James Thomas Fields

“ A slave to gold, must man in bondage toil,
And sweat for ever o'er the accursed soil?
There are, thank Heaven, beneath this fitful dome,
Some leaflets floating near affection's home;
Some cloudless skies that smile on scenes below,
Some changeless hues in life's wide spanning bow.
So let us live, that if misfortune's blast
Comes like a whirlwind to our hearths at last,
Sunbeams may break from one small spot of blue,
To guide us safe life's dreary desert through.
Time-honored city! be it ours to stand
In thy broad portals, armed with traffic's wand ”

“ He'll be more useful there, he tells his friends;
He feels distressed, he goes with many a tear,
But yearns to practise in a wider sphere,—
Which, to interpret in a carnal sense,
Means a receipt of pounds instead of pence.
Go, worldly prophet! duty fling aside,
Your heart is Mammon's, and your worship Pride;
Ready to skulk when Progress might be taught,
Go hunt the Ibis of Egyptian thought,—
Leave Heaven for Tarshish, and you can't but fail,
For every Jonah always finds his whale. ”

“ His neighbor's faults with telescopic eyes;
Believes high rogues, though clad in jewels brave,
Should run the gantlet with the shabbiest knave,—
While Honor's Post should be for him secure
Who lets in sunshine at the poor man's door.
Unchanging Power! thy genius still presides
O'er vanquished fields, and ocean's purpled tides;
Sits like a spectre at the soldier's board,
Adds Spartan steps to many a broken sword; [5]
For thee and thine combining squadrons form
To sweep the world with Glory's awful storm ”

“ Fleet as the night-star fades in brightening day,
That exiled pilgrim-band has passed away;
But, where their anchors marked a dreary shore,
When first thanksgivings rose for perils o'er,
A nation's banner fills the murmuring air,
And freedom's ensign wantons gaily there.
O, glorious stripes! no stain your honor mars;
Wave! ever wave! our country's flag of stars!
Float till old Time shall shroud the sun in gloom,
And this proud empire seeks its laureled tomb.
Trace we the exile from his mother's arms,
Through traffic's din, its mazes and alarms ”

“ The stock sells well, the brewer quits his beer,—
Who picks up dollars when doubloons are near?
The shares go briskly off, the business thrives,
The shopman heeds not now his tens and fives;
For who would stop to measure calico,
While floods of gold through timber uplands flow;
Who sings a tune to three-and-six per yard,
While his next neighbour plays a nobler card?
Not he, indeed! ambition points the aim,—
He must keep horses, and grow fat on game. ”

“ And gas may leak, and water fill your eyes.
All are not born the glory of their race,
But all may shun the pathway to disgrace;
In humblest vales the patriot heart may glow;
That nurtures men — they give the inspiring blow. ”

“ Happier, as run life's sands away,
Unstained by sin, untouched by woe.
As now they sleep, serene and pure,
Their little arms entwined in love,
So may they live, obey, endure,
And shine with yon bright host above. ”

“ And stamp the impress of a speaking face;
The chisel's touch may make that marble warm
Which glows with all but breathing manhood's form,—
But deeper lines, beyond the sculptor's art,
Are those which write their impress on the heart. ”

“ The skipper stormed, and tore his hair,
Thrust on his boots, and roared to Marden,
"Nantucket's sunk, and here we are
Right over old Marm Hackett's garden!" ”

“ Not circumscribed, just narrowed to the rank
That passes current only at the Bank,
But stamped with soul, howe'er the winds may blow,
Large as the sunlight, and unstained as snow.
Do good by stealth, be just, have faith in man ”

“ Are rushing now, like spectres from their shrouds;
In vain the dinner waits, the wife looks sad,
The children whine, the sweet-toned cook goes mad;
They stir not, move not from the busy walk,
But all is solemn as an Indian talk. ”

“ Death's cold dew-drops from an infant's brow;
Can I forget that mild, seraphic grace
With heaven-eyed Patience meeting in her face?
Ah, sure, if angels leave celestial spheres,
We saw an angel dry a mortal's tears.
'T was thine, Jerome, when shuddering nature cried12
For aid and rescue from the burning tide,
"T was thine, with vigorous arm, and manly breath,
To leap through danger, and to snatch from death;—
Though prince and peer assumed their noblest mien,
Thou wert the Ocean Monarch of that scene.
Where e'er his camp-fires glistened on the sod,
Humane as brave, our latest Conqueror trod ”

“ And so he mused, (the wanton wretch,)
"To-night I'll have a grain of fun.
"We're all a set of stupid fools
To think the skipper knows by tasting
What ground he's on,—Nantucket schools
Don't teach such stuff, with all their basting!" ”

“ Or thine, Urania,
It is scarcely necessary to explain this reference. Those who have read the admirable Poem pronounced in 1846 before the Society by Dr. O. W. Holmes, need not be reminded here of its excellence.
Note 5. Page 7.
Adds Spartan steps to many a broken sword;
"Mother!" said a Spartan boy, going to battle, "My sword is too short." "Add a step to it," was the heroic reply. ”

“ Your neighbor feels it, and your neighbor's wife;
He o'er Columbia's District sees it shine,
While she, more modest, thinks a coach divine.
"Be rich, and ride," the buxom lady cries—
"Be famous, John," his answering heart replies ”

“ Note 13. Page 20.
Who follows Webster takes the field too late.
This closing line of the paragraph alluding to the great Statesman, was suggested by the well-known quotation:—
"Who follows Homer, takes the field too late;
Though stout as Hector, sure of Hector's fate,
A wound, as from Achilles' spear, he feels,
Falls and adorns the Grecian's chariot wheels."
↑
Note 1. Page 1.
The Annual Poem before the Mercantile Library Association is usually delivered on the same evening, immediately after an Address at the Tremont Temple. ”

“ Or keep secure where vice in legions swarms;
Yet leaves he not his peaceful home unwarned,
Though many an earnest prayer perchance is scorned.
In fashion now, our hero strives to reign,
Sports the last hat, the latest Paris cane ”