ANNIVERSARY ODE Thoughts Suggested by the Anniversary of the Death of Longfellow.

A year ago to-day and the “Old Bells Of Boston” told to waiting, anxious hearts, That all was over. Hushed was human speech— The busy town forgot its need of toil, And rich and poor donned holiday attire And wept together. He did sing for all, And all did weep for him. E’en children’s tears, Fell for him, for they loved him and his song. O, noble King of Song! thy reign ends not With death. Thy kingdom is the human heart; And just so long as sympathy can soothe, Or words of hope encourage struggling souls, So long thy kingdom will abide with men. And as the clouds shed dewdrops on the flowers, Or violets breathe their fragrance on the air, E’en so thy poems, on our common lives, Shed sweet refreshment, and we love thy name. Surely “There is no death!” Such souls as thine Make all life seem immortal. The sunshine, From thy verse, dispels the clouds of doubt With an effulgent glory. Hid with God Is all the future; yet enough is shown To stimulate our trust for all the rest. And, as the raindrop, tracing back its source, Finds it in mist of brook or ocean’s spray, So, from the depth of the Eternal Love, Springs individual being. Passing time Is but as links in the unending chain, Which binds the whole together. Overhead, Some stars shine brighter than the rest, yet each Adds glory to the whole; beneath our feet The spring flowers bloom again, the breath of some Comes laden with a fragrance, which delights, Some void of beauty, or of sweet perfume, Yet in God’s fields no mean weed blooms in vain. From filthiest pool as pure a drop of rain May be distilled, as from the crystal river, And must we not believe that darkened lives Will, somehow, in God’s time, be glorified?