Henry Van Dyke Poems on Light (64 Poems)

Vera (Henry Van Dyke Poems)

IA silent world,-yet full of vital joyUttered in rhythmic movements manifold,And sunbeams flashing on the face of thingsLike sudden smilings of divine delight,-A world of many sorrows too, revealedIn fading flowers and withering leaves and darkTear-laden clouds, and tearless, clinging … Continue reading →

The Builders (Henry Van Dyke Poems)

ODE FOR THE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF PRINCETON COLLEGEOctober 21, 1896IInto the dust of the making of manSpirit was breathed when his life began,Lifting him up from his low estate,With masterful passion, the wish to create.Out of the dust … Continue reading →

The Toiling Of Felix (Henry Van Dyke Poems)

IPRELUDE Hear a word that Jesus spake Nineteen hundred years ago, Where the crimson lilies blow Round the blue Tiberian lake: There the bread of life He brake, Through the fields of harvest walking With His lowly comrades, talking Of the secret thoughts that feed Weary souls in … Continue reading →

Texas (Henry Van Dyke Poems)

A DEMOCRATIC ODE ITHE WILD-BEESAll along the Brazos river,All along the Colorado,In the valleys and the lowlandsWhere the trees were tall and stately,In the rich and rolling meadowsWhere the grass was full of wild-flowers,Came a humming and a buzzing,Came the … Continue reading →

Who Follow The Flag (Henry Van Dyke Poems)

PHI BETA KAPPA ODEHARVARD UNIVERSITYJune 30, 1910 IAll day long in the city’s canyon-street, With its populous cliffs alive on either side, I saw a river of marching men like a tideFlowing after the flag: and the rhythmic beat Of the drums, and … Continue reading →

Eight Echoes From The Poems Of August Angellier (Henry Van Dyke Poems)

ITHE IVORY CRADLEThe cradle I have made for theeIs carved of orient ivory,And curtained round with wavy silkMore white than hawthorn-bloom or milk.A twig of box, a lilac spray,Will drive the goblin-horde away;And charm thy childlike heart to keepHer happy … Continue reading →

The Grand Canyon (Henry Van Dyke Poems)

DAYBREAK What makes the lingering Night so cling to thee?Thou vast, profound, primeval hiding-placeOf ancient secrets,-gray and ghostly gulfCleft in the green of this high forest land,And crowded in the dark with giant forms!Art thou a grave, a prison, or a … Continue reading →

The River Of Dreams (Henry Van Dyke Poems)

The river of dreams runs quietly down From its hidden home in the forest of sleep, With a measureless motion calm and deep;And my boat slips out on the current brown, In a tranquil bay where the trees incline Far over the waves, and … Continue reading →

The Angler’s Reveille (Henry Van Dyke Poems)

What time the rose of dawn is laid across the lips of night,And all the little watchman-stars have fallen asleep in light,‘Tis then a merry wind awakes, and runs from tree to tree,And borrows words from all the birds to … Continue reading →

Ode To Peace (Henry Van Dyke Poems)

IIN EXCELSISTwo dwellings, Peace, are thine. One is the mountain-height,Uplifted in the loneliness of light Beyond the realm of shadows,-fine,And far, and clear,-where advent of the nightMeans only glorious nearness of the stars,And dawn unhindered breaks above the barsThat long the lower … Continue reading →