Crawford Jackson

“ Nor woodland birds of song their loved employ.
It’s in the very heart of things;
It’s in our bounds and sweeps and swings;
It’s in the tree and rose that springs—
All Nature sings—— and—— sings.
The heart of man, his coursing blood through veins;
The very breath of life, his thoughts and reins;
His dreams, devotions, deeds, his all, O soul,
Or great or small beneath divine control.
The gracious seasons roll in mighty numbers;
The snow, the sleet but falls, that He who slumbers
Not may again awake the earth to life
And stay, for man and all, the winter’s strife. ”

“ In giant alligator sigh, who prefers his peace to battle;
He sinks beneath thy bosom in perfect ease and calm,
And there within thy shielding heart he sings his grateful psalm
The mullet and the tarpon, the swift and tremulous trout,
Dash eagerly to mount thy wave, and lithely splash about,
To manifest their joy in thee and their abounding life,
So glad bestowed on them by thee, so free from doubtful strife.
The mocking-bird and robin both join their sweetest song
With the lowly rune of river flow, alluring, deep and long ”

“ The cross still piercing through thy very heart,
Thy great salvation to impart;
And herein I’ll glory eternally.
Accept my life and this my final, whole-hearted word,
O ever living, ever loving, most glorious Lord. DEATH’S DOOM
Thou hast no sting,
Terror none,
O doomed Death;
My whole duty done,
I shall welcome thee.
To the vigilant and victorious,
Thou bringest the better,
Quite unwittingly,
The higher, and yet
The highest.
Thou art the open gate
To Life,
Thou rapacious mocker,
Thy dark, grim visage
Is transformed into a beacon of light,
Balmy, buoyant, beautiful. ”

“ The great artist is one whose whole body becomes a living soul; whose eye gets glimpses into the heart of Nature, with visions of the Supernatural; whose ear hears their inner music, and whose hand produces ecstatic expression of their central force in some revelation of Beauty. And to make his art more real, more nearly perfect, Beauty more beautiful, such artist by contrast often depicts or suggests the deadly but doomed discords of life. ”

“ And then some disappearing portion high,
Some joy just out of reach;
The more immortals yield to devotion’s tie,
The more must they beseech.
Sing on, blest bird, beyond my poor purview,
But near my home and heart:
“I love, I love, I LOVE; yes I love YOU!” [8]
This, thy crescendo art.
I find myself quite charmed, yet almost lost,
At the modern opera grand;
What stirs my soul so deep, what I love most,
Thy song—and I understand.
But O that I could see thy beaming eye—
Mine eye on thee, all song! ”

“ Her place and portion, part of thine, O France!
Alas, our boys—let angels weep—our sons
Who went to aid of thee, pure as the Virgin
Mary some, our soldier sons in air,
On earth, and underneath were tempted, caught
By countess cunning, rich but fallen far;
Entrapped, diseased by women, living hells,
That move and search and laugh and win and damn!
Indecencies of men—God save the race,
That human virtue may not die at last!
O France, all this is not thy nobler heart,
What love and honor thou hast ever shown ”

“ When sermon, song and prayer were wont to hold
And guide the fathers, pioneers of old;
The men who held the truth with steadfast grip— [Pg 68]
Thine own appeal to God from heart and lip,
Inspired by earnest men, who ne’er cajoled,
Who sang their hymns within that saintly fold,
With all their worship free from vulgar slip.
Old Ship, the Church, that made the ship of State,
Who trained aright thy maidens and thy lads,
And lived thy simple life, all free from fads,
Thou madest America beloved and great.
Sail on, Old Ship, and sweep the farthest sea,
And save the souls of men eternally. ”

“ THE HERMIT THRUSH.
[Pg 21]
Like cooling streams in a parched, desert land,
To thirsting souls and worn;
Like evening’s changing charms, no artist’s hand
Can set in painted bourn;
Like sweetest dreams to troubled hearts in slumbers,
Uplift to heaven’s heights—
Just so thy symphonies, heard in rolling numbers,
Thy high and holy flights.
O anchoret, near Nature’s heart, again
I pray, come forth and sing.
Ah, there—O joy! I glimpsed thee, Hermit fain—
Now gone on gentle wing.
My eye too piercing, and my quest too keen,
Unfathomable bird. ”

“ Some happier part in the end of all things.
The best of our words and our ways here forgot
Will be gathered and treasured in a hallowed lot,
Exalted in place at the end of things—
God’s men as the angels and angels as men,
Ah, the little child too shall be received then,
In love of the Highest, in the end of all things. WHEN THE JUNCO COMES
The Junco comes when warblers go,
When leaves lay dead by a dauntless foe;
Ay, winter plans with all his might
To put in a grave the heart’s delight,
And cover all with a shroud of snow. ”

