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Rev. J. W. Messinger. 
 
UNDER-TONES 
 
 AND 
 
 OVER-TONES 
 
 OF LIFE. 
 
 BY REV. JOHN W. MESSINGER. 
 
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 YOE, PA.; 
 
 YO« P«1MTING COMPANY. 
 
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 COPYJ?7Gi=f T BY 
 
 JOHN W. MESSINCER. 
 1903. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The earnest requests of kind friends, who have read 
 some of my humble poems on the mighty forces that 
 sweep around the mystic shrine of hfe, have led to the 
 publication of this lowly little volume, in the hope 
 that its lines may carry consolation to hearts bereft, cour- 
 age to those ready to faint and surrender in the struggle, 
 rays of hope to those sitting under the black shadows of 
 despair, and comfort to the unnumbered host who endure 
 bodily and mental infirmities, lifting their eyes from the 
 imperfect temporal to the perfect eternal, and that 
 they may awaken in the strong intense tender desire to 
 " Lend a Helping Hand " to those who are weak in Hfe's 
 fierce conflict, Ufting the fallen to footholds whence the 
 heights can be won and bright destinies assured. 
 
 If the somber shadow of unescapable responsibility 
 hangs over some of the brief songs, the thoughtful 
 reader is urged to remember that it is woven in the web 
 and woof of each life that every intelligent act, every re- 
 flected thought, every deliberate motive bears on its 
 brow the seal of immortality, and we are destined to 
 meet them again along the track of coming ages, reaping 
 either joy or sorrow from their results. With these in- 
 tense desires to do good to each reader, these thoughts 
 are sent forth on the wings of song. 
 
 The AuthoRo 
 
LIFE. 
 
 Oh wondrous, mystic little word ! 
 
 How much thy simple letters hide ? 
 Stupendous depths lie there, unstirr'd, 
 
 Untrodden peaks loom side by side. 
 
 What dormant forces slumber there ? 
 
 What hopes, more bright than angel wings ? 
 What deep, dark chasms of despair ? 
 
 Undying impulse from it springs. 
 
 How wide thy boundless plains expand ? 
 
 How fierce thy hidden conflicts rage ? 
 What thoughts fly forth on every hand ? 
 
 What mortal mind can grasp thy gauge ? 
 
LIFE TRANSITORY. 
 
 James 4: 14. 
 
 This life seems but a narrow space 
 
 Enclosed by birth and death, 
 Two powers that hover o'er our race, 
 
 To give and take our breath. 
 
 Sometimes they seem afar apart 
 
 To our deluded sight ; 
 Again they wake us with a start, 
 
 To see them most unite. 
 
 From childhood days to four-score years 
 
 The distance may seem long, 
 But oh ! now oft the mother's tears 
 
 Must drown the cradle song! 
 
 Man lives, he dies, and is forgot ; 
 
 Another fills his place ; 
 And death's relentless, fatal shot 
 
 Removes the other's face. 
 
 Of all the hosts long ages dead, 
 How few remembrance claim, 
 
 Yet some men's deeds, or words they said. 
 Have far outlived their name. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER -TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 If noble deeds mankind reveres, 
 
 Lon^ after life has fiown, 
 With deeds man better fills his years 
 
 Than mark his grave with stone. 
 
 The fleeting moments past us fly 
 lyike birds with winged speed, 
 
 And hours with noiseless tread steal by 
 Like cloud-shades o'er the mead. 
 
 The past forever from us gone, 
 
 The future, God's to give ; 
 The present time is ours, alone, 
 
 To think, to act, to live. 
 
 But let no man shrink from the doom 
 
 Appointed bond and free ; 
 For death is but the ante-room 
 
 Of immortality. 
 
 THE BARGAIN OF LIFE. 
 
 The bargains man makes as he journeys along 
 Thro' a life that has seasons of sorrow and song. 
 Though many, and blended with loss, gain, and 
 
 strife, 
 All help to make up the one bargain of life. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. ^ 
 
 Two Masters are seeking man's talents and time, 
 The one a foul traitor, the other divine ; 
 The first points to pleasures that are not his own ; 
 While God offers heaven, a crown, and a throne. 
 
 Though Satan may offer brief pleasures in sin, 
 They are gilded without, but have poison within, 
 lyike the wine-cup that flashed with mirth at the 
 
 brink, 
 But covers the serpent that poisons the drink. 
 
 Sin's promise is carried by falsehood's foul breath 
 And its blossoms of pleasure are scented with 
 
 death, 
 In serving this Master, how fearful the gain. 
 Sin's moments of pleasure bring ages of pain. 
 
 In his mercy God seeks to govern man's course, 
 He draws and persuades, but will never coerce. 
 In missions of love He man's talents employs, 
 And adds to life's pleasures, eternity's joys. 
 
 Thus the bargain is ours, to make as we choose ; 
 
 The good or the evil to take or refuse, 
 
 While heaven's rich blessings God's children 
 
 shall claim, 
 Sin's servants deluded, reap ages of shame. 
 
UNDER-TOT4ES AND OVER-TONES OF* LIFE* 
 
 THE TWO WAYS. 
 
 Two gates stand open side by side, 
 The one is straight, the other, wide : 
 Before your eyes two plain roads lie ; 
 One broad and smooth, one steep and high. 
 
 The broad way seems both good and fair, 
 And many mortals enter there ; 
 It's hard and rough as on you go, 
 And ends in death and endless woe. 
 
 The narrow way seems hard and steep, 
 And few will choose its course to keep ; 
 It leads above earth's sordid strife. 
 To realms of everlasting life. 
 
 Which way to take, each must decide ; 
 Choices of life and death abide ; 
 The gates stand open, each must choose 
 Which one to enter; which refuse. 
 
 Midst rolling years each stands to-night ;, 
 Deciding 'twixt the wrong and right : 
 The life accept ; the death refuse ;, 
 For your eternity, Choose 1 Choosk ! i 
 
UNDER-TONES and over-tones of LlF^. 
 
 TRUTH. 
 
 Plodding onward, worn and weary, 
 
 Through the crowded city street ; 
 Pensive thoughts, most sad and dreary, 
 
 Throwing shades o'er all I meet ; 
 Asks the spirit of my day-dream, 
 
 " Whither goes the young and brave ?" 
 Wrinkled faces on the life-stream, 
 
 Whisper sadly, " To the grave." 
 
 " What the fate of man's endeavor, 
 
 All his brain and hand hath wrought?" 
 Time's destruction, 'round me ever, 
 
 Mutely answers, " It is nought." 
 Nought ! Shall perish all this splendor ? 
 
 What defies thy grasp forsooth ? 
 Then a little paper vendor. 
 
 Crowding forward, shouted " TruTh." 
 
 Startled by this unsought knowledge, 
 
 That an urchin's cry had shown ; 
 Highest thought of Church and College ; 
 
 Bed-rock of Jehovah's throne : 
 I behold, and all is vernal ; 
 
 Age IS but the daw^n of youth, 
 Waiting for the life eternal ; 
 
 Gleaming from the star of Truth, 
 
to UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 THE CONQUEROR TRUTH. 
 
 By faith I behold in the distance, 
 Approaching, despite all resistance, 
 
 A victor who cometh no man to enthrall : 
 With banner of liberty streaming, 
 And scepter of righteousness gleaming — 
 His name is The: Truth, he is monarch of all. 
 
