee well, to hell or heaven A serious heart is due. It pains thee sore, man’s will should swerve In his true path di...

Tyre of the West, and glorying in the name More than in Faith’s pure fame! O trust not crafty fort nor rock renown’d Earn’d upon hostile ground; Wielding Trade’s master-keys, at thy proud will To lock...

Moses, the patriot fierce, became The meekest man on earth, To show us how love’s quick’ning flame Can give our souls new birth. Moses, the man of meekest heart, Lost Canaan by self-will, To show, whe...

Bide thou thy time! Watch with meek eyes the race of pride and crime, Sit in the gate, and be the heathen’s jest, Smiling and self-possest. O thou, to whom is pledged a victor’s sway, Bide thou the vi...

“Woe’s me!” the peaceful prophet cried, “Spare me this troubled life; To stem man’s wrath, to school his pride, To head the sacred strife! “O place me in some silent vale, Where groves and flowers abo...

Mortal! if e’er thy spirits faint, By grief or pain opprest, Seek not vain hope, or sour complaint, To cheer or ease thy breast: But view thy bitterest pangs as sent A shadow of that doom, Which is th...

When royal Truth, released from mortal throes, Burst His brief slumber, and triumphant rose, Ill had the Holiest sued A patron multitude, Or courted Tetrarch’s eye, or claim’d to rule By the world’s w...

How can I keep my Christmas feast In its due festive show, Reft of the sight of the High Priest From whom its glories flow? I hear the tuneful bells around, The blessèd towers I see; A stranger on a f...

Unwearied God, before whose face The night is clear as day, Whilst we, poor worms, o’er life’s scant race Now creep, and now delay, We with death’s foretaste alternate Our labour’s dint and sorrow’s w...

The better portion didst thou choose, Great Heart, Thy God’s first choice, and pledge of Gentile grace! Faith’s truest type, he with unruffled face Bore the world’s smile, and bade her slaves depart; ...

Let heathen sing thy heathen praise, Fall’n Greece! the thought of holier days In my sad heart abides; For sons of thine in Truth’s first hour Were tongues and weapons of His power, Born of the Spirit...

How shall a child of God fulfil His vow to cleanse his soul from ill, And raise on high his baptism-light, Like Aaron’s seed in vestment white And holy-hearted Nazarite? First, let him shun the haunts...

My Father’s hope! my childhood’s dream! The promise from on high! Long waited for! its glories beam Now when my death is nigh. My death is come, but not decay; Nor eye nor mind is dim; The keenness of...

Thrice bless’d are they, who feel their loneliness; To whom nor voice of friends nor pleasant scene Brings aught on which the sadden’d heart can lean; Yea, the rich earth, garb’d in her daintiest dres...

I sat beneath an olive’s branches grey, And gazed upon the sight of a lost town, By sage and poet raised to long renown; Where dwelt a race that on the sea held sway, And, restless as its waters, forc...

I saw thee once and nought discern’d For stranger to admire; A serious aspect, but it burn’d With no unearthly fire. Again I saw, and I confess’d Thy speech was rare and high; And yet it vex’d my burd...

Banish’d the House of sacred rest, Amid a thoughtless throng, At length I heard its creed confess’d, And knelt the saints among. Artless his strain and unadorn’d, Who spoke Christ’s message there; But...

If e’er I fall beneath Thy rod, As through life’s snares I go, Save me from David’s lot, O God! And choose Thyself the woe. How should I face Thy plagues? which scare, And haunt, and stun, until The h...

Time was, I shrank from what was right From fear of what was wrong; I would not brave the sacred fight, Because the foe was strong. But now I cast that finer sense And sorer shame aside; Such dread of...

O heart of fire! misjudged by wilful man, Thou flower of Jesse’s race! What woe was thine, when thou and Jonathan Last greeted face to face! He doom’d to die, thou on us to impress The portent of a bl...

I have been honour’d and obey’d, I have met scorn and slight; And my heart loves earth’s sober shade, More than her laughing light. For what is rule but a sad weight Of duty and a snare? What meanness...

