The Poems of Henry Van Dyke eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 381 pages of information about The Poems of Henry Van Dyke.

The Poems of Henry Van Dyke eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 381 pages of information about The Poems of Henry Van Dyke.

      But when the piping stayed,
      Across the flowery mead
  The milk-white nymphs ran out afraid: 
  O Thyrsis, wake!  Your flock has strayed,—­
      The nymphs a shepherd need.

ECHOES FROM THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY

I

STARLIGHT

  With two bright eyes, my star, my love,
  Thou lookest on the stars above: 
  Ah, would that I the heaven might be
  With a million eyes to look on thee.

Plato.

II

ROSELEAF

  A little while the rose,
  And after that the thorn;
  An hour of dewy morn,
  And then the glamour goes. 
  Ah, love in beauty born,
  A little while the rose!

Unknown.

III

PHOSPHOR—­HESPER

    O morning star, farewell! 
    My love I now must leave;
  The hours of day I slowly tell,
  And turn to her with the twilight bell,—­
    O welcome, star of eve!

Meleager.

IV

SEASONS

  Sweet in summer, cups of snow,
  Cooling thirsty lips aglow;
  Sweet to sailors winter-bound,
  Spring arrives with garlands crowned;
  Sweeter yet the hour that covers
  With one cloak a pair of lovers,
  Living lost in golden weather,
  While they talk of love together.

Asclepiades.

V

THE VINE AND THE GOAT

  Although you eat me to the root,
  I yet shall bear enough of fruit
  For wine to sprinkle your dim eyes,
  When you are made a sacrifice.

Euenus.

VI

THE PROFESSOR

  Seven pupils, in the class
  Of Professor Callias,
  Listen silent while he drawls,—­
  Three are benches, four are walls.

Unknown.

ONE WORLD

     "The worlds in which we live are two: 
      The world ‘I am’ and the world ‘I do,’"

  The worlds in which we live at heart are one,
  The world “I am,” the fruit of “I have done”;
  And underneath these worlds of flower and fruit,
  The world “I love,”—­the only living root.

JOY AND DUTY

  “Joy is a Duty,”—­so with golden lore
  The Hebrew rabbis taught in days of yore,
  And happy human hearts heard in their speech
  Almost the highest wisdom man can reach.

  But one bright peak still rises far above,
  And there the Master stands whose name is Love,
  Saying to those whom weary tasks employ: 
  “Life is divine when Duty is a Joy.”

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Poems of Henry Van Dyke from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.