Poems
Duckett, Eleanor Shipley & Golding, Louis & Davidson, Gustav & Maring, Helen Emma & Storey, Violet Alleyn & Eleanore, Sister M.
POEMS The Lesson I had not known what life might be, Until death came to talk with me. But now I know the reason why The brave, white stars are riding high. I know why grass wants rain, and how...
...At length he sighed, and whispered Mary's prayer, Nor saw God's altars thronged his joy declare...
...A carpenter protect the Christ, his Lord...
...She should breathe star-dust, Moonlight for mirth, She is too sweet for Earth...
...Battlefield A battlefield at evening is My mind confused with smoky routs...
...Swan Ah, what is this that grieves Autumnally in my breast...
...GUSTAV DAVIDSON...
...Ah, surely is this heartache Of mine a stricken swan Gliding down the lake It proudly dies upon...
...The crying of a child at birth Smites me with ecstasy...
...A sparrow that bereaves An eagle, flying west...
...To a Swiss Tune I'd like to keep a shop in Interlaken...
...Saint Joseph Alone at dawn without the cave he stood, Seeking in vain that night to realize, And wondered, bowed on staff of olive-wood, How came it thus...
...HELEN EMMA MARING...
...To a Young Girl She should eat sunlight She should drink wind- She has never frowned nor Sinned...
...An eagle, unreturning To heights it has outsoared...
...I know The throb of water's undertow...
...Besides these wares I'd sell mice made of ivory, And edelweiss in paper-weights sealed fast, Narcissi pins, and tiny-peopled chalets, And nut bowls that prove musical when passed...
...I know why grass wants rain, and how The eager twigs reach from the bough To catch the sun, why April spills Her bright, young laughter down the hills...
...why fell it on this wise...
...True-of a Virgin's Son the vision spake, With prophecies of old in strange accordCould ox and ass behold that light awake...
...And now the late defeated finds His strength investing the lost plain, And a shrill trumpet-summons binds His scattered regiments again...
...And now the victor raises his Rent banner amid oaths and shouts...
...Shepherds he knew, folk simple, rough, untaught- What brought those sturdy men to worship there...
...She should sing bird songs, Bathe in still mist, She who has never been Kissed...
...ELEANOR SHIPLEY DUCKETT...
...I feel the stir Of restless seeds within the earth...
...SISTER M. ELEANORS...
...My ears are tuned to the strong whir Of a bird's wings...
...Love is a river yearning Toward seas it cannot ford...
...And learned seers, and kings with splendor fraught- Did Mary's Child with them His secret share...
...Foeman or friend slays friend or foe Then sets his face upon his face...
...Then are both locked for weal and woe In this obscure bewildered place...
...I'd like to keep a shop in Interlaken- Above it the calm Jungfrau, and around Green fields flame-tipped with poppies, daisies, bluets, And, everywhere, some happy, tinkling sound...
...There'd be a painted cow-bell on the door To warn me when my customers were coming, And all about the clean-swept, pine-soft floor Would stand carved bears and gnomes and inlaid tables, And chairs that, being sat on, play a tune, While, from the walls, a hundred clock-housed cuckoos Would call each ticking hour from noon to noon...
...VIOLET ALLEYN STOREY...
...He sets his mouth that gapes and twists On the dead mouth his sword has tornThen, sobbing, smites with his weak fists The evil brain where he was born...
...I love my pulse beats and swift breath, Since I have had my talk with death...
...Louis GOLDING...
Vol. 11 • December 1929 • No. 8
