Watch Hill.

Fair summer home peninsula,
    Enriched by every breeze
From fragrant islands, wafted far
    Across the sunny seas!

A profile rare! a height of land
    Outlined 'gainst heaven's blue
With bolder touch than skillful hand
    Of artist ever drew.

In "mountain billows" that parade
    The grandeur of the deep,
Is His supremacy displayed
    Whose hands the waters keep.

No sweep of waves, in broad expanse,
    With wild, weird melody,
Shall thus an unseen world enhance -
    "There shall be no more sea!"

A wealth of joy-perfected days,
    Where glorious sunset dyes,
Resplendent in declining rays,
    Surpass Italia's skies!

Proud caravansaries that compete
    In studied arts to please
The multitude, with restless feet,
    From earth's antipodes!

A motley company astray:
    The sojourner for health,
The grave, serene, the devotée
    Of fashion and of wealth.

Artistic cottages upreared
    In beauty, strength, and skill -
The happy, healthful homes endeared
    To lovers of Watch Hill!

A golden crown adorns the spot;
    Forever blessed be
The hand beneficent that wrought
    "A temple by the sea!"

A star in some bright diadem
    In glory it shall be,
For truly, "I will honor them,"
    Saith God, "who honor me."

When Christians meet to praise and pray,
    May feet that never trod
The sanctuary learn the way
    Unto the house of God.

Glad pæans down the centuries
    With joy the world shall thrill:
"The Lord, revered and honored, is
    The glory of Watch Hill!"

Hattie Howard

Hattie Howard is recognized for her significant contributions to 19th-century American poetry. Her work, characterized by its wit and lyrical quality, often explored themes of nature, love, and social issues. She had a unique voice that resonated with many of her contemporaries and continues to be appreciated for its depth and artistry.

Hattie Howard

Never Had a Chance

Hattie Howard, Simple Poetry

Syringas.

Hattie Howard, Simple Poetry

Revenge.

Hattie Howard, Simple Poetry

Honest John.

Hattie Howard, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Holiday Home.

Of all the sweet visions that come unto me
Of happy refreshment by land or by sea,
Like oases where in life's desert I roam,
Is nothing so pleasant as Holiday Home.

I climb to the top of the highest of hills
And look to the west with affectionate thrills,
And fancy I stand by the emerald side
Of charming Geneva, like Switzerland's pride.

In distant perspective unruffled it lies,
Except for the packet that paddles and plies,
And puffing its way like a pioneer makes
Its daily go-round o'er this pearl of the lakes.

Untroubled except for the urchins that come
From many a haunt that is never a home,
Instinctive as ducklings to swim and to wade,
Scarce knowing aforetime why water was made.

All placid except for the dip of the oar
Of the ...

Hattie Howard

Bushnell Park.

Sweet resting place! that long hath been
A boon Elysian 'mid the din
    Of city life, 'mid city smoke;
Where weary ones who toil and spin
Have turned aside as to an inn
    Whose swinging sign a welcome spoke;
Where misanthropes find medicine
In peals of laughter that begin
    With ancient, resurrected joke,
Or ready wit of harlequin;
Where children, free from discipline,
    Take on Diversion's easy yoke.

Fair oasis! to view aright
Its charming paths, its sloping height,
    Its beautiful and broad expanse,
Must one approach in witching night
When, like abodes of airy sprite
    Revealed unto the wondering glance,
O'erflooded with electric light
Than Luna's beams more dazzling bright,
    Illumined nooks the scene enhance;
Whi...

Hattie Howard

On Bancroft Height.

On Bancroft height Aurora's face
    Shines brighter than a star,
As stepping forth in dewy grace,
    The gates of day unbar;
And lo! the firmament, the hills,
    And the vales that intervene -
Creation's self with gladness thrills
    To greet the matin queen.

On Bancroft height the atmosphere
    Is but an endless waft
Of life's elixir, pure and clear
    As mortal ever quaffed;
And such the sweet salubrity
    Of air and altitude,
Is banished many a malady
    And suffering subdued.

On Bancroft height the sunset glow
    When day departing dies
Outrivals all that tourists know
    Of famed Italian skies;
And happy dwellers round about
    Who view the scene aright
In admiration grow devout
    And laud the Lo...

Hattie Howard

A Summer Pilgrimage

To kneel before some saintly shrine,
To breathe the health of airs divine,
Or bathe where sacred rivers flow,
The cowled and turbaned pilgrims go.
I too, a palmer, take, as they
With staff and scallop-shell, my way
To feel, from burdening cares and ills,
The strong uplifting of the hills.

The years are many since, at first,
For dreamed-of wonders all athirst,
I saw on Winnipesaukee fall
The shadow of the mountain wall.
Ah! where are they who sailed with me
The beautiful island-studded sea?
And am I he whose keen surprise
Flashed out from such unclouded eyes?

Still, when the sun of summer burns,
My longing for the hills returns;
And northward, leaving at my back
The warm vale of the Merrimac,
I go to meet the winds of morn,
...

John Greenleaf Whittier

A Bit of Gladness.

As I near my lonely cottage,
    At the close of weary day,
There's a little bit of gladness
    Comes to meet me on the way:
Dimpled, tanned, and petticoated,
    Innocent as angels are,
Like a smiling, straying sunbeam
    Is my Stella - like a star.

Soon a hand of tissue-softness
    Slips confidingly in mine,
And with tender look appealing
    Eyes of beauty sweetly shine;
Like a gentle shepherd guiding
    Some lost lamb unto the fold,
So she leads me homeward, prattling
    Till her stories are all told.

"Papa, I'm so glad to see you -
    Cousin Mabel came today -
And the gas-man brought a letter
    That he said you'd better pay -
Yes, and awful things is happened:
    My poor kitty's drowned to death -
...

Hattie Howard

The Summer House.

Midway upon the lawn it stands,
    So picturesque and pretty;
Upreared by patient artist hands,
    Admired of all the city;
The very arbor of my dream,
    A covert cool and airy,
So leaf-embowered as to seem
    The dwelling of a fairy.

It is the place to lie supine
    Within a hammock swinging,
To watch the sunset, red as wine,
    To hear the crickets singing;
And while the insect world around
    Is buzzing - by the million -
No wingèd thing above the ground
    Intrudes in this pavilion.

It is the place, at day's decline,
    To tell the old, old story
Behind the dark Madeira vine,
    Behind the morning glory;
To confiscate the rustic seat
    And barter stolen kisses,
For honey must be twice as sweet
   ...

Hattie Howard