FATHER DAMIEN By John Bannister Tabb O God, the cleanest offering Of tainted earth below, Unblemished to thy feet we bring— “A leper white as snow!” Joyce Kilmer, ed., Dreams and Images: An Anthology of Catholic Poets (Toronto: Musson Book Co., 1917), 253. NOTE: Born to an affluent Virginia family, John Bannister Tabb (1845-1909) fought [...]

The Starry Host By John Lancaster Spalding THE COUNTLESS stars, which to our human eye Are fixed and steadfast, each in proper place, Forever bound to changeless points in space, Rush with our sun and planets through the sky, And like a flock of birds still onward fly; Returning never whence began their race, They [...]

A SOUTHERN FLOWER A flower of the pale, sad South, Yet pale nor sad is she; For she blooms on a wonderful tree, That knoweth not blight nor drouth, A certain miraculous tree Our Lady has planted down South. A rose, let me call you, dear girl; A fadeless and thornless rose. So richly your [...]