more
Than sumptuous wreaths to the dead;
In filling love's infinite store,
A rose to the living is more,
If graciously given before
The hungering spirit is fled--
A rose to the living is more
Than sumptuous wreaths to the dead.

--Nixon Waterman.

Canst thou see no beauty nigh?
Cure thy dull, distempered eye.
Canst thou no sweet music hear?
Tune thy sad, discordant ear.
Earth has beauty everywhere
If the eye that sees is fair.
Earth has music to delight
If the ear is tuned aright.

--Nixon Waterman.

Anew we pledge ourselves to Thee,
To follow where thy Truth shall lead;
Afloat upon its boundless sea,
Who sails with God is safe indeed.

O, though oft depressed and lonely
All my fears are laid aside,
If I but remember only
Such as these have lived and died.

It was only a glad "Good morning,"
As she passed along the way;
But it spread the morning's glory
Over the livelong day.

For the right against the wrong,
For the weak against the strong,
For the poor who've waited long,
For the brighter age to be.

RECOMPENSE

The gifts that to our breasts we fold
Are brightened by our losses.
The sweetest joys a heart can hold
Grow up between its crosses.
And on life's pathway many a mile
Is made more glad and cheery,
Because, for just a little while,
The way seemed dark and dreary.

--Nixon Waterman.

Wherever now a sorrow stands,
'Tis mine to heal His nail-torn hands.
In every lonely lane and street,
'Tis mine to wash His wounded feet--
'Tis mine to roll away the stone
And warm His heart against my own.
Here, here on earth I find it all--
The young archangels, white and tall,
The Golden City and the doors,
And all the shining of the floors!

I sent my soul through the Invisible,
Some letter of that After-life to spell;
And by and by my soul returned to me,
And answered, "I myself am Heaven and Hell."

--Omar Khayyam.

Count that day really worse than lost
You might have made divine,
Through which you scattered lots of frost
And ne'er a speck of shine.

--Nixon Waterman.

O, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west,
And I smiled to think God's greatness flowed arou