Charles Hanson Towne Poems

The sick man said: 'I pray I shall not die
Before this tumult which now rocks the earth
Shall cease. I dread far journeyings to God
...

Upon my parchment, sadly old,
The record lives of Summer's gold;
And in my veins there lingers now
The joy of Spring's awakening bough.
...

The brooding hours, through the dull afternoon,
Pause, while a torrid sun flames in the sky.
(O heart of mine, dream of a long, cool dune,
...

Although I dare to say
My heart untarnished is from day to day,
'Tis not, O Love, that any strength of mine
Has kept all white the shrine.
...

O Queen of Beauty, who hast conquered kings,
O woman wonderful, in pity be
Most merciful to one who softly sings
...

Now it was Mary dreamed this dream,
Ere yet her child was born
In that poor place in Bethlehem,
...

She died when dawn was sweeping o'er the land,
When morning-glories lit the gleaming wall;
And one who watched her, holding her pale hand,
...

I had a friend who went away
Over the distant sea,
But hill and tide can never hide
His gentle face from me.
...

The sun has gone, and from the ferryboat
That like a golden worm crawls through the night,
I watch the myriad stars that round me float,
...

Deep in the night I heard
The rain's mysterious word.
(It was as if an old love spoke, a dead love sobbed and stirred).
...