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Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Silent Night (in Spanish)

Silent Night in Spanish
Mom wrote out the hymn "Silent Night" in Spanish, as we sang it in Puerto Rico.  It is titled "Noche De Paz".  I want to transcribe it, but I need to wait until I figure out how to do all the characters used in Spanish.
Mom wrote five verses.  This post is just a "book-mark"/reminder to include this hymn in this collection of "From My Mother's Poetry Notebook".

My Risen Lord

My risen Lord, I feel Thy strong protection;
I see Thee stand among the graves today;
"I am the Way, the Life, the Resurrection," I hear Thee say.
And all the burdens I have carried sadly
Grow light as blossoms on an April Day;
My cross becomes a staff, I journey gladly
This Easter day.

Peace On Earth

Peace once more has come upon this earth.  Our confidence in man is being restored.  The price has been dearly paid by the lives of countless numbers.  The eternal things of life are not secured by mortal hands.   It cost the life of the Son of God.  Triumphantly He lives today, bringing to our acceptant hearts peace and joy, faith and trust, and hope of life eternal.

The above quote was hand typed on the back of a church bulletin that my mother had saved with her notebooks of poetry.  She didn't put it in quotes and didn't indicate the source.  

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Sharing

Sharing

Ah, you will take the high path,
And I will take the low,
Thus missing none of beauty
As thro' this life we go.

And you will watch a white cloud,
And I will watch a star,
To find alluring jewels
That are hidden near or far.

Ah, we will watch for loveliness
And see the glorious Spring
Salute the year whose beauty is
An anthem that we sing.

Ah, you will watch the sunset
And I the clouds so fair,
Thus double joys will greet us
As we kneel to God in prayer.

You will look for birds and trees
While I will look for flowers,
And in the glowering twilight
We will share the happy hours.

~ Ursula Miller

From my mother's poetry notebook


My Paradise

My Paradise

The Gate to Yesterday swings wide,
And bids us seek the countryside,
Far from the throngs of human-tide,
Where memories of youth abide.

A peaceful paradise you'll find
In wood or field, to soothe the mind.
Just leave the busy streets behind,
And roam with me where lone trails wind.

To find this wild and carefree place,
The narrow trail you need but trace
Through forest aisles and open space
Beyond the city's great white ways.

You'll see the giant forest trees
And other glories such as these.
You'll listen to the whispering breeze,
Which worries hastily appease.

Forget the technics of a creed,
The strife for glory and for speed.
With nature filling every need,
Man rises over selfish greed.

Wild Paradise has mountain streams
Whose tumbling crystal water seems
To come from shadow land of dreams
Up where the snowy glacier gleams.

So come with me along the trail,
O'er rocky steep and down the vale,
We'll hear the calling of the quail,
And watch the rambling of the rail.

Our paradise will reach the sea,
Where billows heave eternally,
And ocean winds come ceaselessly
Across the waves so wild and free.

Then in some shady, cool retreat,
Where sun and shadows slyly meet
Beyond the deserts' torrid heat,
We'll make our paradise complete.

We'll seek the lowland and the fen,
The sunny hillside and the glen;
We'll listen to the lark, and then --
We'll meet the robin and the wren.

The red-wing swings on bending reed,
The bittern stalks among the weed.
On airy wings the swallows speed
O'er lake and stream and sunny mead.

At eve the catbird leads the choir,
Then follows owl from hillside higher.
The frogs tune in with harp and lyre
While glowworms light the heaven fire.

This peaceful paradise of mine
Is also waiting to be thine.
When weary of the world's design
Come make my paradise your shrine.

~ A. K. Mehl

From my mother's poetry notebook

The Best Road of All

The Best Road of All

I like a road that leads away to prospects white and fair,
A road that is an ordered road, like a nun's evening prayer;
But best of all I love a road that leads to God knows where.

You come upon it suddenly -- you cannot seek it out;
It's like a secret still unheard and never noised about;
But when you see it, gone at once is every lurking doubt.

It winds beside some rushing stream where aspens lightly quiver;
It follows many a broken field by many a shining river;
It seems to lead you on and on, forever and forever.

You tramp along its dusty way beneath the shadowy trees,
And hear, beside you chattering birds or happy booming bees,
And all around you golden sounds, the green leaves' litanies.

And here's a hedge and there's a cot; and then, strange, sudden turns --
A dip, a rise, a little glimpse where the red sunset burns;
A bit of sky at evening time, the scent of hidden ferns.

A winding road, a loitering road, the finger mark of God,
Traced where the Maker of the world leaned over ways untrod.
See!  Here He smiled His glowing smile, and lo, the golden rod!

I like a road that wanders straight; the kin's highway is fair,
And lovely are the sheltered lanes that take you here and there;
But best of all I love a road that leads to God knows where.

~ Chas. Hanson Towne

From my mother's poetry notebook

Friday, September 16, 2016

The Eagle

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands,
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

from my mother's poetry notebook