And I watched & waited & wondered
At this people to God so near,
And I whispered the question I pondered
"What secret of life is here?"

And a voice replied to me slowly,
Like the note of the wild wood-dove,
"Here only are deeds that are holy,
For this is the realm of love"

And I harked to the voice of the ocean,
To the wind in the trees above,
And they in a hymn of devotion
Were murmuring "God is Love".

O hear! tho' temptation surround thee
Tho' thou weary of care & of trial,
In the flood of life that's around thee
May thy life be a love-ruled isle.

by E. W. Evans

Atlantic City
May 1899

Haddon Hall
Atlantic City, NJ

Oh! I dreamt that one day in the failing
Mysterioug eveing light
O'er the whispering waves I went sailing
till I lay in the arms of night.

And I came in the light of the morrow
To an isle that was passing fair,
And sinfulness, sadness & sorrow
Were unkown & unheard of there.

There weary man strove for his nieghbor,
There self was banished from thought,
And each one rejoiced in the labor
That joy to another brought.

There was nought of decent or of feigning,
Nought was there of war or of strife,
But each helped his fellow in gaining
Its higher and holier life.