Tag: John A. Joyce

From The Washington Herald, July 19, 1913. By John A. Joyce.

In the morning of life
I was filled with ambition
To roam o’er the world
    And see sights afar;
But somehow in age
I am prone to contrition
At missing the splendors
    That shone in my star.

Many friends came around me
In moments of pleasure,
Who drank at my banquet
    And laughed at my wit.
Yet when they had found
That I lost all my treasure
They left me in sorrow
    And silence to sit.

The voice of the crowd
As it rung in my praises
Awakened a joy
    I imagined would last.
But, alas, my ambition
Lies under the daisies
And the wrecks of my glory
    Are strewn in the past!

From The Washington Herald, March 21, 1913.
 By John A. Joyce.
 

 God is near upon the ocean
     God is near upon the land;
 He is all both rest and motion;
     We are only grains of sand—
 Little mites upon life’s billow,
     May flies buzzing out the hour,
 Dreams upon a fevered pillow,
     Dew drops on a withered flower,
 Only waiting for tomorrow
     That has never come to man
 Here we live in joy and sorrow,
     Chasing phantoms as we can,
 Chasing pleasure, chasing greatness
     Over tangled walks and waves,
 But we learn the bitter lateness
     Just before we find our graves.
 Hope is nigh with fairy fingers,
     Tracing sunbeams on the way;
 Magic memory ever lingers,
     Busy with bygone day;
 Life and death are but the portals
     To a realm of endless rest,
 God is working through his mortals,
     All in some way shall be blessed!

From The Washington Herald, November 4, 1912.
By John A. Joyce.
 

 There’s a land beyond the sunset
     Where the summer never ends
 And ingratitude is absent
     Among all celestial friends
 And our earthly tribulation
     Is forgotten on that shore,
 With happiness in splendor
     And sweet rest forever more.
 
 There’s a land beyond the sunset
     Where the flowers ever bloom,
 And pure love is everlasting
     To dispel the shades of gloom,
 Where the soul is plumed with beauty
     In an atmosphere of peace,
 And greed and vicious malice
     Shall forever fade and cease.
 
 There’s a land beyond the sunset
     Where suspicion cannot go
 And hypocrisy is never known
     To entrap with nameless woe,
 And where conscience ever lingers
     As transparent as the sun
 With hope and faith forever
     When this sordid life is done.
 
 There’s a land beyond the sunset
     And as bright as morning dew,
 With immortal angels singing
     For the faithful, brave, and true,
 Who never sold their honor
     On this venal, vernal sod
 But in the silence of their soul
     Held worship for their God.
 
 There’s a land beyond the sunset
     And another land up higher
 Where the soul is ever soaring
     And infused with heavenly fire,
 Where other suns and planets
     Roll around in mystic sway
 In their brilliant evolution
     And eternal right of way.