Page:Selections from the American poets (IA selectamerpoet00bryarich).pdf/141
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
137
And earnest thoughts within me rise,
When I behold afar,
Suspended in the evening skies,
The shield of that red star.
When I behold afar,
Suspended in the evening skies,
The shield of that red star.
Oh star of strength! I see thee stand
And smile upon my pain;
Thou beckonest with thy mailed hand,
And I am strong again.
And smile upon my pain;
Thou beckonest with thy mailed hand,
And I am strong again.
Within my breast there is no light
But the cold light of stars:
I give the first watch of the night
To the red planet Mars.
But the cold light of stars:
I give the first watch of the night
To the red planet Mars.
The star of the unconquer'd will,
He rises in my breast,
Serene, and resolute, and still,
And calm, and self-possess'd.
He rises in my breast,
Serene, and resolute, and still,
And calm, and self-possess'd.
And thou, too, whosoe'er thou art,
That readest this brief psalm,
As one by one thy hopes depart,
Be resolute and calm.
That readest this brief psalm,
As one by one thy hopes depart,
Be resolute and calm.
Oh, fear not in a world like this,
And thou shalt know ere long,
Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong.
And thou shalt know ere long,
Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong.
FOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS.
When the hours of Day are number'd,
And the voices of the Night
Wake the better soul that slumber'd,
To a holy, calm delight;
And the voices of the Night
Wake the better soul that slumber'd,
To a holy, calm delight;
M 2