John B. Tabb Quotes & Sayings

A flash of harmless lightning,
A mist of rainbow dyes.
The burnished sunbeams brightening
From flower to flower he flies;
While wakes the nodding blossom
But just too late to see
What lip hath touched her bosom
And drained her rosary. — John B. Tabb

Out of the dusk a shadow, Then a spark; Out of the cloud a silence, Then a lark; Out of the heart a rapture, Then a pain; Out of the dead, cold ashes, Life again. — John B. Tabb

And pray, who are you?"
Said the Violet blue
To the Bee, with surprise,
At his wonderful size,
In her eyeglass of dew.
"I, madam," quoth he,
"Am a publican Bee,
Collecting the tax
Of honey and wax.
Have you nothing for me? — John B. Tabb

Hush! With sudden gush As from a fountain sings in yonder bush The Hermit Thrush. — John B. Tabb

Why should I stay? Nor seed nor fruit have I,But, sprung at once to beauty's perfect round,Nor loss nor gain nor change in me is found,-A life-complete in death-complete to die. — John B. Tabb

Are ye the ghosts of fallen leaves,
O flakes of snow,
For which, through naked trees, the winds
A-mourning go? — John B. Tabb

In every seed to breathe a flower, In every drop of dew To reverence a cloister star Within the distant blue; To wait the promise of the how, Despite the cloud between, Is Faith-the fervid evidence Of loneliness unseen. — John B. Tabb

Make me, dear Lord, polite and kind,
To everyone, I pray.
And may I ask you how you find
Yourself, dear Lord, today? — John B. Tabb

Alas! dear Joy, the merriest, is dead. But I have wed Peace ; and our babe, a boy, New-born, is Joy. — John B. Tabb