Henry Van Dyke

To the music of Beethoven's ninth symphony
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory,
Lord of love;

When to the garden of untroubled thought
I came of late, and saw the open door,
And wished again to enter, and explore
The sweet, wild ways with stainless bloom inwrought,…

Long, long ago I heard a little song, (Ah, was it long ago, or yesterday?)So lowly, slowly wound the tune along, That far into my heart it found the way:
A melody consoling and endearing; And still, in silent hours,
I'm often
The…

.
I Thou who hast made thy dwelling fair
With flowers beneath, above with starry lights, And set thine altars everywhere,—
On mountain heights, In woodlands dim with many a dream

Jesus,
Thou divine Companion,
By Thy lowly human
Thou hast come to join the workers,

Yes, it was like you to forget,
And cancel in the welcome of your smile
My deep arrears of debt,
And with the putting forth of both your hands…

If on the closed curtain of my sight
My fancy paints thy portrait far away,
I see thee still the same, by night or day;
Crossing the crowded street, or moving bright'Mid festal throngs, or reading by the light Of shaded lamp some…

The glory of ships is an old, old song,
since the days when the sea-rovers ran In their open boats through the roaring surf,
and the spread of the world began;
The glory of ships is a light on the sea

Limber-limbed, lazy god, stretched on the rock,
Where is sweet Echo, and where is your flock?
What are you making here? ”Listen,” said Pan, --
”Out of a river-reed music for man!”

I read within a poet’s book
A word that starred the page:
”Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage!”Yes, that is true; and something more…

Count not the cost of honour to the dead!
The tribute that a mighty nation pays
To those who loved her well in former days
Means more than gratitude for glories fled;…

"The worlds in which we live are two
The world 'I am' and the world 'I do.'"The worlds in which we live at heart are one,
The world "I am," the fruit of "I have done";
And underneath these worlds of…

Our college rhymes,--how light they seem,
Like little ghosts of love’s young dream
That led our boyish hearts away
From lectures and from books, to stray…

Her eyes are like the evening air,
Her voice is like a rose,
Her lips are like a lovely song,
That ripples as it flows,…

Stand fast, Great Britain!
Together England, Scotland, Ireland stand
One in the faith that makes a mighty land,
True to the bond you gave and will not break…

Like a long arrow through the dark the train is darting,
Bearing me far away, after a perfect day of love’s delight:
Wakeful with all the sad-sweet memories of parting,
I lift the narrow window-shade and look out on the night.Lonely the land unknown, and like a river flowing,…

I When tulips bloom in Union Square,
And timid breaths of vernal air Go wandering down the dusty town,
Like children lost in Vanity Fair;
When every long, unlovely row Of westward houses stands aglow,

(Song for the City College of New York)O youngest of the giant brood
Of cities far-renowned;
In wealth and power thou hast passed
Thy rivals at a bound;…

Waking from tender sleep,
My neighbour's little
Put out his baby hand to me,
Looked in my face, and smiled.

Heart of France for a hundred years,
Passionate, sensitive, proud, and strong,
Quick to throb with her hopes and fears,
Fierce to flame with her sense of wrong!…

The mountains that enfold the vale
With walls of granite, steep and high,
Invite the fearless foot to scale
Their stairway toward the sky.

I would not even ask my heart to say
If I could love some other land as well
As thee, my country, had I felt the spell
Of Italy at birth, or learned to obey…

A soft veil dims the tender skies,
And half conceals from pensive eyes The bronzing tokens of the fall;
A calmness broods upon the hills,
And summer's parting dream distills A charm of silence over all.

I envy every flower that blows
Along the meadow where she goes,
And every bird that sings to her,
And every breeze that brings to her…