Poems
Powers, Jessica & Davies, Mary Carolyn & Mullins, Helene & Tobin, James E. & Dent, Paul & Shallcross, Eleanor Custis
556 THE COMMONWEAL October 13, 1926 P 0 E M...
...And past the sea there is a little ship, A toy made to amuse our idleness...
...I shall be worn and white as anyone, ELEANOR CL-STIS SHALLCROSS...
...JAMES E. TOBIN...
...This is the end of a trail : this soft white peace Lit with her loveliness when the day grows dim...
...One's heart could be brimmed with love for giving away, The filmy lace upon your fragrant dress And one could wander forever, could vainly plod Is not more delicate than the foam, that lace Through endless space with the cry, "I am seeking Beauty," That falls so negligently into place Or one could know, "I am only seeking God...
...To those that carry burdens visible I do not covet the designs To every eye, and I shall have a need Of men...
...into her golden chalice I am pouring the love that my heart would offer Him...
...In spring, The misty green, the apple trees You would not ask a flower to tear its roots In bloom Out of the sod and walk upon the sea, And every bird that shows me Nor call upon a stone to rise, and sing, How to sing...
...And the men I sit in solitude, and sing one song Who walk their dreary streets After another, though few have an hour With sightless eyes To pause and listen to me, Yes, I sit Too dull to look into the why In seeming idleness, but in my heart Or when...
...556 THE COMMONWEAL October 13, 1926 P 0 E M S T'o My Father "Love Not the l'Vorld" (II'ho A4ccused Me o f Idleness) "Love not the world"Yes, there is little that I seem to do...
...The beach-grass bends beneath a wind as light Mary, the Mother, is sad ; I kneel at her feet, As lovers' hands...
...How could I love it, Lord' I have no strength for marching in the long I, who have known the cities Procession of the builders of the world...
...It is warm here...
...JESSICA POWERS...
...Nor ask a bird to solve the mystery Of life or death...
...and I am one of these, "Love not the world"With limitations, and my gift of song...
...The trees are tall, with silence in their hands...
...The Trees Are Tall The trees are tall, with silence in their hands...
...HELENE MULLINS...
...Made by You...
...Of rest as much as any- other one But let me love the wonders That's lain below the thistle and the weed...
...But it is perfect, Lord ! What miracle do you demand of me...
...Shall have my own scars and bewildered tears, Shall be, at last, with all my dreaming done, As idle as I've seemed these many years...
...Yt Mary's Shrine The ocean grows white foam-flowers on grey sands, White flowers that die and bud again as white...
...Upon the world's breast ! Peace on sea and lands...
...PAUL DENT...
...it is warm and strangely sweet Here in the grotto softened with candle blur...
...She is an altar...
...MARY CAROLYN DAVIES...
...As the forests breathe...
...The sand dunes rise and dip, And lift my heart, wine in a cup, to her...
...QXrborea l Blind Yesterdays The city has no trees, In yesteryear when you and I But sometimes, late at night, Had all the laughter 'neath the sky, Tall girders sway across the moon Like boughs, And all the song of little things And breathe, released from day's Were ordinary happenings, Relentless tread, Did you tell me, or I tell you With mighty intake, What lonely ways we must walk through...
...And all its beauty eloquent I bear exhaustions that do not belong And true...
...Battles are fought and lost ; the lamps are lit Over and over for the stricken hopes "Love not the world"That cannot find their way ; the watch is kept How can I help it, Lord At every death-bed of a passing dream, This beauty of the earth new dressed The prayers are chanted, and the tears are wept...
Vol. 4 • October 1926 • No. 23
