



Produced by Larry B. Harrison. Chuck Greif and the Online
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                                 POEMS

                                  BY

                          JENNIE EARNGEY HILL

                      s [Illustration: colophon]

                                BOSTON

                           THE GORHAM PRESS

                               MCMXVIII

                COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY JENNIE EARNGEY HILL

                          All Rights Reserved

                 Made in the United States of America

                   The Gorham Press, Boston, U.S.A.


                                  TO

                            MY BELOVED AUNT

                   MRS. JENNIE HEWES CALDWELL, PH.D.




CONTENTS


                        PAGE
SONG OF THE BROOK          9

A SLEIGHING SONG          10

THE DRESDEN MAID          12

SONG OF THE BEE           13

THE GOLDFINCH             14

BONNY BUNNY               15

WHEN SNOWFLAKES FALL      16

OUR COW                   17

ODE TO A BROOK            18

CONSECRATION              19

ENCHANTMENT               20

LIFE’S DAY                21

FOR YOU                   22

DISTANCE                  23

ALONE                     24

WINTER                    25

LOVE’S MESSAGE            26

MY TRIBUTE                27

HEARTBLOOM                28

DEATH’S SPECTRE           29

DREAMING                  30

SAILING                   31

FISHIN’                   32

LIFE’S SUNSET             34

THE MEADOWLARK            35

NATURE’S GAME             37

A BIT O’ CHEER            38

THOT                      39




POEMS




SONG OF THE BROOK


    Whispering brooklet running nigh,
    Do tell why love must die,
    Brooklet onward toward yon sea,
    Speak to me! speak to me!
    Do tell why love must die,
    Tiny brooklet flowing by.
    For aye! Oh, tell why!

    Brooklet gently gurgling by
    Must love die e’en for aye,
    Tell why shouldst love die;
    Oh, why must love die,
    Tell why! For aye! For aye!

The above was set to the music “The Brook” by Theodore Lack.




A SLEIGHING SONG


    Slipping, sliding, high then low,
    O’er the ice and fleecy snow,
    Hearts attune with all around,
    Merrily away we bound;
    While jubilant our spirits fling
    Echoes of their reigning king,
    Till circling air seems drunken quite,
    Breathing revelry tonight.
    Boist’rously we raise good cheer,
    One in voice and accent clear;
    As bracing wine such atmosphere,
    With love like thine,
    Maiden of the dell,
    Loud thy praises swell,
    Life’s rhapsody
    For me but thee,
    Thru the livelong day
    If at work or play.

    ’Tis living dew thy lips impart,
    Nectar to a fainting heart;
    Thine eyes--gems of beauteous hues,
    Amber mid the blues,
    Gleam Paradise--’gainst yon sparkling snow,
    Twinkling as they go;
    Thy cheeks transmit roseate light,
    Tint the dancing white,
    Heart-throb bespeaks
    Earthly paragon,
    Binding two in one,
    In this--our sleighing time, our playing time,
    Our sleighing, playing, sleighing time.

    Moonbeams falling, gently trace
    Lovers’ secrets on each face,
    As to and fro they skip--perchance,
    Lending joy with each fond glance,
    While slipping, sliding, high then low,
    O’er the ice and drifting snow,
    Till circling air seems drunken quite
    Breathing revelry tonight;
    Boist’rously we raise good cheer,
    One in voice and accent clear;
    As bracing wine such atmosphere
    With love like thine,
    Maiden of the dell,
    Loud thy praises swell,
    Life’s rhapsody for me but thee,
    Thru the livelong day
    If at work or play.

    I love you in the sleighing time,
    I love you with a love sublime,
    Oh, give to me that heart of thine,
    In this, our sleighing time, our playing time,
    Our sleighing, playing, sleighing time.

Set to music “Arabesque,” by Eric Meyer Helmund.




THE DRESDEN MAID


    Thou pretty, dainty Dresden maid,
    Tripping thru the grass,
    Dandelion lifts shining head,
    Gleaming as you pass.

    (CHORUS)

       Thou Dresden maid
       My heart rings true,
       Speak but the word,
       I’d give my life for you.

    Simply clad with flowered kirtle,
    Ever bloom more fair!
    Azure petals like yon myrtle
    Touch thy nutbrown hair.

    (CHORUS)

    Wistful eyes of violet shade,
    Tinting morn’s own dew,
    Love pure as thine could never fade,
    Grown in heart so true.

    (CHORUS)

    Blossoms adored by thee, sweetheart,
    Flourish but a day,
    One smile thou canst to me impart,
    Lendeth hope alway.

    (CHORUS)




SONG OF THE BEE


              Buzz! buzz!
    You’re just a honey-bee,
    Yet a simple song you say,
    Turneth work into play.

              Buzz! buzz!
    As flitting here and there,
    Among the flowers by the way,
    Work turneth to play.

              Buzz! buzz!
    While seeking clover sweet
    For its nectar thru the day,
    Work turneth to play.

              Buzz! buzz!
    A lesson true you’d teach,
    A song in the heart alway,
    Turneth work into play.




