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Huggins. - </title> - - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - -<style type="text/css"> - -a { - text-decoration: none; -} - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -h1,h2,h3,h4 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -hr { - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - clear: both; - width: 65%; - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; -} - -p { - margin-top: 0.5em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: 0.5em; - text-indent: 1em; -} - -table { - margin: 1em auto 1em auto; - max-width: 30em; - border-collapse: collapse; -} - -td { - padding-left: 2.25em; - padding-right: 0.25em; - vertical-align: top; - text-indent: -2em; -} - -td.sub1 { - padding-left: 3.75em; -} - -td.sub2 { - padding-left: 5em; -} - -.center { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.clear { - clear: both; -} - -.footnotes { - margin-top: 1em; - border: dashed 1px; -} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.footnote { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - font-size: 0.9em; -} - -.footnote .label { - position: absolute; - right: 84%; - text-align: right; -} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: .8em; - text-decoration: none; -} - -.gothic { - font-family: 'Old English Text MT', Old English, serif; -} - -.larger { - font-size: 150%; -} - -.on-left { - float: left; - clear: left; - padding: 0; - text-align: center; -} - -.on-right { - float: right; - clear: right; - padding: 0; - text-align: center; -} - -.pagenum { - position: absolute; - right: 4%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; -} - -.poetry-container { - text-align: center; - margin: 1em; -} - -.poetry { - display: inline-block; - text-align: left; -} - -.poetry .stanza { - margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; -} - -.poetry .verse { - text-indent: -3em; - padding-left: 3em; -} - -.poetry .indent1 { - text-indent: -2em; -} - -.poetry .indent2 { - text-indent: -1em; -} - -.poetry .indent3 { - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.poetry .indent4 { - text-indent: 1em; -} - -.poetry .indent13 { - text-indent: 10em; -} - -.right { - text-align: right; -} - -.smaller { - font-size: 80%; -} - -.smcap { - font-variant: small-caps; - font-style: normal; -} - -.starbreak { - letter-spacing: 2em; -} - -.subheading { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - font-weight: bold; -} - -.tdr { - text-align: right; - vertical-align: bottom; -} - -.titlepage { - text-align: center; - margin-top: 3em; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.transnote { - background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - text-align: center; - font-size: smaller; - padding: 0.5em; -} - -@media handheld { - -img { - max-width: 100%; - width: auto; - height: auto; -} - -.poetry { - display: block; - margin-left: 1.5em; -} -} - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Winona, A Dakota Legend, by Eli L. Huggins - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Winona, A Dakota Legend - And Other Poems - -Author: Eli L. Huggins - -Release Date: August 9, 2017 [EBook #55303] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WINONA, A DAKOTA LEGEND *** - - - - -Produced by Emmy, MFR, K Nordquist and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="500" height="514" alt="Cover image" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> - -<p class="titlepage larger"><i>WINONA</i><br /> -<br /> -<i>A DAKOTA LEGEND</i></p> - -<p class="titlepage"><i>AND OTHER POEMS</i></p> - -<p class="titlepage"><i><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -CAPTAIN E. L. HUGGINS<br /> -<span class="smaller">2d Cavalry U. S. Army</span></i></p> - -<p class="titlepage">G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 23em;"> - -<div class="on-left"> - -<p class="center smaller">NEW YORK<br /> -27 West Twenty-third St.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="on-right"> - -<p class="center smaller">LONDON<br /> -27 King William St., Strand</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<p class="center clear"><span class="gothic">Knickerbocker Press</span><br /> -1890</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1890</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -ELI L. HUGGINS.</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="gothic">The Knickerbocker Press, New York</span><br /> -Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by<br /> -G. P. Putnam’s Sons</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> - -<p class="transnote">Transcriber’s Note: Incorrect page numbering in the original has been amended here.</p> - -<table summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdr smaller">PAGE</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Winona, A Dakota Legend.</span></td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Proem.</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#PROEM">3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Part I.</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#PART_I">9</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Part II.