Brief while they last, Long when they are gone; They catch from the past A light to still live on. Brief! yet I ween A day may be an age, The poet’s pen may screen Heart-stories on one page. Brief! but in them, From eve back to morn, Some find the gem, Many find the thorn. Brief! minutes…
To Virginia (on Her Birthday) By Abram Joseph Ryan
Your past is past and never to return, The long bright yesterday of life’s first years, Its days are dead — cold ashes in an urn. Some held…
To Mr. and Mrs. A. M. T. By Abram Joseph Ryan
Just when the gentle hand of spring Came fringing the trees with bud and leaf, And when the blades the warm suns bring Were given glad…
Thoughts By Abram Joseph Ryan
By sound of name, and touch of hand, Thro’ ears that hear, and eyes that see, We know each other in this land, How little must…
Their Story Runneth Thus By Abram Joseph Ryan
Two little children played among the flowers, Their mothers were of kin, tho’ far apart; The children’s ages were the very same E’en to an hour — and…
The Sword of Robert Lee By Abram Joseph Ryan
Forth from its scabbard, pure and bright, Flashed the sword of Lee! Far in the front of the deadly fight, High o’er the brave in the cause…
The Star’s Song By Abram Joseph Ryan
Flower! Flower, why repine? God knows each creature’s place; He hides within me when I shine, And your leaves hide His face. And you are near…
The Seen and The Unseen By Abram Joseph Ryan
Nature is but the outward vestibule Which God has placed before an unseen shrine, The Visible is but a fair, bright vale That winds around the great Invisible; The…
The Rosary of My Tears By Abram Joseph Ryan
Some reckon their age by years, Some measure their life by art; But some tell their days by the flow of their tears, And their lives…
The Prayer of the South By Abram Joseph Ryan
My brow is bent beneath a heavy rod! My face is wan and white with many woes! But I will lift my poor chained hands to…