Introduction
Ardeen Foster’s poetry moves quickly between independence, faith, affection, nature and public life. The short pieces are often direct and memorable, while poems such as Rebel-Chimes show his interest in demanding fixed forms. Library records identify Foster as an American author born in 1862, and his work appeared under both “Ardeen Foster” and “Ardennes Jones-Foster.”
This page brings together the Ardeen Foster poems readers are most likely to look for: Master—Not Man, Faith, Nature, Prayer-Time, The Word That Rules the World, Longing, Good-Bye, Old Year, My Easter-Lily and Rebel-Chimes. Each selection is followed by a plain-language explanation focused on meaning, themes and technique rather than unnecessary academic padding.
Browse more writers in the Famous Poets directory, or open the Featured Poems collection for more selected poetry.
Short Poetry & Analysis
Selected Ardeen Foster Poems
Featured PoemsMaster—Not Man
Set for me no task! nor shall I do it;
Set for me no task, lest you may rue it.
’Twere born of me to have my own good way,
No master will I serve at this late day.
No master rules me, nor will I be ruled,
So set no task—to tasks I’ve not been schooled.
Work out this little problem, if you can:
’Tis very simple—master serves no man:
Unless my heart might serve a worthy friend—
For his sweet sake, I’ll go to earth’s far end.
Overview Short Summary
“Master—Not Man” presents a speaker who refuses commands and insists on personal independence. The closing lines soften that defiance: he will not serve a master, but he will freely make sacrifices for a worthy friend.
Interpretation Meaning and Main Idea
The poem distinguishes forced obedience from voluntary loyalty. Service becomes acceptable only when it grows from respect and affection. Foster’s speaker therefore values freedom, but not isolation; friendship can inspire what authority cannot demand.
Core Ideas Themes
- Independence: The speaker rejects control over his choices.
- Self-respect: He refuses to treat another person as his master.
- Friendship: Loyalty given freely can be stronger than obedience.
- Choice: The poem contrasts compulsion with willing service.
Poetic Craft Tone, Rhyme and Literary Devices
The tone is bold and argumentative before becoming warm in the final couplet. Repetition of “no task” and “no master” strengthens the refusal. The central paradox—“master serves no man”—is resolved when the speaker makes an exception for friendship. Rhyming couplets give the declaration a firm, memorable finish.
Faith
Never on Calvary the rose so red,
As on the morn the Master’s speared side bled:
He who rules to-day, in Might as meek
As in the hour the thorn-crown bruised His head.
’Twere the Ever-Life—His Triune sheen.
And on His brother-arm I gladly lean,
Clinging with all my shame-brawn—brawn so weak!
And cast my shattered self on Heaven’s Dean.
Jesus! give of Thy Holy balm to heal;
Probe deep my coward-soul, till I shall feel
Thy lancet. And to-morrow? I may seek
My Paradise and drink Salvation’s weal.
Overview Short Summary
“Faith” is a Christian devotional poem in which the speaker recalls Christ’s suffering and asks for spiritual healing. The prayer is not only for comfort; the speaker also asks to be examined deeply enough to confront weakness, shame and fear.
Interpretation Meaning and Religious Context
The poem treats faith as dependence on Christ’s mercy rather than confidence in the self. Images of wounds, balm and a lancet combine pain with healing. Salvation is imagined as a future state the speaker hopes to approach after honest spiritual correction.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Redemption: Christ’s suffering is presented as the basis of hope.
- Spiritual weakness: The speaker openly admits fear and brokenness.
- Healing: Religious grace is described through medical imagery.
- Humility: Faith begins with surrender rather than pride.
Poetic Craft Imagery, Form and Tone
The poem uses sacred images from the Crucifixion: Calvary, blood, the thorn-crown and Christ’s wounded side. “Balm” and “lancet” create a contrast between soothing mercy and painful correction. The three four-line stanzas have a prayerful, intense tone and move from Christ’s sacrifice to the speaker’s personal appeal.
Nature
I court the braes and meadow-lands serene;
My lady-slipper, cock’s-comb, phlox and dill;
And with my dogs I scale the sweet-breathed hill—
Breath sweet as of a maid of sweet sixteen.
Good-morrow, fields! I loathe the town’s demesne.
