The Lost Poems of Reverend William Haughton
Backstory
When I turned 19, my grandparents’ present to me was a book of poems by my many-times-great grandfather, William Haughton. This book, titled Sylvicola: Or, Songs from the Backwoods, was published in 1878, one hundred years before I was born.
When my grandparents moved from their house to an assisted living facility, I received many of the documents of family history, including photo albums over a century old, scrapbooks, and family letters, as well as old chests and boxes that nobody had opened in many years. In one of these chests, beneath packets of lecture notes from my great grandfather, who taught in Wisconsin, I found two books full of handwritten poems.
The first book, titled Wayside Gatherings, by Sylvicola (William Haughton), made its way up from the basement and onto my desk, where I started transcribing the 300+ pages of poems found within.
Read the Poems
Though rhyming poetry seems to have gone out of style in the 100+ years since these poems were written, they still hold up well. And, as I am not currently seeking a publisher for these poems, I thought it best to share them via the Internet. Once I have a decent scanner, I will also be sharing photos of the poet and his family, along with his extensive collections of clippings.
So feel free to read through the poems I’ve transcribed below and let me know if you have a favorite. Note that every once in a while I had trouble reading the manuscript, so I included brackets to indicate places where I wasn’t certain of the wording. I will continue to transcribe poems from this and the other journal as I find the time to do it.
Table of Contents
- Dedication
- Introduction
- Angel of the Dawn Arise
- When the Buds are Swelling
- The Fairies
- My Little Friend
- Shadows
- The Parting
Dedication
To Margaret
The devoted wife and
Faithful Companion of
More than fifty years
These poems are dedicated
By the Author
If I go home before thee
If God wills
I’ll be [watching] o’er thee
Through life’s ills
And if I stay behind thee
Then I’ll wait
Knowing I shall find thee
At life’s gate
Oh! The happy meeting
And the joyous greeting
Soon or late
Nov 17, 1901
Introduction
When but a child, by Elba’s stream
I lingered oft to muse and dream, —
And strange sweet voices came and went
That filled my soul with wonderment,
And from a lute of unseen strings
I heard unutterable things
The wild birds sang their songs to me;
The green leaves touched me tenderly;
Sweet echoes dropped by brook and dell
To lure me, for I loved them well—
From all but nature’s heart exiled
Yet never lonely, though a child.
So boyhood passed— [In later] years
I culled in joy, but oft in tears
These simple blooms that form a part
Of life, for they lie near my heart, —
And now a friend where e’er you be
I offer them with love to thee.
Oh! life hath many a minor tone
Of grief that weeps, but weeps alone,
And many a flower unseen of men
Is hidden in the lonely glen, —
And only hearts when listening low
The story of their lives may know.
Angel of the Dawn Arise
Angel of the dawn arise;
Set the golden gates ajar;
Fling thy banner to the skies;
‘Till it pales the morning star;
Flood the mountain tops with light;
Bid the valley’s gloom depart;
Wrap thy mantle round the night;
Warm her on thy glowing heart, —
Kiss the [stardrift] from her face;
Bear her hence o’er lake and lawn;
Hold her in thy soft embrace,
‘Till she blushes to the dawn.
Long the western star hath set;
Long the silent songbirds sleep,
And the shadows linger yet
Over Huron’s dusky sleep.
Spirit of the dawn awake—
From the hills I watched for thee, —
Send thy laughter o’er the lake,
Drop thy gold upon the lea.
Myriad dews on branch and thorn
Wait to sparkle for thine eyes, —
Wake, O spirit of the morn,
Angel of the dawn arise!
When the Buds are Swelling
When the buds are swelling,
And the days grow long;
When the woods are welling
With the tide of song;
When the golden kisses
Of the sunbeams wake
Life in myriad blisses
Over lawn and lake;
When the frost still lingers
By the shadowy stream
Touched by rosy fingers
Melts, as melts a dream; —
Where the sunlight falleth
And the winds are free,
O my heart! God calleth
In His love to thee.
