I give my cordial endorsement to this little book of poems, because I believe it will do its part to awaken the Muse of Poetry which I am sure slumbers in very many of the sons and daughters of the ra...

This little volume is launched on the doubtful sea of literature with the hope that the breezes of public opinion may give an impetus to its voyage. I hope that it will be kindly received as simply th...

To Mrs. S. S. Forbes, of Massachusetts, and Miss Floride Cunningham, of South Carolina, These “Leaves” Are Respectfully Dedicated By the Author....

Night and a starless sky, Ship on wild billows tost, With tattered sails and opening seams. And deck bestrewn with falling beams. Swift plunging to her doom. Red lightnings round her flash, Loud thund...

With hands all reddened and sore, With back and shoulders low bent, She stands all day, and part of the night Till her strength is well-nigh spent. With her rub⁠—rub⁠—rub, And her wash, rinse, shake, ...

How comest thou, O flower so fair, To bud and bloom while wintry air Still hovers o’er the land? How comest from the cold, dark earth? That fostered thee and gave thee birth, Studding thy brow with sn...

The earth was young, the world was fair, And balmy breezes filled the air, Nature reposed in solitude, When God pronounced it “very good.” The snow-capped mountain reared its head, The deep, dark fore...

On a starry, wintry night, Frosty and cold was the air, And the lowly vale where Bethlehem stood, Looked bleak, and barren and bare. Her streets deserted and dim, Lit only by myriads of stars, That wi...

Come and listen to the chiming Of St. Michael’s merry bells, When the joyous Christmas morning, All of Bethlehem’s story tells. When they sweetly chime the anthem “Glory to be to God on high,” When th...

’Twas sunset’s hour, the glorious day Had in its beauty passed away; The sun had bathed in golden dyes This Southern land of sunny skies; And crimson clouds, like birds of wing, Did o’er the earth the...

Gentle as a maiden’s dream, Softly as the gliding stream, Falls the glittering, sparkling snow. With its wealth of crystal pearls⁠— Shining, pure-white coronals, With its robe of silvery sheen, Deckin...

River, why in ceaseless flow Must you ripple to and fro? Stop a while. Lonely on thy bank I stand, On your shining, pebbly strand, Canst thou not a moment stay Through the long, long summer day? Stop ...

Columbia, all hail! May thy banner ne’er be furled Till Liberty, with her beauteous rays, Enlighten all the world. Columbia, to thee From every clime we come, To lay our trophies at thy feet⁠— Our sun...

“Cast down your bucket where you are,” From burning sands or Polar star From where the iceberg rears its head Or where the kingly palms outspread; ’Mid blackened fields or golden sheaves, Or foliage g...

Hail Flag of the Union! Hail Flag of the free! That floateth so proudly o’er land and o’er sea Thy Stars and thy Stripes, in grandeur doth wave O’er hearts that are true and hands that are brave. When...

Fain would I rival thee Monarch of birds Soaring so loftily Up to the clouds! Spreading thy pinions And mounting on air, Ethereally floating Divinely and fair. Where is thy resting place? Where dost t...

Why did the sun his beams conceal As if unwilling to reveal That deed of mankind on the day When Jesus, at the altar, lay A willing sacrifice. Earth, too, in terror shook, when He The Mighty, died on ...

In a far off hamlet near the sea Where billows oft, in days of storm, and Nights of darkness rush reckless to the shore; Where tall, white cliffs like watchmen keep A life-long vigil; Oft when the mor...

Magnolia! “Pale city of the dead,” Adown thy gravelled walks I tread, Thy marble pillars looming high, Thy polished shafts around me lie. With soft, mild rays, the winter sun Thy tortuous pathways dot...

I took up the burden of life anew When she, the pure-hearted, died; When the golden cord was rent in twain, And she faded from my side. When the eyes grew dim that were wont to glow With the holy ligh...

As I sit by the ruddy oak fire, And feel the grateful glow, Come mem’ries sweet of a rustic cot, That stood near the pebbly shore. With its porch so bright and sunny, Where the children loved to play,...

Come back to me, O ye, my children: Come back to the home as of yore; As my longing eye peers through the vista of years, Comes the heart-throbbing more and more. I sit by the casement and listen To t...

Oh! surely ’tis a theme sublime That stirs my soul to-day; Awake then, muse nor slumber more, Till sung the wondrous lay. My song shall be of one, whose youth And strength were freely given To elevate...