Latest born of Jesse’s race, Wonder lights thy bashful face, While the Prophet’s gifted oil Seals thee for a path of toil. We, thy Angels, circling round thee, Ne’er shall find thee as we found thee, ...

What time my heart unfolded its fresh leaves In springtime gay, and scatter’d flowers around, A whisper warn’d of earth’s unhealthy ground, And all that there love’s light and pureness grieves; Sun’s ...

O purest Symbol of the Eternal Son! Who dwelt in thee, as in some sacred shrine, To draw hearts after thee, and make them thine; Not parent only by that light was won, And brethren crouch’d who had in...

O Lord and Christ, Thy Children of the South So shudder, when they see The two-edged sword sharp-issuing from Thy mouth, As to fall back from Thee, And cling to charms of man, or heathen rite To aid t...

Many the guileless years the Patriarch spent, Bless’d in the wife a father’s foresight chose; Many the prayers and gracious deeds, which rose Daily thank-offerings from his pilgrim tent. Yet these, th...

When mirth is full and free, Some sudden gloom shall be; When haughty power mounts high, The Watcher’s axe is nigh. All growth has bound; when greatest found, It hastes to die. When the rich town, tha...

We are not children of a guilty sire, Since Noe stepp’d from out his wave-toss’d home, And a stern baptism flush’d earth’s faded bloom. Not that the heavens then clear’d, or cherub’s fire From Eden’s ...

Secure in his prophetic strength, The water peril o’er, The many-gifted man at length Stepp’d on the promised shore. He trod the shore; but not to rest, Nor wait till Angels came; Lo! humblest pains t...

Why, wedded to the Lord, still yearns my heart Towards these scenes of ancient heathen fame? Yet legend hoar, and voice of bard that came Fixing my restless youth with its sweet art, And shades of pow...

When Heaven sends sorrow, Warnings go first, Lest it should burst With stunning might On souls too bright To fear the morrow. Can science bear us To the hid springs Of human things? Why may not dream,...

Oh! miserable power To dreams allow’d, to raise the guilty past, And back awhile the illumined spirit to cast On its youth’s twilight hour; In mockery guiling it to act again The revel or the scoff in...

O holy Lord, who with the Children Three Didst walk the piercing flame, Help, in those trial-hours, which, save to Thee, I dare not name; Nor let these quivering eyes and sickening heart Crumble to du...

Did we but see, When life first open’d, how our journey lay Between its earliest and its closing day, Or view ourselves, as we one time shall be, Who strive for the high prize, such sight would break ...

’Mid Balak’s magic fires The Spirit spake, clear as in Israel; With prayers untrue and covetous desires Did God vouchsafe to dwell; Who summon’d dreams, His earlier word to bring To patient Job’s vex’...

Say, hast thou track’d a traveller’s round, Nor visions met thee there, Thou couldst but marvel to have found This blighted world so fair? And feel an awe within thee rise, That sinful man should see ...

Souls of the Just, I call not you To share this joy with me, This joy and wonder at the view Of mountain, plain, and sea; Ye, on that loftier mountain old, Safe lodged in Eden’s cell, Whence run the r...

“The Fathers are in dust, yet live to God:”⁠— So says the Truth; as if the motionless clay Still held the seeds of life beneath the sod, Smouldering and struggling till the judgment-day. And hence we ...

One only, of God’s messengers to man, Finish’d the work of grace, which He began; E’en Moses wearied upon Nebo’s height, Though loth to leave the fight With the doom’d foe, and yield the sun-bright la...

“Give any boon for peace! Why should our fair-eyed Mother e’er engage In the world’s course and on a troubled stage, From which her very call is a release? No! in thy garden stand, And tend with pious...

The Church shone brightly in her youthful days Ere the world on her smiled; So now, an outcast, she would pour her rays Keen, free, and undefiled: Yet would I not that arm of force were mine, Which th...

