Victor Roy; A Masonic Poem Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A B C D E F G H F IAIA JKJK LMLM NONO LALA PQPQ RSTSUUVVWWGGXXVVUUFF YYZZA2A2B2B2FFC2C2D2 D2E2E2F2F2G2G2H2H2UU D2D2I2I2PPPP PPPPJ2J2D2D2 LLK2K2L2L2FF M2M2PPPPD2D2 PPM2M2N2O2PPPPPPPPLL M2M2P2P2PPQ2Q2R2S2PP G2G2PPD2D2PPT2T2LLHH FFU2U2V2V2LLW2W2X2X2 AAD2D2Y2Y2FFPPZ2Z2VV V2V2A3A3PPM2M2 B3FPF PPC3P B2U2D3U2 E3PE3P L2 A3P N2U2PU2 F3G3T2H3 VVU2U2I3J3E3E3PPI3I3 PPK3K3G2G2PPPPFFPPU2 U2PPD3D3L3L3 T2 IAIA JAG2A ZG3B2G3 M3M3D2D2PPN3N3PPPPPP O3O3J2J2P3P3Q3LR3S3A AT3T3V2V2U3U3FFPPAAA AS2S2V3B2FFPPW3W3PPP PPPR2S2D2D2U3U3X3X3Y 3Y3AAU2U2V2V2PPH3G3P PPPM2M2PPU3U3 MX3Z3X3 X3L2JL2 D2A3A4A3 B4PPP G2AB2A S2AM2AM2R2 PG2PG2PP AFH3FH3A S2PJ2PJ2R2 B2VPPPPT2T2J2J2N3N3T 2T2I3I3PPPPJ2J2P U3U3C4C4U3U3AAJ2J2U3 U3J2J2PPD4D4PPPPMMJ2 J2PPPPPP E4PPPPE4 PF4O2FO2P PV2J2V2J2P PAPAPP J2 PPPP G4P3P3P3 V2P3V2P3 P3J2P3J2 PPPP PN2PO2 P3PP3P PI3PD2 J2P3J2P3 JHJH A4B4A4B4 PPPP PPPP PP3PP3 PPPP R2PS2P J2AJ2A G2G2LLV2V2PPPPP3P3PP LI3J2J2N2O2AAPPPPPPS 2S2PPLL F I3I3J2J2PPPPPPPPP3P3 G2G2V2V2J2J2J2J2G2G2 R3S3PPH4H4P3P3PPD4D4 PPI3I3PPFFPPPPA3A3PP FFJ2J2P3P3 J2J2AAFFPP J2PPAAI4I4 ZJ4PPP3P3PP PPI3I3J2J2N3N3 PPLLJ2J2PPPPP3P3P3P3 F4F4PPJJPPP3P3PPD4D4 PPK4K4PPFFA3A3PPP3P3 B2B2PPL4B2D2D2PPM3M3 G2G2J2J2PPLLM4M4PPV2 V2M3M3PPV2V2KKJJT2T2 V2V2P3P3AAT2T2P3P3O2 O2PPP3P3P3P3PPLLA3A3 J2J2PPPPAAJ2J2FFPPPP U2U2J2J2PPJ2J2 I3 PPPP P3PP3P P3PP3P P3D2P3D2 J2PJ2P S2N4S2N4 ZS2PS2 P3PP3P S2LR2L MPMP P3J2P3J2 PJ2PJ2 PJ2PJ2 HI3HI3 FFP3P3PPPPC4C4PPFFJ2 J2PPA3A3PPPPPPJ2J2P3 P3LLP J2J2C4C4C4C4PPPPC4C4 PPL C4C4A3A3PPJ2J2V2V2P3 P3LLP3P3PPPPC4C4PPO4 P4 PC4PC4PP C4N3PN3PC4 C4J2J2J2J2C4 C4C4PPPPPPFF LJ2LJ2 E4AE4A PPPPC4C4N3 P3P3 J2PPPJ2PJ2P P3PPPPPPP C4C4FFJ2J2C4C4PPPPPP A3A3C4C4 P J2J2PPP3P3PP

DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO DANIEL SPRY ESQ	A
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GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE A F A M OF CANADA	B
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PREFACE	C
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An anecdote appeared some time ago in the pages of The Craftsman which gave rise to the ideas embodied in Victor Roy It is not a story of profound depth Its aim is not to soar to Alpine heights of imagination or to excavate undiscovered treasures from the mines of thought It is a very simple story told in very simple words of such lives as are around us in our midst It tells of sorrows that are daily being borne by suffering humanity and of the faith that gives strength to that suffering humanity to endure seeing Him who is invisible All lives may not see their earth day close in sunshine but somewhere the sun is shining and all true cross bearers shall some day become true crown wearers The following pages have some references to that Ancient Order which comes down the centuries bearing upon its structure the marks of that Grand Master Builder who gave to the visible universe the sun to rule the day the moon and stars to govern the night an Order which like these wondrous orbs is grand in its mysterious symbolism calm in its unvarying circles universal in its beneficence	D
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We are told of a poor weary traveller who had plucked a flower The shadows of a grand cathedral lay before him He entered its architecture charmed him its calmness refreshed him Approaching a shrine he laid his flower upon it saying It is all I can give it too is God's work although gathered by a feeble dying hand A priest standing near looked upon the flower and said God bless you my brother heaven is nearer to me So if by the perusal of Victor Roy one ear hears more distinctly the Apostolic declaration Pure religion is to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction or if one poor sinking spirit is strengthened as Longfellow says to touch God's right hand in the darkness the wishes of the Authoress will be fully accomplished	E
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HARRIETT ANNIE	F
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Hamilton August	G
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VICTOR ROY	H
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Victor's Soliloquy	F
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Heavily rolleth the wintry clouds	I
And the ceaseless snow is falling falling	A
As the frost king's troops in their icy shrouds	I
Whistle and howl like lost spirits calling	A
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But a warm luxuriantly furnished room	J
Is an antidote to the wild night storm	K
Lamplight and firelight banish the gloom	J
No poverty stalks there with cold gaunt form	K
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Yet there seems a shadow yes even there	L
Where all is so peacefully grand and still	M
No fair young face with its shining hair	L
No voice of love with its musical thrill	M
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One reigneth alone in that mansion grand	N
And his day of life has long past its noon	O
The wanderer of many a foreign land	N
Rests calmly waiting Heaven's final boon	O
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There are lines on his brow of grief and care	L
Writ with a quill from Time's feathered wing	A
There are silver threads in the chesnut hair	L
The blossoms white of a fair dawning spring	A
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Yet Victor Roy has a kindly word	P
And a kindly smile for all he meets	Q
No cry of distress is by him unheard	P
While many a blessing his pathway greets	Q
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Yes that's right Jasper draw the curtains close	R
And make the fire burn bright	S
God help the poor and suffering ones	T
Within this city to night	S
Did your wife send food to that sick girl in the market lane to day	U
Did you carry coals to the man whose limbs were crushed by the loaded dray	U
Well that's all right what is it you say you wish that I did but know	V
The comfort I give to hearts that are weak or erring or low	V
Have you turned lecturer Jasper no but it makes you sad	W
To see me lonely and quiet when I'm making others glad	W
But Jasper remember that you and I hold certain things in trust	G
We must gain some interest on our gold not let it lie and rust	G
I am but a steward for the King till the time of his return	X
There that will do supper at ten how bright those fresh coals burn	X
Poor Jasper he thinks me moping and sad well well I only know	V
I do not wish that he or aught should ever consider me so	V
It would seem like base ingratitude to the Ruler of my way	U
Who showers His blessings about and around me every day	U
But oh Great Architect whose hand has carved my destiny	F
There was a time when in my pride I owned not Thine nor Thee	F
Unheeding the Holy Light Divine to man's dark pathway sent	Y
Unheeding the Bible blessed chart to storm tossed sailors sent	Y
With a film in my eyes I would not see the ladder based on earth	Z
Yet reaching to the cloud crowned height where the true Light has birth	Z
The beautiful angels passing up with all our prayers to God	A2