</span> </td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#PART_II">20</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Part III.</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#PART_III">33</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Miscellaneous Poems.</span></td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">To a Young Man</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_A_YOUNG_MAN">43</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Tell me, Dear Bird</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TELL_ME_DEAR_BIRD">45</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Perdita</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#PERDITA">47</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Stanzas to ⸺</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#STANZAS_TO_BLANK">52</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Love’s Tribute</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#LOVES_TRIBUTES">55</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Little Shepherdess.—Pastorelle</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_LITTLE_SHEPHERDESS">57</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">A Farewell</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#A_FAREWELL">58</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">To a Fickle Fair One</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_A_FICKLE_FAIR_ONE">59</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">To the Same</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_THE_SAME_1">59</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Palace of Repose</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_PALACE_OF_REPOSE">60</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Moods</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#MOODS">63</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">To ⸺</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_BLANK_1">74</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">To ⸺</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_BLANK_2">76</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">To The Same</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_THE_SAME_2">76</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">To the Same</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_THE_SAME_3">76</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span><span class="smcap">Translations and Imitations.</span></td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">If My Verses Had Wings Like a Bird.—Hugo</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#IF_MY_VERSES_HAD_WINGS_LIKE_A_BIRD">79</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">’Twixt Sleep and Waking.—Prosper Blanchemain</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TWIXT_SLEEP_AND_WAKING">80</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">White Swan Sailing.—From the Russian</span>,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#WHITE_SWAN_SAILING">81</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Roses of Saadi.—Desbordes-Valmore</span>,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_ROSES_OF_SAADI">84</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Rose-Buds.—Béranger</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ROSE-BUDS">85</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Bird I Wait for.—Moreau</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BIRD_I_WAIT_FOR">87</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Visions.—De Musset</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#VISIONS">89</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Fisherman’s Bridal.—Delavigne</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FISHERMANS_BRIDAL">92</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">You Had My Whole Heart.—Desbordes-Valmore</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#YOU_HAD_MY_WHOLE_HEART">95</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Art.—Théophile Gautier</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ART">97</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Barcarolle.—Théophile Gautier</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#BARCAROLLE">100</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Shadows.—Théophile Gautier</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#SHADOWS">103</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Sonnet: Ou Vont Ils?—Sully Prudhomme</span>,</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#SONNET_OU_VONT_ILS">113</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Gay Cashier.—Adapted from the French</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_GAY_CASHIER">114</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Ravages of Time.—Scarron</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_RAVAGES_OF_TIME">115</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Hallucination.—From the French.</span></td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">I.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#HALLUCINATION_I">116</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">II.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#HALLUCINATION_II">117</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">III.