Ye cannot halve the Gospel of God’s grace; Men of presumptuous heart! I know you well. Ye are of those who plan that we should dwell, Each in his tranquil home and holy place; Seeing the Word refines ...

When I am sad, I say, “What boots it me to strive, And vex my spirit day by day, Dead memories to revive? “Alas! what good will come, Though we our prayer obtain, To bring old times triumphant home, A...

When I would search the truths that in me burn, And mould them into rule and argument, A hundred reasoners cried⁠—“Hast thou to learn Those dreams are scatter’d now, those fires are spent?” And, did I...

When first earth’s rulers welcomed home The Church, their zeal impress’d Upon the seasons, as they come, The image of their guest. Men’s words and works, their hopes and fears, Henceforth forbid to ro...

Peace-loving man, of humble heart and true What dost thou here? Fierce is the city’s crowd; the lordly few Are dull of ear! Sore pain it was to thee⁠—till thou didst quit Thy patriarch-throne at lengt...

Oh that thy creed were sound!9 For thou dost soothe the heart, thou Church of Rome, By thy unwearied watch and varied round Of service, in thy Saviour’s holy home. I cannot walk the city’s sultry stre...

I bow at Jesu’s name, for ’tis the Sign Of awful mercy towards a guilty line. Of shameful ancestry, in birth defiled, And upwards from a child Full of unlovely thoughts and rebel aims And scorn of jud...

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom Lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home⁠— Lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene⁠—one step enough fo...

O rail not at our kindred in the North, Albeit Samaria finds her likeness there; A self-form’d Priesthood, and the Church cast forth To the chill mountain air. What, though their fathers sinned, and l...

Deep in his meditative bower, The tranquil seer reclined; Numbering the creepers of an hour, The gourds which o’er him twined. To note each plant, to rear each fruit Which soothes the languid sense, H...

The world has cycles in its course, when all That once has been, is acted o’er again:⁠— Not by some fated law, which need appal Our faith, or binds our deeds as with a chain; But by men’s separate sin...

O, say not thou art left of God, Because His tokens in the sky Thou canst not read: this earth He trod To teach thee He was ever nigh. He sees, beneath the fig-tree green, Nathaniel con His sacred lor...

O comrade bold of toil and pain! Thy trial how severe, When sever’d first by prisoner’s chain From thy loved labour-sphere! Say, did impatience first impel The heaven-sent bond to break? Or, couldst t...

The time has been, it seem’d a precept plain Of the true faith, Christ’s tokens to display; And in life’s commerce still the thought retain, That men have souls, and wait a judgment-day; Kings used th...

I dream’d that, with a passionate complaint, I wish’d me born amid God’s deeds of might; And envied those who had the presence bright Of gifted Prophet and strong-hearted Saint, Whom my heart loves, a...

Prune thou thy words, the thoughts control That o’er thee swell and throng; They will condense within thy soul, And change to purpose strong. But he who lets his feelings run In soft luxurious flow, S...

Christ bade His followers take the sword; And yet He chid the deed, When Peter seized upon His word, And made a foe to bleed. The gospel Creed, a sword of strife, Meek hands alone may rear; And ever Z...

Each trial has its weight; which, whoso bears Knows his own woe, and need of succouring grace; The martyr’s hope half wipes away the trace Of flowing blood; the while life’s humblest cares Smart more,...

Why loiterest within Simon’s walls, Hard by the barren sea, Thou Saint! when many a sinner calls To preach and set him free? Can this be he, who erst confess’d For Christ affection keen, Now truant in...

When first God stirr’d me, and the Church’s word Came as a theme of reverent search and fear, It little cost to own the lustre clear Of truths she taught, and rite and rule she stored; For conscience ...

How didst thou start, Thou Holy Baptist, bid To pour repentance on the Sinless Brow! Then all thy meekness, from thy hearers hid, Beneath the Ascetic’s port, and Preacher’s fire, Flow’d forth, and wit...

