The Project Gutenberg EBook of Songs for All Seasons, by Cora C. Bass This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license Title: Songs for All Seasons Author: Cora C. Bass Release Date: May 21, 2016 [EBook #52115] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SONGS FOR ALL SEASONS *** Produced by Larry B. Harrison, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) [Image of the bookcover unavailable.] Songs for All Seasons and ———— Best wishes of the season to each and every one; May the fairest gifts attend thee till the day of time is done. Flow thy lives as smoothly as the tide of Heavenly love, And sweetest songs be given to the King of Kings above. ———— By Cora C. Bass. ———— Lowell, Mass. The Lawler Printing Company. 1901. Copyright by CORA C. BASS, 1901. PREFACE. Thanks are due to The New York Observer, Zion’s Herald, The Standard, Boston Transcript, Portland Transcript, New England Home Magazine and others. I would also take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude to the many friends who gave so kindly a welcome to my first book of poems. CORA C. BASS. CONTENTS Songs For All Seasons 1 Bravely Do and Bravely Bear 1 The Waves of Chance 2 Precious Seed 3 Ours Is The Choice 3 The Sum of Life 4 Build 4 The Perfect Song 5 Sunshine 5 “It Is God’s Way” 6 Time 6 May 7 Man and The Mist 8 The Flowers 9 Recompense 9 The Way 10 A Song 10 The Missing Ship 11 Tranquility 12 No Duty Is Too Difficult To Do 12 “Old Year, Adieu” 13 Washington 14 Comrades 15 Character 16 What Is There To Be Thankful For? 17 Life’s Temple 18 What Do We Owe Our Friends? 19 Memorial Day 20 Our City 23 Night 24 Little Wide-Awake 25 Try To Help Another 26 Independence 27 Contrasted Lives 29 The Way Will Open 29 Spring 30 Victoria 31 Freedom’s Son 31 Our River 33 Sunset 33 Memorial Poem 34 Blessed Was The Name She Bore 37 Content 38 Violet 39 “Longest Lanes Must Have a Turning” 39 Is There Not Something We Can Do? 40 Sunny Days 41 Bunker Hill 42 Doing 43 For Feeble Hands 43 Little Can’t-Wait 44 Make It a Pleasure 46 If We Had Lived When First The Pilgrims Came 47 Mumma, ’Ang Me ’Tocking Up 47 Our Joy Is Measured By What We Do 48 Thanksgiving 49 Transmuted 49 Christmas Gifts 49 What He Wanted 50 A Hero 51 Baby’s Christmas 52 Lovely May 53 The Chimes 53 Well May I Laugh 54 Santa ’s Coming 55 To-day and To-morrow 55 Commendation 55 Tried and True 57 Sunny Skies 58 Not a Day 59 Things Done 60 The Word 60 Fear Not 61 The Law Of The Present, Obey 61 Christmas Eve 62 In The Mirror 63 Living For Others 63 The Book of Time 63 Who Is This So Loved Of Yore? 64 Christmas Thoughts 65 Beauty Of The Soul 66 Brighter Hours 66 Willing To Serve 67 Banners Waving 67 Can You See a Little Face? 68 The Baby’s Palm 69 No Blessing Ever Comes By Chance 69 The Mayflower 70 The Best We Can 71 Something To Look Forward To 72 Christmas 72 The Brightness We Have Learned To Share 73 Ring Busy Bells 74 The River-Of-Life 76 Singing Songs For Jesus 77 Anchor Me Safe 78 Shine Out 78 Whatever Changes Time May Bring 79 Looking To Jesus 80 I Neither Faint Nor Fear 80 Easter-Tide 82 However High The Aim 82 He Giveth His Beloved Sleep 83 As We Are 83 Can The Willing Hands Be Weary? 84 The Message So Sweet 85 Service 85 Risen To-day 86 Another’s Place 86 The Window Of Life 88 Thou Art Mine 89 The Merry Bells 90 Follow Jesus 90 The Bright Side 91 We Shall Meet Again 92 The Empty Life 92 A Living Lord 93 “Have Fellowship One With Another” 94 Following Jesus 94 The Christian’s Hope 95 Coming Once More 95 The Present 97 Be Faithful 97 Why Will Ye Die 98 The Testing Time 99 Light 99 If a Work is Worth the Doing 100 Take Thy Stand 102 Father, Accept Our Thanks 102 Songs for All Seasons. SONGS FOR ALL SEASONS. Songs for all seasons, thrice welcome, And grateful they are to the ear; The rhythmical ring of each measure As the voice of the wood-thrush is clear. We hear the first note of the springtime, And quickly our hearts are attune With melodies pulsing around us, Till Winter, himself, is as June. Songs for all seasons, we love them, The harmonies borne on the breeze. We love the deep tones of the billows, The brisk, busy, hum of the bees. The harvesting songs they are pleasant, The scent of the harvest, how sweet! Yet never a song of the seasons With winter’s own song can compete. {1} BRAVELY DO AND BRAVELY BEAR. I will bravely do and bravely bear Whatever God may send, Well knowing He will ease my care And His true child defend. I will bravely do and bravely bear, Yea, strive to do my best, Whether the way be dark or fair, And leave to Him the rest. THE WAVES OF CHANCE. Buffeted by the waves of chance, Uncertain what to do, We sail the sea of circumstance A voyage ever new. The beacon light too often hid, On which we could rely, Can Hope betray us? God forbid! The haven still is nigh. Buffeted by the