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#HALLUCINATION_III">117</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">IV. <span class="smcap">In The Grove</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#HALLUCINATION_IV">118</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">To My Critics.—De Musset</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_MY_CRITICS">119</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Youth and the Old Man.—Florian</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_YOUTH_AND_THE_OLD_MAN">121</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span><span class="smcap">The Cathedral Bell and Its Rival.—Iriarte</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_CATHEDRAL_BELL_AND_ITS_RIVAL">123</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Blue Eyes and Black Eyes.</span>—<span class="smcap">Imitated from Andalusian Coplas.</span></td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">I.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#EYES_I">125</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">II.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#EYES_II">126</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Complaint to the Virgin.—From a Cuban Poetess</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#COMPLAINT_TO_THE_VIRGIN">128</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Crucifixion. Old French Sonnet</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_CRUCIFIXION">132</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">From The Spanish</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#FROM_THE_SPANISH">133</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Book of Life.—Lamartine</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BOOK_OF_LIFE">134</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Memorial Day and Other Poems. Dedicated to the G. A. R.</span></td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Twenty Years Ago. Written for Memorial Day, 1885</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TWENTY_YEARS_AGO">137</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ABRAHAM_LINCOLN">141</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Prisoner’s Dream</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_PRISONERS_DREAM">142</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">How Oft a Sentry Sad and Lone</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#HOW_OFT_A_SENTRY_SAD_AND_LONE">143</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">From Coplas of an Andalusian Soldier</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#FROM_COPLAS_OF_AN_ANDALUSIAN">144</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">From the Same</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#FROM_THE_SAME">145</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Glory of a Spanish Dragoon.—From the Same</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_GLORY_OF_A_SPANISH_DRAGOON">146</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Written for a Reunion of Veterans in the Year 1915</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#WRITTEN_FOR_A_REUNION_OF_VETERANS">148</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Twenty-five Sonnets.</span></td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">To ⸺</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_BLANK_3">153</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Poesy</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#POESY">154</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Rose</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_ROSE">155</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">To a Fair Santa Barbaran</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_A_FAIR_SANTA_BARBARAN">156</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">La Diva</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#LA_DIVA">157</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span><span class="smcap">To a Happy Lover</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_A_HAPPY_LOVER">158</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Metempsychosis.</span></td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">I.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#METEMPSYCHOSIS_I">159</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">II.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#METEMPSYCHOSIS_I">159</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Three Sonnets in Memoriam.</span></td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">I. <span class="smcap">Despair—The Abyss</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#SONNET_IN_MEMORIAM_I">161</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">II. <span class="smcap">Questioning</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#SONNET_IN_MEMORIAM_II">161</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">III. <span class="smcap">Consolation</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#SONNET_IN_MEMORIAM_III">162</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">In Memory of D. G. R.