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Van Dyke, Henry, 1852-1933

"The Poems of Henry Van Dyke"


1912.

THE TALISMAN

What is Fortune, what is Fame?
Futile gold and phantom name,--
Riches buried in a cave,
Glory written on a grave.
What is Friendship? Something deep
That the heart can spend and keep:
Wealth that greatens while we give,
Praise that heartens us to live.
Come, my friend, and let us prove
Life's true talisman is love!
By this charm we shall elude
Poverty and solitude.
January 21, 1914.

THORN AND ROSE

Far richer than a thornless rose
Whose branch with beauty never glows,
Is that which every June adorns
With perfect bloom among its thorns.
Merely to live without a pain
Is little gladness, little gain,
Ah, welcome joy tho' mixt with grief,--
The thorn-set flower that crowns the leaf.
June 20, 1914.

"THE SIGNS"
_Dedicated to the Zodiac Club_

Who knows how many thousand years ago
The twelvefold Zodiac was made to show
The course of stars above and men below?
The great sun plows his furrow by its "lines":
From all its "houses" mystic meaning shines:
Deep lore of life is written in its "signs."
_Aries_--Sacrifice.


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