“ While men admire thy trust and amity,
But wonder not in thee, nor question why.
At length thy wings bedecked with Heaven’s art,
Begin to wave, as Nature planned, and east
Thou farest forth with grace, but to my heart
Thou ever clingest still. Fly on and feast
On nectar such as men have never wrought;
In thee is trust and love and, why not, thought? ”

“ Nor siren from the sea;
A spirit high begets my ardent mood,
But yields not me the key.
And dreaming in the vale, or on a mountain height,
Awed by the great abyss,
My soul doth plead an everlasting right,
“The secret of all this?”
Both wild and winning are Mother Nature’s ways,
Many, varied, one;
In all she sings my soul her mystic lays,
From flower to rolling sun. [Pg 28]
But oh to understand the purpose of her heart,
Her princely, hidden life;
Just what or who unfolds the vital part,
Despite dark death and strife.
O Faunus tell—return to earth and speak
The word that satisfies ”

“ Then smiles on me a man of head and heart,
A gentle, noble soul like Erwin Holt.
Another man is ever in a rut,
To self and all a weary, lifeless dolt;
Like showers then to thirsty famished earth
Are spirit life and deeds of Erwin Holt.
Still other men are working hard for pelf,
And passing give your peaceful heart a jolt;
What joy to turn away from men like these,
And feel the healing balm of Erwin Holt.
Oh for more men who’re full of highest life,
Who ’gainst all vileness join in strong revolt,
With mind to think and hand to ever bless
Their fellowmen like happy Erwin Holt. ”

“ To feast on its wealth and in her heart to hold
The flower that looms and turns to pure gold,
Yes, the flower that loves, and is loved, the best. [Pg 47] COLONEL DIAMOND AND
GRAND-DAUGHTER
I would like to attain to my four score and two,
With a joy in my heart and with naught to efface,
Could I dance, or could sing with an energy true,
Could I lighten the load of the populace.
I’d run out in the open for Nature’s embrace,
With a mind ever high, yet my feet on the sod;
While my soul would be set to the music of grace,
With the heart of a child and the gifts of a god. ”

“ Then Wisdom’s proud bird, that old mystical fake,
While breakfasting late on a daring young snake,
Cried “Boo to y-o-u, hoot for y-o-u! Who-whoo—are-y-o-u?”
Till down in my heart I felt humbled anew.
But hope was revived by an echo of Night—
For Night has her echoes and pledges of Light—
“You can, if you will, a high mission fulfill.”
Insistently whistled the lone Whip-poor-will. ”

“ With all the grace and beauty which she doth ever grant;
She’s not unlike a mother who must protect her own;
Her buds she close infolds when dangers are fore-known.
“My lovely Jacaranda changes Nature’s plan,
As the unlike woman, or like the wilful man,
The blossoms coming first, its verdant foliage last,
But its loveliness in May time will hold you firm and fast.
“And see the running roses, hugging close my home;
They clasp my heart so sweetly that it never more may roam.
Burbank has none that’s better than my purest Cherokee,
With its dainty white so spotless, and his naive simplicity. ”

“ Photo by Author.
And lo! just then,
A voice—a Wren,
From a fern-lit glen,
Burst forth like a rippling fountain of life,
Rebuking old Mars with his death-dealing strife;
And it seemed that I caught for the sons of men,
The lost chord of an angel in the song of the Wren.
Discord now from birds as black as night:
“Caw! Caw! Caw!”
Screamed a full score,
Or even more,
Till stones by me hurled put them all to flight. ”

“ And welcome birds and people to our balm.
“We’ve endured the blazing sun,
Through the summer for the fun
Of freest song and abundant feasting fine;
While you yourselves employ,
In song and sumptuous joy,
Remember we are drinking Heaven’s wine.
“’Tis better far to live,
That we may freely give—
Far better and more God-like in us all.
See Black-birds fly around,
Alighting on the ground,
While the Mocking-birds’ hosannahs loudly call. ”

“ And balm for me
And you,
In the glad, wild hills.
Then in surf and sea,
With youthful glee—
While waves are dashing,
And swimmers splashing
Around
In the ever-changing sea;
With wavelets dancing,
The tide advancing;
Breezes kissing—
Ah, no one missing
Life’s bound,
In the wild waves of the sea. MANIFOLD BEAUTY AND THE MAN
It is beautiful to be young,
When youth grows wise at length;
It is beautiful to be strong,
With gentleness in strength. [Pg 65]
It is beautiful to grow old,
When the heart remaineth young ”