 Before him dark error is flying, 
 
 And 'neath him vile falsehood lies dying, 
 
 While foul superstition and idols must fall : 
 Injustice and malice must vanish, 
 Usurpers and tyrants he'll banish. 
 
 And Truth will be victor and monarch of alL 
 
 Then wrong shall by right be unseated, 
 Base hatred by love be defeated, 
 
 And peace, like the air, will environ this ball : 
 Then justice shall govern the nations, 
 While men of all ranks and all stations. 
 
 Crown Truth, the eternal, as monarch of all. 
 
 Think not, this is fanciful dreaming. 
 Or wildly imaginal scheming. 
 
 For time will declare it sound reason withal : 
 For God hath explicitly spoken, 
 By word that shall never be broken, 
 
 That Christ is Thk Truth, and monarch of all. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. II 
 
 MOTIVE. 
 
 Mankind would shun selfish ambition, 
 Would cease the mad race for position, 
 
 And seek to store treasure above : 
 Avoiding all bitter dissension, 
 Would still the rough voice of contention 
 
 If every man' s motive were love. 
 
 Then man will scorn cruel oppression, 
 And never blur truth by suppression, 
 
 Nor backward his fellow-man shove ; 
 His mind will scorn all who dissemble, 
 His life will the Christ-life resemble, 
 
 When every man's motive is love. 
 
 Then peace shall flow on like a river, 
 And God, the most bountiful giver, 
 
 His Spirit will send like a dove ; 
 And joy will wave gladl}^ her pinions, 
 O'er all of God's earthly dominions. 
 
 When every man's motive is love. 
 
 Then man will treat man as a brother, 
 The mandate to love one another 
 
 Be heeded as law from above ; 
 May each give the cause his aSvSistance^ 
 The day be not far in the distance 
 
 When every man's motive is love. 
 
12 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE, 
 
 RIPPLES OF LOVE. 
 
 Three circles outward from me sweep, 
 lyike waves roll o'er the placid deep ; 
 When pebbles in its breast are thrown, 
 They fain would clasp in strong embrace. 
 All members of a ransomed race, 
 And lift them to the Savior's throne* 
 
 The first is pity most profound, 
 
 Which rolls to earth's remotest bound : 
 
 And seeks, as love's bold pioneer. 
 
 To quell each source of human woe, 
 
 Heal sin's deep wounds, stay death's dark blow. 
 
 And hold each fallen brother dear. 
 
 Within is one of stronger flow, 
 Encircling those I've learned to know : 
 And knowing brings that deep respect, 
 Which doubles joy with them to share, 
 My highest good, their deepest care ; 
 Which clings, to shield, though worlds reject. 
 
 But love's deep inner circles roll. 
 In currents strong, around by soul : 
 Inclosing in a life embrace, 
 Those kindred spirits of my heart, 
 Who mould within life's noblest part. 
 An image death shall not efface. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. I3 
 
 Who gives this power to circle wide, 
 To every life, on every side ? 
 I hold 'tis He who gives us breath : 
 It surely comes from realms above, 
 For love is only born of love : 
 And life-force over-reaches death. 
 
 REACHING FORTH. 
 
 Stand on your highest thought to-day, 
 Regarding neither joy or sorrow ; 
 
 And from that summit reach away, 
 To gain a nobler thought to-morrow. 
 
 CHAINS OR LIBERTY— WHICH ? 
 
 Who gives all else, to gold obtain, 
 Is but a slave, in glittering chain ; 
 But, whom the yoke of Christ hath freed, 
 From other bonds is free indeed. 
 
 NOTHING LOST. 
 
 A noble thought is never lost. 
 
 No matter on what shore it stands ; 
 
 A noble deed repays the cost, 
 
 No matter whose the acting hand. 
 
14 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 GOD HASTEN THE DAY. 
 
 God hasten the day 
 
 When the right shall have sway, 
 
 And men will love justice and truth : 
 When none who do nobly by station or name 
 Are barred from the honors they rightfully claim, 
 
 If manhood deserve them, or youth ; 
 
 When man's yea shall mean yea, 
 
 And his nay shall mean nay, 
 Deception shall vanish, and truth shall bear sway, 
 
 God hasten the day ! 
 
 God hasten the day 
 
 When the wrong shall decay, 
 
 And tyranny perish from earth ; 
 When man will employ more forbearance for man ; 
 Put heart in his efforts, and brain in his plan, 
 
 To raise him above a low birth : 
 
 When he never will lay 
 
 On his relative clay 
 
 The rod of oppression, or malice display — 
 
 God hasten the day ! 
 
 God hasten the day ! 
 When love shall o'ersway 
 The hearts and the brains of the race ; 
 When banners of love shall everywhere wave. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 15 
 
 O'er a world holding neither a tyrant or slave ; 
 And mercy and truth shall embrace : 
 
 When hate flees in dismay, 
 
 And greed shrinks away, 
 Pretension shall perish and pride shall decay — 
 
 God hasten the day ! 
 
1 6 . UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 PERSECUTION. 
 
 A spirit rose from hell's domain, 
 
 To poison man in mind and heart ; 
 That hate and envy, woeful twain, 
 
 Might brother far from brother part ; 
 No beauty graced her form or face, 
 
 But cruel, loathsome passions ran 
 The deep, repulsive, graven trace. 
 
 Which marks the foe to God and man. 
 
 Though hideous all in heart and mind, 
 
 Yet, subtle power could she control, 
 To plant base passions in mankind. 
 
 And lure to doom the human soul : 
 To heat the heart with base desire 
 
 Ambition, pride, injustice, all 
 Hot coals of hell's relentless fire. 
 
 She used the mortal to enthrall. 
 
 Her whisper in the' tyrant's ear 
 
 Made dungeons ring with clanking chains, 
 To bind the men whom truth held dear, 
 
 Who scorned to kneel for slavish gains. 
 A selfish thought in bigot's mind 
 
 Sprung schemes as black as hell could start, 
 To crush the one who would not bind 
 
 The true convictions of his heart. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 17 
 
 This Spirit loved the torture rack, 
 
 The streaming blood and crushing bones, 
 The fagots blaze, the blistered back. 
 
 And music heard in dying groans. 
 She laughed to see the spurting blood, 
 
 When blade of steel struck martyr's head ; 
 And bathed her hands in crimson flood, 
 
 Her vassal priests on Calvary shed. 
 
 So cruel v^as her direful reign. 
 
 That mortals sought to hurl her down 
 The deep abyss from v^hence she came, 
 
 To curse the vi^orld with hateful frown. 
 But yet this foul designing sprite, 
 
 Could well her monstrous form conceal 
 Neath robes resembling heaven's white ; 
 
 And ply her arts with fiendish zeal. 
 
 Her frightful face was hid secure, 
 
 Beneath a mask of pious mold ; 
 A saintly robe, so white and pure. 
 
 Concealed her heart with ample fold : 
 Thus robed she knelt at God's own shrine, 
 
 With guileful voice to sing and pray, 
 Then rose to plan a vile combine 
 
 To crush the men who blocked her sway. 
 
l8 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Oil God ! how long shall wrong prevail ? 
 
