Christian Melville

’Tis beautiful to see the holy might Of a strong spirit, dedicate to God, ’Tis beautiful to mark the uplifted light, In vigorous hands pointing the heavenward road, Continuing s...

The sun had set upon the last evening of a cold and bleak December, and from the frosty sky, a few stars looked down upon the crowded streets of one of the largest towns in Engl...

It is New Year’s Eve. There is no twilight now in Mr. Melville’s cheery parlour, the light is glimmering in the polished furniture, leaping and dancing in the merry eyes that su...

Kind messages, that pass from land to land; Kind letters, that betray the heart’s deep history, In which we feel the pressure of a hand-- One touch of fire,--and all the rest is...

That there is not a God, the fool Doth in his heart conclude: They are corrupt, their works are vile; Not one of them doth good. * * * * * There feared they much; for God is wit...

A few weeks have passed away since that terrible night, and we are again in Christian Melville’s quiet home. It is on the eve of the new year, but how different is the appearanc...

Then followed that beautiful season, Called by the pious Acadian peasants the summer of All Saints! Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape Lay as...

Maiden! with the meek brown eyes, In whose orb a shadow lies, Like the dusk in evening skies! * * * * * O, thou child of many prayers! Life hath quicksands--Life hath snares! Ca...

_Benedict_. Pray thee, sweet Mistress Margaret, deserve well at my hands by helping me to the speech of Beatrice. * * * * * Sweet Beatrice, wouldst thou come when I called thee?...

_York._ I’ll not be by, the while; My Liege, farewell; What will ensue hereof, there’s none can tell; But by bad courses may be understood That these events can never fall out g...

If I may trust the flattering eye of sleep, My dreams presage some joyful news at hand; My bosom’s lord sits lightly in his throne; And, all this day, an unaccustom’d spirit Lif...

The day wore away, and now the evening darkened fast, and old Ailie’s beaming face, illuminated by the lights she carries, interrupts brother and sister, again seated in the che...

They thicken on our path, These silent witness years; A solemn tenantry, that still land hath Wherein were spent our bygone smiles and tears; Graven on their secret tablets sile...

Men rail upon the Change! * * * * * But think they as they speak? Thou softener of earth’s pain, Oh Change! sweet gift of the Infinite to the weak, We hail alike thy sunshine an...

Hope the befriending, Does what she can, for she points evermore up to heaven, and faithful Plunges her anchor’s peak in the depths of the grave, and beneath it Paints a more be...