Two brothers freely cast their lot With David’s royal Son; The cost of conquest counting not, They deem the battle won. Brothers in heart, they hope to gain An undivided joy; That man may one with man...

Whene’er goes forth Thy dread command, And my last hour is nigh, Lord, grant me in a Christian land, As I was born, to die. I pray not, Lord, that friends may be, Or kindred, standing by⁠— Choice bles...

Now is the Autumn of the Tree of Life; Its leaves are shed upon the unthankful earth, Which lets them whirl, a prey to the winds’ strife, Heartless to store them for the months of dearth. Men close th...

When I sink down in gloom or fear, Hope blighted or delay’d, Thy whisper, Lord, my heart shall cheer, “ ’Tis I; be not afraid!” Or, startled at some sudden blow, If fretful thoughts I feel, “Fear not,...

The ark of God has hidden strength; Who reverence or profane, They, or their seed, shall find at length The penalty or gain. While as a sojourner it sought Of old its destined place, A blessing on the...

Once cast with men of language strange And foreign-moulded creed, I mark’d their random converse change, And sacred themes succeed. Oh, how I coveted the gift To thread their mingled throng Of sounds,...

There is not on the earth a soul so base But may obtain a place In covenanted grace; So that his feeble prayer of faith obtains Some loosening of his chains, And earnests of the great release, which r...

When I look back upon my former race, Seasons I see at which the Inward Ray More brightly burn’d, or guided some new way; Truth, in its wealthier scene and nobler space Given for my eye to range, and ...

Man is permitted much To scan and learn In Nature’s frame; Till he well-nigh can tame Brute mischiefs and can touch Invisible things, and turn All warring ills to purposes of good. Thus, as a god belo...

France! I will think of thee as what thou wast, When Poictiers show’d her zeal for the true creed; Or in that age, when Holy Truth, though cast On a rank soil, yet was a thriving seed, Thy schools wit...

O piteous race! Fearful to look upon, Once standing in high place, Heaven’s eldest son. O aged blind Unvenerable! as thou flittest by, I liken thee to him in pagan song, In thy gaunt majesty, The vagr...

Do not their souls, who ’neath the Altar wait Until their second birth, The gift of patience need, as separate From their first friends of earth? Not that earth’s blessings are not all outshone By Ede...

In service o’er the Mystic Feast I stand; I cleanse Thy victim-flock, and bring them near In holiest wise, and by a bloodless rite. O fire of Love! O gushing Fount of Light! (As best I know, who need ...

I rise and raise my clasped hands to Thee! Henceforth, the darkness hath no part in me, Thy sacrifice this day; Abiding firm, and with a freeman’s might Stemming the waves of passion in the fight;⁠— A...

O Holiest Truth! how have I lied to Thee! I vow’d this day Thy festival should be: But I am dim ere night. Surely I made my prayer, and I did deem That I could keep in me Thy morning beam, Immaculate ...

Some one whisper’d yesterday, Of the rich and fashionable, Gregory in his own small way Easy was and comfortable. Had he not of wealth his fill Whom a garden gay did bless, And a gently trickling rill...

As, when the hand some mimic form would paint, It marks its purpose first in shadows faint, And next, its store of varied hues applies, Till outlines fade, and the full limbs arise; So in the earlier ...

While Moses on the Mountain lay, Night after night, and day by day, Till forty suns were gone, Unconscious, in the Presence bright, Of lustrous day and starry night, As though his soul had flitted qui...

They are at rest: We may not stir the heaven of their repose With loud-voiced grief, or passionate request, Or selfish plaint for those Who in the mountain grots of Eden lie, And hear the fourfold riv...

To-day the Blessed Three in One Began the earth and skies; Today a Conqueror, God the Son, Did from the grave arise; We too will wake, and, in despite Of sloth and languor, all unite, As Psalmists bid...

Let us arise, and watch by night, And meditate always; And chant, as in our Maker’s sight, United hymns of praise. So, singing with the Saints in bliss, With them we may attain Life everlasting after ...