waves of chance, Without the compass—choice, Neglecting when we should advance The one directing voice; Bewildered by the blinding spray We fail to count the cost, And court the dangers of delay When reckonings are lost. Buffeted by the waves of chance, Rejecting what is best, We scan the billows’ wild expanse An eager, ceaseless quest. The faithful pilot we have missed, No fault of his, our own; It means destruction to desist,— We battle on alone. Buffeted by the waves of chance, Not knowing where to land, We need a keen, unerring glance, A firm, a steadfast hand. The ship of life triumphant glides Past doubt’s delusive reef, And joyfully at anchor rides In yon fair bay—Belief. PRECIOUS SEED. {2} {3} If no one planted precious seed How barren all the land would be, North and south and east and west, Never plenty, never rest; For a harvest rich and free, Vain to plead. Be ready, all along the way, To seek the motive power of life; Free to sow, to garner in, Love its sure reward will win. Undismayed by doubt or strife, Work away. If each man did the best he could In winter as in summer time; By pleasure’s side, on sorrow’s brink, His life chain forging link by link; Easy it would be to climb, Doing good. OURS IS THE CHOICE. Most gracious choice! What is a soul without a voice? A noble thought develops noble deeds, Words give thought freedom, words are wings, Deft carriers of mysterious things Too glorious to behold; They bear swift witness to our needs And make the true heart bold, To mirror forth in language quaint, The image fancy cannot paint. THE SUM OF LIFE. Day by day the weeks go by, Month by month the swift years fly, Hour by hour we work, we live, Love and labor, gain and give. Taking blessings as they come, In the total find life’s sum; Bind as in a volume vast, Read the future by the past. Only reaching heights sublime, Willing step by step to climb; Wealth to which a soul succeeds Is to what the present leads. BUILD. {4} How much can we hope to win, while we merely sit and plan? It is better far to build, just building the best we can. And pleasant it is to build though the building itself is small, Though many a builder fail and many a building fall. It is ever the willing hands are sure to accomplish most; It is ever the truthful lips are least inclined to boast; It is ever the loving heart, is the safest heart to trust; Let us build because we may, and not because we must. THE PERFECT SONG. Shall we not gladly sing the song A fainting heart to cheer? Although the path is dark and long Some saving help is near. There is no hill so hard to climb We may not reach the top; It were a needless waste of time To stop. Shall we not gladly sing the song To speed men on their way, And swell the throng, the happy throng, Swift pressing on to-day? Which would we choose, to bravely sing The while we do our best, Or to an idle fancy cling And rest? In the refrain of one sweet song Each silent voice we miss, A song to make the feeble strong, A song to breathe of bliss. The song which white robed seraphs hold All other songs above; The perfect song, the new, the old, Of Love. SUNSHINE. There is plenty of sunshine in the world To brighten the darkest days; Are we sailing on with our colors furled, Or spread to the cheering rays? Are we sailing on with downcast eyes, Or eyes on the gleaming goal? Safe is the trip of the ship of the skies Though the waves of the clouds rough roll. “IT IS GOD’S WAY.” {5} {6} Rest, kindly heart, content to say “It is God’s way, His will be done.” Thrice blessed thought, With bliss enwrought, For Freedom’s son. Rest, kingly soul, inspired to say “It is God’s way, His will be done.” While nations weep And vigil keep, Thy course is run. Rest, martyr, lo! we hear thee say:— “It is God’s way, His will be done.” “Nearer to Thee,” Oh, tender plea, The crown is won. TIME. When there is urgent need for haste Can we move slow? Let precious moments run to waste A chance forego? Achievement’s dizzy heights alone Stand forth sublime; There is no penance to atone For loss of time. MAY. {7} From southern climes, O swiftly wing thy way And pour thy symphonies in cadence sweet Upon the air. ’Tis done, and at thy feet Forget-me-nots soft nestle in the spray Fresh scattered by the dew-drops in their play: Ay, even over echo’s proud retreat, Monadnoc, lies thy handiwork complete; All hail thee, gentle queen,—benignant May! May, brilliant May, with arbutus adorned; Fairer than life itself when hope prevails; Thy minstrels pipe in peace from yon blue pond, Where water-lilies spread their airy sails, And feathered songsters wake the wood beyond With notes more ringing sweet than nightingale’s. For what is England’s silver-throated bird The heart of free America to thrill; When robin’s merry strain, the lark’s wild trill, Fall on the fainting faith like