Wake and breathe O blossom!
Sunbeams round thee rest, —
Take them to thy bosom,
They and love’s bequest.
Sing O bird in gladness!
While the skies are fair,
Life has lost its sadness—
Love is everywhere.
The Fairies
They dance and gambol on the green, —
They flit from place to place, —
And circling around their fairy green,
They bend with elfin grace—
I hear their laughter as I pass,
Like tinkling silver bells, —
It ripples through the waving grass,
And echoes down the dells.
When twilight dims the purple hue
Of summer’s parting day
I watch them bathing in the dew
Shed by the fountain’s spray—
Through clustering vines they shyly peep
And chatter merrily—
Oh! could I catch some elf asleep
I’d bear him home with me.
I’d buy for him a crimson vest
And plume of cygnet down,
And if he granted my request
I’d weave for him a crown—
The fairy queen should be his bride—
How could she [bide] his spell, —
And at some sylvan altar side
We’d have them married well.
Ah! lady queen so sweet and fair
Come touch me as I dream,
And make my “castles in the air”
As real as they seem—
I see her when the moonbeam tips
Yon bank with silvery light—
She lifts her fingers to her lips
And kisses me goodnight.
My Little Friend
Her mouth was made for winsome smiles;
Her eyes for tender glances,
Dark as the dusk of wooded aisles
When love the gloom entrances.
Ah! Never rose at deep’ning dawn
With pearly dewdrops laden,
Nor fabled fay by woodland lawn,
Nor poets’ dream of Aiden
Was fairer than our gentle maid—
Half child, half woman blending, —
A lily loved by sun and shade,
A rose of God’s own tending.
I hear her rippling laughter now,
I see her golden tresses
Wind tossed upon her sunny brow
Flushed with the noon’s caresses.
The birdlings peep from yonder nest;
The violets from the grasses,
And daisies that her feet have pressed
Caress them as she passes.
The robin swells his burnished throat
To hail her as she’s nearing;
The throstle pours his happiest note [A throstle is a song thrush. – ed]
To welcome her appearing.
My little friend, so fond, so fair,
Our heart of hears possessing,
I bend to kiss thy shining hair
And breathe my joy in blessing.
Shadows
Back from the bridal, hand in hand
They went their happy way, —
Life’s journey seemed a golden strand
And life a summer day.
O dream! Of all sweet dreams most sweet—
O love! So far and fond—
It scattered pearls about their feet
And gemmed the depths beyond.
There’s joy beside the cottage hearth,
And laughter sweet and low, —
But sometimes mingling with its mirth
The shadows come and go.
They bend about a baby brow;
With hush of heart they see
A cherished life is passing now,
The first-born child was she.
I see them once again—their hands
United as of yore,
But loved ones sleep in distant lands
Whose lips they’ll press no more
‘Till open wide the pearly gate,
And weak and worn are they,
But silently they watch and wait
The breaking of the day.
And this is life!—A radiant morn;
A noon of toil and tears—
The rose, but near it still the thorn;
The weight of burdened years—
And then the lonely watch beside
The sad and silent stream
That bears us down its [?] tide—
A shadow and a dream.
The Parting
Why should my heart be sad tonight,
And mournful thoughts return to tell
That shadow dims the sweet home light,
When all is well! —
Still lingering, with my hand in thine,
And breathing for thy peace a prayer—
O love! No dream of heave is mine
But thou art there!
‘Tis sad to leave thee—love that clings
To life, for thy dear sake, is strong,
This balm, at least, our parting brings,
It won’t be long.
The stars are kindled for the gloom, —
Pale watchers through the lonely night,
So down upon the darkened doom
Love sheds some light.
And God will guard thee till we meet
Wherever they sad steps may roam—
He notes the fall of weary feet,
And guides them home.
O love! It seems but yesterday
You wooed me, won me, took my hand
And led me through dim aisles away
In summer land.
And now I only ask to lean
My weary heart a while on thine
Ere yet the shadow falls between
My life and thine!
