Love's tendrils round the heart doth twine,

As round the oak doth cling the vine.

Who gives his life to duty

Will hardships ever find,

And many, many crosses,

And roads that devious wind.

Awaiting him seems Pleasure

At every turn of road;

But Duty stands as sentinel,

With lash and whip to goad.

For consequences of past sin,

Effect doth ever follow cause;

If we sow tares, we reap not grain,

For such are Nature's laws.

A fickle goddess Thought at times--

Try ne'er so hard we catch her not.

We try to think: 'tis all in vain--

Imprisoned never is a thought.

Like lightning flashing through the clouds,

It comes--a light, and then is gone,

A star which falls adown through space,

Again it comes as morning dawn.

Thought is the parent. If error has crept in among the little thoughts, and the children have become disobedient and refractory, it is not the parent's fault. Nor must you blame the children either; they are young yet, and you must not expect too much of them.

When soul to soul can message send--

Dispatched from mind to mind--

All nations will be swayed by thought,

And thought will rule mankind.

Love is the master of our lives,

And, e'en though happy subjects we,

We're governed by his scepter strong

Through time and through eternity.

And that past is ever present,

Ever present in my heart,

Filling it with sweetest love-thoughts,

As I tread the world's wide mart.

We're ever making plans for life,

But seldom plans for death,

Though death we know must come to us,

And life is but a breath.

Much too oft we make life gloomy--

When happy we might be,

If we gathered more of sunshine,

And not dark shadows see.

Oh, so soon we'd tire of sunshine,

If there were never night.

Love's language everywhere is known.

O Fame! A bubble on life's wave,

'Tis tossed about, a worthless thing;

The bubble breaks--'tis lost for aye,

But leaves on heart a poignant sting....

You cut your name on granit block;

As ages come and pass away,

Disintegrated is the stone,

For all in nature must decay.

Upon the roadway of my life,

A guide-board I will leave of love,

So those who follow in my steps

May guided be to hills above.

Tomorrow gives a beck'ning hand--

I turn my face away;

I'll not invite her to my home--

I only love Today.

We often weep beneath Love's cross,

But when she calls we her obey.

Dark should torch of Truth be never,

For it burns with love divine.

Light it should all people, nations,

In our hearts should be its shrine.

Though cares and sorrows e'er must come,

Though heart be rent,

I know that God will give me strength,

When mine is spent.

True love begins in heaven's bower,

Unfolds on earth a perfect flower.

The burdens of life I'll take up now,

But never my heart will they stain.

If sorrows of earth fit me for heaven,

No reason have I to complain.

Sweet Truth is a queen proud and mighty--

Her throne is in heaven above.

Scorn ye not the little things,

For life is made from them.

If we drink from the fountain of wisdom,

We thirst for its waters e'ermore.

Store well Life's sheaves, the grains of thought--

Your harvest will be good,

If sheaves are bound by ties of love,

And evil you've withstood.

We grasp at Time, but cannot hold

One minute of his treasured hour;

He tarries not, though oft we pray

That he will rest in youth's bright bower.

Life divine! O life eternal!

Man cannot translate the thought.

Strong the chain that God hath welded;

Link on link hath chain been wrought.

Fabric new each day is woven,

Woven it on God's own loom.

We the threads can ne'er unravel,

Hidden they in Nature's womb.

O happy childhood! blessed youth!

But once we know thy potent power;

But once we live all careless free;

No cross to mar our love-lit bower.

Love speaks a language most sublime,

Its idioms known in every clime.

Time ever mocks all youthful hopes;

He laughs at ever plan youth makes;

He buries fame and honor deep

In grave of hope--too late youth wakes.