Our tears and moans our fading flowers all stained with mire and sod	A2
And coming down ah many a time I have blessed the Lord above	B2
For His pure descending angels bringing Faith and Hope and Love	B2
There was a time when all this wealth of glory was lost on me	F
And I was like a rudderless ship far out on the rocking sea	F
I had a friend oh that blessed word we had been parted for years	C2
And I wandered one day to find him my heart had no cloudy fears	C2
That day stands out in bold relief upon Memory's wreck strewn shore	D2
Like a beacon light in the lighthouse undimned by the rush and roar	D2
'Twas a day in the early June the clover was red in the field	E2
And the zephyrs garnered the kisses the gentle violets yield	E2
Birds sang and the sunshine flickered out and about through the cloud	F2
What had a day like that to do with a pall a coffin a shroud	F2
I stood in a flower decked churchyard and on the procession came	G2
Why did I ask to be answered back that his was the sleeper's name	G2
Nearer now to the dark brown earth the band of his brothers turned	H2
And on snowy aprons and collars of blue the merry sunbeams burned	H2
I like a suddenly petrified stone stood mid the crowd that day	U
And with ears which seemed to be leaden I listened and heard one say	U
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Brother we have met before	D2
Where the Tyler guards the door	D2
We have given the well known sign	I2
That has blent our souls with thine	I2
Now this eve thou giv'st no word	P
Back to our souls deep stired	P
For the Angel Tylers wait	P
At thy Lodge Room's mystic gate	P
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Brother thou art taking rest	P
We must still the wild storm breast	P
We must build through mist and night	P
Thou hast seen the quenchless Light	P
While we hew the shapeless stone	J2
Thou hast bowed before the Throne	J2
While we tread the chequered floor	D2
Thou hast pass'd the golden door	D2
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Oh Companion were we there	L
Ended every pleading prayer	L
Ended all the work and toil	K2
Gathered all the fruit and spoil	K2
Finished all the war of sin	L2
By the Warden's hand shut in	L2
Brother once again with thee	F
What would our first greeting be	F
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Loved Companions we have given	M2
To the guardianship of Heaven	M2
Our Brother's precious dust	P
And in memory of the just	P
Be it ours still to guard	P
All he loved with watch and ward	P
Till like him we reach a shore	D2
Where these sorrows come no more	D2
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All he loved I knew as I stood there he loved not one of that band	P
As we had loved in our boyhood days heart to heart and hand to hand	P
They called us David and Jonathan for our hearts were knit as one	M2
And now I saw him left alone in the shades of of the dying sun	M2
Was it his spirit beside me stood for do not their spirits come	N2
Relieved from all burden of earthly dross and win us up to their home	O2
Was it his spirit urged me on to seek for the Orient Light	P
It seemed that I should be nearer him if one in that mystic rite	P
Never a Syrian ready to perish needed more timely aid	P
Never a pilgrim knocked at the door and found more restful shade	P
Aye time has carried me on some way since the hour I saw the light	P
And morning has gone noontide has gone now soon must draw on the night	P
I heard the young lads in the office talking about me to day	P
I did not mean to play the part of eaves dropper in their way	P
They were wondering who in the name of fate I would find for my heir	L
Wondering why I never was married there are some so proud and fair	L
They knew I could have for the asking and so they went on with their fun	M2
Till the Senior Partner gave a cough and then all their mirth was done	M2
But I asked from Heaven though I know the way is mingled flower and thorn	P2
That not one from partner to porter may bear all I have borne	P2
So Jasper thinks I am sad how the wintry winds whistle to night	P
Heaven grant no poor woman or children are out in this sleety blight	P
I cannot read this eve what ails me Chronicle Tribune and Times	Q2
Lie looking coaxingly at me I heed not their prose or rhymes	Q2
Is it thinking so much of Arthur brings Aimee before me here	R2
Aimee my idol my darling my pet who always spoke words of cheer	S2
Did I say what brings her near me to night she is with me every day	P
God help me for Aimee's another man's wife three thousand miles away	P
Oh how we loved there's no use in talking all do not love the same	G2
To some 'tis the bread and breath of life to some it is only a name	G2
We were going to be married the coming spring we had planned our nest	P
Down in the fairest of fairy dells in sight of the blue sea's breast	P
When Uncle Roy who had sailed to India many long years before	D2
Gone from the towers of Edinburgh and made piles of golden store	D2
Sent for me all in a hurry and ere long he died on my breast	P
And far from the land of the heather we laid him gently to rest	P
And then came the fever to me sick and weak at the point of death	T2
Raving for Aimee they told me 'twas Aimee at every breath	T2
Weeks passed and I woke again one day to breath as it were new air	L
The crisis over now health life love and myself a millionaire	L
But Victor Ellis came back no more I was changed into Victor Roy	H
Yes a king with a crown of gold but the gold was a broken toy	H
For a letter lay by me from England a strange hand writing to me	F
Telling me Aimee my star of hope was lost in the treacherous sea	F
A party went boating one eve and the pleasure boat struck the bar	U2
And before any help could be given Aimee had floated out far	U2
Every available thing was done that landsman or sailor could try	V2
So fell the burning shower of words that met my bewildered eye	V2
Oh the night at noon I have wondered oft how much the heart will bear	L
As strand after strand of the toughened cord strains with the weight and wear	L
I felt I must fly weak as I was to where she was lying perhaps	W2
'Twas a merciful Providence after all that I took a relapse	W2
Oh the weary months that crawled slowly by at a tortoise creeping pace	X2
I seeming to hear the dash of the waves that hid a beloved face	X2
Time passed and I learnt that the roaring sea was not the treacherous thing	A
'Twas not the dumb wave but a living man that turned to Winter my Spring	A
And Aimee had married another and sought the Australian shore	D2
She must have thought I was dead Heaven help me betwixt us ocean's roar	D2
I have sometimes wondered if gold is ever aught but a curse	Y2
No that's wrong if honestly gained no harm in a well filled purse	Y2
But I often think of the little home standing there by the sea	F
For far off merry England the home planned for Aimee and me	F
Oh to have toiled for her from dawn till the dews of restful night	P
Her smile my guerdon her love my prize her heart so happy and bright	P
Often I wonder if peace and love have sheltered her with their wings	Z2
Of wealth I suppose they have plenty and the comforts money brings	Z2
For Montrose was the heir to a large amount of money I know	V