“ Picture by the Author.
[Pg 37]
Majestic lord of all, to thee on high,
The struggling towns appear as vying dwarfs;
The rivers like to circling, creeping snakes;
Valleys, rich and broad, thy gardens are
Imperial—and all thine honors sing.
Sons of chiefs long vanquished played and danced
Before thy face; again the fathers prayed,
Their plea ascending, swift as thought, to Him
Who guided Abram ’mongst Judean hills.
What heart-breaks knowest thou of sire and son?
Of lover and beloved, of hate and hope?
Deepest depths and uplift to the heights? ”

“ The Wren is there, the Chickadee,
And many more that come in glee,
On nimble feet or shining wings,
To my retreat—
The birds of sky and fish of the sea,
The cunning things that charming be;
And there the Cardinal often rings
His notes of joy to songster-lings—
All these and I have bidden thee
To my retreat. [Pg 24] Photos by the author.
THE MOCKING-BIRD
Hilarious bird, hast thou a soul,
Now here, now there
In tree and air,
So free and fair?
Thy tones rush forth a rounded whole,
Inviting the heart to some sweet goal,
Like poet rare,
Beyond compare.
Hast thou a mind, a musical mind? ”

“ Above things seen to heaven’s best—
To perfect ones, with the angel throng,
O’er topless hills in endless song! [Pg 36] PILOT MOUNTAIN
O Jomeokee, thou everlasting guide,
Lifting high thyself, a tower strong
For passing men, and deathless hills around;
For Yadkin and on-flowing Ararat,
Bathing thy feet in humblest gratitude;
Thy lofty head, embraced by cooling clouds,
Gives something forth that’s rich, and unto all—
O Pilot old, thy secret bare to me.
Tell me when thy origin and where;
What hidden womb ambitious gave thee birth ”

“ He’s proving gifts which fame will bring.
And musing on that Sabbath morn,
With body weary, heart forlorn,
The music of the blithesome bird
Inspired my mind itself to gird
With faith and courage, hope and love,
Beguiling my heart to leap above.
’Tis ever thus, some primal song
Doth make us gentle, brave and strong ”

“ I’m only a witness on a smoother sea.
God bless his wide sea, and the nigger in school;
And all men make free—’twould be heaven for me—
And God bless the poor mule, and the mule-headed fool.
By L. Gregg
[Pg 30]
VIRGINIA’S NATURAL BRIDGE
Photo by The Author.
How pleasing the wonders of Nature—how varied and how vast,
And the mystery of all the unknown doth hold me firm and fast;
For so the Creator ordained that men should seek and know;
That the heart of man may ever rise and forever flow,
From pebble small in singing brook to yonder neighboring star ”

“ And bless the friendship in thee made known.
Full forty years, in public or alone,
I’ve studied men, high heaven’s sovereign art
And thee—thy virtue’s smiles, and whence they start,
Adoring Truth’s sweet balm, which is thine own.
Let turmoils come and go; let fools foment
Disaster dire, till many shall lament
Their natal hour, their present lot and all.
Thy friendship true, which grows from bud to bloom
And fruit eternal, dissipates all gloom—
Again I’ve entered love’s pure banquet hall. THE STRIKERS
The strikers call for more and more ”

“ They’re better for all and better for thee.
Then scatter the smiles from sea to sea,
Less fleeting than fame and more than booty.
O give me the ones in perpetual glee,
Yes, the girls who live for love and duty.
The wise man his frowns ever gladly postpones,
And gives of his strength to you and to me ”

“ Drink gratefully thy water pure and sing a praise that’s thine.
Ah, way-worn mortals turn to thee to worship and abide;
The white winged boats are drawn to thee on every swelling tide;
For thru thy whole long journey it’s always give and give—
What a multitude of creatures thou dost make to live!
At last thyself thou givest wholly to out-spreading bay;
It beareth thee to shining sea—how wonderful thy way!
With parting kiss to earth, thou risest to thirsty sun,
Who praiseth thee and hasteth thee—another race to run. ”

“ And again from every heart that sings
In creation’s vast domain:
“On, forever on, in Heaven’s aureole,
Let praise and power roll—
Alleluia, Amen!” MY PRAYER TO TRUTH
Take thou my soul, O Truth, and make me whole,
And gently lead me on eternally.
My eager fancy flies from pole to pole,
To singing star and the ever surging sea—
O stay thou me! [Pg 15]
Thru ages past the search has been for thee ”