 We pray Thee crush this fiendish sprite ; 
 Subdue what dare thy saints assail, 
 
 Arise, and vindicate the right. 
 God's voice replies, " It shall be done," 
 
 The truth shall triumph, falsehood die ; 
 And naught shall prosper 'neath the sun, 
 
 That spurns the truth to love a lie. 
 
 THE HABITUAL COMPLAINER. 
 
 Some people delight in discovering wrong, 
 
 They eagerly seek out a cause for complaint. 
 No efforts dismay them, no road is too long, 
 
 When seeking to tarnish a sinner or saint ; 
 They growl if you do ; if you don't 'tis the same, 
 
 For each of this class most untiringly delves 
 To hinder the good at which others may aim, 
 
 And grumble at work left undone by themselves 
 
 No matter what merit an action may claim. 
 
 They never commend, lest it generate pride ; 
 But point out a blemish and tongues are aflame, 
 
 The fault to illume and the good to deride : 
 No words leave their lips to cheer manhood or 
 youth, 
 
 They wither and kill like the desert-born blast; 
 To magnify error and quibble at truth, 
 
 Affords them the joy of a dainty repast. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. I9 
 
 lyike vultures, which over fair valleys will sweep, 
 
 To feed on the carcass polluting the plain, 
 So they will scorn virtues an angel may seek, 
 To gloat o'er a fault which a fiend would 
 disdain : 
 They dig, like hyenas, to rifle the grave, 
 
 And laugh as they gnaw at contention's foul 
 bones ; 
 And crocodile tears their dkrk visages lave 
 When mourning the victims they tortured to 
 groans. 
 
 I would that each slave of this spirit had learned 
 
 That searching for faults is not wisdom or art ; 
 The telescope better from others be turned, 
 
 The microscope used to examine the heart ; 
 Such visions of failure would doubtless appear. 
 
 That mind o'er the virtues of others would 
 brood : 
 Like music this motto would fall on the ear, 
 
 Don't seek for the evil but cherish the good. 
 
20 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 FOAM UPON THE WAVE. 
 
 While standing on the pebbly shore 
 
 To see the surges roll, 
 This thought was borne, 'mid breakers' roar, 
 
 And cradled in my soul. 
 However high the billows bound, 
 
 Or wild their crests may wave, 
 The waters depth you ne'er can sound 
 
 By foam upon the wave. 
 
 When man attempts to measure man, 
 
 His fellows' heart to know. 
 He should not surface bubbles scan, 
 
 But seek the depth below. 
 For thought's strong under-currents sweep, 
 
 And hearts beat true and brave, 
 Beneath the spot where follies leap 
 
 I/ike foam upon the wave. 
 
 We cannot always weigh the deed, 
 
 The weakness understand, 
 Which led a brother, pressed with need. 
 
 To lift the erring hand. 
 If we could know how he was tried, 
 
 'Bre place to wrong he gave. 
 O'er life's deep stream his faults would glide 
 
 I/ike foam upon the wave. 
 
XJNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 21 
 
 How many sad mistakes are made, 
 
 What noble hearts are stung, 
 Because men strike with venomed blade, 
 
 And wound with hasty tongue. 
 How keen remorse their souls must gnaw 
 
 When all too late to save, 
 They find the thing they deemed a flaw 
 
 Was foam upon the wave. 
 
 The men the world reveres to-day, 
 
 In conflict for the right, 
 Broke bigot's rule and tyrants sway, 
 
 With solitary might. 
 We honor them for what they wrought, 
 
 Their deeds to marble grave, 
 And count mistakes and errors nought 
 
 But foam upon the wave. 
 
 The deeds that narrow minds condemn, 
 
 Embalmed in history's page. 
 Await the praise of broader men. 
 
 Who lead a nobler age ; 
 But pigmy souls, whom hate and pride, 
 
 Have stamped as passion's slaves, 
 Will float on dark oblivion's tide, 
 
 X,ike foam upon the wave. 
 
22 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LlPiE^ 
 
 IMMORTAL MANHOOD. 
 
 Who dares explore, with eager brain, 
 All fields of thought the truth to gain : 
 And counts as dross the wealth of earth, 
 Compared with truth's intrinsic worth : 
 May be compelled to dangers brave, 
 Bear taunt of fool, and threat of knave : 
 Through all of life endure distress, 
 That we may truth's pure gem possess : 
 May die alone in dungeon drear, 
 Have bigots curse ring o'er his bier : 
 But God shall write the record just, 
 In fire'-crown'd truth above his dust : 
 And future nations gladly scan. 
 The life-work of a noble man. 
 
 Who dares to toil with all his might. 
 For that he knows to be the right ; 
 Content, without the world's applause^ 
 To labor for a righteous cause : 
 May be by friends misunderstood. 
 And cursed by all who hate the good ; 
 May need to stand 'mid fiercest strife,. 
 True to his one great aim of life : 
 May die a martyr's cruel death, 
 Amid the rabble's jeering breath : 
 But sure as God is all in all, 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE, 2$ 
 
 The right shall triumph through his fall : 
 And men will rise to crush the clan, 
 Who dared to slay a noble man. 
 
 "Who dares express the honest thought, 
 
 His toiling brain from chaos brought : 
 
 And deems it nothing less than sin, 
 
 To hide the light that burns within : 
 
 May reap the furious wrath of those, 
 
 Whose hidden sins his words expose ; 
 
 May wake a storm of hellish hate, 
 
 His blood shall fail to satiate : 
 
 May die where hissing fire-fiends roar, 
 
 His ashes rest on ocean's shore — 
 
 But, sure as The Eternal reigns, 
 
 That thought in deathless power remains : — 
 
 His blood their doom, that thought their ban, 
 
 When God shall own that noble man. 
 
 THISTLE DOWN. 
 
 Light and airy, 
 
 As a fairy, 
 Floating over autumn mead ; 
 In a chariot white and downy, 
 Borne upon the breezes balmy, 
 Swiftly swept a little seed ; 
 
 Brown and airy, 
 
 Li^ht as fairy. 
 
^4 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE, 
 
 White-plumed rover, 
 Drifting over 
 
 Furrowed fields and grassy plains ; 
 'Till the night-wind's dewy lariet, 
 Falls around the airy chariot, 
 Binding in its clammy chains, 
 
 'Midst the clover, 
 
 White-winged rover. 
 
 Winter ending ; 
 Warmth descending ; 
 
 Prison' d seedling felt the ray : 
 Gone the chariot, but its rider, 
 Rooting deeper, branching wider,, 
 In the sunlight day by day : 
 
 Upward sending. 
 Stem unbending. 
 
 Nodding over 
 
 Red-top' d clover, 
 See the sturdy thistle stand : 
 Green each branch, and firmly jointed, 
 Kvery leaf with needle pointed. 
 Piercing deep each hostile hand. 
 
 Soft-plumed rover, 
 
 All did cover. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Mark the teaching, 
 D,eep and reaching, 
 
 As the thistle's root and branch : 
 He, who seems as light as feather, 
 Blown across the autumn heather, 
 May develop greatness stanch : 
 
 Right beseeching, 
 Wrong impeaching. 
 
 Germs of evil, 
 Light and trivial, 
 
 That a spark could burn away, 
 Left to grow and bloom unheeded, 
 Noble nations may be seeded, 
 With the vices that decay : 
 
 Germs of evil, 
 Ne'er are trivial. 
 
 Good bestowing, 
 Sin o'erthrowing. 
 
