Nature speaks in symbols and in signs. John Greenleaf Whittier More Quotes by John Greenleaf Whittier More Quotes From John Greenleaf Whittier This is truth the poet sings . . . John Greenleaf Whittier poet truth Flowers spring to blossom where she walks The careful ways of duty; Our hard, stiff lines of life with her Are flowing curves of beauty. John Greenleaf Whittier curves flower spring If thou of fortune be bereft, and in thy store there be but left two loaves, sell one, and with the dole, buy hyacinths to feed thy soul. John Greenleaf Whittier hyacinths soul two The continuity of life is never broken; the river flows onward and is lost to our sight, but under its new horizon it carries the same waters which it gathered under ours, and its unseen valleys are made glad by the offerings which are borne down to them from the past,--flowers, perchance, the germs of which its own waves had planted on the banks of Time. John Greenleaf Whittier flower offering past For still in mutual sufferance lies John Greenleaf Whittier forgiveness secret lying Through the open door A drowsy smell of flowers -grey heliotrope And white sweet clover, and shy mignonette Comes fairly in, and silent chorus leads To the pervading symphony of Peace. John Greenleaf Whittier flower sweet peace The laws of changeless justice bind oppressor and oppressed; and, close as sin and suffering joined we march to fate abreast. John Greenleaf Whittier fate destiny revenge We live by faith; but Faith is not the slave Of text and legend. Reason's voice and God's, Nature's and Duty's, never are at odds. What asks our Father of His children, save Justice and mercy and humility, A reasonable service of good deeds, Pure living, tenderness to human needs, Reverence and trust, and prayer for light to see The Master's footprints in our daily ways? No knotted scourge nor sacrificial knife, But the calm beauty of an ordered life Whose very breathing is unworded praise! - A life that stands as all true lives have stood Firm-rooted in the faith that God is Good. John Greenleaf Whittier prayer life children Drop Thy still dews of quietness, Till all our strivings cease; Take from our souls the strain and stress, And let our ordered lives confess The beauty of Thy peace. John Greenleaf Whittier stress soul life God's ways seem dark, but, soon or late, They touch the shining hills of day; The evil cannot brook delay, The good can well afford to wait, Give ermined knaves their hour of crime; Yet have the future grand and great, The safe appeal of Truth to Time! John Greenleaf Whittier truth evil dark God is good and God is light In this faith I rest secure, Evil can but serve the right, Over all shall love endure. John Greenleaf Whittier light faith love Give lettered pomp to teeth of Time, So "Bonnie Doon" but tarry; Blot out the epic's stately rhyme, But spare his "Highland Mary!" John Greenleaf Whittier epic time giving The age is dull and mean. Men creep, Not walk; with blood too pale and tame To pay the debt they owe to shame; Buy cheap, sell dear; eat. drink, and sleep down-pillowed, deaf to moaning want; Pay tithes for soul-insurance; keep Six days to Mammon, one to Cant John Greenleaf Whittier sleep men mean So fallen! so lost! the light withdrawn Which once he wore; The glory from his gray hairs gone For evermore! John Greenleaf Whittier light gone hair Bathsheba! to whom none ever said scat- No worthier cat Ever sat on a mat, Or caught a rat. Requiescat! John Greenleaf Whittier caught cat rats O brother man! fold to thy heart thy brother; Where pity dwells, the peace of God is there; To worship rightly is to love each other, Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer. John Greenleaf Whittier brother prayer heart God should be most where man is least: So, where is neither church nor priest, And never rag nor form of creed To clothe the nakedness of need,- Where farmer folk in silence meet,- I turn my bell-unsummoned feet; I lay the critic's glass aside, I tread upon my lettered pride, And, lowest-seated, testify To the oneness of humanity; Confess the universal want, And share whatever Heaven may grant. He findeth not who seeks his own, The soul is lost that's saved alone. John Greenleaf Whittier oneness pride men The great eventful Present hides the Past; but through the din Of its loud life hints and echoes from the life behind steal in. John Greenleaf Whittier echoes history past There's life alone in duty done, And rest alone in striving. John Greenleaf Whittier strive duty done He is wisest, who only gives, True to himself, the best he can: Who drifting on the winds of praise, The inward monitor obeys. And with the boldness that confuses fear Takes in the crowded sail, and lets his conscience steer. John Greenleaf Whittier fear wind giving