And he certainly was not the kind of man to let his money go	V
But there must be something warmer than gold to brighten Aimee's sky	V2
And I hav'nt much faith in a man who could win such a prize by a lie	V2
But Heaven is good that I found him not when my soul was passion rife	A3
'Twould only have brought her grief for my aim was a life for a life	A3
Well a day come here Chronicle let us see if you have a word	P
To calm the current of burning thoughts that down to their depths are stirred	P
I'll read the first thing I meet with murders fires or kingdoms riven	M2
Oh you are the first on the page Vera to her lover in Heaven	M2
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My lover why is it this night of storms	B3
My thoughts are ever turning to thee	F
You who are sheltered from all the blast	P
Hear the murmuring sounds of the crystal sea	F
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My lover do you remember the day	P
When last my hands were in yours entwined	P
And the air was faint with the summer flowers	C3
While a roll of thunder came on the wind	P
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My lover who always spoke words of love	B2
The tone of thy voice is so clear but far	U2
A bridge is between us I cannot cross	D3
But God's will stands at each end of the bar	U2
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My lover did you with your mist cleared eyes	E3
See me when I thought you were far away	P
Did you bring down Hope from your new found skies	E3
While my heart was breaking over your clay	P
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My lover how long have the seasons been	L2
Since I tried to spell out the small word 'wait '	-
And learnt to know that your love and life	A3
Grow ever more strong as the years grow late	P
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My lover in dreams of the night you come	N2
Out of God's goodness sent from afar	U2
He arches the barriers for the best	P
And Christ's love stands at each end of the bar	U2
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Some day that arch will widen its breadth	F3
There'll be room for two you'll not come in vain	G3
And over the darkness of weeping and death	T2
We'll be always together and happy again	H3
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Why did I read these lines was it only to mock my woe	V
For less would the burden be and the sin would be less I know	V
If I knew that my darling was safe and blest where the angels are	U2
Why do I murmur for God's will stands at each end of the mystic bar	U2
Well why do I stay here gazing hopelessly into the fire	I3
Watching the coals that glow and burn then fall away and expire	J3
It seems that out of their flashing light my lost love appears to rise	E3
And another face that has haunted me all day with its wistful eyes	E3
As we halted at church to day a face a young girl's face so sad	P
Looked out among the crowd that gazed and her dark eyes made me glad	P
What strange queer beings we are a look or a song or a flower	I3
A scent on the air a sound of the sea they come with such power	I3
That the long years vanish away and over death's murky tide	P
Spiritual bodies fearlessly walk and stand with us side by side	P
Gone is all distance and time vanished far is the grave's eclipse	K3
Again sweet voices are in our ears their breath upon our lips	K3
So with that poor strange child to day who has never heard Aimee's name	G2
Little she thought that her earnest eyes rekindled a smouldering flame	G2
There was an old familiar look of the happy days once fled	P
An old familiar look of one that I love as we love the dead	P
Love her love Aimee do I love her less because since I kissed her last	P
Over my desolate heart the tides of twenty five years have passed	P
I am longing to night to hear her hymn her sweet Abide with me	F
As she sang it leaning upon my breast the night I put out to sea	F
I know it was only she I loved and thought of that eventide	P
But now I can fully endorse the draft O Lord with me abide	P
And spite of the heavy clouds that hang o'er my life path near and far	U2
I own with Vera that Christ's love stands at each end of the mystic bar	U2
And so much of the desert life has been travelled by night and day	P
That the shores of the summer land are not so very far away	P
And although I know there is one dark sea where black waves heave and toss	D3
I know the Pilot who waits for me will carry me safely across	D3
My path down to that water's edge is one avenue of pines	L3
But though I walk amid shadows dim o'erhead the bright sun shines	L3
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ROBERT'S DEATH	T2
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Heavily rolleth the wintry clouds	I
And the ceaseless snow is falling falling	A
While the frost king's troops in their icy shrouds	I
Whistle and howl like lost spirits calling	A
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In a scantily furnished tenement room	J
Through which the same frost troops are sighing	A
Churlishly gloweth the charcoal flame	G2
While a man lies there in penury dying	A
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Nothing new on this beautiful earth	Z
Are hunger and nakedness cold and pain	G3
Over God's sinless creation of love	B2
The serpent glides with his poisonous train	G3
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Where is Aimee here I lie all alone in this wretched hole	M3
I who was reared as a gentleman's son an aristocrat to the soul	M3
Could drink more wine at my father's board than the best man out of a score	D2
Rode with the hounds at ten years old and played high in a few years more	D2
A man can live without love but he can't get along without gold	P
And a woman and child sadly hamper a fellow that's poor or old	P
How can a gentleman work and toil year after year like a slave	N3
For when you've worked your life away you're asked Why did not you save	N3
Not that I would reproach my wife I daresay she has done her best	P
But women can earn such a trifle and grow weak if they lose their rest	P
Not that Aimee has ever grumbled and I am not to be blamed	P
If she choose to work and stitch away from morn till the sunset flamed	P
And just the course of my crooked luck that if but one child we had	P
The boy must go and the girl must stay that boy was a likely lad	P
Would have been nineteen if he'd lived might be earning a good sum now	O3
For Willie was something like me wide awake had a sensible brow	O3
But Ethel poor child her mother again lives in a world of her own	J2
Sees faces in flowers hears voices in winds reads poems from chiselled stone	J2
I certainly havn't had the best of luck I've tried in different lands	P3
And as I said it's a drag to have others upon your hands	P3
'Twas a most disappointing thing of course when that old aunt died at Ayr	Q3
And only one hundred pounds was left to Aimee her rightful heir	L
Not that I married Aimee for wealth but I thought it just as sure	R3
That grand estate to think of it all and I lying here so poor	S3
Ah I want some brandy I must have something to make me feel more strong	A
