John Whittier
John Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittierwas an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the Fireside Poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Whittier is remembered particularly for his anti-slavery writings as well as his book Snow-Bound...
blessing christmas joy lonely others poor returns spend year
Somehow, not only for Christmas but all the long year through, The joy that you give to others Is the joy that comes back to you. And the more you spend in blessing The poor and lonely and sad, The more of your heart's possessing Returns to you glad.
joy others year
For somehow, not only at Christmas, but all the long year through, The joy that you give to others is the joy that comes back to you.
gone gray hair life strange time winter
O Time and change! -- with hair as gray as was my sire's that winter day, how strange it seems, with so much gone of life and love, to still live on!
conscious faults follies hidden thine thy
But, by all thy nature's weakness, Hidden faults and follies known, Be thou, in rebuking evil, Conscious of thine own.
alone lost restore woman
If woman lost us Eden, such as she alone can restore it
era meet opening thank thee
We meet todayTo thank Thee for the era done,And Thee for the opening one
beneath faith fall rock steps void
Nothing before, nothing behind; the steps of faith fall on the seeming void and find the rock beneath
blush face gray leader shade spare
Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,/ But spare your country's flag,' she said./ A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,/ Over the face of the leader came.
blended degree
She blended in a like degree The vixen and the devotee
follow lands strangest
Of all that Orient lands can vaunt, of marvels with our own competing, the strangest is the Haschish plant, and what will follow on its eating.
might pen sad saddest tongue words
Of all sad words of tongue and pen the saddest are these, what might have been.
american-poet dull nature rigid school torture unknown weary wild
Unknown to her the rigid rule, the dull restraint, the chiding frown, the weary torture of the school, the taming of wild nature down.
might sad saddest tongue words
For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are those 'It might have been.'
might saddest
The saddest are these: 'It might have been!'