 Love the right and scorn the wrong '. 
 Watch beginnings, truth to cherish ; 
 Crush the germ, that evil perish : 
 Souls will bless you 'midst the throng. 
 
 Joyful growing 
 
 From your sowing. 
 
§S tiNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIF^fis 
 
 IF THEY HAD KNOWN. 
 
 If men but knew that hasty speech, 
 
 Impelled by passion heated breath, 
 Could fly so far beyond their reach, 
 
 And pierce so deep, that even death 
 Could not efface the cruel scars 
 
 That it had made on living hearts ; 
 Would not their lips be golden bars, 
 
 To check the deadly, poison' d darts? 
 Would not their words had gentler tone, 
 
 And milder force, if they had known ? 
 
 If men but knew that thoughts unkind, 
 
 Which envy nursed within the brain, 
 Could over-sweep the realms of mind. 
 
 And wound a spirit, causing pain 
 So keen, that groans could not express 
 
 The bitter anguish felt within ; 
 Would they not shun such deep distress, 
 
 And banish such a cause of sin ? 
 Had not their thoughts more kindly grown, 
 
 More pure, more good, if they had known ? 
 
 If men but knew how actions vile, 
 Which selfish, vengeful aims incite. 
 
 Could blast, disfigure and defile 
 
 Another's life, and grave their spite 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 5 
 
 So deep that time could not destroy 
 The hateful lines of dark despair ; 
 
 Would they not scorn such foul employ, 
 And from their hearts such passions tear ? 
 
 Had not their acts more kindness shown, 
 More love, less self, if they had known ? 
 
 If men but knew that these base things, 
 
 Which they endeavor to conceal, 
 Could face them with unnumbered stings, 
 
 Beyond this life, and there more real 
 Than vengeful ghosts insure their doom 
 
 Before the awful bar of God ; 
 Would they not shun the path of gloom, 
 
 And have their sins washed out in blood ? 
 Or would their anguished spirits moan, 
 
 In hell's abyss, " If Wi; Had Known?' 
 
 SING ALWAYS. 
 
 When happy in the lyord your King, 
 Let joyful lips His praises sing ; 
 
 When sorrow presses all around, 
 
 Still let your songs of praise abound ; 
 
 For singing will your gladness show, 
 Relieve your pain and soothe your woe. 
 
iS UNDER-TONES ANt) OVER-TONES OF Llf E. 
 
 LEVEL UPWARD. 
 
 Hver seek to level upward, 
 Never crush another down ; 
 
 None who rise by trampling others^ 
 Ever merit fair renown. 
 
 He who lifts a struggling brother, 
 Doubly lifts that brother's son ; 
 
 For he stands him on a foothold 
 Whence the heights are easier won. 
 
 Is he poor in goods and chattels ? 
 
 Do not steal his little store : 
 Use th}'- surplus to relieve him • 
 
 And he'll bless thee evermore. 
 
 Does he lack the power of knowledge ? 
 
 Do not use him as your slave ; 
 lyift him to the broader manhood 
 
 Which his inmost soul doth crave. 
 
 Is he swathed in bands of habit ? 
 
 Dark, defiling though they be, 
 He is still thy erring brother ; 
 
 Break his bondage ; set him free. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Is his lot in life a hard one ? 
 
 Ease his burden when you can ; 
 lyowly tasks do not defile him ; 
 
 He is still thy brother-man. 
 
 Spend your life-force leveling upward ; 
 
 Bid narrow, selfish motives free ; 
 Then your soul will wear the image 
 
 Of "The Man of Gallilee." 
 
 Do wise men say such lives are lost ? 
 
 Self-sacrifice is truest gain : 
 He ne'er achieves who counts the cost 
 
 Of noble deeds ; or shrinks for pain. 
 
 Do earthly things outweigh the soul ? 
 
 Self-ease destroys ; lift and you rise ; 
 By helping others reach the goal, 
 
 You follow Christ in sacrifice. 
 
 29 
 
30 
 
 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 LEND A HELPING HAND. 
 
 You see that boy so poorly clad, 
 
 Who fights life's conflict, true and brave ; 
 He struggles on, though heart is sad, 
 
 Against opposing wind and wave. 
 His scanty clothes, both thin and old. 
 
 More highly favored upstarts taunt, 
 He shivers in the winter's cold. 
 
 And weeps to think they mock his want. 
 Stand by that boy, though fools may frown 
 
 Such dauntless courage make souls grand. 
 Don't try to crush the boy that's down. 
 
 But lend to him a helping hand. 
 
 You see that poor and lonely girl. 
 
 Whom gay and thoughtless children shun. 
 Their bitter jests at her they hurl, 
 
 And call their shameful folly, fun. 
 Each cutting word stings to the heart 
 
 That beats beneath that thread-bare frock. 
 She wipes away the tears that start. 
 
 Her w^oe might break a heart of rock. 
 Defend that lass in tattered gown, 
 
 She yet above them all may stand. 
 Don't try to crush the girl that's down, 
 
 But lend to her a helping hand. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Behold that sin-wrecked brother strive 
 
 To gain the place from whence he fell ; 
 Kach surging passion seems a gyve, 
 
 Forged in the hissing flames of hell. 
 He begs man's aid, for direful fears, 
 
 Eclipse hope's star, make life forlorn : 
 But stalwart men turn heedless ears, 
 
 And laugh his earnest plea to scorn. 
 Assist that brother ; his renown 
 
 May echo to earth's farthest strand. 
 Don't try to crush the man that's down, 
 
 But lend to him a helping hand. 
 
 Hear you that sister's piercing shriek, 
 
 Where passion's waves her efforts mock? 
 She strives, though hope and faith are weak, 
 
 To reach again fair virtue's rock. 
 Her guilt-stained soul for help doth pray, 
 
 But, lest her touch should then defile, 
 Her stainless sisters turn away, 
 
 And shun her with disdainful smile. 
 Go save that soul, she yet may crown 
 
 A thousand at her I^ord's command. 
 Don't try to crush a woman down, 
 
 But lend to her a helping hand. 
 
 31 
 
22 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Go forth, the needy to relieve, 
 
 The fallen raise, the sick to cure, 
 Remember lowly hearts can grieve, 
 
 And e'en the Son of God was poor. 
 The tear you dried may fall again, 
 
 Your fever-stricken brow to lave. 
 The one you help'd to stand 'mong men, 
 
 May weep his thanks above your grave. 
 And when God gives the glorious crown. 
 
 In yon immortal spirit-land, 
 They shall rejoice, who crush none down, 
 
 But lent to all a helping hand. 
 
 THE SONGS I WISH TO SING. 
 
 'Tis not for spirits light and gay 
 I touch the golden harp of song : 
 
 The thought to such seems idle play, 
 When tunes flow light and swift along : 
 
 Such spirits feel a keen delight 
 
 When sounds are sweet and words are light. 
 
 Such souls need not the deeper tone 
 Which thrills the heart's true core ; 
 
 The joy-expressing trill alone, 
 
 Is what they crave, and nothing more : 
 
 They seek not, love not, what is brought 
 Along the sentient stream of thought. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 33 
 
 But hearts that bleed o'er joys which fled, 
 And ache with nameless weights of woe : 
 
 Whose gaping wounds, so deep, so dread, 
 No balm can heal, nor ease bestow ; 
 
 Will gladly hail, 'mid poignant grief, 
 The hidden thoughts which bring relief. 
 