Brandy it is money and life and health what makes Aimee stay so long	A
Oh here you are make up more fire I should think you're warm enough	T3
Walking about let me have that shawl to night will be wild and rough	T3
I must have some more spirit to keep me up not that I heed the lie	V2
The doctor told you this morning that before very long I must die	V2
I expect if I had some of the gold your old aunt used to keep	U3
He would manage to raise me up all right you think I had better sleep	U3
You think me ungrateful perhaps reach some brandy and then you'll see	F
How more than grateful I am what a pattern of patience I'll be	F
No money no means the last thing's gone and Ethel and you in need	P
Well you must have managed badly enough with only two mouths to feed	P
For you can't count me as much the little support I take	A
A little stimulant now and then swallowed only for your sake	A
Aimee I must have some now nothing left what is that glittering thing	A
Aimee you dear one dispose of that of what use is our wedding ring	A
Don't be cross for the sake of the child you say why you angel dear	S2
Who would ever doubt you so good so true you have nothing to fear	S2
And then you're always trusting in God and surely he would approve	V3
Of your selling your wedding ring for him that you've sworn to love	B2
I wish that wind would stop howling it says such queer things to me	F
Wake up little Ethel and send her before it's too dark to see	F
If that old fraud of a pawnbroker gives her the change all right	P
Aimee send quickly I feel so strange oh I dread this coming night	P
I never murdered that man out there away on the western plains	W3
And yet there are spots of blood on the floor they can't wash out the stains	W3
What is it the lawyers call it Accessory to the fact	P
Ha ha old boy I was wide awake they could not catch me in the act	P
So we put that poor young fool of a lad just out from the motherland	P
Made him just drunk enough to fight when we needed a helping hand	P
A helping hand with a bowie knife and a corpse to be stowed away	P
We were sober enough not to be on hand when called upon next day	P
Who's that Who are you Stop stop coming whispering into my ear	R2
There are other judges other law courts and I have cause to fear	S2
How the ship struggles and reels all right is this the Australian shore	D2
No sandbars and reefs will they never stop those confounded breaker's roar	D2
Aimee what is it Take that stuff I will if 'twill make me sleep	U3
I cannot rest shall I never be quiet hark how the wild winds sweep	U3
No Victor no you got the money and that was enough for you	X3
Did you think I was fool enough man to let you have Aimee too	X3
Aimee come here and whisper to me what does the judgment mean	Y3
Judgment and conscience Look look there's Victor grinning behind the screen	Y3
Victor in heaven this many a year I tell you it is no such thing	A
Aimee you were dead once were drowned did you hear the mermaids sing	A
I say you were drowned one night when the pleasure boat struck the bar	U2
And before any help could come you had floated out deep and far	U2
Every available thing was done that sailor or landsman could try	V2
But you could not be found I guess not so of course you had to die	V2
Hav'nt I a remarkable memory these were the words I wrote	P
Every available thing was done by sailor or landsman afloat	P
So Victor knows all about it there there he is coming again	H3
No no we are'nt here we're away on the southern Indian main	G3
Who calls me Who wants me I cannot go into that wild dark land	P
Somebody help Is this death Don't touch me with that cold hand	P
Aimee don't leave me oh say have the officers found me at last	P
Tell me I think it's the medicine I took that makes me dream of the past	P
Oh will they believe me up there in the clear bright rays of the sun	M2
That shows all the by gone years of a life the crimes a man has done	M2
Will nobody stop that horrid wind it creeps right into my heart	P
It seems to mutter and groan and shriek Come it is time to depart	P
There's a broad dark sea before me help Aimee the waters are deep	U3
I want a pilot I cannot steer I am sinking let me sleep	U3
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Bloweth the storm more cheerlessly still	M
And the setting sun has a sickly hue	X3
As if he foresaw the falling tears	Z3
As if all the sorrows of earth he knew	X3
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Heavily stealeth an hour or two	X3
And mid the noise of the city's din	L2
No one noticed the tenement room	J
As two passed out where but one went in	L2
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For lieth a dead man behind the door	D2
Closed between him and the outer strife	A3
And a weeping woman and clinging girl	A4
Look upon death and look out upon life	A3
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Almost fainting with suffering and grief	B4
Alone unknown in a stranger land	P
Mother and daughter have knelt to pray	P
As men pray wrecked on a rocky strand	P
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Churlishly gloweth the charcoal flame	G2
Mother and child with hearts almost broke	A
Clasped in each other's embrace of love	B2
Checking her sorrow sweet Ethel spoke	A
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Mother my mother dear	S2
Weep not so hopelessly though all is dark	A
We have our loving Father yet in heaven	M2
His eyes must be upon our shattered bark	A
Our sails are torn and we are tempest driven	M2
Yet He can hear	R2
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To whom has God sent aid	P
To the lone widow's home the prophet came	G2
For a few frightened men the wild sea slept	P
For one poor servant flashed the glowing flame	G2
Where angels in their martial glory stepped	P
Out from the shade	P
	-
Not for proud Miriam's king	A
Rolled back the billows of the deep Red sea	F
For helpless women children unarmed men	H3
The 'Fourth Man' walked to shield the flame girt three	F
For one St Michael paced the lion's den	H3
God's help to bring	A
	-
Mother is He not near	S2
Who had not where to rest His tired head	P
Who in the dreary wilderness alone	J2
Hungry and faint had none to give Him bread	P
Listening t' the damp wind's low and sullen moan	J2
O'er nature's bier	R2
	-
My child my comforter in this dark hour of love	B2
Thy faith and trust in God is like the pole star's glow	V
To some benighted sailor yes e'en now a thought	P
Has come to me like light from dawning sunbeam brought	P
My father Ethel was a Mason ere he died	P
He called me to him and kneeling at his side	P
Gave me a jewel charged me with his dying breath	T2
Never to give it up except for life or death	T2
For when at last he died we were almost alone	J2
And stranger's ears were those which heard his dying moan	J2
The hands of strangers robed him for the grave	N3
The feet of strangers laid him where the cedars wave	N3
Weary he had left England for the balmy breath	T2
Of summer climes he found fierce pain and death	T2
I was his joy his all on earth for the dark hour	I3
That gave me breath took home his purest flower	I3
And I have never known what means that place of rest	P