</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#IN_MEMORY_OF_D_G_R">163</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">In Memory of John Brown of Ossawattomie. Inscribed to John J. Ingalls.</span></td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">I.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#IN_MEMORY_OF_JOHN_BROWN_I">164</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">II.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#IN_MEMORY_OF_JOHN_BROWN_II">165</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub2">III.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#IN_MEMORY_OF_JOHN_BROWN_II">165</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Our Lost Ones</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#OUR_LOST_ONES">167</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Ocean of the Past</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_OCEAN_OF_THE_PAST">168</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Evil Days</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#EVIL_DAYS">169</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Envy and Slander. To N. N. M.</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ENVY_AND_SLANDER">170</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">True Freedom. To J. F. F.</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TRUE_FREEDOM">171</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">“Society”</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#SOCIETY">172</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Stagnant Pool</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_STAGNANT_POOL">173</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">The Man with the Muck Rake</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_MAN_WITH_THE_MUCK-RAKE">174</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">Immortality</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#IMMORTALITY">175</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="sub1"><span class="smcap">To a Young Artist</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#TO_A_YOUNG_ARTIST">176</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<h1>WINONA: A DAKOTA LEGEND</h1> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="WINONA_A_DAKOTA_LEGEND">WINONA: A DAKOTA LEGEND.</h2> - -<h3 id="PROEM">PROEM.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">How changed, fair Minnetonka, is thy face</div> -<div class="verse">Since first I saw thee in thy pristine grace.</div> -<div class="verse">Electric lights fantastically glow,</div> -<div class="verse">Swarming like fire-flies on the shores where long,</div> -<div class="verse">Through countless summer nights a vanished throng,</div> -<div class="verse">Only the Indian camp-fire flickered low.</div> -<div class="verse">The odor of the baleful cigarette</div> -<div class="verse">Assails us now, where the mild calumet</div> -<div class="verse">Around the circle like a censer swung.</div> -<div class="verse">The notes of Strauss intoxicate the air,</div> -<div class="verse">And dainty feet in cadence twinkle there,</div> -<div class="verse">Where in rude strains the warriors’ deeds were sung,</div> -<div class="verse">And where the Indian lover’s plaintive flute</div> -<div class="verse">Lured to the trysting-place the dusky maid.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Discreetly hidden in the sylvan shade,</div> -<div class="verse">The Anglomaniac comes to press his suit,</div> -<div class="verse">And Patrick, too, out for a holiday,</div> -<div class="verse">Strolls with his Bridget here <i>en dimanché</i>,</div> -<div class="verse">And softly whispers in his charmer’s ear</div> -<div class="verse">The same old tale, to lovers ever dear.</div> -<div class="verse">The rustling leaves, the waves, the mating bird,</div> -<div class="verse">Sing the same songs the Indian maiden heard.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Save a few stately names, the vanished race</div> -<div class="verse">Whose dust we daily trample leave no trace</div> -<div class="verse">Or monument. None who that race have known</div> -<div class="verse">Ere poisoned by the vices of our own,</div> -<div class="verse">Deem it ignoble; but the white man’s breath,</div> -<div class="verse">To him a besom of consuming death,</div> -<div class="verse">Sweeps him like ashes from his natal hearth,</div> -<div class="verse">E’en as one day some race of stronger birth</div> -<div class="verse">Will sweep our children’s children from the earth.</div> -<div class="verse">More noxious than the fabled upas tree,</div> -<div class="verse">We blight his virtues first, and then with scorn</div> -<div class="verse">Repel the hands extended once to save</div> -<div class="verse">Our exiled fathers, fleeing o’er the wave.</div> -<div class="verse">Yet in his deepest fall, the warrior, born</div> -<div class="verse">Of warrior lineage fetterless and free,</div> -<div class="verse">Retains unquenched in his unyielding soul</div> -<div class="verse">A secret flame in spite of all control.</div> -<div class="verse">He brooks no slavish, ignominious toil,</div> -<div class="verse">By scourger driven to till the white man’s soil.