Wayside Pictures Hymns And Poems

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.

Excerpt from Wayside Pictures, Hymns, and Poems VI. "The harp thou touchest with a trembling hand Shall give thee comfort when the dells are dim, And down the dingles of life's trodden land Floats sad and slow the pensive evening hymn. The cup of kindness, sparkling to the rim, Shall cheer thee onward through thy after-days, Proffered in gentleness and truth by him Who Christian love and tenderness displays: To whom I bid thee, then, inscribe thy simple lays." VII. The echo followed him when heaven was clear, And when the clouds met in the angry sky. It filled the breeze of every new-born year, As one by one they swept before his eye. In spells of song he oft would lyre-bound lie, Until he came the cheerful meed to assign, Bidding the care-shades to their coverts fly; Whilst many stood aloof, with chilling whine, He aided his song-skiff with gales of love benign. VIII. Now when his sun of life is in the west, And length'ning shadows lie upon the land, He yields the secret nurtured in his breast, And thus fulfils the cloud-sylph's clear command, Announced when roses were by faint winds fanned, And gleams of song on hill and hollow lay, Uniting kindreds in a golden band, Till love shall reign, and war-feuds pass away, And consecrates his psalms to Alexander Gray. IX. The friend of those whose earthly friends are few, He fills the widow's heart with richest joy; To the Divine injunction ever true, The weak to shield, to feed the orphan boy; The thorns along life's pathway to destroy, And smooth the steep by drooping genius trod, Who warmly thanks him in his loved employ, Mid craggy cliff and cascade, music-shod, And asks for Robert Gray the guidance of his God. X. In fields, and lanes, and the o'erhanging wood, These songs were written to the sound of streams, Where the lark carols o'er the crystal flood, And the dear daisy mid the grasses gleams, And truly pure and righteous it beseems To dedicate the nurslings of his lyre, From bursting boyhood down to eve's dim dreams, To him who prompts the musical desire, And Charity directs, clad in her meek attire. XI. Without his friendship these uncultured vines In such a pleasant plot would not appear, But, like the dodder neath the lonely pines, Supported, cling amid the thickets drear. May He preserve his heavenly vision clear, Till up the seraph slopes he takes his way, Where spreads the tree of life in heaven's own sphere, Amid the glories of unfading day: Redeemer, Saviour, Lord, Guide Thither Robert Gray. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

These two volumes list late-and mid-Victorian poets, with brief biographical information and bibliographical details of published works. The major strength of the works is the 'discovery' of very many minor poets and their work, unrecorded elsewhere.