No More Learning

TO BLANCHE By John Hall Wheelock
What is this memory, this homesickness, That draws me to yourself resistlessly
As to some far place where I long to be—
This exile's hungering for loveliness? Here in the night the face that I caress
Lies like a moonlit land beyond the sea,
A kingdom lost, toward which the heart of me, Shipwrecked and worn, beats backward in distress.
Have I been here before? How long ago,
And on what pilgrimage and journey far Was lost this land remembered ? By what star
Did I steer homeward? Only this I know, That all my being from my breast would go
To the dear home and heaven where you are.
4
THE SALVATION ARMY'S SONG By Phoebe Hoffman
"It's Christmas time, it's Christmas time," Echo the feet in the dusty street.
"It's Christmas time, it's Christmas time," The quavering tambourines repeat.
"God looks down from His judgment seat, 'Good will on earth' is His message sweet,
Turn your hearts to the Lord.
"The chimes will ring on Christmas Day, The chimes will ring on Christmas Day, And rich and poor will kneel and pray. The rich will feast on Christmas Day;
The poor will fast on Christmas Day.
Have you no mite to give away,
So the poor may eat on Christmas Day?
If you've only a penny, or a nickel, or a dime, Drop it in, drop it in, listen to it chime.
Take a silver minute from your treasured time; Listen to it tinkle a little chime
For the poor lost sheep of the Lord. "
There's wind and sleet on the bitter street, And it nips the fingers and numbs the feet.
Electric signs flash on and out,
And gold-eyed motors dart about,
And trolleys jangle,
And crowds untangle,
And still they stand on their icy beat,
And still the tambourines repeat,
"God looks down from His judgment seat,
'Good will on earth' is His message sweet.
O give, O give, so the poor may eat. "
They are caked with ice from the driving sleet,
And they sling their arms, and they stamp their feet And glory in the pain and the freezing sleet,
For they are the soldiers of the Lord!
5
LIBATION
By Marjorie Allen Seiffert .
This hour shall pass,
Bearing beneath its heart
Our love, unborn;
Nor shall I mourn.
Like wind, leaving no footsteps in the grass, It will depart.
It came like light
Pouring into my eyes, —
This thought from yours
"Such passion might,
If we had faith —" Alas, we are too wise; No dream endures.
I shall forget
Your dream and mine.
This hour shall be
A glass of wine
Poured out into the unremembering sea Without regret.
6
THE TIDE
By Jeannette Marks
I shall find you when the tide comes in— A shell, a sound, a flash of light,
To live with me by day,
To dream with me by night.
You come and go As waters flow;
You lap me 'round And pour me full; A shell at rest,
You touch my breast. I feel your will,
And I am bound
By light, by sound; You love me still.
I shall find you when the tide comes in— A shell, a sound, a flash of light.
Men say you died.
They knew not what to say.
I hear the tide, I hear the tide!