Bright and beautiful art thou, Autumn flowers crown thy brow, Golden-rod and Aster blue, Russet leaf with crimson hue. Half stripped branches waving by, Softly as a lullaby, Tell of summer’s days gone...

Sister darling, ope the window, let the balmy air once more Fan my flushed and throbbing brow as in the happy days of yore; I would gaze again in rapture on the brightly setting sun For I know, my gen...

With thy rugged, ice-girt shore, Draped in everlasting snow, Thou’rt enthroned a queen. Crown of moss and lichen grey, Frosted o’er with ocean spray, All thy long, long wintry day, Dark and stern thy ...

Can I forget thee? No, while mem’ry lasts, Thine image like a talisman entwined, Around my heart by sacred friendship’s ties Remains unchanged, in love, pure love, enshrined. Can I forget thee? Childh...

I’m sitting by the hearthstone now, And my heart is lone and drear; It seems as though the autumn blast Had left its impress there. As memory, backward, wends its way, Unfolding to my gaze Those joyfu...

Oh! Erin my country, my ancestor’s home! Impelled by my wants, I, from thee, had to roam; And now my heart yearneth, sore longeth for thee My dear native Ireland, my “gem of the sea.” Oh! Erin my coun...

Lady with thine eyes of beauty Rivaling cerulean flowers, Where the love-beams seem to linger, Throughout youth’s bright, sunny hours. With thy smile of witching sweetness Like the magnet’s mystic art...

I am sitting sad and lonely Where I’ve often sat before, And I am musing, fondly musing Of my Florence who pass’d o’er. Pass’d into the realms supernal, Far ’bove cloud-lands lofty height; Yonder ’mid...

By the Rivers of Babylon we mournfully bent, With “harps on the willows” and vesture all rent, For burdened by sorrow and saddened by pain, We felt that we no more could strike them again. This, this ...

Mightier than the sword thou art, Thou can’st pierce like venomed dart, Time and space count naught with thee, Leagues of land or leagues of sea. Thou can’st waves of passion calm, Griefs assuage like...

Ah! the year is slowly dying, And the wind in tree-top sighing, Chant his requiem. Thick and fast the leaves are falling, High in air wild birds are calling, Nature’s solemn hymn. In the deep, dark fo...

Oh! waves in the sunlight gleaming, Oh! billows with ceaseless roar, Bring back to this aching heart of mine, The laddie you bore long ago. Far out on on your restless bosom, Far away from his boy-hoo...

O come to me in my dreams love! When the world is wrapped in sleep, And the silver moon like virgin queen, Her lonely vigils keep. When all is hushed in calm repose⁠— The earth, and sky, and sea, Then...

Will you leave the hills of Scotland? Your childhood’s happy home, To brave the dangers of the deep, In foreign lands to roam⁠— Say, Mary, will you, for my sake Leave yonder joyous cot⁠— Your youthful...

’Twas a cloudless morn and the sun shone bright, And dewdrops sparkled clear; And the hills and the vales of this Western land Were wreathed with garlands rare. For verdant spring with her emerald rob...

Come, let us join this festal lay⁠— Hurra, Hurra, Come, let us join this festal lay, And let our anthems all be gay, And sing aloud for this glad day Should brighten every heart:⁠— We’ll sing of heroe...

Sleep, love sleep, The night winds sigh, In soft lullaby. The Lark is at rest With the dew on her breast. So close those dear eyes, That borrowed their hue From the heavens so blue, Sleep, love sleep....

Just look, ’tis a quarter past six, love⁠— And not even the fires are caught; Well, you know I must be at the office⁠— But, as usual, the breakfast’ll be late. Now hurry and wake up the children; And ...

Come Peace, on snowy pinions, Come, nestle like a dove; Encircle earth’s dominions With harmony and love. Let anger, pride and malice, And strife forgotten lie; Nor from their venomed chalice, Quaff m...

Yon may speak of a grave in a distant land, Or of one ’neath ocean’s foam, Where the dolphins play o’er the sunny spray, Far from the dear old home; Where the coral peaks form a glorious tomb, And the...

All hail! thou gorgeous sunset, With thy gold and purple clouds, Tinting the vast horizon, Like shadowy, fleecy shrouds. The mountain crests are glowing, The hills are crimson dyed, The very air seems...

The Past, it is fraught with many a feeling Of pleasure, of sadness, of joy, and of pain; And ’tis sweet of an eve when dewdrops are falling, To reflect on the days that can ne’er come again. The Past...

The die is cast, come weal, come woe, Two lives are joined together, For better or for worse, the link Which naught but death can sever. The die is cast, come grief, come joy. Come richer, or come poo...