 Such souls have clasp' d hope's fairest bloom, 
 When rambling through life's sunny morn ; 
 
 They laid the garlands on hope's tomb, 
 And felt the cruel, poison' d thorn : 
 
 Oh sing them thoughts vv^ith gentlest art, 
 Which soothe the heavy mind and heart. 
 
 For this great, nameless, silent throng ; 
 
 Whose skies are leaden with despair ; 
 Who cannot burst the fetters strong, 
 
 Which bind the heavy loads of care ; 
 I seek to sing one cheerful note, 
 
 To thrill them with a deathless hope. 
 
 The song which tells them God's own stars, 
 Above all clouds, shine on for aye ; 
 
 And gloom which now their vision mars, 
 Must flee before advancing day, 
 
 Will wake within their bosom's deep, 
 A note which swells with joys replete, 
 
 3 
 
34 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Oh let me sing some thrilling air, 
 To solace, comfort, help the weak. 
 
 Who, on the verges of despair, 
 
 Are missing joys they vainly seek : 
 
 Give me in this my highest gain, 
 
 To sing the son^s which banish pain. 
 
 Let me help those who sit 'mid shrouds, 
 By sorrows torn, by woes oppres'd, 
 
 Let thoughts cast rainbows 'gainst the clouds ; 
 While music soothes their souls to rest : 
 
 Who makes soul-deserts bloom again. 
 Will honor God and exalt men. 
 
 LIFE'S UNDERTONES. 
 
 As instruments with highly tensioned strings, 
 
 Beneath the skilful touch of master-hands, 
 Give forth rich melodies, which rapture flings 
 
 'Round struggling souls, like potent silken 
 bands ; 
 And o'er the spirit-ear is sweetly thrown 
 
 The subtle echoes of the undertone ; 
 So souls, intensely drawn, until they break 
 
 The shackles binding to this nether life, 
 Are being strung rich harmonies to wake. 
 
 Under the touch of God, which soothes their 
 strife ; 
 And multitudes, who sad and hopeless moan, 
 
 Find rest, enraptured by life's undertone. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 35 
 
 'Mid surging seas of dark, wild doubts which rise 
 
 In foaming crests o'er rocks of unbelief, 
 Faith's fibers stretch until her anguish' d cries 
 
 Seem leaden weights, sinking to depths beneath: 
 But in this test Faith never stands alone ; 
 
 God stretched the string to reach the undertone: 
 And now, above the conflicts' s ceaseless roar. 
 
 Which wrecks to atoms man-made screeds and 
 creeds ; 
 Faith stands and sings, upon the wreck-strewn 
 shore. 
 
 To lift men's minds above its fringe of reeds : 
 And o'er the laughter, heart-ache, curse and groan, 
 
 In Bass and Treble, rings Faith's undertone. 
 
 The black-winged night of rayless soul despair 
 
 Has settled down, all that was bright to mar : 
 Hope's eager gaze through dismal, murky air, 
 
 Is vainly seeking some cloud-hidden star ; 
 Her pensive eyes through crystal tear-drops shone 
 
 As stretching heart-strings thrilled the under- 
 tone : 
 Then rent the gloomy cloud, and through the rifts 
 
 Far-streaming rays illumined her beaming face ; 
 And ever sweeter swells her note, which lifts 
 
 Above despair a fallen, ransomed race : 
 No coffin, shroud, nor cold sepulchral stone, 
 
 Can still the music of Hope's undertone. 
 
36 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Amid the relics of a transient past, 
 
 Which lie in shining fragments 'round her feet, 
 lyove sits in mournful silence ; and at last 
 
 Has learned no earthly stay can be complete : 
 In wordless grief and woe sad years have flown ; 
 
 They were but pegs, which strung her to the 
 undertone : 
 Now, through the discord, hate, envy and strife, 
 
 The bat-winged passions swarming mundane 
 shore. 
 Love sings, in rich, sweet songs, of higher life 
 
 And God, Love's supreme object evermore ; 
 And fevered, breaking hearts grow calm, and own 
 
 The life-power throbbing in her undertone. 
 
 Thus souls through fleeting earthly life must train; 
 
 For God must perfect all His unseen choir ; 
 'Till soul-notes blend in one perfected strain, 
 
 Of spirit- passion and supernal fire : 
 And in God's school of suffering, alone. 
 
 Souls reach the highest, sweetest undertone : — 
 'Tis not for naught they bore the burden long : 
 
 God's unseen purpose hid His high design ; 
 This choir shall sing the matchless ' ' Great new 
 song, ' ' 
 
 Which fills and thrills all heaven with joy sub- 
 lime ; 
 And raptured angels in its highest dome, 
 
 Shall shout ' ' Amens ' ' to that rich undertone. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 37 
 
 FROM THIS TO THE OTHER. 
 
 How far is it, brother, 
 From this to the other ? 
 From the land where selfishness reigns : 
 Where the strong are the weaker appalling ; 
 Where the rich are the poorer enthralling ; 
 And the few rob the many for gains : 
 To the land wherein love rules supreme : 
 Where the weak by the stronger are cherished ; 
 Where the poor by the richer are nourished ; 
 And men obviate either extreme : 
 Which road is it, brother, 
 From one to the other ? 
 
 How far is it, brother. 
 From this to the other ? 
 From the land that iniquity stains : 
 Where they license the drink-fiend's pollution ; 
 Where they laugh at the law's prostitution ; 
 And the wicked hold justice in chains ; 
 To the land where all virtues abide : 
 Where the right and the pure are prevailing ; 
 Where no demon-born sin is assailing ; 
 And the rulers have nothing to hide : 
 Which road is it, brother, 
 From one to the other ? 
 
38 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 How far is it, brother, 
 From this to the other ? 
 
 From the land where sin's curses abound : 
 Where fond parents mourn over souls blighted ; 
 Where hell's horrors hope's stars have benighted; 
 
 And the wails of despair unceasing resound : 
 
 To the land where joys ever increase : 
 Where the bliss is unmingled with sorrows ; 
 Where sweet peace will foreshadow all morrows ; 
 
 And the blessedness never shall cease : 
 Which road is it, brother, 
 From one to the other ? 
 
 Not far is itj brother. 
 From this to the other ? 
 If we know and obey God's commands : 
 By our learning Divinity's Fatherhood ; 
 We are nearing humanity's brotherhood ; 
 
 And men's hearts will unite, like their hands.. 
 There is happiness banishing care : 
 Each esteeming more highly the other ; 
 And all loving as brother with brother ; 
 Men with gladness all blessings will share. 
 This is God's way, brother, 
 From here to the other. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 39 
 
 COUNTERFEIT AND TRUE. 
 
 Some things called love deserve another name ; 
 
 They are but counterfeits, and poor at best ; 
 Base passions, fanned by selfish breath to flame, 
 
 Which sears and blasts the victim once caressed. 
 Whatever else such narrow passions be. 
 
 They are not, cannot, never have been love : 
 While love enthralls, it makes its object free ; 
 
 Its silken bands lift to the heights above. 
 