some fond word From lips beloved, that other days have heard,— Which spurred the lagging feet to climb the hill, That ere the “sweet note” fell forgot their will And marveled—what the feeble steps deterred. Then, as on zephyr wing the summons came, It cheered the soul triumphant on its way; It fanned the “spark celestial” to a flame Which shimmered through the night’s bewildered gray To glow about the One All-Blessed Name, And write in lines of gold: “Hail! Bonny May!” MAN AND THE MIST. {8} He cannot sweep away the mist However he may toil, Content to weary years persist It would his efforts foil. There is a place of vision clear Where earth and sky are blending, Impelling him to persevere, From height to height ascending. How good it is when man can rise Above the mist-hung valley, He must, who on his worth relies, To his own rescue rally. He murmurs not at rocks ahead But vaulting lightly o’er them, Will triumph over foemen dread Or better yet ignore them. Not seeking to the mist dispel Thus precious moments wasting, He marvels not that others fell While upward, onward, hasting. He hears the sound on ev’ry hand Of people vainly shouting, But knowing where he soon may stand Gives not a thought to doubting. He pushes on with heart athrill; Though weaker souls may taunt him, Succeed he must, succeed he will, No obstacle can daunt him. There is a place for all who climb He cannot fail to find it, The mist must veil a truth sublime For there’s the sun behind it. THE FLOWERS. Weary and ill, Fair messengers and sweet They healthful thoughts and gracious hopes entreat, Fragrant out breathings from some balmy hill, Fresh from their sky-domed, leafy bowers, Thrice blessed flowers! Oppressive walls Instinctively expand, And sunny fields unfold on either hand, As singing rills repeat the blithe bird calls. We walk in breezy woodland bowers, Seeing the flowers. The burdened brain Submissive to their spell Is quick to heed the gentle tale they tell: No baby blossom ever blooms in vain. Borne from their dreamy, dewy bowers; Cherish the flowers. RECOMPENSE. {9} After the shadows, sunshine; Quiet after the pain; Light for the mountain passes And for the desert rain. After the shadows, sunshine, After the failure, success; Never a pleasure is taken But something is given to bless. THE WAY. The way may be rough, And our footsteps may falter, Though foeman rebuff, The right cannot alter; As upward we climb Each trouble outbraving, More sweet and sublime Is the boon we are craving. The way may be long, And the day may be dreary; The world is not wrong Because we are weary. A cloud may annoy, But soon shall we read it By light of the joy And the peace that succeed it. A SONG. A song makes merry music ’mid the hills, Like laughing rills. On heaven’s bright sea its echo lingers long, Love is a song. A quenchless melody given to inspire The fainting heart with bold, ambitious fire; Springing from out the life, As pain is born of strife. A sweet conception of the joy to be, Delightful, free. Gladly our lips take up the winsome strain And make the meaning of its birthright plain. THE MISSING SHIP. {10} {11} Any news yet of the missing ship? Any news yet? we say; A household word on every lip, The name of that ship to-day: The name of the ship who left her dock In the blush of the early morn, Has she struck, unknown, on some cruel rock With never a voice to warn? Any news yet of the missing ship? Any news yet? we cry; We speak her name with a trembling lip, To her aid we fain would fly. Adrift at mercy of wind and wave; Storm spent on a desolate shore:— May there be one guardian hand to save, ’Mid the billows rush and roar. Any news yet of the missing ship? Any news yet? we sigh; We speak her name with a timid lip, And pray for a kind reply. For life and death in a moment blend, Who ever the captain may be; We never can tell how a trip will end, When a ship puts out to sea. TRANQUILITY. We well may keep a tranquil mind Whatever changes meeting, The world is happier we find For ev’ry pleasant greeting. How easy then to work away At each new problem set us, For even on the darkest day Some gleam of hope has met us. There is no hill so hard to climb, We may not reach the summit; There is no task, but patience, time, Will grandly overcome it. We cannot look for light in vain, Behold it all around us; Perplexing paths shall be made plain, When victory has crowned us. NO DUTY IS TOO DIFFICULT TO DO. {12} Attentive to the work the will requires The hand achieves the task the heart desires; No duty is too difficult to do, The end in view. The end in view, if hope, or love, it be; Content, when it can set a brother free; Or bid him move rejoicing on his way The while ’tis day. Attentive to the work the will requires, The hand perfects the task the heart desires, No duty is too difficult to do, The end in view. “OLD YEAR, ADIEU.” A happy measure smites the ear. It pealeth full, it pealeth clear; And at the “witching hour” of night, Awakes a rapture of delight. Across the land, across the sea, The merry strain is borne along; While even seraphs bend the knee Before the majesty of song. Old Year—alas, we cannot stay Thy eager footsteps for a day; Thy work is done, and thou shalt go, A rival is at hand we know. Across the land, across the sea, The merry strain is borne along; Ah! surely it is bliss to flee Upon the pinions of a song. Hark!