Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-04-06
BEFORE THE CURFE ".
1S29.1SS2.

l-..- Ftlfrs. h.. 1SS9-1SS2.
"a Not bedtime yeti The night winds blow,
The stars tire out-full well we know
4 The nurse Is on the stair.
With hand of ice and cheek of snow,
= ana frozen lips that whisper low,
Come, children it is time to go
- My peaceful couch to share"
Noyears a wakeful heart can tire;
? Not bed time yeti Come, stir the fire
And warm Your dear old hands;
Mind mother earth we love so well
Has pleasant stories yet to tell
- before we hear the curfew bell;
p0 II st1n glow the burning brands.
Not bed time yet, We long to know
What wonders time has yet to show.
What unborn years shall bring;
nat ship the Arctic pole shall reacn,
flF What lessons Science waits to teach,
;, what sermons there are lett TO preach,
H'- what poems vet to sing.
.sii What next? we ask; and is it true
The sunshine falls on nothing new,
s 1SraefS King declared?
~ Was ocean ploughed with harnessed IRE!
~ Were nations coupled with wire!
DID Talslish telegraph to Tyre!
HOW Hiram would have stared.
And what if sheba's curious Queen,
T. Who came to see-and to be seen
81 Nor something new to seek,
And swOOned, as ladies sometimes 90,
At sights that thrilled her through ane
| through,
Had heard, as she was coming to,
g.. n locomotives shrek,
And seen a rushing railway train
AS she looked out along the plain
From David's lofty tower
mile of smoke that blots the sky
And blinds the eagles as they fly
p Behind the cars that thunder by
a score of leagues an hour!
See to my fiat lar respond
This little slumbering- fire tipped wand
One tOuch-it buStS in flame.
steal me portrait from the sun
one look-and lOi the picture done!
Are these old tricks, King solomon,
We lying modelns claim?
Could you have spectroscoped star?
If both those mothers mt your bar,
The cruel and the mild,
The young and tender. old and tough;
Had said, . Diyide-you're right, though
rough
Did old Judea know enough
To etheriZe the child?
These births OF time our eyes have seen,
With but u few brief years between;
What wonder If the text.
For other ages doubtless true,
for coming Years will never do
whereof we all should like Il few
III but to see what next.
Esuch things have been, such may be;
Who would not like to live and see
II Heaven may so ordain-
What waits undreamed OF, yet in store,
The waves that roll forevermore
On hfeS long beach may cast ashore
b From out the mist clad main?
viii earth to pagan dreams return
To find from misery's painted urn
That all save Hope has flown
OF Book and Church and Priest bereft,
The Book of Ages vainly cleft,
- Lies compass gone, its anchor left,
F. Left-lost-in depths unknown?
Shall Faith the trodden path pursue
The cr7Gr aRsdta wearers knew
E { Who sleep with folded hands,
Where, like a naked, lidless eve,
a nv
Those mountain slopes that climb the sky
5 Above the drifting sands?
Or shall nobier Faith return,
Its fanes purer Gospel learn,
+ 4 With holier anthems ring,
Z And teach US that our transient creeds
3 We're but the perishable seeds
. Of harveSts Sown for larger needs
That ripening years shall bring?
Well. let the present do its best
We trust our Maker for the rest,
As on our way we plOd;
Our souls, full dressed in f1eshly suits,
1 Love air and sunshine, flowers and fruits,
: The daisies better than their roots
Beneath the grassy sod.
. Not bed time yeti the full blown flower
OF all the year-this evening hour
With friendships flame is bright;
Life still is sweet, the heavens are fair,
Though fields are brown and woods are
bare,
And many Joy is left to share
Before we say Good night!
And when, our cheerful evening past,
The nurse long waiting comes at last
Ere on her lap we lie
In wearied natures sweet repose,
At peace with all her waking foes,
Our lips shall lnurmur, ere they close,
&C. Goodnight and not Good byei
Oliver Wendeu Holmes, in Atlantic Monthly.