 Pride is not love ; that holds its object dear 
 
 So long as it may gratify base self ; 
 Then flings away with bitter taunt and jeer, 
 
 The flower that lavished all its perfumed wealth 
 To please the senses of an empty mind : 
 
 Not so with love ; when its sweet treasures 
 blast, 
 In sacrifice it spends itself to bind 
 
 Them closer in its tender soul-life's clasp. 
 
 lyUst is not love ; that drags its object down 
 
 To grovel in its own vile, sensual mire ; 
 And soulless passions form the only crown 
 
 Its victims wear o'er chains of base desire : 
 lyove seeks not to degrade, defile its own ; 
 
 But lifts where air is pure and visions bright ; 
 Each virtue seeks to perfect and enthrone ; 
 
 So charms grow clearer under brightest light. 
 
40 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Kmotion is not love ; but love's the rock 
 
 Whence pure and deep affections spring ; 
 A principle, defying each rude shock ; 
 
 A shelter from hate's storm and slander's sting ; 
 A glowing flame, not lightning's fitful glare^ 
 
 Such as unholy passions ever prove, 
 It holds through life, despite decay or care ; 
 
 And death can never break the clasp of love. 
 
 THOUGHT. 
 
 There springs from human minds unbounded, 
 
 A subtle force which men call thought : 
 No mortal mind its depths has sounded ; 
 
 No tongue its mystic power has taught. 
 Defying all our weak endeavor 
 
 To trace its source, its course to stay, 
 Some thought is born to blaze forever ; 
 
 Some vanish on their natal day. 
 
 Enough true thought sweeps o'er the portal 
 
 Of every active human mind, 
 To make the thinker's name immortal, 
 
 Were it but written for mankind : 
 But noble thoughts can never perish, 
 
 Though fame has not the thinker known : 
 Some other soul the seed v>^ill cherish 
 
 And reap the fruitage he has vSowm. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OE LIFE, 41 
 
 Think potent thoughts, forever spurning 
 
 All chains, all weights which cripple brains : 
 Explore all fields, be ever learning, 
 
 For thought is born of mental pains. 
 Your name may not adorn the pages, 
 
 By eager thousands gladly sought ; 
 But far adown the track of ages, 
 
 Reward will come from sun-crown' d thought. 
 
 Each honest thought is wing ascending 
 
 The heights our feet have never trod : 
 A pioneer to life unending, 
 
 To guide the thinker's mind to God. 
 Then use this power thy Maker giveth, 
 
 All depths to sound, all heights to climb : 
 And know the soul that think eth liveth ; 
 
 For noble thoughts make minds sublime. 
 
 SOMEWHERE— NOWHERE. 
 
 I sit amid descending shades, 
 In cool reflection's shady glades ; 
 When lo, before my face appears 
 The misty ghosts of bygone years. 
 They rise and flit through vacant space, 
 Like spectres in a tireless chase ; 
 Then vanish, thin as upper air. 
 In mystic regions, called somewhere. 
 
42 uI^der-toneS And oVer-tones of LlPfi. 
 
 One floating just beyond my reach, 
 
 A spirit fair, I did beseech. 
 
 Oh tell me where, on mundane shore, 
 
 You sweep across my path before ; 
 
 For, like a fading trace, I find 
 
 Your phantom image haunts my mind. 
 
 Some mind-force strange this answer brought, 
 
 ' ' I am the soul of slighted thought. ' ' 
 
 Will I ne'er clasp thee, spirit fair ? 
 
 A sigh, my answer, " Yes, somewhere." 
 
 Another, with a wing of fire. 
 Woke music, like some mystic lyre, 
 Whose notes once thrilled my inmost soul ; 
 Then faded quick, from mem'ry's scroll. 
 I knew her 'mid the dazzling throng ; 
 The spirit of unwritten song. 
 I reached : she vanished thin as air ; 
 And slowly, sweetly sang, " somewhere." 
 
 One cast in strong, majestic mold, 
 
 Addressed me thus, in language bold, 
 
 * * I sought thee in the field of life ; 
 
 To guide and guard thee through its strife : 
 
 My aid and counsels thou didst spurn ; 
 
 And after Folly's lures did turn." 
 
 I cried. May I my wrong repair ? 
 
 And Wisdom said, "Not now; somewhere." 
 
UndEr^tones and over-tones of lIfe. 43 
 
 A throng went slowly toward the west ; 
 
 In mourning clad, by sorrow pressed. 
 
 *'Why do you weep, sad ones ? " I cried, 
 
 "For you and us," they all replied. 
 
 ' 'Bright Opportunities ; we came ; 
 
 You scorned ; we mourn at your disdain,'^ 
 
 I weeping said, Do not despair ; 
 
 For we shall meet; they groaned, ' 'Nowhere' ' 
 
 LIFE'S UNDER-CURRENTS. 
 
 Within the stream of mortal life 
 
 Dark, unseen under-currents swirl ; 
 We cannot measure their wild strife 
 
 By ev'ry feeble surface whirl : 
 For, where the battling forces shock 
 
 The placid stream in graceful waves, 
 Deep down, around the sunken rock, 
 
 The under-currents madly rave. 
 
 In touch with each immortal soul, 
 
 Some other life-tides swiftly flow ; 
 They join, to master and control, 
 
 Then sink in Sin's vile under- tow ; 
 Each must resist the fatal clasp, 
 
 Which lurks beneath the playful wave 
 Or be submerged, and sink at last, 
 
 To depths beneath a mortal grave. 
 
44 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Oil, m^^stic soul-powers whicli entwine, 
 
 Like unseen arms, another's life : 
 What demon forces thus combine, 
 
 To drag souls down in hopeless strife ? 
 What fascinating charms allure 
 
 The trusting soul to direful doom ? 
 What under-currents, swift and sure, 
 
 Engulf it in an endless tomb ? 
 
 Alas, that life wdth life should blend. 
 
 To form a vortex wild and strong, 
 iVtrophjdng every God-like trend ; 
 
 And w^hirling all to damning wrong : 
 Alas, that lives should help to swell 
 
 A fatal, turbid under-tow ; 
 To drag immortals deep as hell ; 
 
 And plunge them to eternal woe. 
 
 But other under-currents flow 
 
 Beneath the wave-toss' d, struggling soul ; 
 To lift from black despair, below, 
 
 To where Love's joyous spring-tides roll : 
 How^ strong the heart-clasp that can raise 
 
 Another's life above Sin's flood ; 
 Can make that life a psalm of praise, 
 
 That rolls forever toward God, 
 
UNDER-TONES AST) 0\'ER-T0NE5 OF LIFE. 45 
 
 Love's under-currents, deep, nnseen, 
 
 May wait for years their nuptial hour ; 
 Then blend in some dark sotd-extreme, 
 
 To generate exalting power : 
 Each nobler for that other force. 
 
 Down Hfe's deep channel calmly gUde ; 
 They scatter blessings in their course, 
 
 And buoy souls on their strong tide. 
 
 Love's subtle life-force, bearing life 
 
 To noble, true, unselfish deeds ; 
 A strong, pure under-current, rife 
 
 With power to meet another's needs : 
 Such force no mortal eye may scan. 
 
 It sweeps, unseen, 'neath surface foam ; 
 The strong God-impulse in the man, 
 
 That lifts a soul to heaven and home. 
 
 Such under-currents of pure life, 
 
 Xo eye, save that of God, can trace ; 
 Xo counter-current's frenzied strife 
 
 Its good erects can e'er deface : 
 A word, a touch, a thought ma}- twine 
 
 Around a soul we'U meet no more ; 
 Nerve it for struggles most sublime, 
 
 And guide it safe to heaven's shore. 
 
