Works

I built a castle in the air -
A radiant thing made out of dreams;
Love's dear desire its golden stair -
Naught heavier than a hope was there -
A thing of mist and rainbow gleams.
...

Here's a song of cheer
For the whole long year:

We've only to do our best,
Take up our part
With a strong, true heart -
The Lord will do all the rest.

A little crippled figure, two big pathetic eyes,
A face that looked unchildish, so wan it was and wise;
I watched her as the homesick tears came chasing down each cheek....

When I'm at gran'dad's on the farm,
I hear along 'bout six o'clock,
Just when I'm feelin' snug an' warm,
"Ho, Bobby, come and feed your stock."

I jump an' get into my clothes;...

I can see her in the kitchen,
Apron on and sleeves rolled up,
Measurin' spices in a teaspoon,
Figs and raisins in a cup.

Now she's throwin' apple quarters
In that wooden bowl of hers,...

'Twas a score of years since I'd heard the pipes,
But the other night I heard them;
There are sweet old memories in my heart,
And the music woke and stirred them.

In the armories, at the big parade...

They lift their faces to the light,
And aye they are a gallant band;
The queen of all is snowy white -
A stately thing, and tall and grand.

See, close beside, in yellow drest,...

Gray old gardener, what do you bring?
"Laurel and ivy and bay,
With palms for the crowning of a King -
The morrow is Christmas Day.

"Holly with thorns, and berries like blood...

You cannot take from out my heart the growing,
The green, sweet growing, and the vivid thrill.
"O Earth," you cry, "you should be old, not glowing
With youth and all youth's strength and beauty still!"
...

The day she came we were planting corn,
The west eighty-acre field, -
These prairie farms are great for size,
And they're sometimes great for yield.

"The new school-ma'am is up to the house,"...

O the gayest of musicians! O the gladdest thing on earth,
With its piping and its chirping, is the cricket on the hearth!
There is magic in the music that he flings us with such zest:...

The great man came to the country place,
To preach to farmers sturdy;
He said: "I'm in my happiest vein,
I'll be eloquent and wordy."

"Not often a great man like myself...

He was not especially handsome, he was not especially smart,
A great big lumbering fellow with a soft and tender heart.
His eyes were gray and honest, his smile a friendly one,...

Do you know what I will love best of all
To do when I'm old? At the close of day
When the dusk comes down and the shadows play,
And the wind sings loud in the poplars tall,...