Sleep has refresh’d our limbs, we spring From off our bed, and rise; Lord, on Thy suppliants, while they sing, Look with a Father’s eyes. Be Thou the first on every tongue, The first in every heart; T...

O God from God, and Light from Light, Who art Thyself the day, Our chants shall break the clouds of night; Be with us while we pray. Chase Thou the gloom that haunts the mind, The thronging shades of ...

Who madest all and dost control, Lord, with Thy touch divine, Cast out the slumbers of the soul, The rest that is not Thine. Look down, Eternal Holiness, And wash the sins away, Of those, who, rising ...

All tender lights, all hues divine The night has swept away; Shine on us, Lord, and we shall shine Bright in an inward day. The spots of guilt, sin’s wages base, Searcher of hearts, we own; Wash us an...

May the dread Three in One, who sways All with His sovereign might, Accept us for this hymn of praise, His watchers in the night. For in the night, when all is still We spurn our bed and rise, To find...

Father of mercies infinite, Ruling all things that be, Who, shrouded in the depth and height, Art One, and yet art Three; Accept our chants, accept our tears, A mingled stream we pour; Such stream the...

Framer of the earth and sky, Ruler of the day and night, With a glad variety, Tempering all, and making light; Gleams upon our dark path flinging, Cutting short each night begun, Hark! for chanticleer...

Paler have grown the shades of night, And nearer draws the day, Checkering the sky with streaks of light, Since we began to pray: To pray for mercy when we sin, For cleansing and release, For ghostly ...

Of the Father Effluence bright, Out of Light evolving light, Light from Light, unfailing Ray, Day creative of the day: Truest Sun, upon us stream With Thy calm perpetual beam, In the Spirit’s still su...

Day’s herald bird At length is heard, Telling its morning torch is lit, And small and still Christ’s accents thrill, Within the heart rekindling it. Away, He cries, With languid eyes, And sickly slumb...

Haunting gloom and flitting shades, Ghastly shapes, away! Christ is rising, and pervades Highest Heaven with day. He with His bright spear the night Dazzles and pursues; Earth wakes up, and glows with...

See, the golden dawn is glowing, While the paly shades are going, Which have led us far and long, In a labyrinth of wrong. May it bring us peace serene; May it cleanse, as it is clean; Plain and clear...

Glory of the eternal Heaven, Blessed Hope to mortals given, Of the Almighty Only Son, And the Virgin’s Holy One; Raise us, Lord, and we shall rise In a sober mood, And a zeal, which glorifies Thee fro...

The dawn is sprinkled o’er the sky, The day steals softly on; Its darts are scatter’d far and nigh, And all that fraudful is, shall fly Before the brightening sun; Spectres of ill, that stalk at will,...

Now that the day-star glimmers bright, We suppliantly pray That He, the uncreated Light, May guide us on our way. No sinful word, nor deed of wrong, Nor thoughts that idly rove; But simple truth be on...

Come, Holy Ghost, who ever One Reignest with Father and with Son, It is the hour, our souls possess With Thy full flood of holiness. Let flesh, and heart, and lips, and mind, Sound forth our witness t...

O God, who canst not change nor fail, Guiding the hours, as they roll by, Bright’ning with beams the morning pale, And burning in the mid-day sky, Quench Thou the fires of hate and strife, The wasting...

O God, unchangeable and true, Of all the Life and Power, Dispensing light in silence through Every successive hour, Lord, brighten our declining day, That it may never wane, Till death, when all thing...

Father of Lights, by whom each day Is kindled out of night, Who, when the heavens were made, didst lay Their rudiments in light; Thou, who didst bind and blend in one The glistening morn and evening p...

Lord of unbounded space, Who, lest the sky and main Should mix, and heaven should lose its place, Didst the rude waters chain; Parting the moist and rare, That rills on earth might flow To soothe the ...

All-bountiful Creator, who, When Thou didst mould the world, didst drain The waters from the mass, that so Earth might immovable remain; That its dull clods it might transmute To golden flowers in val...