46 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Oh, be a channel, deep and strong, 
 
 Not a mere bubble on life's wave. 
 An under-current, swept along ; 
 
 A God-ruled force to lift and save : 
 Thrill other lives with vital force ; 
 
 For that high purpose force is given, 
 Oh, lift, direct their onward course : 
 
 Reward and rest await in heaven. 
 
 ARTISTS OF THE MIND. 
 
 Deep in the mystic realms of mind. 
 Two artists toil with skilful hands ; 
 
 One paints the scenes we leave behind ; 
 The other gilds untravel'd strands. 
 
 Kach painter, with consummate art. 
 Adorns the life, inspires the heart. 
 
 While Mem'ry from life's wreckage gleans 
 The treasures which her brush record : 
 
 Hope flings a halo 'round the scenes 
 Which lie before us unexplor'd. 
 
 Though rivals, they in love conspire, 
 The soul to charm, the spirit fire. 
 
 The near-by pictures Mem'ry makes, 
 Tif e' s rugged errors seem to mar ; 
 
 But blemish into beauty wakes, 
 
 When rolling years place them afar. 
 
 For aged eyes o'er youth she flings, 
 Hues soft as those of angel wings. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Hope's triumphs in the distance seen, 
 Seem far too dazzling to be true ; 
 
 But changeless jewels flash their sheen, 
 As we obtain a closer view : 
 
 And ever in the distance rise 
 
 Hope's newer charms for longing eyes. 
 
 Be mine, on earth-life's utmost verge. 
 Backward on Mem'ry's charms to gaze ; 
 
 Then turning, see Hope's glories merge 
 In endless life, beyond Death's haze. 
 
 Death cannot mar these gems of art, 
 Which fill the mind to cheer the heart. 
 
 Immortal artists of the mind. 
 
 You and your work will live for aye ; 
 
 For Mem'ry's gems, in heaven enshrin'd. 
 And Hope's rich treasures, ne'er decay : 
 
 There Mem'ry still adorns life's page ; 
 While Hope illumes the coming age. 
 
 47 
 
 KEPT. 
 
 One word I write ; Oh write it deep 
 
 Upon thy inmost soul ! 
 Thy God has pledged Himself to keep 
 
 Thy soul when shrivelling heaven roll. 
 And when thy eyes life's hills have swept, 
 
 Thy happy soul shall murmur, "kept." 
 
48 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 THE FRIENDS I LOVE. 
 
 The hours of golden light have gone ; 
 
 Night's sable curtains shade my room ; 
 In pensive mood I sit alone ; 
 
 And mind sweeps through earth's 
 deep'ning gloom, 
 In search of friends my soul doth love. 
 
 For those who knew my inner life ; 
 
 Were true, like steel, in battle shock ; 
 Discerned w^hat motives ruled my strife ; 
 
 And stood, like some o'ershading rock, 
 To shield and aid the friend they loved. 
 
 Assailed by those who champion sin ; 
 
 And pierced by vslander's poisoned dart ; 
 Borne down amid the conflict's din ; 
 
 The cry escapes my surcharged heart, 
 **Oh send to me the friends I love." 
 
 The heart-cry conquers space and death ; 
 
 It upward mounts to touch God's throne 
 The answer comes : with bated breath, 
 
 I sit in gloaming, not alone ; 
 From near and far come friends I love. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 49 
 
 The love-light flashes from their eyes ; 
 
 To warm my heart and thrill my soul ; 
 Their words bid hope's bright pinions rise, 
 
 To sweep me to the victor's goal, 
 Where I shall greet the friends I love. 
 
 Say not, 'tis only fancy's wings, 
 
 Throws shadows over mem'ry's wall ; 
 
 And twilight dreams are empty things, 
 That from the vanished past recall 
 
 The phantom forms of friends I love. 
 
 Such dreams are pioneers of hope ; 
 
 And hope illumes my care-worn mind ; 
 They nerve my soul 'gainst odds to cope ; 
 
 And struggle onward 'till I find. 
 Beyond earth's strife, the friends I love. 
 
 BEYOND THE MISTS. 
 
 What is pain ? And what is pleasure ? 
 
 Transient shadows, born of earth. 
 Beyond is love surpassing measure. 
 
 Resulting from the great New Birth. 
 
 This is fleeting ; that eternal ; 
 
 Here is evil, crowned with might ; 
 There no death destroys life's vernal ; 
 
 And lyove immortal crowns the right. 
 4 
 
50 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 CRUSHED HEARTS. 
 
 Hearts crushed by deep, o'ershading woe, 
 Which lay their idols low in dust ; 
 
 Compelling blood-like tears to flow 
 
 On graves where shattered hopes are thrust ; 
 
 Need not lie prostrate on earth's sod : 
 Such smitten hearts may best serve God. 
 
 As gold is wrung from rended rocks ; 
 
 And hissing flames purge metal fair ; 
 As flowers, under cruel shocks, 
 
 Fling precious fragrance on the air ; 
 So lives, that thorny paths have trod, 
 
 Yield richest service to their God. 
 
 The crushing blow but breaks the bands 
 Which holds the eager spirit back ; 
 
 Reveals its need of stronger hands 
 To guide along life's rugged track : 
 
 And thro' the keen-edged, smiting rod, 
 Flows boundless strength to serve its God; 
 
 The stroke which tears the heart from self, 
 Thrills it with pity for mankind ; 
 
 lyays bare the soul's inherent wealth ; 
 And fits it others' wounds to bind. 
 
 In smoothing paths the weary plod, 
 Sad hearts find rest, and best serve God, 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 5 1 
 
 Thro' broken lives God's blessings streata ; 
 
 To help, relieve and save the world : 
 Thro' rifted hearts hope's soften' d beam, 
 
 Shows love's fair banners wave, unfurled : 
 And distant voices shout" aloud, 
 
 "Hearts, crushed hearts, can best serve God." 
 
 No earthy grave can hold for aye 
 
 True objects of immortal hope ; 
 Christ will restore them some bright day. 
 
 Where pearly gates their portals ope : 
 So, smitten heart, caress the rod ; 
 
 Hope still, trust on, and serve thy God. 
 
 LIFE'S MEMORIES. 
 
 Upon the wall 
 Of mem'ry's hall. 
 
 Hang faithful pictures of the past : 
 Some fair and pure as childhood's dream ; 
 Some sad as death's dark sullen stream : 
 They hang by mystic chains held fast, 
 Secure from fall, 
 In mem'ry's halL 
 
52 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 The first in place, 
 The dearest face, 
 Is sainted mother's, wreathed in smiles. 
 Her prayers, love, and counsels mild, 
 E'er sway the spirit of her child ; 
 
 While struggling on through earth's rude trials, 
 
 He sees the grace, 
 Of her dear face. 
 
 Near hers is seen. 
 Calm, strong, serene. 
 
 Dear father's, beaming kindly light. 
 It freshens in his offspring's brain. 
 
 The lessons those dead lips made plain. 
 And hate of wTong, and love of right. 
 
 Is made more keen 
 By looks serene. 
 
