Wings of silver

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 Wings of Silver

 BY

 Evelyn Gage Browne

 [Illustration: Publisher’s Colophon]

 PUBLISHED BY
 THE ARPODENE STUDIO
 PITTSFIELD, MASS.

 COPYRIGHTED 1918, BY EVELYN GAGE BROWNE




CONTENTS

 WINGS
 BIRDS OF PASSAGE
 OMNIPRESENCE
 FAITH
 THE SONG OF THE STARS
 LIFE AND I
 THE WEAVERS
 THE OPEN DOOR
 THE WEB OF DREAMS
 FLIGHT
 VICTORY
 INVOCATION TO THE SKY




WINGS


    I live in every sentient thing.
        Aye, what am I?--
    The force that stirs the bird to sing,
        And bids it fly;
    The urge within the grey cocoon
        To swell, and rend
    The prison-walls; the ceaseless croon,--
        “Life hath no end!”

    The pulse within the seed that breaks
        The shrivelled shell;
    The thrill in bud, till bloom awakes;
        The clarion bell
    That calls the soul of Man to rise;
        The power that flings
    Off shackles of the flesh, and cries,--
        “Behold thy wings!”




BIRDS OF PASSAGE


    From the North where the snows come sweeping,
        To the South where poppies glow;
    Thy changeless course thou’rt keeping,
        Unswerved by winds that blow.
    From the South to the North aquiver
        With awakened life, thou dost wing
    Thy flight over plain and river,--
        At the whispered call of Spring.
    With unwavering purpose thou hiest,
        Untiring, through leagues of air;
    Ne’er doubting thy wings, thou fliest,
        Content--for thou knowest where.

    Blest birds of passage, oh, teach me:--
        Life’s soft inner call to obey,
    To turn where death’s blight cannot reach me,
        And keep to my course each day;
    To press on, nor faint--never drifting;
        Trusting my invincible soul,--
    The wings that, unfailing, are lifting;--
        At peace with Life--knowing my goal.




OMNIPRESENCE


    Borne on the air by surging wings,--
        Above, below, about, around,--
    Up, up he soars and blithely sings;
        Nor fears the ground.

    Covered by waters, ’neath, above,
        He lives and knows the sea as all;
    Nor doubts he of the deeps of Love,
        Nor fears to fall.

    Compassed by Love, man lives and basks
        In sunshine blest; but sleeps a clod,
    And breathes Him, dwells in Him--yet asks:--
        Where, where is God?




FAITH


    Drop by drop that never ceasing falls,
    Water wears its way through granite walls;
    Thought by thought that, conscious of its power,
    Goes forth from the heart each day, each hour,--
    Love shall conquer every hate-born breath,
    Life Eternal triumph over death.
    Step by step that ever tends to rise,
    Man shall scale the heights of Paradise;
    Prayer by prayer that knows all might is given,
    Man shall win through fleshly bars--to Heaven.




THE SONG OF THE STARS


    On, on we roll through trackless space
        While centuries sweep by,
    Each in our own appointed place
        In God’s eternal sky.
    Immortal Man, sleep-bound on earth,
    The Mind that guides us gave thee birth.
            Obey in awe
            Life’s changeless law!

    The Hand that holds us in our course,--
        Omnipotent, Divine,
    Omniscient Love, Life’s only source,--
        Created thee sublime.
    The stars shall fade and cease to be;
    But Man reflects Infinity.
            Through space afar,
            Star echoes star:--

            O Quenchless Flame,
                To thee we bow.
            Awake, Man! Claim
                Thy birthright now;
            Life calls thy name,--
                God’s image thou!

            Fore’er we sing
                As on we roll,
            Of Life the King,--
                Man’s deathless soul.

        Eternal harmony is thine;
        Obey God’s law--arise, and shine!




LIFE AND I


    Life came to me at Morning;
        (And oh, his eyes were kind!)
    With flowers my head adorning;
        But I was blind.
    With tender care he laid me
        In Love’s uplifted arms,
    That gently held and stayed me
        Through all alarms.

    We quarreled--Life and I--one day,
    Because he took the arms away,--
    Yet then it was I learned to pray.

    Life came to me at Nooning,
        And scattered roses red;
    But when soft winds blew crooning,
        They all lay dead.
    With tears and wild upbraiding,
        I railed at Life and Fate,
    Nor saw the blooms unfading--
        Beside my gate.

    We walked estranged then--Life and I--
    Because he let the roses die;
    Nor wot I of the bending sky.

    Life came to me at Gloaming
        (And oh, his eyes were blest!)
    I knew ’twas time for homing,
        For peace and rest.
    I took his hand outreaching,
        And drew a raptured breath;
    When lo--his smile beseeching--
        I saw--’twas death.

    So Life and I are winging free,
    Reclothed--with Immortality;
    I loving Life, Life loving me.




THE WEAVERS


    Ruthlessly a weaver’s hands
        Seized life’s silken threads and fair,
    Rent, defiled the spotless strands,--
        Wove a texture of Despair.
    Men then cursed and called it Fate;
    But the weaver’s name was--Hate.

    Prayerfully a weaver toiled,--
        Seeing only what God meant,--
    And from ends all frayed and soiled,
        Wove a fabric of Content.
    Hearts were lifted then above;
    For the weaver’s name was--Love.




THE OPEN DOOR


    If so it be that through my open gate
    Some thief shall enter and despoil in hate,
    Shall quench the fire upon my hearth of trust,
    Leave but dead ashes and a barren crust;

    Still shall I say ’twere better far that I
    Left open, free, my windows to the sky;
    That my door stood ajar by night and day,
    My gate outflung to Angels by the way.

