Fannie Isabelle Sherrick

Amid my treasures once I found A simple faded flower; A flower with all its beauty fled,

Oh, take this shell, this pretty thing With tinted waves of pearly red; Hold close your ear and hear it sing,

Sweet summer queen, with trailing robe of green, What spell has thou to bind the heart to thee? Thy throne is built upon the sun-lit sea,

The sun was hid all day by clouds, The rain fell softly down; A cold gray mist hung o'er the earth,

O crimson-tined flowers That live when others die, What thoughtless hand unloving

O beautiful woman, too well we know The terrible weight of thy woman's woe, So great that the world, in its careless way,

Gleaming folds of read and gold linger in the western sky; Fleecy clouds of purest tint, mingle with the purple dye. Faintly to the dreamy mind comes the sound of earthly life;

Beyond yon dim old mountain's shadowy height, The restless sun droops low his grand old face; While downward sweeps the trembling veil of night,

Catching the sunbeams, oh, wee dimpled child, Gleefully laughing because they are bright; Knowing, ah! never, my beautiful pet,

Let all the flowers wake to life; Let all the songsters sing; Let everything that lives on earth

There was a sound of music low-- An undertone of laughter; The song was done, and can't you guess

The years are slowly creeping on Beneath the summer sun; Yet, still in silent love and peace

A dewy flower, bathed in crimson light, May touch the soul--a pure and beauteous sight; A golden river flashing 'neath the sun,

Part I. Girlhood Girlhood, the dearest time of joy and love,

The world is full of gems to-day, The world is full of love; The earth is strewn with star-gemmed flowers

A treasured link of shining pearls, A by-gone melody, A shower of tears with smiles between--

Oh, what so subtle as the spell The silvery moonlight weaves? Oh, what so sad and what so glad,

A fair sweet blossom is born for you, A beautiful rose, my queen! And never was flower so fair as this,

Two dark-brown eyes looked into mine Two eyes with restless quiver; A gentle hand crept in my own

'Tis eventide; the noisy brook is hushed Or murmurs only as a tired child, Worn out with play; the tangled weeds lie still

[To the memory of Edwin B. Foster, a member of the Howards, who nobly sacrificed his own life for others, and in remembrance of those unknown to fame or friends who have silently followed in the steps of our Saviour.] The shadow of death is around us all, And life is a sorrowful thing;

I would not ask thee back, fair May, With all your bright-eyed flowers; Nor would I welcome April days

There's a beautiful lake where the sun lies low, And the skies are warm with their summer glow; And a beautiful picture there I see

Why should we dream of days gone by? Why should we wait and wonder? Sweet summer days have come and gone,

Oh, soon the forests all will boast A crown of red and gold; A purple haze will circle round

I wonder what they are, These pretty, wayward things, That o'er the gloomy earth

"Come, pensive nun, devout and pure, Sober, steadfast and demure." -- [Milton]

Oh, what is so pure as the glad summer rain, That falls on the grass where the sunlight has lain? And what is so fair as the flowers that lie

O beautiful hills in the purple light, That shadow the western sky, I dream of you oft in the silent night,

A tiny drop of crystal dew That fell from baby eyes of blue; A shining treasure, there it lay

The day is dead, And evening trails her purple robes In fading fires of red.

A limpid lake, a diamond gem, The moonbeams kissed with light; And all the stars that heaven knew

Where is the bard, O river grand and old, That has thy praises sung, thy beauties told, In measures lofty as the mighty pride

Low at my feet there lies to-night A crushed and withered rose; Within its heart of fading red

She stood by my side with a queenly air, Her face it was young and proud and fair; She held my rose in her hands of snow;

Under the cross in the Southern skies, Where the beautiful night like a shadow lies, A fair young life went out in the light

The sunlight fell with a golden gleam On the waves of the rippling rill; The pansies nodded their purple heads;

[To the memory of Lieut. Wm. W. Wardell, of the First Massachusetts Cavalry, killed May 28, 1864.] Above his head the cypress waves Its dark green drooping leaves;

Oh, what would you have, you splendid sun, With your restless eyes of fire? And why do you lean o'er the lilies pale?

The sun sinks down in the crimson west, Oh, a beautiful sun is he; With his purple robes and his crown of gold

The crown of stars is broken in parts, Its jewels brighter than the day, Have one by one been stolen away

Oh tell me not of the lands so old Where the Orient treasures its hills of gold, And the rivers lie in the sun's bright rays

Twin lilies in the river floating, Two lilies pure and white; And one is pale and faintly drooping,

A beautiful form and a beautiful face, A winsome bride and a woman's grace, So fair and sweet it were heaven indeed

Under the sea, the great wide sea That sweeps the golden shore; What treasures lie beneath the waves

Under the stars, when the shadows fall, Under the stars of night; What is so fair as the jeweled crown

The splendors of a southern sun Caress the glowing sky; O'er crested waves, the colors glance

The summer queen has many flowers To deck her sunny hair, And trailing grasses, pure and sweet,