WEATHERLY, Frederic


Nirvana

I have come from the silent forest,

My beautiful Lotos flow'r,

And I stand in thy garden sighing,

It is the lovers' hour.

Thy sisters, the lotos blossoms,

They ope to the moon above;

Open thy window, beloved,

And let me tell my love.

I have knelt in the mighty temples,

But the dumb gods make no sign;

They cannot speak to my spirit,

As thy soul speaks to mine.

And the priests talk of Nirvana,

And weave their mystic charms,

I only know Nirvana

Within thy loving arms.

And the lotos flow'r will perish,

The stars turn cold and grey,

The dumb gods will be shattered,

The temples old decay:

But we shall be one, beloved,

we shall be one

In the stream of life divine;

As the river flows to the ocean,

My soul shall flow to thine.


Roses of Picardy

She is watching by the poplars, Colinette with the sea-blue eyes,

She is watching and longing and waiting Where the long white roadway lies.

And a song stirs in the silence, As the wind in the boughs above,

She listens and starts and trembles, 'Tis the first little song of love:

Roses are shining in Picardy, in the hush of the silver dew,

Roses are flowering in Picardy, but there's never a rose like you!

And the roses will die with the summertime, and our roads may be far apart,

But there's one rose that dies not in Picardy!

'tis the rose that I keep in my heart!

And the years fly on for ever, Till the shadows veil their skies,

But he loves to hold her little hands, And look in her sea-blue eyes.

And she sees the road by the poplars, Where they met in the bygone years,

For the first little song of the roses Is the last little song she hears:

Roses are shining …..


Danny Boy

Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling

From glen to glen, and down the mountain side.

The summer's gone, and all the roses falling,

It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,

Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,

And I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow,

Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so!

But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,

And I am dead, as dead I well may be,

Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying,

And kneel and say an "Avé" there for me;

And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,

And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be,

For you will bend and tell me that you love me,

and I shall sleep in peace until you come to me!


The Holy City

Last night I lay asleeping

There came a dream so fair,

I stood in old Jerusalem

Beside the temple there

I heard the children singing

And ever as they sang,

Methought the voice of Angels

From Heaven in answer rang

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem!

Lift up you gates and sing,

Hosanna in the highest.

Hosanna to your King!”

And then methought my dream was chang'd

The streets no longer rang

Hush'd were the glad Hosannas

The little children sang

The sun grew dark with mystery,

The morn was cold and chill

As the shadow of a cross arose

Upon a lonely hill

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem!

Hark! How the Angels sing,

Hosanna in the highest,

Hosanna to your King!"

And once again the scene was chang'd

New earth there seem'd to be,

I saw the Holy City

Beside the tideless sea

The light of god was on its streets

The gates were open wide,

And all who would might enter

And no one was denied.

No need of moon or stars by night,

Or sun to shine by day,

It was the new Jerusalem

That would not pass away

"Jerusalem! Jerusalem

Sing for the night is o'er

Hosanna in the highest

Hosanna for evermore!"