The sweeetest home on earth a living mother's breast	P
All the night long in which my father died	P
He kept me close beside him oft he vainly tried	P
To tell me about something ever and anon	J2
He'd speak about his brothers I knew he had none	J2
Then in faint accents he would say 'When I am cold	P
Tell them I left a lamb outside the fold '	-
'Tell whom ' I cried 'My brothers ' Then he'd fall asleep	U3
And I supposed him wandering and would weep	U3
A year or so before we spent a happy time	C4
On bonnie Scotland's hills of heather and wild thyme	C4
And oft we watched the shepherd tending flocks of sheep	U3
In the soft grassy vales or up the mountain steep	U3
And sweet were the life lessons that I often took	A
From that unsullied page of nature's open book	A
There came to me through that fair hallowed summer scene	J2
Bright glowing visions of the fadeless pastures green	J2
And clearer views of One I trust my soul will keep	U3
That sinless Holy Shepherd of the helpless sheep	U3
And so I thought when father moaned amid his pain	J2
'I leave an orphan lamb ' he had gone back again	J2
Through the fierce fevers annihilating flight	P
To valley of the blue bell or the heath crowned height	P
But suddenly there came one quick and conscious gleam	D4
Of light with its belongings that transforming beam	D4
Lit up the past a moment then its God sent light	P
Flashed up the path he travelled No more tears no night	P
Was there for him he said only love is shining day	P
And calling on his young wife's name he passed away	P
Ethel I've been so hungry often and so chill	M
And what is ten times worse have seen you faint and ill	M
And never yet have I foresworn my pledge but now	J2
Our duty to the dead must plead my broken vow	J2
Ethel if my loved Father is with us to night	P
Will he not stamp forgiveness on this dead as right	P
Perhaps in the morning light this howling storm will stay	P
Its fury and God please to open up our way	P
So we can lay our dead in quiet rest at last	P
Then we my child go forth and dare the world's cold blast	P
	-
Mother oh let me tell	E4
Something I saw to day I went for bread	P
But when I came to pass the church my way	P
Was stopped by a procession a neighbor said	P
It was St John's loved Festival a day	P
Masons keep well	E4
	-
And while we were delayed	P
She spoke of one who had kind words for all	F4
She said his name was Roy told me his home	O2
He could'nt have heard her yet he looked at me	F
So strangely yet so kindly that my thoughts will roam	O2
To him for aid	P
	-
Yes mother yes to night	P
Trust me with that Masonic jewel I	V2
Will keep it safe perhaps this very man	J2
May know of some one who would like to buy	V2
At least he'll let me know its worth I can	J2
But do the right	P
	-
Mother deny me not	P
I'll go as Esther went unto the king	A
God will protect me if the night is wild	P
Perhaps some bright ray of sunshine I may bring	A
Pray that good angels may surround your child	P
And guard her lot	P
	-
	-
	-
	-
Ethel's Mission	J2
	-
	-
	-
Out in the blinding and pitiless sleet	P
The young girl goes on her errand blest	P
She starts at each sound on the lonely street	P
As she longs for but dares not dream of rest	P
	-
She knows not the worth of the gem she holds	G4
Close to her breast in her thinly clad hands	P3
A martyr's courage her soul enfolds	P3
And a guardian angel near her stands	P3
	-
She shudders oft as she passes by	V2
Some staggering form whose ribald curse	P3
Seems 'mid the storms of that stormy sky	V2
To make the loneliness ten times worse	P3
	-
Now on the icy pavement she stands	P3
Now is plunged deep in a drift of snow	J2
Now she is rubbing her freezing hands	P3
Scarcely knowing which way she must go	J2
	-
She thinks of the past the long dark past	P
And blights that follow a drunkard's child	P
And the tears she strive's to check fall fast	P
And turn to ice in that night so wild	P
	-
For we all know how in the darkest shade	P
Dreams of the sunniest light will come	N2
To one in a foreign hospital laid	P
No words so dear as My home sweet home	O2
	-
And Ethel sees visions of sunny bowers	P3
Where once she played with the ring doves mild	P
'Mid the piercing blast she can scent the flowers	P3
She plucked with joy when a little child	P
	-
Then she starts in fear and a nameless dread	P
As she thinks of her mother o'er and o'er	I3
Keeping lone watch with one lying dead	P
In that fearful stillness behind the door	D2
	-
And raising her trembling heart to Heaven	J2
She asks of Him who careth for birds	P3
That help and strength may to her be given	J2
And not in air die her earnest words	P3
	-
She reaches the end of the lonely gloom	J
She scarcely knows if in fear or joy	H
She passes on to a snug warm room	J
And stands in the presence of Victor Roy	H
	-
With tremulous efforts the timid girl	A4
Strives to utter her story of grief	B4
all things grow of a dizzy whirl	A4
As she shivering stands like an aspen leaf	B4
	-
He looks at the eyes so earnest and sad	P
He hears the voice that is sweet and mild	P
He sees a figure scantily clad	P
And only mutters Why that is the child	P
	-
He looks at the snowflakes melting fast	P
From the faded hood and the mantle fold	P
While his thoughts go dreamily into the past	P
And now he is young and now he is old	P
	-
He has taken the jewel in his hand	P
He knows the mark which that Key stone bears	P3
Upon any sea upon any land	P
The sign of a brother that jewel wears	P3
	-
He looks at the Key stone with eyes whose ray	P
Grows dreamy like a somnambulist	P
and Ethel murmurs I saw you to day	P
At the church of St John the Evangelist	P
	-
Have I done any wrong in coming here	R2
'Twas only this evening my father died	P
And mother is lonely and full of fear	S2
We have no friend in this world so wide	P
	-
And hearing the mournful voice again	J2
Seemed the unexplained spell to break	A
And in tones which were partly born of pain	J2
And partly of hopefulness Victor spake	A
	-
Come nearer the fire little girl and tell me why here you came	G2
Why did you bring this jewel to me How did you learn my name	G2
Your father is dead this was not his your name is Ethel Adair	L
Adair Adair it seems like a dream I have heard that name but where	L
There rest yourself child it's cold to night you can tell me by and by	V2
Where you are from and where you live what do you say will I buy	V2
Do not fear little girl I am your friend you cannot speak the word	P
Of thanks you wish to say never mind for there's One above has heard	P
Were you born in America No in Spain by the Darro's waters bright	P
Your parents went there from western skies 'neath the Rocky mountain's height	P
Where do you live What there in that wretched barn of a place	P3
A man who can rent such dens should meet the contempt of his race	P3
What have you had to eat to day Why how have you lived it out	P
Your mother and you did sewing oh yes at starvation prices no doubt	P
Him I know the man you have worked for then he keeps his carriage and pair	L
Gives largely to missionary funds and is long and loud in grayer	I3
Never mind the same All Seeing Eye watches them come and go	J2
That noted the whited sepulchre two thousand years ago	J2
There take that coffee and cake and when you are rested I'll come	N2
