REAL RICHES

"T is little I could care for pearls
Who own the ample sea;
Or brooches, when the Emperor
With rubies 'pelteth me;

Or gold who am the Prince of Mines;
Or diamonds, when I see
A diadem to fit a dome
Continual crowning me.

SUPERIORITY TO FATE

Superiority to fate
Is difficult to learn.
"T is not conferred by any,
But possible to earn.

A pittance at a time,
Until, to her surprise,
The soul with strict economy
Subsists till Paradise.

HOPE

Hope is a subtle glutton;
He feeds upon the fair;
And yet, inspected closely,
What abstinence is there!

His is the halcyon table
That never seats but one,
And whatsoever is consumed
The same amounts remain.

FORBIDDEN FRUIT

Forbidden fruit a flavor has
That Lawful orchards mocks;
How Luscious Lies the pea within
The pool that Duty locks!

FORBIDDEN FRUIT II

Heaven is what I cannot reach!
The apple on the tree,
Provided it the hopeless hang,
That 'heaven' is, to me.

The color on the cruising cloud,
The interdicted ground
Behind the hill, the house behind, --
There paradise is found!

A WORD

A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to Live
That day.

LIFE'S TRADES

It's such a little thing to weep,
So short a thing to sigh;
And yet by trades the size of these
We men and women die!

UNTITLED

To venerate the simple days
Which lead the seasons by,
Needs but to remember
That from you or me
They may take the trifle
Termed mortality!

To invest existence with a stately air,
Needs but to remember
That the acorn there
Is the egg of forests
For the upper air!