II.
Close the life and put it by!
It was made of song and sigh,
It was made of smiles and tears
And the struggles of the years!
Days of dark and days of fair
Closely came and blended there,
And but He who judges could
Know the evil and the good!
Every day and hour from which Love witholds her smiles and hides her happy face is a desert path in the rose-fields of this life. Only he who welcomes the laughing goddess to his heart and holds her dear hands close with an abiding faith, receives that holy happiness discerning souls call a success worth having.
Move Along.
Move along, brother!
The way may be long,
But yonder's the sunshine
And here is the song.
Move along, brother!
The rain-bow is red;
The clouds with the shadows
And darkness have fled.
Move along, brother!
The turn of the lane!
Here's laughing for weeping
And pleasure for pain!
The Sage.
Removed from pygmy ways afar,
He feels the heft of sun and star,—
He traces winding paths that go
Beyond the ways that dullards know,
And sails swift thoughts across the seas
Of God's unsailed immensities.
His vision sees the First and Last
To present smallness welded fast,
And he beholds with prophet eye
The brotherhood of earth and sky,
And, when Time's voyage wild is o'er
The lights upon the farther shore!
Still Onward.
What if the paths be dark and shadowed still
The summit roads and hope hides in eclipse!
Beyond the tangled ways that murmur ill
The touch of tender lips!
Forth on the dark ways though still darker grow
The paths before the groping finger-tips!
Beyond the shadow years our visions know
The touch of tender lips!
Finis.
A sigh and a song,
And a song and a sigh;
But the song helps along
To the sky bye and bye!
Transcriber's note
The following changes have been made to the text:
In the Table of Contents:
Poetry:
Page number for [A Valentine] changed from 307 to 207.
Page number for [Life] changed from 158 to 168.
Page number for [Mistah Cotton] changed from 149 to 105.
Page number for [Off the Reservation] changed from 225 to 224.
"Our Joe's Home Again" changed to "Our Joe's Home [Agin]".
"Governor Tom" changed to "[Said Governor Tom]" and moved to appropriate place in the list.
"See the Side Show" changed to "[See the Side-Show]" and page number changed from 4 to 102.
Page number for [The Legislative Pass] changed from 187 to 186 and moved to the appropriate place in the list.
Page number for [The Little Boy Land] changed from 67 to 66.
[The Rim of the Circle] was moved to the appropriate place in the list.
"The Valley of Rest" changed to "[The Valleys] of Rest".
Page number for [Without Embarassment] changed from 269 to 262.
Prose:
Page number for [Caught on the Fly] changed from 282 to 283.
"Mighty Troublesome" changed to "Mighty [Lonesome]".
Page number for [Wanted to Hide] changed from 151 to 121.
Page 16: "dosen't lay" changed to "[doesn't] lay".
Page 16: "hair is the middle" changed to "hair [in] the middle".
Page 31: "the the care-clouded" changed to "[the] care-clouded".
Page 34: Added "[I]" to the first stanza.
Page 39: "Pie-millon" changed to "[Pie-million]".
Page 59: "roas'in' ears" changed to "[roas'in'-ears]".
Page 62: "And they they chew" changed to "And [they] chew".
Page 74: "whereever I roam" changed to "[wherever] I roam".
Page 76: "new-fangeled" changed to "[new-fangled]".
Page 78: "it shadows of woe" changed to "[its] shadows of woe".
Page 80: "Wid de jedgment" changed to "Wid de [judgment]".
Page 82: "Lumkinsville" changed to "[Lumpkinsville]".
Page 85: "all the vitrues" changed to "all the [virtues]".
Page 102: "harvesings of blame" changed to "[harvestings] of blame".
Page 104: "other fellow out" changed to "other fellow [ought]".
Page 106: "These is sunshine" changed to "[There] is sunshine".
Page 111: "food he easts" changed to "food he [eats]".
Page 158: "Good Bye" changed to "[Good-bye]".
Page 179: "Caugh on the Fly" changed to "[Caught] on the Fly".
Page 195: "battallions" changed to "[battalions]".
Page 217: "They ve passed through" changed to "[They've] passed through".
Page 227: "Trou le" changed to "[Trouble]".
Page 237: "when the birds!" changed to "when the birds [come back]!".
Page 240: "molasses and sulpur" changed to "molasses and [sulphur]".
Page 241: "Say Good bye" changed to "Say [Good-bye]".
Page 249: "Fools Day" changed to "[Fool's] Day" to match Table of Contents.
Page 253: "song and prophsy" changed to "song and [prophesy]".
Page 265: "millionairs shall reel" changed to "[millionaires] shall reel".
Page 266: "The whispered" changed to "[They] whispered".
Page 282: "May time" changed to "[May-time]".
Page 283: "vitrol" changed to "[vitriol]".
Page 284: "sun and the star" changed to "[the] sun and the star".
Page 293: "bouqets" changed to "[bouquets]".
Page 309: "Snake Bite" changed to "Snake [Bit]".