Document · book

The King's Missive, and Other Poems

John Greenleaf Whittier, 1881. Held because it prints The King's Missive three years before the collection this archive's own telling was lifted from.

Document

Type

book

Author

John Greenleaf Whittier

Publisher

Boston : Houghton, Mifflin and company

Published, as stated

1881

Language

en

Media type

text/plain; charset=utf-8

Size

58431 bytes

Preservation

preserved

Digest (SHA-256)

040a260340d2605e96a9b81139a34733ce9aa9112f80f1494d17c9fe0f00d3e8

Text

Extracted text, as held. Quoted without alteration.

• r- ft x E L e Y LIBRARY UN i 'ERSITY OF CALIFORNIA THE KING'S MISSIVE, AND OTHER POEMS. . -.,/" THE KING'S MISSIVE, AND OTHER POEMS. BY JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. BOSTON: HOUGHTON, MIFFLTN AND COMPANY, ftrcs'*, 1881. LOAN STACK Copyright, 1881, BY JOHN GREENLEAF WIIITTIER. All rights reserved. The Riverside Press, Cambridge: Electrotyped and Printed by II. 0. Iloughton & Co. CONTENTS. Tim PRELUDE 7 THE KING'S MISSIVE ST. MARTIN'S SUMMER 18 THE DEAD FEAST OF THE KOL-FOLK THE LOST OCCASION 28 THE EMANCIPATION GROUP 33 THE JUBILEE SINGERS 35 WITHIN THE GATE 37 THE KHAN'S DEVIL ABRAM MORRISON 47 VOYAGE or THE JHTTIE BAYARD TAYLOR . 55 OUR AUTOCRAT GARRISON 6G 69 :V NAME 73 THE MINISTER'S DAUGHTER 77 637 vi CONTENTS. MY TRUST ......... 83 TRAILING ARBUTUS .86 BY THEIR WORKS ........ 88 THE WORD 89 THE BOOK 90 REQUIREMENT 91 HELP 92 UTTERANCE 93 INSCRIPTIONS. ON A SUN-DIAL 95 ON A FOUNTAIN 95 ORIENTAL MAXIMS. THE INWARD JUDGE 97 LAYING UP TREASURE 98 CONDUCT 99 NOTES 100 THE PRELUDE. I SPEEAD a scanty board too late ; The old-time guests for whom I wait Come few and slow, me thinks, to-day. Ah! who could hear- my messages Across the dim unsounded seas On which so many have sailed away ! Come, then, old friends, who linger yet, And let us meet, as we have met, Once more beneath this low sunshine ; And grateful for the good we 've known, The riddles solved, the ills outgrown, Shake hands upon the border-line. 8 THE PRELUDE. The favor, asked too oft before, From your indulgent ears, once more I crave, and, if belated lays To slower, feebler measures move, The silent sympathy of love To me is dearer now than praise. And ye, O younger friends, for whom My hearth and heart keep open room, Come smiling through the shadows long, Be with me while the sun goes down, And with your cheerful voices drown The minor of my even-song. For, equal through the day and night, The wise Eternal oversight And love and power and righteous will Remain : the law of destiny The best for each and all must be, And life its promise shall fulfil. THE KING'S MISSIVE.1 1661. UNDER the great hill sloping bare To cove and meadow and Common lot, In his council chamber and oaken chair, Sat the worshipful Governor Endicotfc. A grave, strong man, who knew no peer In the pilgrim land, where he ruled in feai% Of God, not man, and for good or ill Held his trust with an iron will. He had shorn with his sword the cross from out The flag, and cloven the May-pole down, i See Note. 10 THE KING'S MISSIVE. Harried the heathen round about, And whipped the Quakers from town to town. Earnest and honest, a man at need To burn like a torch for his own harsh creed, He kept with the flaming brand of his zeal The gate of the holy common weal. His brow was clouded, his eye was stern, With a look of mingled sorrow and wrath ; " Woe 's me ! " he murmured : " at every turn The pestilent Quakers are in my path! Some we have scourged, and banished some, Some hanged, more doomed, and still they come, Fast as the tide of yon bay sets in, Sowing their heresy's seed of sin. " Did we count on this ? Did we leave behind The graves of our kin, the comfort and ease THE KING'S MISSIVE. 11 Of our English hearths and homes, to find Troublers of Israel such as these? Shall I spar

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Identity

Identifier

urn:lemay:boston:document:the-king-s-missive-and-other-poems

Canonical URL

https://boston.fyi/document/the-king-s-missive-and-other-poems

As JSON

https://boston.fyi/document/the-king-s-missive-and-other-poems.json

Version

1 · last changed 5 September 2026