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    The Ballad of the Quest
    The Ballad of the Quest
    The Ballad of the Quest
    Ebook80 pages36 minutes

    The Ballad of the Quest

    By Virna Sheard

    ()

    Read preview
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 26, 2013
    The Ballad of the Quest

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      Book preview

      The Ballad of the Quest - Virna Sheard

      The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ballad of the Quest, by Virna Sheard

      This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

      almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

      re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

      with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

      Title: The Ballad of the Quest

      Author: Virna Sheard

      Release Date: July 4, 2011 [EBook #36617]

      Language: English

      *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BALLAD OF THE QUEST ***

      Produced by Al Haines

      The

      Ballad

      of

      The Quest

      by

      Virna Sheard

      McClelland & Stewart, Ltd.,

      Publishers

      Toronto

      Copyright 1922 by

      THE JAMES A. McCANN COMPANY

      All Rights Reserved

      PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.

      To the sweet memory

      of my Mother

      ACKNOWLEDGMENT

      We acknowledge with thanks the kindness of Messrs. J. M. Dent & Sons, London, England, for permitting us to use the poems published by them in The Miracle; also we thank the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire for permission to use those poems brought out by them in Carry On.

      CONTENTS

      The Ballad of the Quest

      A Song of Poppies

      The Shepherd Wind

      In Solitude

      The Slumber Angel

      At Midnight

      Dreams

      A Southern Lullaby

      When Jonquils Blow

      Lament

      The Sea

      The Cry

      The Bridge of Dreams

      The Shells

      Requiem

      The Crosses

      The Lonely Road

      To One Who Sleeps

      April Again!

      Histories

      Fireflies

      The Vanished

      Pathfinders

      The Call

      Before the Dawn

      The Fairy Clock

      The Temple

      The Whistler

      March

      On Silver Nights

      The Birth-Right

      A Love Song

      A Song

      The Night of all Saints

      In the Last Year

      Ships

      June

      October Goes

      The Lily-Pond

      THE BALLAD OF THE QUEST

      Some day, I said, "before Life is over,

      I will shut my house door, and will be a rover."

      Under the sky where the great stars roll,

      I will search for my faith, and search for my soul.

      I have fared without them this many a day

      Through the market-place of the world's high-way.

      The truth I gave in exchange for a lie,

      And I bartered my dreams to a passer-by.

      I have met Delilah,—her enchantments I know

      As the man of strength knew them ages ago.

      Fool's gold and fool's joy have been my reaping,

      And my heart has nothing that's worth the keeping.

      But the world is wide and the world is free,

      And the things I have lost may come back to me.

      I will follow the path of the bird that flies,

      And look for a woman with honest eyes.

      If I travel hard, and travel alone,

      I may overtake Peace, and make it my own.

      Only the Sun and the Moon's sweet light

      Shall mark my day, or measure my night.

      Silks and satins and embroidered things,

      I'll exchange for blossoms and butter-flies' wings.

      And under a thorn-hedge I will dine

      On a handful of berries, as red

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