An Anniversary

I.

AS flower to sun its drop of dew

Gives from its crystal cup,

So I, as morning gift to you,

This poor verse offer up.

II.

As flowers upon the summer wind

Their air-born odours shake,

So, in all fragrance you may find,

I give but what I take.

III.

My tree blooms green through snow and heat;

Your love is sap and root,-

And this is but the breathing sweet

Of fairest blossom-shoot.

IV.

An outgrowth of the happy days

In wedded lives begun-

Two lives, in all their work and ways,

Indissolubly one.

V.

The force that was to bind us so

We very dimly knew.

Ah, love! it seems so long ago,

And yet the years are few.

VI.

We did not wait for tides to rise,

Nor cared that winds were rough;

They call’d us foolish-we were wise;

God gave us wealth enough.

VII.

He only knows what precious change

We took of Him for gold;

What blessing such a narrow range

Of circumstance can hold.

VIII.

No troubles now could memory spare,

No lightest touch of pain;

No hand experience of care

Would we unlearn again.

IX.

Such love surrounds, such beauty lies

On our most common needs,

As silver hoar-frost glorifies

The wayside sticks and weeds.

X.

All trials that are overpast,

All cares that are to be,

But make more sacred and more fast

The ties ‘twixt you and me.

XI.

They are but clear lights shining through

The mist that round us rolls;

They are but touchstones, fine and true

For fond and faithful souls.

XII.

They are but fires, to cleanse and clean

Our human love from stain;

For naught of sordid, false, or mean

From these blest fires remain.

XIII.

They are but keys within the wards

Of that last, inmost door,

Where the heart’s dearest treasure-hoards

Are garner’d evermore.

XIV.

Ah, dear! our very griefs are glad

Our every cross is crown’d;

We are not able to be sad,

Such comfort wraps us round.

XV.

How calm the haven where we rest,

Now passion’s storms are past!

How warm and soft the little nest

Which shelters us at last!

XVI.

How-blue, pellucid, and divine-

Through all our days and nights,

The clear eyes of our children shine

Like heavenly beacon-lights!

XVII.

We listen to the laughter sweet

Whose echoes come and go,

The music of little feet

That patter to and fro.

XVIII.

And deepest thoughts of God awake,

Who hath reveal’d Him thus,

And, in His goodness, deign’d to make

His own abode with us.

XIX.

To God, in Christ, we kneel to-day

(Whose will on earth be done);

As He hath made us, let us pray

That He will keep us, one.

XX.

Together, may we feel Him stand

About our path and bed;

Together may we, hand in hand,

His royal highway tread.

XXI.

The dear ones He has given, to be

Of His redeem’d the type-

Together, may we live to see

Their budding promise ripe.

XXII.

And, O my dearest! may we lie,

In our last night of rest,

Asleep together, peacefully,

Upon our Father’s breast.

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A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• Sonnet 48: How careful was I, when I took my way by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 47: Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 46: Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 45: The other two, slight air and purging fire by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 44: If the dull substance of my flesh were thought by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 43: When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 42: That thou hast her, it is not all my grief by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 41: Those pretty wrongs that liberty commits by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 40: Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 3: Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 39: O, how thy worth with manners may I sing by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 38: How can my Muse want subject to invent by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 37: As a decrepit father takes delight by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 36: Let me confess that we two must be twain by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 35: No more be grieved at that which thou hast done by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 34: Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 33: Full many a glorious morning have I seen by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 74: But be contented when that fell arrest by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 73: That time of year thou mayst in me behold by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
• Sonnet 72: O, lest the world should task you to recite by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

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Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

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