And see what has to be done in your lonely desolate home	O2
And Jasper you'll come along to take care of us both and please bring	A
Something to eat a basket yes filled with every good thing	A
There don't be long Jasper time flies yes I know it is growing late	P
And Una and her lion have not so very long to wait	P
You used to read of Una and wonder what made the lion stay	P
Lions are useful Ethel sometimes to keep the jackals away	P
Why child are you ready so soon Will you be my little guide	P
Oh I cannot tell you the worth of this do you know where your grandpa died	P
You would rather I bought it all right who is at home only your mother dear	S2
A brother's daughter and orphan child must not perish while I am near	S2
You knew that God would help you have you learnt to trust and love Him too	P
There's another link between us then ever old and ever new	P
You're afraid the storm will hurt me you are used to the frosty air	L
We'll brave it together for once so come little Ethel Adair	L
	-
	-
	-
	-
Aimee's Soliloquy	F
	-
	-
	-
And has she gone that fair frail gentle flower	I3
Out in this scene of winter's frost forged power	I3
Oh heaven have I been selfish in my woe	J2
Sweet angels guard her through the blinding snow	J2
Ethel my child my comforter my stay	P
It seems a long dream since the summer day	P
When first she came to me in that far land	P
Where the bright Darro laves the gleaming sand	P
'Neath the blue skies of Spain her baby feet	P
First walked amid the southern bowers sweet	P
With breath of jasemine and the green vines twined	P
Their gentle arms clasping the golden rind	P
Of ripened oranges and the rose hung bowers	P3
Glowed with the glory of a thousand flowers	P3
And oft at night up the dark waters came	G2
The splash of oars beneath the stars white flame	G2
Sounded the solemn chant of sailors nigh	V2
Ave Maria save us hear our cry	V2
But to my babe and I there came no hymn	J2
No hallowing words amid the olives dim	J2
Only the same dark blight on every scene	J2
The leper's mournful cry Unclean unclean	J2
For then 'twas whispered that dark deeds of shame	G2
Wreathed with a viper's slime our household name	G2
I know not all the truth but I am sure	R3
The path of sin is downward and the poor	S3
Weak soul that yields is bound by fetters tight	P
'Till comes the end as it has come to night	P
And he lies there oh in this bitter cup	H4
Which Thou my Father bids't me drink up	H4
I bless thy strong calm power which through the years	P3
The long dark downward time of change and tears	P3
Hast kept before my dimmed and fading sight	P
One word which warned with an undying light	P
When love had proved an ignis fatuus gleam	D4
Duty stood forward with a godlike beam	D4
And brought before the fainting sickened heart	P
The words God listened to till death us part	P
Two short words Love and Duty when together	I3
How bearable the rains of stormy weather	I3
But when they unclasp hands e'en then the dew	P
Grows into ice points piercing through and through	P
Till death us part and am I really free	F
Is the chain severed for eternity	F
Look back my conscience for the hours go fast	P
Through the dim corridors of the far past	P
Oh memory from what point will thou start	P
Back to the time when Victor won my heart	P
He was my idol bright star of my life	A3
Our home was planned I was to be his wife	A3
When off to India he sailed far away	P
Expecting to return an early day	P
Ah that last night when he put out to sea	F
When by his side I sang Abide with me	F
Ah mournful days yet hopes bright fires would burn	J2
Giving warm promise of his quick return	J2
Oft would I stand beside the untiring seas	P3
And send him words of love and trust like these	P3
	-
Evening's gloom is round me now	J2
Evening's breeze is whispering low	J2
Gentle murmuring voices wake	A
From the ripples of the lake	A
Maker of the land and sea	F
Hear my humble evening plea	F
Father hear me as I pray	P
One I love is far away	P
	-
Guide the bark that bears him on	J2
Up the mountain's towering height	P
And the misty damps of night	P
In the city's moving throng	A
With the wood dove's sweetest song	A
By the lonely river's marge	I4
O'er him give Thy angels charge	I4
	-
	-
In his hours of gladsome mirth	Z
Round some warm and welcome hearth	J4
In the halls of keen debate	P
And the pomp and pride of state	P
Cheer his spirit with love's beams	P3
Lighten up his midnight dreams	P3
In his wanderings free and wild	P
Father keep him as Thy child	P
	-
From the pestilential blight	P
From the sun beams scorching light	P
From temptation's mighty power	I3
In some lone unguarded hour	I3
From the dangers that we know	J2
From the dark undreamt of foe	J2
From the death splash of the wave	N3
Father hear and help and save	N3
	-
Then came the tidings brought by Robert's hand	P
Victor lay buried in a far off land	P
Died wafting my name up to Heaven in prayer	L
Leaving his promised bride to Robert's care	L
Oft it has puzzled me until my brain	J2
Has racked itself from thinking into pain	J2
Why Victor left me thus for in the past	P
He surely loved not Robert perhaps at last	P
He saw things differently and thought it best	P
And had his wishes writ e're he could rest	P
But oh the agony of those past hours	P3
It seems on looking back that all my flowers	P3
Looked mournfully at me and drooped their heads	P3
And lay like dying children in their beds	P3
And the bright birds in the vine covered wall	F4
Sang the sad chords of The Dead March in Saul	F4
And I was living but all else were dead	P
The sunbeam shimmered sickly o'er my head	P
As when a ray peers in a darkened room	J
Where one beneath a pall awaits his tomb	J
Robert was ever near when Victor died	P
And soon he sought to win me for his bride	P
He told me how he'd loved me many years	P3
Loved him I loved kindly he dried my tears	P3
Pictured my desolate and lonely lot	P
Urged me to go with him to some new spot	P
Where all the past should be but as a dream	D4
And our lives glide gently down life's stream	D4
I told him that my heart was far away	P
Beneath the palm where Victor's body lay	P
That nightly in my dreams I heard the splash	K4
Upon the shores where Ganges' waters dash	K4
I told him all my hope now was to stand	P
Amid the quiet of God's summerland	P
Beneath another palm tree's shade to be	F
And list the murmurs of the crystal sea	F
But Robert loved me I became his wife	A3
Could I forsee the sunken rocks of life	A3
And he was handsome then and kind and bright	P
Could I foretell eclipses then the night	P
Oh I have looked sometimes upon that face	P3
When robbed of every lineament of grace	P3
And I have cried unto the heavens above	B2
It was not this O God I pledged to love	B2
Unsteady gait wild brain and selfish heart	P
Flashed the red lights of danger till death part	P
Tell me soul searching ray if erst I strove	L4
To cherish feed and guard where grew no love	B2
We sailed away to far Australia's shore	D2
Oh the long days passed near the ocean's roar	D2
For him on whom I leaned in hope and trust	P
Proved but coarse clay that crumbled soon to dust	P
Drinking and gambling sharks that swallow whole	M3
Homes jewels money reason body soul	M3