When the heavens with stars are gleaming Like a diadem of light, And the moon’s pale rays are streaming, Decking earth with radiance bright; When the autumn’s winds are sighing, O’er the hill and o’er...

I am the month when roses Bloom brightest o’er the glade, I am the month when marriages I lost happily are made. Mine is the time of foliage, When hills and valleys teem With buds and vines sweet scen...

O! sing ye a dirge for the loved and the lost, That have found them a home ’neath the coral reefs deep; That have laid them to rest ’neath the murmuring surge, Where the whistling wind wails o’er thei...

O, insatiable monster! Could’st thou not In pity turn aside thy venomed shaft From her my gifted, darling friend? Has sympathy within thy breast No trysting place? That thou must come At spring-time w...

Life’s stormy surge had scarcely touched Her blooming, beauteous brow, When rudely torn from earthly bliss, A budded, broken flower. Methinks I see her brilliant eye, When smiles played softly there, ...

I’ll think of thee, mine own, dear one As morn’s first blushing ray Diffuses light o’er the dim earth⁠— Turns darkness into day. I’ll think of thee at eve, my love, When moon and star appear⁠— When in...

The gloom of night had overspread the land, Swaying its dread sceptre o’er every man; For superstition like a monarch reigned, And Adam’s sons were fettered by its chain. When the fulfilment of the pr...

Bird of the woodland, sing me a song, Fain would I list to thee, all the day long. Out from thy cosy nest, ’mid leafy bower, Lift high thy tuneful voice⁠—’tis summer’s hour. Bird of the forest, with v...

Oh! surely for thee were the gates ajar, As thy chariot onward sped, When with brightened eye and youth renewed, Triumphant thou did’st tread Through the gates of death, to the portals bright, While t...

Oh! surely for thee were the gates ajar, As thy chariot onward sped, When with brightened eye and youth renewed, Triumphant thou did’st tread Through the gates of death, to the portals bright, While t...

Sleep, Christian warrior, sleep, Life’s fitful dream is o’er, Thy pain-tossed bark is anchored Safe on the golden shore. ’Neath the green sward we lay thee Thus early to thy rest, And press the sod th...

Carolina mourns to-day. For he, the gifted Son of her adoption, is no more. The voice That stirred the bosoms of her sons, and Made her ramparts ring from mount to Sea-board, is hushed in death. His N...

My Mother! With the angels now, Life’s race completely run; The Pilgrim’s cross is laid aside, The Christian’s crown is won. Full two-score years has thy frail bark Relentlessly been driven, Along the...

’Tis said but a name is friendship, Soulless, and shallow, and vain; That the human heart ne’er beats in response, Or echoes sweet sympathy’s strain. But to-day in “memory’s mirror” Came a dear and ho...

Yes, my darling, when life’s shadows Over me do darkly fall, Meet me surely at the river As I haste to obey the call. Gladly through the darksome valley, Through its portals, grim and cold, Will I has...

When the Autumn’s breezes Were sweeping o’er the land, Came the mighty mandate From the upper land. Now from pain and anguish Thou hast found relief, Passed through death’s dark portal, Left this worl...

Rest thee aged pilgrim, now thy toils are o’er; Peacefully thou’st landed over Jordan’s shore; Safe from all the sorrows, free from all the strife, Thou hast passed death’s portals, entered into life....

For one brief day, did Queenie stay To brighten each fond heart, Then sped like dove to realms above, Ne’er more to feel death’s dart. O! in that land, where infants stand Arrayed in spotless sheen, N...

Just as the twilight’s holy hour In quietude so deep, Was hushing nature to repose, Our “Charlie” fell asleep. Just in the bloom of infancy, We laid him to his rest, Well knowing that our angel boy Wa...

When the Sabbath was declining, just at twilight’s mystic hour, Left the “Upper Courts” an angel, sent to cull our sweetest flower, Not in judgment, not in anger, did this white-winged seraph come, Bu...

She is not dead, but sleepeth;⁠— Ere long will the morning break, When those we love who sleep in Him, Shall from the dust awake. She is not dead, but sleepeth;⁠— Soon, soon will the ransomed sing O! ...

Tread not the earth where lies her youthful form, Grow violets, sweet violets, above that cherished mound; Bid zephyrs softly whisper in accents sweet and low, Not dead, not lost, but only gone a litt...

Byrd.⁠—“As one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams,” thus sweetly passed from earth to glory, on the morning of the 19th of February, 1884, Mrs. Mary Furman W...