Abram Joseph Ryan Poems

The winds are singing a death-knell
Out on the main to-night;
The sky droops low -- and many a bark
That sailed from harbors bright,
...

From the mystic sidereal spaces,
In the noon of a night 'mid of May,
Came a spirit that murmured to me --
...

By sound of name, and touch of hand,
Thro' ears that hear, and eyes that see,
We know each other in this land,
...

Just when the gentle hand of spring
Came fringing the trees with bud and leaf,
And when the blades the warm suns bring
...

Your past is past and never to return,
The long bright yesterday of life's first years,
Its days are dead -- cold ashes in an urn.
...

O Heart of Three-in-the evening,
You nestled the thorn-crowned head;
He leaned on you in His sorrow,
...

Thine eyes are dim:
A mist hath gathered there;
Around their rim
Float many clouds of care,
...

Some find work where some find rest,
And so the weary world goes on:
I sometimes wonder which is best;
The answer comes when life is gone.
...

Go! heart of mine! the way is long --
The night is dark -- the place is far;
Go! kneel and pray, or chant a song,
...

Thou art sleeping, brother, sleeping
In thy lonely battle grave;
Shadows o'er the past are creeping,
Death, the reaper, still is reaping,
...