Tabb Centenary Year XV

Five quatrains by Rev. John B. Tabb.

Stars

Behold, upon the field of night,
Far-scattered seeds of golden light;
Nor one to wither, but anon
To bear the heaven-full harvest, dawn.

1894 (p. 334, Quatrains: Day and Night)

The Dawn Star

Feed me, O morning, till the ray
   That love hath kindled in the shade,
Lost in the satisfying day
   Of light’s perfection, fade.

1910 (p. 335, Quatrains: Day and Night)

The Postulant

In ashes from the wasted fires of noon,
   Aweary of the light,
Comes Evening, a tearful novice, soon
   To take the veil of night.

December 1893 (p. 332, Quatrains: Day and Night)

Twilight

Like Ruth, she follows where the reaper Day
   Lets fall the slender shadows in her way;
Then, winnowing the darkness, home again,
   She counts her golden grain.

January 1889 (p. 336, Quatrains: Day and Night)

Light

We know thee not, save that when thou art gone,
   Thy sister, beauty, follows in thy train,
Leaving the soul in exile till the dawn
   Come with the gift of franchisement again.

1897 (p. 332, Quatrains: Day and Night)

[“The Dawn Star”: the planet Venus, often called the Morning Star or Dawn Star during the periods when it is brightest just before sunrise. “The Postulant”: a postulant is a candidate for membership in a religious order. “Twilight”: this poem personifies the evening twilight according to the Old Testament story of Ruth gleaning the fields, Ruth 2:1-9; the stars of night are “her golden grain”.]

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 03/15/09 01:25:31 PM
Categorized as Father Tabb Centenary Year & Literary.