—clear and strong and full and free, I hear the bells saluting thee; They seem to say “Old Year, adieu”— And “halleluiah” to the New. Across the land, across the sea, The merry peal is borne along, And all the world must happy be To hear the oft-repeated song. WASHINGTON. {13} {14} ’Twas Christmas eve, the enemy his vigilance for once relaxed; Well might such gusts of angry sleet the keenest zeal have overtaxed. The ice thronged Delaware ran bleak, but friendly, to the distant bay, While to and fro upon his beat the sentry took his patient way. A gallant force full often tried was swiftly plying mattock, spade, While those who first should stem the tide, moved calmly forth as on parade. They met in silence, halted, marched, the merest motion a command, A raging river rolled before; the “Lion” hungered near at hand. The watchfires gleaming through the mist seemed saying:—Courage! men, good cheer. None may suppose while bright we burn, that not a soldier lingers near. The hero faced a bank of gloom, it spoke security, success. He saw the country free and felt a glow of holy happiness. Within the measure of a breath he saw the revolution o’er, He saw Mount Vernon smile in peace above the blue Potomac’s shore. But happy times were yet to come, a grim invader walked the land, Oh that he might by one dread blow bid yonder Hessian horde disband. The frost lay white upon his brow, the blizzard raved, he heeded not, No hand but God’s should stand between his army and the goal it sought. And so he crossed the Delaware, a lesser man had quailed to view, He crossed it, for full well he knew how brave his men although how few. The boat was faithful to its trust, it bore him slowly, surely, o’er; And scorned to heed the groaning mass that pressed upon it more and more. So victor crowned, at early morn, through Trenton’s smoke hung streets he passed, Like one, who after weary days, has caught a glimpse of home at last. He passed in triumph, passed to find, though other battles loomed before, That monarchy, could not again, in this free land her loss restore. COMRADES. Comrades, yea comrades in war and comrades in peace, Comrades when bugles were sounding a blessed release; Comrades when bullets were whistling and death rode in sight, Comrades ’mid battle and conquest and comrades to-night. Comrades when many a river ran red with blood, Comrades when war swept us on with the force of a flood; Comrades when charging the fortress each fain would be first; Comrades where thickest and fiercest the hissing shells burst. Comrades, even as in the great conflicts of yore, Comrades with danger behind us and danger before; Comrades when tempests of sorrow were shrouding the sky, Comrades to suffer and conquer, or suffer and die. CHARACTER. {15} {16} Armed with reason, braced by knowledge, Surely such a one is king; Ready in his honest manhood For whatever fate may bring. Public spirited, courageous, Gauging chances at their best; Let his character commend him, Time will gladly do the rest. WHAT IS THERE TO BE THANKFUL FOR? “What is there to be thankful for?” I think I hear you say: Hope is a happy counsellor When clouds hang dull and gray; The sky is dark, the way is long, The hours move sad and slow; A fitting time for one sweet song To set the heart aglow. A fitting time for one sweet song To echo far and wide, The sky is dark, the way is long, My strength is sorely tried. Though dark the sky and long the way, I’ll keep love’s armor bright. Still singing, through the night, the day, I know God’s will is right. How oft the eager pulse must thrill To robin’s liquid note; A merry tune, the May-buds trill ’Neath winter’s shielding coat. There sounds a gracious hymn of praise From ev’ry living thing; Because the sun refuse its rays Can I refuse to sing? Can I refuse to sing when some Might find the timid strain More powerful than trump or drum, And swell the glad refrain? Lo, Christ has made me free to rise From man’s forlorn estate, To look beyond the stormy skies And see the pearly gate. What is there to be thankful for? A will that would obey; A soul that stands as conqueror, And this, that I may pray. Lo, Christ has made me free to rise From man’s forlorn estate, I look beyond the stormy skies And see the pearly gate. LIFE’S TEMPLE. {17} {18}