</div> -<div class="verse">Chained in Plutonian caverns far from day,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -<div class="verse">His spirit swiftly chafes its bars away;</div> -<div class="verse">Or by his own impatient hand released,</div> -<div class="verse">With rapture bounds as to a marriage feast.</div> -<div class="verse">Wealth, pomp, and power ne’er his soul affect;</div> -<div class="verse">Still unabashed he stands, unmoved, erect,</div> -<div class="verse">His blanket draped, albeit not too clean,</div> -<div class="verse">About him with a Roman consul’s mien,</div> -<div class="verse">And in the white light of a throne his eye</div> -<div class="verse">Would meet, nor quail, the eye of majesty.</div> -<div class="verse">His own war-eagle to the sun that soared,</div> -<div class="verse">Gave back with eye undimmed its fiery glare,</div> -<div class="verse">And sported with the speaking lightnings where</div> -<div class="verse">The Thunder-Birds<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> along the tempest roared;</div> -<div class="verse">Or swept the plain, but saw no Indian slave</div> -<div class="verse">From the Pacific to Atlantic wave.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Fair Minnetonka, thou art changed, and yet</div> -<div class="verse">I know not if ’twere matter for regret.</div> -<div class="verse">Thou wast a maid untried, with yielding heart,</div> -<div class="verse">With flowing hair, and ample sheltering arms,</div> -<div class="verse">And unabashed contours, whose rosy charms</div> -<div class="verse">Were all untrammelled by the hand of art,</div> -<div class="verse">And eyes of dreamy mystery, wherein</div> -<div class="verse">E’en then thy triumphs dimly were foreseen;</div> -<div class="verse">A worldly-wise and queenly woman now,</div> -<div class="verse">Adorned with spoil of many victories,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -<div class="verse">And flush of further conquest on thy brow;</div> -<div class="verse">Jewels cannot thy native charms enhance,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor can thy robes, too tightly laced perchance,</div> -<div class="verse">The matchless beauty of thy form disguise.</div> -<div class="verse">Through every change, by every tongue confessed,</div> -<div class="verse">Peerless amid thy sisters East or West;</div> -<div class="verse">Like her of whom the master-singer wrote,</div> -<div class="verse">“Age cannot wither her nor custom stale</div> -<div class="verse">Her infinite variety.”</div> -<div class="verse indent13">Thus float</div> -<div class="verse">My wandering thoughts, as on the balcony</div> -<div class="verse">I sit alone bathed in the moonlight pale,</div> -<div class="verse">And musing thus the scene changed suddenly:</div> -<div class="verse">Hotel and cottage vanished; to the shore</div> -<div class="verse">The prairie sloped a green unbroken floor.</div> -<div class="verse">Eight lustrums back, through rosy summers fled,</div> -<div class="verse">Adown a dwindling vista far I sped,</div> -<div class="verse">A careless youth; again my hoary head</div> -<div class="verse">Bloomed with the sunny wealth of twenty years.</div> -<div class="verse">A day came back, a day without compeers,</div> -<div class="verse">When with a bright companion long since dead,</div> -<div class="verse">In my canoe I flitted o’er the lake,</div> -<div class="verse">And our swift paddles scattered pearly tears</div> -<div class="verse">Upon the smiling ripples in our wake.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">She, my companion, was a little maid</div> -<div class="verse">Of somewhat rustic garb, of English speech,</div> -<div class="verse">Yet something in her accents quaint and rich,</div> -<div class="verse">And the warm tinge upon her cheek, betrayed</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -<div class="verse">The mingling crimson of a darker shade,—</div> -<div class="verse">Her kinship to the remnant lingering still,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose cone-shaped lodges picturesquely stood,</div> -<div class="verse">Dotting the hither base of yonder hill,</div> -<div class="verse">Like late leaves clinging, spite of growing chill,</div> -<div class="verse">Upon the boughs of a November wood.</div> -<div class="verse">Changing our mood, we idly drifted there,</div> -<div class="verse">Two happy children in a cradling shell</div> -<div class="verse">Poised ’twixt two azure vaults; the mystic spell</div> -<div class="verse">Of Indian summer brooded in the air,</div> -<div class="verse">Filling with human love and sympathy</div> -<div class="verse">E’en things inanimate; the earth and sky</div> -<div class="verse">Leaned to each other, and the rocks and trees,</div> -<div class="verse">Like brothers, seemed sharing our reveries.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">“Tell me some legend of the lake,” I cried,</div> -<div class="verse">“For in a spot that breathes on every side</div> -<div class="verse">Such air of poesy, whose influence</div> -<div class="verse">Subdues with such a charm our every sense,</div> -<div class="verse">How many loving hearts have loved and died!