I love the hissing locust, whippoorwill,
The sneaking cat-bird’s mew, the skylark’s trill;
The fragrance of my tansy, evergreen.
Nor would surrender my sweet poppy beds,
My hen-and-chickens, china-aster bine,
My prince’s feathers with their lilac heads,
For all your town-bred roses! Give me mine—
My dew-wet marigold, the flower that weds
The incense of my honey-suckle vine.
Overview Short Summary
In “Nature,” the speaker celebrates fields, hills, birds, insects and familiar garden plants while rejecting the artificial attractions of town life. The poem values local flowers and ordinary country sounds over cultivated urban display.
Interpretation Meaning and Central Contrast
The poem is not a general catalogue of scenery. It expresses attachment to a personally known landscape. “Town-bred roses” may be polished, but the speaker prefers marigolds, poppies, honeysuckle and the mixed sounds of the countryside because they belong to his own lived environment.
Sensory Reading Nature Imagery
- Sight: Poppies, lilac flower-heads and dew-wet marigolds fill the poem with color.
- Sound: Locusts, the whippoorwill, catbird and skylark form a rural soundscape.
- Scent: Dill, tansy, evergreen and honeysuckle make fragrance central to the scene.
- Movement: The speaker and his dogs climb the hill, making the landscape active rather than distant.
Poetic Craft Sonnet Form and Literary Devices
“Nature” is a fourteen-line sonnet. Lists of plant and bird names create abundance, while personification appears when the speaker “courts” the countryside and greets the fields. The contrast between country growth and “town-bred” flowers gives the poem its argument: affection is rooted in familiarity, not prestige.
Prayer-Time
The time to pray,
Is in the crimson morn,
While dew is on the corn,
At break of day.
The time to pray,
Is in the passion-noon:
The sun has chased the moon,
And sin’s at bay.
The time to pray,
Is when the sun goes down,
And sets his saffron crown
Upon the day.
The time to pray,
Is in the soul of night,
When sin hath taken flight,
Ashamed to stay.
Overview Short Summary
“Prayer-Time” follows a complete day from dawn to noon, sunset and night. Each part of the day becomes an appropriate moment for prayer, suggesting that devotion belongs to ordinary time rather than to one special hour.
Interpretation Meaning and Moral Lesson
The repeated answer is simple: any time can be prayer-time. Morning offers renewal, noon brings intensity, sunset encourages reflection and night creates inward stillness. The poem turns the natural cycle of light into a daily spiritual rhythm.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Continuous devotion: Prayer is appropriate throughout the day.
- Nature and faith: Light, dew, sun and moon become signs that guide reflection.
- Renewal: Each changing hour offers another chance to turn toward God.
Poetic Craft Repetition, Color and Structure
Four compact quatrains repeat “The time to pray,” giving the poem the regularity of a devotional refrain. Crimson morning and saffron sunset provide strong color imagery. Personification appears when the sun wears a crown and sin retreats in shame. The clear sequence makes the poem easy to remember and read aloud.
The Word That Rules the World
The sweetest story ever told,
Was given when the world was young,
And hearts were made to have and hold,
And songs of chivalry were sung.
It rules the maid, it rules the man,
It is the tyrant of the heart,
The King of hearts of tribe and clan,
And finds the way through Cupid’s dart.
And though it is a little word,
And soft as cooing of the dove,
It is the sweetest message heard:
The word that rules the world is Love.
Overview Short Summary
“The Word That Rules the World” withholds its key word until the last line. The speaker describes a force that governs people, enters the heart and survives across societies before finally naming it as love.
Interpretation Meaning and Main Idea
The poem argues that love is powerful precisely because it works through feeling rather than physical authority. It is called a tyrant and king, yet its sound is compared with the gentle cooing of a dove. Power and tenderness therefore exist together.
Core Ideas Themes
- Universal love: Love reaches people across “tribe and clan.”
- Emotional power: The heart is ruled more strongly by feeling than command.
- Romance and tradition: Chivalry and Cupid connect love with older romantic storytelling.
- Simplicity: A small word carries an enormous meaning.
Poetic Craft Rhyme, Symbolism and Tone
The poem uses three rhyming quatrains and delays the final answer, creating a small verbal riddle. Cupid’s dart symbolizes sudden romantic attraction, while the dove suggests gentleness and peace. The tone is celebratory and confident.
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