Songs, Merry and Sad

Name: Songs, Merry and Sad
Author: John Charles McNeill

by John Charles McNeill

Pages: about 2
Category: Literature & Fiction
Language: English
Reading time: 3 min at 250 wpm

Start readingThe whole book, as cards or one word at a time. 1 min at 450 wpm in Read mode.

From the opening

God willed, who never needed speech, "Let all things be:" And, lo, the starry firmament And land and sea And his first thought of life that lives In you and me.
His circle of eternity We see in part; Our spirits are his breath, our hearts Beat from his heart; Hence we have played as little gods And called it art.
Lacking his power, we shared his dream Of perfect things; Between the tents of hope and sweet Rememberings Have sat in ashes, but our souls Went forth on wings.
Where life fell short of some desire In you and me, Feeling for beauty which our eyes Could never see, Behold, from out the void we willed That it should be,
And sometimes dreamed our lisping songs Of humanhood Might voice his silent harmony Of waste and wood, And he, beholding his and ours, Might find it good.
John Charles McNeill was born in Scotland County, near Laurinburg, North Carolina, on 26 July 1874, and died on 17 October 1907 (when he was 33 years old). He only produced this one volume before he died, though he planned a second, which was published posthumously. "Songs, Merry and Sad", first published in Charlotte in 1906, went through at least five printings over more than 60 years. (This text is taken from the very first edition.)
McNeill attended Wake Forest College, where he received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees. In 1899-1900 he taught English at Mercer University.
Some of his poems were published nationally as early as 1901. More of his poems were published by `The Charlotte Observer' starting in 1903, and in 1904 he joined its staff.
This etext was created by entering the text (manually) twice, once from the first printing (1906) and once from the second printing (no date), and comparing the two. There were some slight differences in the two printings.

A short sample. Read the whole book

Songs, Merry and Sad

From the opening

More to read