 In shame I bow ! 
 Before me now. 
 Rise havSty words and thoughtless acts. 
 From mother's eyes the tear-drops start ; 
 And father's face shows pain of heart. 
 Would God these were not solemn facts ! 
 To cloud my brow 
 With sorrow now. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 53 
 
 I fain would hide 
 This dismal side 
 Behind unselfish deed and thought ; 
 But it gleams through, with vengeful stare, 
 Defacing all that's good and fair. 
 Who can erase what folly wrought ? 
 Must aye abide, 
 This dismal side ? 
 
 These thoughts appall. 
 Forgive ! I call. 
 O, Friend of sinners, cleanse my stain ! 
 Across my guilt the King of heaven, 
 Inscribes the blood-red word, Forgiv'n. 
 And yet, forgiven sins remain 
 In mem'ry's hall, 
 To warn from fall. 
 
 THE VISION BEYOND, 
 
 In the land of Christ's immortals, 
 Just beyond the haze of time, 
 
 Shine for aye the pearly portals. 
 
 Reared by nail-scarred hands Divine. 
 
54 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Just beyond them, bathed in glory, 
 Girdled by the jeweled walls, 
 
 lyies the home of sacred story, 
 Where no darkening shadow falls. 
 
 In that land of bliss unclouded ; 
 
 Never comes the shades of night : 
 And no soul, by sorrow shrouded, 
 
 Mourns within its realms of light. 
 
 There the Tree of Life shall quiver 
 In its dress of fadeless green ; 
 
 There for aye Life's placid river. 
 Flows its verdant banks between. 
 
 Lift your eyes ye sorrowing mortals, 
 Plodding on with sighing breath ; 
 
 Gaze upon Life's glittering portals. 
 Gleaming through the mists of deaths 
 
 Just beyond Death's dark dominions, 
 Sways Love's scepter, kind and vStrong ; 
 
 There life spreads untrammeled pinions ; 
 There jo}^ swells the great Nev/ song. 
 
 Let the vision soothe thy sighing ; 
 
 Let it calm life's bitter strife ; 
 Just beyond this land of dying, 
 
 Lie the graveless realms of life. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 55 
 
 111 that land, beyond those portals, 
 Where no pain nor death can come ; 
 
 We shall find our blest immortals, 
 Shouting heaven's welcome home. 
 
 LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 Peering through the mists, enshrouding 
 
 Paths by feeble mortals plod ; 
 Filmy curtains, scarce concealing, 
 
 Rents and vistas, most revealing 
 All that lies beyond the clouding 
 
 Of the pathway still untrod ; 
 Seeking that we travel toward, 
 
 Men are ever looking: forward. 
 
 ^& 
 
 Curtains sway, as if a finger 
 
 Lightly touch' d the farther side ; 
 Springing thoughts that loved ones near us, 
 
 Hover o'er and strive to cheer us ; 
 While we gaze, and think, and linger — 
 
 Knowing not what shall betide 
 In the land we travel toward. 
 
 Thrill' d with awe, and looking forward. 
 
56 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Musing o'er the dreams of sages, 
 
 Who have long since gone before, 
 I^eaving mysteries, unravell'd, 
 
 All along the paths they travell'd ; 
 Echoes coming from past ages, 
 
 Break, like waves, on distant shore ; 
 As we journey ever toward 
 
 The dim shadows, looking forward. 
 
 Gazing through Hope's crystal glasses, 
 
 At the mists along I^ife's hills ; 
 Trusting dreams will burst in gladness ; 
 
 Yearnings wear no tinge of sadness : 
 When we reach the narrow passes 
 
 Which the mystic curtain fills ; 
 Pressing onward, always toward 
 
 Rainbow mists ; still looking forward. 
 
 What though haze obscures the vision ? 
 
 Inbred yearnings prophets are ; 
 Pointing out what God imprinted 
 
 As our birth-right, life unstinted. 
 In ancestral home, elysian, 
 
 Guiding, like Life's polar star. 
 Through the mists we travel toward ; 
 
 Urging us to still look forward. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LiPE. 57 
 
 Better follow God's Shekinah, 
 
 Than look backward, like Lot's wife ; 
 Ivife is fuller in yon distance ; 
 
 Mount the heights, despite resistance ; 
 Bear the fires of the Refiner, 
 
 Burning out the dross of life ; 
 Journey onward, fearless toward 
 
 lyife's broad vistas ; looking forward. 
 
 HUMAN DESTINY. 
 
 We are here ; and we are going, 
 
 Crossing earth-life's narrow range ; 
 Always guessing, seldom knowing, 
 
 How the sifting scenes will change 
 Feeling, deep within our being, 
 
 That our spirit-life is free ; 
 Yet, in clearest vision seeing. 
 
 Deep responsibility : 
 Shadows, from our freedom falling, 
 
 Darken ev'ry path we plod ; 
 Spectre hands that point, appalling. 
 
 To the judgment thione of God. 
 
58 UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 
 
 Treading patlis of selfivSli pleasure, 
 
 Or the lowly vales or pain : 
 Grasping gold in greedy measure, 
 
 Or content with honest gain ; 
 Madly spurr'd by proud ambition. 
 
 Or a storm-toss' d waif of fate ; 
 In the statesman's high position, 
 
 Or in abject slaves estate : 
 O'er all paths the shade, abiding, 
 
 Like a finger dimly shown, 
 Points us, shrinking or confiding, 
 
 To Jehovah's judgment throne. 
 
 Whether beggar, king or scholar ; 
 
 Pious saint or cunning knave ; 
 Millionaire, or not a dollar. 
 
 For the purchase of a grave : 
 Whether judge, with cool decision, 
 
 Passion's slave or cruel fiend ; 
 Mental grasp, and prophet's vision ; 
 
 Or as changeful as the wind : 
 Each of all the ceaseless masses. 
 
 World-wide pageantry has known. 
 Though the mystic shadow passes, 
 
 To God's awful judgment throne. 
 
UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE. 59 
 
 One dark exit for all mortals, 
 
 From the dusty field of time ; 
 Through those darkly shaded portals, 
 
 To those mysteries sublime ; 
 Be they saintly forms that languish, 
 
 Folding hands in perfect trust ; 
 Or the warrior's mortal anguish. 
 
 Biting at the blood-stain' d dust : 
 Bach shall see the veil unravell'd, 
 
 When the shadows all are flown ; 
 All will know that each has travell'd 
 
 In the shadow of God's throne. 
 
 That just throne enfolds its terrors, 
 
 Reapt by those who love the wrong ; 
 It corrects the cruel errors, 
 
 Borne by righteous spirits long : 
 Brib'ry will not swerve decision. 
 
 In that court of last resort ; 
 There no errors need revision ; 
 
 Witness never shall report ; 
 For each soul shall bear, unvarnish'd, 
 
 In its bosoms core, alone. 
 Record true, complete, untarnish'd. 
 
 Up before Jehovah's throne. 
 
6o UNDER-TONES AND OVER-TONES OF LIFE, 
 
 Stern assize of all the ages, 
 
 Bach must meet thy verdicts, just, 
 There no faultless, stainless pages, 
 
 Will come up through mortal dust 
 One Great Advocate can clear us, 
 
 From the damning stains of sin ; 
 His pure life alone can cheer us, 
 
 ' Mid the fears which rage within : 
 He who knelt in that dark garden ; 
 
 And on Calv'ry shed His blood ; 
 Can, alone, insure our pardon, 
 
 At the judgment throne of God. 
 

 
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