</div> -<div class="verse">How many souls as lofty and intense</div> -<div class="verse">As those whose names throughout the whole world ring,</div> -<div class="verse">In the high songs the olden minstrels sing!</div> -<div class="verse">Who hears those voices e’en but for a day,</div> -<div class="verse">The sound remains a part of him alway:</div> -<div class="verse">Penelope the constant; Hero sweet;</div> -<div class="verse">Briseis weeping at Achilles’ feet;</div> -<div class="verse">Andromeda by wingèd Perseus found—</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Bright blossom to the sea-girt rock fast bound;</div> -<div class="verse">The Lesbian queen of song, but passion’s slave,</div> -<div class="verse">Who quenched her burning torch beneath the wave;</div> -<div class="verse">Helen, whose beauty, like a fatal brand,</div> -<div class="verse">Lit up the towers of Troy o’er sea and land;</div> -<div class="verse">And Juliet, swaying at her window’s height,</div> -<div class="verse">What slender lily in the wan moonlight.”</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">“I do not know,” the little maid replied,</div> -<div class="verse">“The names of which you speak, but ere she died</div> -<div class="verse">My mother told me many stories old,</div> -<div class="verse">Some joyous and some sad, of warriors bold,</div> -<div class="verse">And spirits, haunting forest, plain, and stream.</div> -<div class="verse">Each had its god, and creatures of strange form,</div> -<div class="verse">Half beast, half human; all these figures seem</div> -<div class="verse">Mingling away in a fantastic swarm,</div> -<div class="verse">Dim as the faces of a last year’s dream,</div> -<div class="verse">Or motes that mingle in a slant sunbeam.</div> -<div class="verse">The legends vanish too; among them all</div> -<div class="verse">This one alone, distinctly I recall.”</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The tale she told me then I now rehearse,</div> -<div class="verse">Set in a frame of rude, unpolished verse.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="PART_I">PART I.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Winona,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> first-born daughter, was the name</div> -<div class="verse">Of a Dakota girl who, long ago,</div> -<div class="verse">Dwelt with her people here unknown to fame.</div> -<div class="verse">Sweet word, Winona, how my heart and lips</div> -<div class="verse">Cling to that name (my mother’s was the same</div> -<div class="verse">Ere her form faded into death’s eclipse),</div> -<div class="verse">Cling lovingly, and loth to let it go.</div> -<div class="verse">All arts that unto savage life belong</div> -<div class="verse">She knew, made moccasins, and dressed the game.</div> -<div class="verse">From crippling fashions free, her well-knit frame</div> -<div class="verse">At fifteen summers was mature and strong.</div> -<div class="verse">She pitched the tipi,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> dug the tipsin<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> roots,</div> -<div class="verse">Gathered wild rice and store of savage fruits.</div> -<div class="verse">Fearless and self-reliant, she could go</div> -<div class="verse">Across the prairie on a starless night;</div> -<div class="verse">She speared the fish while in his wildest flight,</div> -<div class="verse">And almost like a warrior drew the bow.</div> -<div class="verse">Yet she was not all hardness: the keen glance,</div> -<div class="verse">Lighting the darkness of her eyes, perchance</div> -<div class="verse">Betrayed no softness, but her voice, that rose</div> -<div class="verse">O’er the weird circle of the midnight dance,</div> -<div class="verse">Through all the gamut ran of human woes,</div> -<div class="verse">Passion, and joy. A woman’s love she had</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -<div class="verse">For ornament; on gala days was clad</div> -<div class="verse">In garments of the softest doeskin fine,</div> -<div class="verse">With shells about her neck; moccasins neat</div> -<div class="verse">Were drawn, like gloves, upon her little feet,</div> -<div class="verse">Adorned with scarlet quills of porcupine.</div> -<div class="verse">Innocent of the niceties refined</div> -<div class="verse">That to the toilet her pale sisters bind,</div> -<div class="verse">Yet much the same beneath the outer rind,</div> -<div class="verse">She was, though all unskilled in bookish lore,</div> -<div class="verse">A sound, sweet woman to the very core.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Winona’s uncle, and step-father too,</div> -<div class="verse">Was all the father that she ever knew;</div> -<div class="verse">By the Absarakas<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> her own was slain</div> -<div class="verse">Before her memory could his face retain.</div> -<div class="verse">Two bitter years his widow mourned him dead,</div> -<div class="verse">And then his elder brother she had wed.</div> -<div class="verse">None loved Winona’s uncle; he was stern</div> -<div class="verse">And harsh in manner, cold and taciturn,</div> -<div class="verse">And none might see, without a secret fear,</div> -<div class="verse">Those thin lips ever curling to a sneer.