Quite the ugliest face I ever saw was that of a woman whom the world called beautiful. Through its silver veil the evil and ungentle passions looked out, hideous and hateful.
John Greenleaf WhittierFor still the new transcends the old In signs and tokens manifold; Slaves rise up men; the olive waves, With roots deep set in battle graves!
John Greenleaf WhittierNature eschews regular lines; she does not shape her lines by a common model. Not one of Eve's numerous progeny in all respects resembles her who first culled the flowers of Eden. To the infinite variety and picturesque inequality of nature we owe the great charm of her uncloying beauty.
John Greenleaf WhittierNothing before, nothing behind; The steps of faith Fall on the seeming void, and find The Rock beneath.
John Greenleaf WhittierRound the boles of the pine-wood the ground-laurel creeps, Unkissed of the sunshine, unbaptized of showers, With buds scarcely swelled, which should burst into flowers!
John Greenleaf WhittierWhat moistens the lip and what brightens the eye? What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin pie?
John Greenleaf WhittierWith our sympathy for the wrongdoer we need the old Puritan and Quaker hatred of wrongdoing; with our just tolerance of men and opinions a righteous abhorrence of sin.
John Greenleaf WhittierA charmed life old goodness hath; the tares may perish, but the grain is not for death.
John Greenleaf WhittierGive lettered pomp to teeth of Time, So "Bonnie Doon" but tarry; Blot out the epic's stately rhyme, But spare his "Highland Mary!"
John Greenleaf WhittierThe age is dull and mean. Men creep, Not walk; with blood too pale and tame To pay the debt they owe to shame; Buy cheap, sell dear; eat. drink, and sleep down-pillowed, deaf to moaning want; Pay tithes for soul-insurance; keep Six days to Mammon, one to Cant
John Greenleaf WhittierFor all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'.
John Greenleaf WhittierYet, in the maddening maze of things, And tossed by storm and flood, To one fixed trust my spirit clings; I know that God is good!
John Greenleaf WhittierQuite the ugliest face I ever saw was that of a woman whom the world called beautiful. Through its silver veil the evil and ungentle passions looked out, hideous and hateful. On the other hand, there are faces which the multitude, at first glance, pronounce homely, unattractive and such as "Nature fashions by the gross," which I always recognize with a warm heart-thrill. Not for the world would I have one feature changed; they please me as they are; they are hallowed by kind memories, and are beautiful through their associations.
John Greenleaf WhittierGod is good and God is light In this faith I rest secure, Evil can but serve the right, Over all shall love endure.
John Greenleaf WhittierThrough the open door A drowsy smell of flowers -grey heliotrope And white sweet clover, and shy mignonette Comes fairly in, and silent chorus leads To the pervading symphony of Peace.
John Greenleaf WhittierSo fallen! so lost! the light withdrawn Which once he wore; The glory from his gray hairs gone For evermore!
John Greenleaf WhittierFlowers spring to blossom where she walks The careful ways of duty; Our hard, stiff lines of life with her Are flowing curves of beauty.
John Greenleaf WhittierHe is wisest, who only gives, True to himself, the best he can: Who drifting on the winds of praise, The inward monitor obeys. And with the boldness that confuses fear Takes in the crowded sail, and lets his conscience steer.
John Greenleaf WhittierI know not where His islands lift Their fronded palms in air; I only know I cannot drift Beyond His love and care.
John Greenleaf WhittierThe laws of changeless justice bind oppressor and oppressed; and, close as sin and suffering joined we march to fate abreast.
John Greenleaf WhittierIf thou of fortune be bereft, and in thy store there be but left two loaves, sell one, and with the dole, buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.
John Greenleaf WhittierIt is well for us if we have learned to listen to the sweet persuasion of the Beatitudes, but there are crises in all lives which require also the emphatic "Thou shalt not" of the decalogue which the founders wrote on the gateposts of their commonwealth.
John Greenleaf WhittierSo all night long the storm roared on: The morning broke without a sun; In tiny spherule traced with lines Of Nature’s geometric signs, In starry flake, and pellicle, All day the hoary meteor fell; And, when the second morning shone, We looked upon a world unknown, On nothing we could call our own. Around the glistening wonder bent The blue walls of the firmament, No cloud above, no earth below,— A universe of sky and snow!
John Greenleaf WhittierGod's ways seem dark, but, soon or late, They touch the shining hills of day; The evil cannot brook delay, The good can well afford to wait, Give ermined knaves their hour of crime; Yet have the future grand and great, The safe appeal of Truth to Time!
John Greenleaf WhittierGive fools their gold, and knaves their power; let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; who sows a field, or trains a flower, or plants a tree, is more than all.
John Greenleaf WhittierOur toil is sweet with thankfulness, Our burden is our boon; The curse of earth's gray morning is The blessing of its noon.
John Greenleaf WhittierA little smile, a word of cheer, A bit of love from someone near, A little gift from one held dear, Best wishes for the coming year. These make a merry christmas!
John Greenleaf Whittier