    For oh, one morn before my leaping fire,
    I met the eyes of Truth, and list the lyre
    Across whose strings the hands of Seraphs swept,
    The while my heart its Heavenly music kept.

    And often have I bound with tender care
    The thorn-rent feet of strayed ones, pausing where
    My door stood wide--a refuge from the night;
    And sent them singing, to ascend the height.

    Let enter then who will, my heart stands open wide;
    I’ve thrown away the key, nor fear what may betide.
    I could not bear to think one sought me with a prayer
    In vain,--that Hope should sadly turn away--Despair.

    So would I ope my door, e’en though some fiend might slay,--
    Lest Truth should find it barred, or Love be turned away.




THE WEB OF DREAMS


    He wove, and a Web of Dreams unrolled,--
    The warp was Fame and the woof was Gold.
            Oh, the joy he spent,
            And the hearts he rent,
        As he wove his fabric of Discontent,
    And it fell at his feet soiled fold on fold!

    For the threads were frail and tangled and frayed,
    As he wove of Self and the things that fade.
            Oh, the tears he shed
            As his years lay dead,
        And he spurned with hate each tattered shred
    Of the worthless web his hands had made!

    But the Master Weaver heard his prayer,
    And plied the shuttle with wondrous care.
            Oh, the threads that flew,
            And the fabric new,--
        The warp was Love and the woof Love too,--
    That came from the loom, so strong and fair!

    Then the weaver of dreams awoke--and knew;
    And with lifted soul he strove anew.
            Oh, the joy he found,
            And the hearts he crowned,
        As the shuttle sped and the reels unwound;--
    For he wove of Love and each thread held true!




FLIGHT


    I would sing in the face of fears,
        When about my feet they throng;
    I would pass them by with a heart that drips
    A hymn of joy from my eager lips;
        For fear cannot live for long--
            With song!

    I would lift my eyes to the stars,
        Though my path be laid through mire;
    And looking up to the Heavenly doors,
    My feet shall follow my soul that soars
        Up, up--ever high and higher--
            Nor tire!

    I would open my windows wide,--
        When caged seems this heart of mine,--
    To the sun and sky and Heaven’s wind sweeping through,
    That my soul shall rise till I breast the blue,
        And the freedom of Life Divine--
            Is mine!




VICTORY


    I have fought; but what honor in fighting?--
        There are many who win;
    The beasts do as much, even righting
        A wrong that has been.
    Yet I rise ’bove the warfare, and clinging
        To Love ’midst the fray,
    Bring out of it all a soul singing,
        A heart that can pray.

    I have toiled; but why laud for my toiling?--
        There are legions who slave,
    Hearts calloused, souls dulled by the moiling
        From cradle to grave.
    Yet while wearied with burdens, I’m faring
        Afar--soul awing,
    Till my freed spirit soars, and is wearing
        The freshness of Spring.

    I have dwelt in the darkness of sorrow;
        Pity not,--neither praise
    Because I endured: recks the morrow
        Of dead yesterdays?
    Full many weep, seeing no glimmer
        Of Light to be born;
    But I smile through the tear-drops that shimmer
        With promise of morn.

    So extol me not for my burden,
        My striving, nor pain;
    Remember not these,--but the guerdon
        I strove to attain;
    That I fought, when needs must,--yet believing
        In Love as man’s goal,
    And kept sweet ’neath the lash, that is leaving
        No scar on my soul.




INVOCATION TO THE SKY


    O Infinite Sky, set my longing
        Adrift on thy turquoise tide,
    Till earth’s sordid desires that are thronging,
        Are lost in Love’s ocean wide.

    Wash me white with thy cleansing showers,
        Purge my heart with Heaven’s healing dew,
    Till I come forth pure as the flowers,
        New-risen in Love--and true.

    O’erflow my starved soul with thy beauty,--
        Fair amber and amethyst West,--
    Till I quaff from the goblet of duty,
        Love’s nectar, immortal and blest.

    Break each finite fetter of sorrow,
        Let me weep on Love’s bosom wide
    Where a dawn awaiteth each morrow,
        And earth’s every tear is dried.

    Hold me close in thy silence, folding
        My hurt heart there on the breast
    Of Infinity, tenderly molding
        My pain to a prayer--and rest.

    Still all of my tired heart’s yearning
        In thy unfathomed spaces of blue,
    Lift me up to thy stars calm-burning,
        Enkindle my spirit anew.

    Illume and exalt me, thou tender
        Illimitable Sky bending o’er,
    Till I lose my dark thoughts in thy splendor,
        And finding my soul-pinions--soar.

    Loose earth-bonds that seem to enthrall me,
        Let me mount in thy measureless dome,
    Attuned to Love’s voices that call me--
        “Soul, free and untrammeled, come home!”

    Let me drift through thy starshine, pillowed
        On violet velvet shade,
    Where the downy cloudlets lie billowed,
        At peace in Love’s arms--unafraid.

    Let me float with thy clouds, soft-sailing,--
        As buoyant and glad as they,--
    Through thy sapphire sea that’s unveiling
        The grace of a golden day.

    Dear Sky, love me! Fill my appealing
        With Love that’s eternal--like thee;
    Till I sing and rejoice in its healing,
        And rise in God’s blue--set free!




Transcriber's Note


 • Small caps converted to ALL CAPS.

 • Table of contents added by the transcriber for reader convenience.