Henry Van Dyke

To the music of Beethoven's ninth symphony Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory,
Lord of love; Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, Praising Thee their sun above
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away;...

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

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, In valleys bright with springs,
And on the curving capes of ever...

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

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 friendly poe...

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, and a star in the story of man
When...

"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 flo...

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,

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

The mountains that enfold the vale With walls of granite, steep and high,
Invite the fearless foot to scale Their stairway toward the sky
The restless, deep, dividing sea That flows and foams from shore to shore,
Calls to its sunbur...

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 love the hour that comes, with dusky hair And dewy feet, along the Alpine
To lead the cattle forth
A thousand bells Go chiming after her across the fair And flowery uplands, while the rosy flare Of sunset on the snowy mountain dwells,<...

"Christ of the Andes," Christ of Everywhere,
Great lover of the hills, the open air,
And patient lover of impatient men Who blindly strive and sin and strive again, — Thou Living Word, larger than any creed,
Thou Love Divi...

A tale that the poet Rückert told To German children, in days of old; Disguised in a random, rollicking rhyme Like a merry mummer of ancient time, And sent, in its English dress, to please The little folk of the Christmas trees
A little fir g...

I -
HT  With two bright eyes, my star, my love,     Thou lookest on the stars above:     Ah, would that I the heaven might be     With a million eyes to look on thee
Plato
II -

I Once, only once,
I saw it clear, —That Eden every human heart has dreamedA hundred times, but always far away
Ah, well do I remember how it seemed,
Through the still