The Song of the Brook.

Oh, what would you have, you splendid sun,
    With your restless eyes of fire?
And why do you lean o'er the lilies pale?
    What more can your heart desire?

You've crimsoned the rays in the heart of the rose,
    You've drunk up the dewdrops all;
And down in the meadows your golden light
    Has gilded the daisies tall.

The thirsty flowers that grow on the hill
    Have given their lives to you;
And what do you care, you restless sun,
    As you sail through your seas of blue?

Your rays are so warm, like the glances of love,
    The lily is mad with delight;
And whispers her secret with silent joy,
    As she kisses my face in the night.

What more can you want, O eager sun?
    I've given my all to you;
I've counted my treasures and claimed them not,
    What more can I ever do?

But, eager sun, with your restless rays,
    Know this, that I love not you;
For the sun that knoweth a world of loves
    To one can never be true.

Fannie Isabelle Sherrick

Fannie Isabelle Sherrick was an American poet of the 19th century. Not much is known about her early life, but her poetry was well-regarded and she became known for her emotional and heartfelt verses. She contributed to various periodicals and was part of the literary scene of her time. Her works often focused on themes of love, nature, and the human experience. Despite her contributions, detailed biographical information about Sherrick remains sparse.

Fannie Isabelle Sherrick

Beyond.

Fannie Isabelle Sherrick, Simple Poetry

To Longfellow.

Fannie Isabelle Sherrick, Simple Poetry

Night.

Fannie Isabelle Sherrick, Simple Poetry

Easter.

Fannie Isabelle Sherrick, Simple Poetry

English

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The Queen-Rose. A Summer Idyl.

The sunlight fell with a golden gleam
    On the waves of the rippling rill;
The pansies nodded their purple heads;
    But the proud queen-rose stood still.
She loved the light and she loved the sun,
And the peaceful night when the day was done,
But the faithless sun in his careless way
Had broken her heart on that summer's day.

She had bathed her soul in his warm sweet, rays,
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But a fairer bud in the garden of love
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Sounds From The Convent.

"Come, pensive nun, devout and pure,
Sober, steadfast and demure."

            -- [Milton]


White-robed nun, I pray thee tell me
    Whatsoe'er my life shall be;
Thou of God art purely chosen,
    Ne'er can I be like to thee.

There is sunlight in the shadow
    Of the lives we live below;
There is starlight in the darkness
    Of the night of human woe.

Yet I pray thee, sweet-voiced woman,
    Tell me of thy life and thee;
Can the soul to heaven given
    Yield its secrets unto me?

Nevermore the earth shall claim thee,
    Only lilies bloom for thee;
All the world is full of beauty
    That thy eyes may never see.

On the hill the daisies springing,
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The Phantom of Love.

She stood by my side with a queenly air,
Her face it was young and proud and fair;
She held my rose in her hands of snow;
It crimsoned her face with a deeper glow;
The sunlight drooped in her eyes of fire
And quickened my heart to a wild desire;
I envied the rose in her hands so fair,
I envied the flowers that gleamed in her hair.

Ah! many a suitor I knew before
Had knelt at her feet in the days of yore;
And many a lover as foolish as I,
Had proudly boasted to win or die.
She had scorned them all with a careless grace
And a woman's scorn on her beautiful face.
Yet now in the summer I knelt at her feet,
And dreamed a dream that was fair and sweet.

The roses drooped in her gold-brown hair,
And quivered and glowed in the sun-lit air;
The jew...

Fannie Isabelle Sherrick

Sunset on the Mississippi.

O beautiful hills in the purple light,
    That shadow the western sky,
I dream of you oft in the silent night,
    As the golden days go by.

The river that flows at my longing feet
    Is tinged with a deeper glow;
But the song that it sings is as sad to-day
    As it was in the long ago.

The far-off clouds in the far-off sky
    Are tinted with gold and red;
But the lesson they tell to the hearts of men
    Is a lesson that never is said.

The star-crowned night in her sable plumes
    Is veiling the eastern sky,
And she trails her robes in the dying fires
    That far in the west do lie.

A single gem from her circlet old
    Is lost as she wanders by,
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Fannie Isabelle Sherrick

Catching the Sunbeams.

Catching the sunbeams, oh, wee dimpled child,
    Gleefully laughing because they are bright;
Knowing, ah! never, my beautiful pet,
    Ne'er can our fingers imprison the light.

Beautiful sunshine, oh! fair is the light
    Falling on earth from the heavens above;
Beautiful childhood, oh! glad is the sight
    Filling the world with its measure of love.

Playing with sunbeams, oh, all of us, pet,
    Toy with the treasures, so shining and bright;
Catching the sunshine we never may hold,
    Trying like you, to imprison the light.

Sunbeams that glitter and sparkle and shine--
    Life is so full of the beautiful light;
Gilding the wings of each fleet-footed day
    Only to fade in the shadows of night.

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Fannie Isabelle Sherrick

Life.

A dewy flower, bathed in crimson light,
May touch the soul--a pure and beauteous sight;
A golden river flashing 'neath the sun,
May reach the spot where life's dark waters run;
Yet, when the sun is gone, the splendor dies,
With drooping head the tender flower lies.
And such is life; a golden mist of light,
A tangled web that glitters in the sun;
When shadows come, the glory takes its flight,
The treads are dark and worn, and life is done.
Oh! tears, that chill us like the dews of eve,
Why come unbid--why should we ever grieve?
Why is it, though life hath its leaves of gold,
The book each day some sorrow must unfold!
What human heart with truth can dare to say
No grief is mine--this is a perfect day?
Oh! poet, take your harp of gold and sing,
And all the e...

Fannie Isabelle Sherrick