O Lord, who, thron’d in the holy height, Through plains of ether didst diffuse The dazzling beams of light, In soft transparent hues; Who didst, on the fourth day, in heaven Light the fierce cresset o...

O God, who hast given the sea and the sky, To fish and to bird for a dwelling to keep, Both sons of the waters, one low and one high, Ambitious of heaven, yet sunk in the deep; Save, Lord, Thy servant...

Whom all obey⁠— Maker of man! who from Thy height Badest the dull earth bring to light All creeping things, and the fierce might Of beasts of prey;⁠— And the huge make Of wild or gentler animal, Sprin...

The red sun is gone, Thou Light of the heart, Blessed Three, Holy One, To Thy servants a sun Everlasting impart. There were Lauds in the morn, Here are Vespers at even; Oh, may we adorn Thy temple new...

Now that the day-light dies away, By all Thy grace and love, Thee, Maker of the world, we pray To watch our bed above. Let dreams depart and phantoms fly, The offspring of the night, Keep us, like shr...

Creator of the starry pole, Saviour of all who live, And light of every faithful soul, Jesu, these prayers receive. Who sooner than our foe malign Should triumph, from above Didst come, to be the medi...

Supernal Word, proceeding from The Eternal Father’s breast, And in the end of ages come, To aid a world distrest; Enlighten, Lord, and set on fire Our spirits with Thy love, That, dead to earth, they ...

Hark, a joyful voice is thrilling, And each dim and winding way Of the ancient Temple filling; Dreams, depart! for it is day. Christ is coming!⁠—from thy bed, Earth-bound soul, awake and spring⁠— With...

O ye who seek the Lord, Lift up your eyes on high, For there He doth the Sign accord Of His bright majesty. We see a dazzling sight That shall outlive all time, Older than depth or starry height, Limi...

Light of the anxious heart, Jesus, Thou dost appear, To bid the gloom of guilt depart, And shed Thy sweetness here. Joyous is he, with whom, God’s Word, Thou dost abide; Sweet Light of our eternal hom...

O God, of Thy soldiers the Portion and Crown, Spare sinners who hymn the praise of the Blest; Earth’s bitter joys, its lures and its frown, He scann’d them and scorn’d, and so is at rest. Thy Martyr h...

O Thou, of shepherds Prince and Head, Now on a Bishop’s festal-day Thy flock to many a shrine have sped Their vows to pay. He to the high and dreadful throne Urged by no false inspirings, prest, Nor o...

Between two comrades dear, Zealous and true as they, Thou, prudent Ethelwald, didst bear In that high home the sway. A man, who ne’er, ’tis said, Would of his graces tell, Or with what arms he triumph...

The Angel-lights of Christmas morn, Which shot across the sky, Away they pass at Candlemas, They sparkle and they die. Comfort of earth is brief at best, Although it be divine; Like funeral lights for...

There sat a Lady all on the ground, Rays of the morning circled her round, Save thee, and hail to thee, Gracious and Fair, In the chill twilight what wouldst thou there? “Here I sit desolate,” sweetly...

Green are the leaves, and sweet the flowers, And rich the hues of May; We see them in the gardens round, And market-paniers gay: And e’en among our streets, and lanes, And alleys, we descry, By fitful...

All is divine which the Highest has made, Through the days that He wrought, till the day when He stay’d; Above and below, within and around, From the centre of space, to its uttermost bound. In beauty...

Little maiden, dost thou pine For a faithful Valentine? Art thou scanning timidly Every face that meets thine eye? Art thou fancying there may be Fairer face than thou dost see? Little maiden, scholar...

In the far North our lot is cast, Where faithful hearts are few; Still are we Philip’s children dear, And Peter’s soldiers true. Founder and Sire! to mighty Rome, Beneath St. Peter’s shade, Early thy ...

The holy Monks, conceal’d from men, In midnight choir, or studious cell, In sultry field, or wintry glen, The holy Monks, I love them well. The Friars too, the zealous band By Dominic or Francis led, ...