Alone for weeks to hear none call my name	G2
And happier alone then baby came	G2
My firstborn precious boy I lived for him	J2
For months then his bright eyes grew dim	J2
And where the reeds and grass grew rank and wild	P
We made a grave for Willie darling child	P
Ah well I ween the night we laid him there	L
I went to watch his grave day had been fair	L
But eve came up with thunder's muttered growl	M4
And ever and anon the lightning's scowl	M4
Flashed angrily upon me as I viewed	P
The breakers dashing on the sea beach rude	P
I grew passionate amid the whirlwind's sigh	V2
It had no word of comfort loud was its cry	V2
And deep dark was the struggle of my soul	M3
As I watched the billows onward roll	M3
There came no ray of hope across my breast	P
As I turned toward my place of wild unrest	P
I looked in vain for calmness up on high	V2
It was not God's time for rainbows in the sky	V2
I went again next eve there was no storm	K
The full moon lighted up each darkening form	K
'Twas the glory of a summer's bloom	J
And I went onward to my baby's tomb	J
I laid fresh flowers above the cold in death	T2
I felt upon my cheek warm zephyr's breath	T2
It seemed as if an angel had swept by	V2
Across the grass where I too longed to lie	V2
And I saw the glorious sweep of moonbeams	P3
Gilding the white rocks circling all the streams	P3
With rays of glory I knelt on the bank	A
Watching the picture till my lone heart sank	A
Down to the depths I could have slept to death	T2
My wounds seemed to defy the balmy breath	T2
Of nature to restore my peace my hands	P3
I stretched out o'er the sea to northern lands	P3
I moved so swiftly o'er the moon gilt foam	O2
I stood once more within my father's home	O2
Could almost hear the village bells ring out	P
Could almost hear the merry children's shout	P
Could breathe the scent of violet and rose	P3
Walked down the dells where the pale primrose grows	P3
Ah tell the truth felt once again the bliss	P3
Of Victor's loving clasp and burning kiss	P3
Felt his fond arms enfold me to his breast	P
And I a bird safe in its shadowy nest	P
And then the vision vanished I was there	L
A prey to sorrow loneliness and care	L
Like one who spends in a dark mine his life	A3
My baby dead and I a drunkard's wife	A3
Then came a thought on Him of Mary born	J2
Who turned not back for spear or cross or thorn	J2
And through the murmurings of breeze and bay	P
A voice seemed whispering to me Watch and pray	P
I knelt as He knelt on the grassy sod	P
And following Him I prayed for strength from God	P
A sweet bird suddenly broke into song	A
A soft air trembled through the branches strong	A
And my soul rose on the pure air to Heaven	J2
Thus to my heart was hope and comfort given	J2
While by that grave I sang Abide with me	F
As on the night when Victor went to sea	F
Ah I was leaning then upon the breast	P
That five and twenty years has been at rest	P
Oh Victor art thou gone so far away	P
That thou cans't hear no earth tone night or day	P
Sometimes it seems as if thou wert not far	U2
Nearer and warmer than the nearest star	U2
How the wind moans Ethel my precious one	J2
Where shall we wander by to morrow's sun	J2
Homeless and friendless in a stranger land	P
Our Saviour help and aid Thy mighty hand	P
Can save Thine ear can list each bitter moan	J2
Hark Ethel's voice she comes and not alone	J2
	-
	-
	-
	-
Twelve Month's After	I3
	-
	-
	-
Still rolleth onward time's mystical tide	P
Ebbing and flowing by night and day	P
Gladness and misery scattering wide	P
Gladness and misery turning away	P
	-
Fair Spring has been with her emerald leaves	P3
Red Summer with roses of crimson ray	P
Brown Autumn has passed with its golden sheaves	P3
Again St John the Evangelist's day	P
	-
Since the morning came Masonic bands	P3
Have gathered old friendship's ties to renew	P
True hands have been clasped in a brother's hands	P3
Calm rest and refreshment fall like dew	P
	-
Far over the roll of the billowy seas	P3
Strangers have met on the lodge room floor	D2
And like Israel encamped beneath Elim's trees	P3
Have thirsted for love's cool draught no more	D2
	-
From the ice wrought chain of the Arctic zone	J2
To the silver lit sands of rich Peru	P
From the shores which guard Victoria's throne	J2
To the woods of the west unshorn and new	P
	-
In the crowded street full of noise and cheer	S2
In hamlets and villages still and calm	N4
Where the northern bear glides cold and clear	S2
Or the southern cross tints the sacred palm	N4
	-
Over the face of this wonderful earth	Z
Templars haye met in Encampment dear	S2
Prisoners of hope have changed sighing for rest	P
Pilgrims have tarried where angels were near	S2
	-
Souls that were longing for far better things	P3
Their faith growing dulled by the Siroc's blight	P
Have shaken the dust from their weary wings	P3
And plumed them again for a higher flight	P
	-
They have spoke of the work of the by gone year	S2
Of Ashlers now perfected true and square	L
Of weary hands folded upon the bier	R2
Of souls passed on to a lodge room fair	L
	-
They have told of storms from the North so chill	M
How dark was the South when the daylight ceased	P
They have watched the sun neath the Western hill	M
They have hailed his light in the holy East	P
	-
They have sang of the victor knights whose swords	P3
Are sharpened to slay the dark hosts of sin	J2
Still marching on through Saracen hordes	P3
Till the King's Encampment at last they win	J2
	-
They have knelt in prayer round the altar's shade	P
And implored what man never asks in vain	J2
That creation's Grand Architect will aid	P
The builders to build till calm rest they gain	J2
	-
Brave hearts have brightened love's armor anew	P
And so shall the magical spell last on	J2
Till all who have worked by his pattern true	P
Shall meet face to face their beloved St John	J2
	-
Within the dwelling of Victor Roy	H
A fair girl awakens soft music's power	I3
And a woman listens in silent joy	H
To the thrilling strains at that quiet hour	I3
	-
Ethel my child cease playing come to me	F
There lean your head upon your mother's knee	F
Do you remember dear what night this is	P3
Look back at last St John's day then at this	P3
You've often wondered why upon that night	P
When you my guide led from the gloom to light	P
That when you gave the name Adair it seemed	P
To him who heard it as if he had dreamed	P
Like a dim funeral knell from some old chime	C4
Heard years ago in some far distant clime	C4
Ethel we should speak kindly of the dead	P
Unable to defend themselves their spirits fled	P
To worlds unknown to us we cannot see	F
The homes they occupy the destiny	F
It pleases God to give them this we know	J2
That our reaping must be what we sow	J2
If we plant thistles we the thorn shall meet	P
If we sow ripe grains we shall harvest wheat	P
And something else we know of future life	A3
That be the memories of war and strife	A3
Of evil thoughts which may have been controlled	P
Of hearts through which wild passions unchecked rolled	P
Of base mean deeds that burn like felon brand	P
In the pure sunlight of the eternal land	P
Or if sweet recollections of the past	P
Of homes where love her golden radiance cast	P
Of deeds of mercy unto man unknown	J2
