The cup of strength in some great agony,
Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love,
Beget the smiles that have no cruelty,
Be the sweet presence of a good diffused,
And in diffusion ever more intense!
So shall I join the choir invisible,
Whose music is the gladness of the world.

THE HUMBLEBEE

BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Burly, dozing humblebee!
Where thou art is clime for me;
Let them sail for Porto Rique,
Far-off heats through seas to seek,
I will follow thee alone,
Thou animated torrid zone!
Zigzag steerer, desert cheerer,
Let me chase thy waving lines;
Keep me nearer, me thy hearer,
Singing over shrubs and vines.

Insect lover of the sun,
Joy of thy dominion!

Sailor of the atmosphere;

Swimmer through the waves of air,

Voyager of light and noon,

Epicurean of June!

Wait, I prithee, till I come
Within earshot of thy hum,-
All without is martyrdom.

When the south-wind, in May days, With a net of shining haze

Silvers the horizon wall;

And, with softness touching all,
Tints the human countenance
With a color of romance;
And infusing subtle heats
Turns the sod to violets,-
Thou in sunny solitudes,
Rover of the underwoods,
The green silence dost displace
With thy mellow breezy bass.

Hot midsummer's petted crone,
Sweet to me thy drowsy tone
Tells of countless sunny hours,
Long days, and solid banks of flowers;
Of gulfs of sweetness without bound,
In Indian wildernesses found;
Of Syrian peace, immortal leisure,
Firmest cheer, and birdlike pleasure.

Aught unsavory or unclean

Hath my insect never seen;

But violets, and bilberry bells,

Maple sap, and daffodels,

Grass with green flag half-mast high,

Succory to match the sky,

Columbine with horn of honey,

Scented fern, and agrimony,

Clover, catchfly, adder's-tongue,

And brier-roses, dwelt among:
All beside was unknown waste,
All was picture as he passed.
Wiser far than human seer,
Yellow-breeched philosopher,
Seeing only what is fair,

Sipping only what is sweet,

Thou dost mock at fate and care,

Leave the chaff and take the wheat. When the fierce northwestern blast Cools sea and land so far and fast,Thou already slumberest deep; Woe and want thou canst outsleep; Want and woe, which torture us, Thy sleep makes ridiculous.

ODE

BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON

[Sung in the Town Hall, Concord, July 4, 1857]

O tenderly the haughty day

Fills his blue urn with fire;

One morn is in the mighty heaven,

And one in our desire.

The cannon booms from town to town, Our pulses beat not less,

The joy-bells chime their tidings down, Which children's voices bless.

For He that flung the broad blue fold
O'er-mantling land and sea,
One-third part of the sky unrolled
For the banner of the free.

The men are ripe of Saxon kind
To build an equal state,

To take the statute from the mind
And make of duty fate.

United States! the ages plead,

Present and Past in under-song, Go put your creed into your deed, Nor speak with double tongue.

For sea and land don't understand
Nor skies without a frown

See rights for which the one hand fights
By the other cloven down.

Be just at home; then write your scroll Of honor o'er the sea,

And bid the broad Atlantic roll

A ferry of the free.

And henceforth there shall be no chain,

Save underneath the sea

The wires shall murmur through the main Sweet songs of liberty.

The conscious stars accord above,

The waters wild below,

And under, through the cable wove,
Her fiery errands go.

For He that worketh high and wise,
Nor pauses in his plan,

Will take the sun out of the skies
Ere freedom out of man.

PEACE

BY CORA FABBRI

God spoke to her, and so she fell asleep,
I laid a white fair lily on her heart,
And when I saw her face I could not weep.

It had the peace Death only understands;
And when I knew she would not wake on earth
I laid my heart between her folded hands.

God spoke to her so softly, saying "Rest!"
And when she wakes in Heaven she will find
My lily and my heart upon her breast.

THE LAST HYMN

BY MARIANNE FARNINGHAM

The Sabbath day was ending, in a village by the sea, The uttered benediction touched the people tenderly, And they rose to face the sunset in the glowing, lighted west,

And then hastened to their dwellings for God's blessed

boon of rest.