Philip, on thee the glowing ray Of heaven came down upon thy prayer, To melt thy heart, and burn away All that of earthly dross was there. Thy soul became as purest glass, Through which the Brightness...

My oldest friend, mine from the hour When first I drew my breath; My faithful friend, that shall be mine, Unfailing, till my death; Thou hast been ever at my side; My Maker to thy trust Consign’d my s...

Weep not for me, when I am gone, Nor spend thy faithful breath In grieving o’er the spot or hour Of all-enshrouding death; Nor waste in idle praise thy love On deeds of head or hand, Which live within...

Where are the Islands of the Blest? They stud the Aegean Sea; And where the deep Elysian rest? It haunts the vale where Peneus strong Pours his incessant stream along, While craggy ridge and mountain ...

The number of Thine own complete, Sum up and make an end; Sift clean the chaff, and house the wheat; And then, O Lord, descend. Descend, and solve by that descent This mystery of life; Where good and ...

This is the Saint of gentleness and kindness, Cheerful in penance, and in precept winning; Patiently healing of their pride and blindness, Souls that are sinning. This is the Saint, who, when the worl...

I ask not for fortune, for silken attire, For servants to throng me, and crowds to admire; I ask not for power, or for name or success, These do not content me, these never can bless. Let the world fl...

Help, Lord, the souls which Thou hast made, The souls to Thee so dear, In prison for the debt unpaid Of sins committed here. Those holy souls, they suffer on, Resign’d in heart and will, Until Thy hig...

Once, o’er a clear calm pool, The fulness of an over-brimming spring, I saw the hawthorn and the chestnut fling Their willing arms, of vernal blossoms full And light green leaves: the lilac too was th...

Unveil, O Lord, and on us shine In glory and in grace; This gaudy world grows pale before The beauty of Thy face. Till Thou art seen, it seems to be A sort of fairy ground, Where suns unsetting light ...

Thou champion high Of Heaven’s imperial Bride, For ever waiting on her eye, Before her onward path, and at her side, In war her guard secure, by night her ready guide! To thee was given, When those fa...

What Attic Terence wrote of old for Rome, We in our northern accents lisp to-night; What heathen Terence spoke to heathen ears, We speak with Christian tongues to Christian men: Doing the while this s...

Jesu, Maria⁠—I am near to death,18 And Thou art calling me; I know it now⁠— Not by the token of this faltering breath, This chill at heart, this dampness on my brow, (Jesu, have mercy! Mary, pray for ...

Jesu, Maria⁠—I am near to death,18 And Thou art calling me; I know it now⁠— Not by the token of this faltering breath, This chill at heart, this dampness on my brow, (Jesu, have mercy! Mary, pray for ...

I went to sleep;28 and now I am refreshed. A strange refreshment: for I feel in me An inexpressive lightness, and a sense Of freedom, as I were at length myself, And ne’er had been before. How still i...

I will address him. Mighty one, my Lord, My Guardian Spirit, all hail! All hail, my child! My child and brother, hail! what wouldest thou? I would have nothing but to speak with thee For speaking’s sa...

But hark! upon my sense Comes a fierce hubbub, which would make me fear, Could I be frighted. We are now arrived Close on the judgment court; that sullen howl Is from the demons who assemble there. It...

… Hark to those sounds! They come of tender beings angelical, Least and most childlike of the sons of God. Praise to the Holiest in the height,36 And in the depth be praise: In all His words most wond...

Thy judgment now is near, for we are come Into the veiled presence of our God. I hear the voices that I left on earth. It is the voice of friends around thy bed, Who say the “Subvenite” with the pries...

Now let the golden prison ope its gates, Making sweet music, as each fold revolves Upon its ready hinge. And ye great powers, Angels of Purgatory, receive from me My charge, a precious soul, until the...

“Is life a boon so kindly given,” etc., vide Childe Harold, Canto II. ↩ The diction of these verses has been altered in some places at a later date. ↩ Of course the allusion is not to the author’s mot...