But breathing incense to the star gemmed throne	J2
We know that not one of Adamic race	P3
Is unknown unto Him the Lord of Grace	P3
And with the thoughts that shape themselves to prayer	L
We can but leave them in His gracious care	L
Who as sharp nails were piercing each vein through	P
Prayed 'Father forgive they know not what they do '	-
And preached of mercy to the souls in prison	J2
Ere He from the well guarded tomb had risen	J2
So darling think as gently as you may	C4
On one you saw so sadly pass away	C4
But duty bids me tell you deeds of shame	C4
Stamped dark dishonor on our household name	C4
When we were living in the distant west	P
A trouble came grief was no stranger guest	P
For racking fears sad day and anxious night	P
Seemed to hold life long leases as their right	P
The trouble came through some high words at play	C4
All I know was before noon next day	C4
A letter came bidding me leave that night	P
Bring what I could and let none know my flight	P
To change my name and if need be to swear	L
I never knew 'Montrose' only 'Adair '	-
Part truth part falsehood born of inward shame	C4
That sank the true one for the middle name	C4
I heard that dark red stains ended a strife	A3
Began in so called play and closed with life	A3
I know for many months a namless dread	P
Hung like the sword of Damocles overhead	P
And we again had crossed the stormy main	J2
And hid away among the hills of Spain	J2
But when you were an infant nurse and I	V2
Took you one morning ere the sun was high	V2
And in the little church covered with vines	P3
O'er which the setting sun in glory shines	P3
We gave you into the good Shepherd's Care	L
Amid our falling tears and Heaven sent prayer	L
And there without respect to friends or foes	P3
Stands your true name Ethel Adair Montrose	P3
My child before you close your eyes to night	P
With no forebodings for to morrow's light	P
Return your heartfelt thanks to Him whose hand	P
Has led us safely through a desert land	P
Has kept our feet on many a slippery way	C4
And guided us from midnight to the day	C4
Lay at the Glorious Giver's blessed feet	P
All that he asks your time that passes fleet	P
Your heart's first holiest love your talents give	O4
To him who scorned not death that we may live	P4
	-
Mother I'll not forget	P
To ask rich blessings upon you and him	C4
Whom God sent as a life boat to the lost	P
A year ago to night when on the dim	C4
Dark seas of woe our bark was tempest toss'd	P
The sun of hope had set	P
	-
I'm glad I went to day	C4
And laid a cross upon that snow strewn grave	N3
The sun gleamed out and on the white leaves burned	P
It seems as if the childhood love I gave	N3
The one that calmly sleeps there had returned	P
Watch to keep o'er his clay	C4
	-
And yet it's not the same	C4
In quality the love I cherish now	J2
Has more of pity perhaps another one	J2
Has surely right to my allegiance how	J2
Can I forget all he for us has done	J2
Hark now he calls my name	C4
	-
Ethel where are you there is the group you were speaking about one day	C4
Do you know the faces two you love best then drive those tears away	C4
What is there to cry for child in a locket that's new and bright	P
It was to have been your Christmas gift but it's just as good to night	P
It bears the name of the day you came to spoil my dog and cat	P
My birds and me too I'm afraid if you say much more like that	P
Sing me something instead it's scarcely supper time yet my child	P
I see you are weary go and rest while these winter winds blow wild	P
Ethel before you say 'good night ' we will sing Abide with me	F
As I heard it twenty six years ago the night I went to sea	F
	-
And softly upon the evening air	L
The strain of praise from true hearts was given	J2
And angels wafted the holy prayer	L
Like incense up to the throne of Heaven	J2
	-
Good night sweet Ethel a silence fell	E4
Solemn and calm by no whisper broke	A
Two sat watching the fire a spell	E4
Seemed holding each until Victor spoke	A
	-
Of what are you thinking so earnestly you fancy I know the thought	P
That has grown to deep for utterance with strange sad memories fraught	P
A year a memorable year ago yes we shall ne'er forget	P
That day of St John the Evangelist that night when two old friends met	P
'Twas a dreary watching too my love all that night in solemn gloom	C4
Where the dead lay cold and silently waiting his lonely tomb	C4
I am glad that Ethel went to day and laid a cross on that grave	N3
I am glad that we each can truly say at the judgement day 'I forgave '	-
I read some lines the other day that may have been written for us	P3
Heart histories repeat themselves like others the lines ran thus	P3
	-
And midnight wearily stole on	J2
Heavy clouds o'er the young moon swept	P
We looked out upon life and prayed	P
We looked upon the dead and wept	P
That God can work while man looks on	J2
That truth will triumph o'er our dread	P
A lesson sometimes hard to learn	J2
We learnt while watching by the dead	P
	-
'Twas not a scene that lovers choose	P3
Did any say that we had loved	P
The dead was by us yet we knew	P
That we were living and beloved	P
Truth's talisman was on each heart	P
Oh was there sin in what we said	P
The troubles told the truth confessed	P
The night we watched beside the dead	P
	-
Aimee look at this jewel rich I have worn it the live long day	C4
You think I value it so I do yet I deem it worthless clay	C4
Compared with the other jewel rare this Keystone brought to me	F
Bright gem long hidden but not destroyed in some unfathomed sea	F
More honorable than golden fleece more precious than the stone	J2
That alchemysts seek vainly for or gems of a regal crown	J2
A Keystone brought to light once more all uninjured by the storm	C4
The rains of fire that have swept round my other jewel's form	C4
For the fire doth but clear the dross the waves but wash the dust	P
From off the jewels of purest gold such jewels I hold in trust	P
For I should have claimed you still as mine if we never more had met	P
Till free from stain of sorrow or sin we stand where hope's suns ne'er set	P
Where angels live on in their life of love unchanged yet ever new	P
And then the time God's own right time would have come for my taking you	P
For this re union upon earth is the sign beloved wife	A3
Of the eternal rest we'll share in the bright hereafter life	A3
For have we not assurance blest that whichever first goes home	C4
Will await with loving patience till the other one shall come	C4
	-
Unto those who wear God's blessed seal upon each united heart	P
Those words must half their horror lose 'until death do you part '	-
For true love doth dissolve death's power as spring's suns melt the snow	J2
'Tis the only password at the gates through which we both must go	J2
Where born of that benevolence which fills our Father's breast	P
Angelic masons now prepare our special house of rest	P
God's promises will never fail if we but wait His hours	P3
He sends His messages of peace like His rainbow after showers	P3
O'er one beam of that holy arch this scroll now seems to glide	P
After the dark and dreary day it shall be light at eventide	P

Harriet Annie Wilkins

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