THE GOLDFINCH


    Oh, tiny goldfinch richly clad,
    Your joyousness bespeaks the morn,
    Whose beauty tends to make you glad,
    And eager just that you were born.

    You dart about o’er crag and moor,
    To us bequeath your choicest boon,
    Your silvery note so soft and pure,
    A simple, mellow twitter-tune.

    You ride away on rippling crest,
    Over hill and stony shallow,
    You seek the thorny thistle-pest,
    As it thrives on field and fallow.

    Your sheaves of down you garner in,
    And store them in your covert-mow,
    Away from human noise and din,
    To fluff your nest in bush or bough.

    The Hoary Alder catkin-hung,
    Where tinkling waters wander round,
    And Marigold is Music’s tongue,
    Here holds your cup in fork fast-bound;

    A leafy canopy of green,
    Above eggs touched by sea and sky,
    Which ling’ringly, you laid unseen,
    Save by the pale Day-moon on high.




BONNY BUNNY


              Bonny bunny!
              Tracks so funny!
    Playing round our cottage door,
    Fruits and food are here a-plenty,
    Laid away for winter’s store.

              Bonny bunny!
              Tracks so funny!
    Whiter even than the snow,
    As it dances all about you,
    Have a pear before you go.

              Bonny bunny!
              Tracks so funny!
    Why are you so timid, pray!
    Cold will soon be fast upon us,
    Let’s be friends, don’t run away.




WHEN SNOWFLAKES FALL


    I love you in the springtime,
    Still I love you in the fall,
    And I love you in the winter,
    With the snowflakes merry call.

    Yes, I love you best of all
    With the snowflakes as they fall,
    While the winters biting cold,
    Makes me sense a warmth untold.

    Then I love you in glad summer,
    When birds and flowers breathe cheer,
    To me this seems the gladdest time
    Of all the season’s year.

    But I love you best of all,
    With the snowflakes as they fall,
    While the winter’s biting cold
    Makes me sense a warmth untold.




OUR COW


    Our Jersey cow is just as kind
    And friendly as can be,
    A wisp of hay I hand to her,
    She gives her milk to me.

    All day she tramps the meadow grass,
    And browses on the hill,
    She seems to like the clover best,
    While wand’ring at her will.

    Moo! moo! she always seems to say,
    She never minds the showers,
    We children love to hear her low,
    Thru all the pleasant hours.




ODE TO A BROOK


    I wish I were a stream, O brook!
    If but for a single day,
    Then would we wander on and on,
    While rippling a roundelay.

    I wish I were a stream, O brook!
    Just to sense all you would say,
    Then could we wander on and on,
    Still babbling along our way.

    I wish I were a stream, O brook!
    Each forest-flower I’d know,
    Like wild birds we’d sail on and on,
    Joyfully prattling we’d go.

    I wish I were a stream, O brook!
    We’d wind thru lane and lea,
    Playfully gurgling on and on,
    Till at last we’d reach the sea.




CONSECRATION


    “Give God the glory,” ’tis thus speaks my soul,
    “Take thou my life, Lord, in sweetest control;
    When blinding storms of sorrow assail me,
    Oh, thou! who didst walk on blue Galilee,
    Beneath thy rich mantle sheltered I’d be.

    Dub thou me knight, Lord, our most holy King,
    While rend’ring thee service, trophies I’d bring,
    If mid life’s fray thou wouldst call me today,
    Oh, Christ! who canst raise the fallen, lift me,
    To bask in thy presence eternally.

    Truth as the emblem, ’tis right royally,
    Under her flag, firm, united we’d be,
    Dark powers of might at thy Word prostrate lie,
    While blazoned with love our banner waves high,
    In homage to him who reigneth--the King.




ENCHANTMENT


    Ethereal bursts yon morn, bluebirds awake,
    Joy-notes break forth, Heav’n born, for love’s sweet sake,
    Thy face, in waking dreams, reveals the day,
    Sunlight in beauty streams, pointing the way.

    ’Tis but a dainty flower I bring to you,
    Bathed in celestial light, mingled with dew,
    Still deeply rooted in this heart so true,
    Is wealth the world holds not, treasured in you.

    Fairest of all the bloom I proffer thee,
    Plucked from yon garden rare, Sincerity;
    Pure bud of enduring love, shield thou me,
    And bear my soul to God in chastity.




LIFE’S DAY


    Thou Sun! whose smile wreathes early Morn,
    A cheerful light to those forlorn,
    And dries the dripping eyes of dawn,
    Bless Life’s fleet day ere she be gone.

    Teach her to shine as unto thee,
    A lesser light as needs must be,
    A ray bent toward lonely places,
    Sun! whose beams reflect glad faces.

    I ask when Life’s young day is done,
    E’en as thy afterglow, O Sun!
    I might bequeath one worthy song,
    A candle in a world of wrong.




FOR YOU


    The golden sun sinks
    On a bosom of blue,
         A-smiling for you;
    While each bird in the nest
    Lulls her tired brood to rest,
         A-crooning for you.

    The weed-blossoms blow
    Full as wild flowers do,
         A-blooming for you;
    ’T is my heart