</div> -<div class="verse">And yet he was of note and influence</div> -<div class="verse">Among the chieftains; true he rarely lent</div> -<div class="verse">More than his presence in the council tent,</div> -<div class="verse">And when he rose to speak disdained pretence</div> -<div class="verse">Of arts rhetoric, but his few words went</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Straight and incisive to the question’s core,</div> -<div class="verse">And rarely was his counsel overborne.</div> -<div class="verse">The Raven was the fitting name he bore,</div> -<div class="verse">And though his winters wellnigh reached threescore,</div> -<div class="verse">Few of his tribe excelled him in the chase.</div> -<div class="verse">A warrior of renown, but never wore</div> -<div class="verse">The dancing eagle plumes, and seemed to scorn</div> -<div class="verse">The vanities and follies of his race.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I said the Raven was beloved by none;</div> -<div class="verse">But no, among the elders there was one</div> -<div class="verse">Who often sought him, and the two would walk</div> -<div class="verse">Apart for hours, and converse alone.</div> -<div class="verse">The gossips, marvelling much what this might mean,</div> -<div class="verse">Whispered that they at midnight had been seen</div> -<div class="verse">Far from the village wrapped in secret talk.</div> -<div class="verse">They seemed in truth an ill-assorted brace,</div> -<div class="verse">But Nature oft in Siamese bond unites,</div> -<div class="verse">By some strange tie, the farthest opposites.</div> -<div class="verse">Gray Cloud was oily, plausible, and vain,</div> -<div class="verse">A conjurer with subtle scheming brain;</div> -<div class="verse">Too corpulent and clumsy for the chase,</div> -<div class="verse">His lodge was still provided with the best,</div> -<div class="verse">And though sometimes but a half welcome guest,</div> -<div class="verse">He took his dish and spoon to every feast.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Priestcraft and leechcraft were combined in him,</div> -<div class="verse">Two trades occult upon which knaves have thriven,</div> -<div class="verse">Almost since man from Paradise was driven;</div> -<div class="verse">Padding with pompous phrases worn and old</div> -<div class="verse">Their scanty esoteric science dim,</div> -<div class="verse">And gravely selling, at their weight in gold,</div> -<div class="verse">Placebos colored to their patients’ whim.</div> -<div class="verse">Man’s noblest mission here too oft is made,</div> -<div class="verse">In heathen as in Christian lands, a trade.</div> -<div class="verse">Holy the task to comfort and console</div> -<div class="verse">The tortured body and the sin-sick soul,</div> -<div class="verse">But pain and sorrow, even prayer and creed,</div> -<div class="verse">Are turned too oft to instruments of greed.</div> -<div class="verse">The conjurer claimed to bear a mission high:</div> -<div class="verse">Mysterious omens of the earth and sky</div> -<div class="verse">He knew to read; his medicine could find</div> -<div class="verse">In time of need the buffalo, and bind</div> -<div class="verse">In sleep the senses of the enemy.</div> -<div class="verse">Perhaps not wholly a deliberate cheat,</div> -<div class="verse">And yet dissimulation and deceit</div> -<div class="verse">Oozed from his form obese at every pore.</div> -<div class="verse">Skilled by long practice in the priestly art,</div> -<div class="verse">To chill with superstitious fear the heart,</div> -<div class="verse">And versed in all the legendary lore,</div> -<div class="verse">He knew each herb and root that healing bore;</div> -<div class="verse">But lest his flock might grow as wise as he,</div> -<div class="verse">Disguised their use with solemn mummery.</div> -<div class="verse">When all the village wrapped in slumber lay,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -<div class="verse">His midnight incantations often fell,</div> -<div class="verse">His chant now weirdly rose, now sank away,</div> -<div class="verse">As o’er some dying child he cast his spell.</div> -<div class="verse">And sometimes through his frame strange tremors ran—</div> -<div class="verse">Magnetic waves, swept from the unknown pole</div> -<div class="verse">Linking the body to the wavering soul;</div> -<div class="verse">And swifter came his breath, as if to fan</div> -<div class="verse">The feeble life spark, and his finger tips</div> -<div class="verse">Were to the brow of pain like angel lips.</div> -<div class="verse">No wonder if in moments such as these</div> -<div class="verse">He half believed in his own deities,</div> -<div class="verse">And thought his sacred rattle could compel</div> -<div class="verse">The swarming powers unseen to serve him well.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The Raven lay one evening in his tent</div> -<div class="verse">With his accustomed crony at his side;</div> -<div class="verse">Around their heads a graceful aureole</div> -<div class="verse">Of smoke curled upward from the scarlet bowl</div> -<div class="verse">Of Gray Cloud’s pipe with willow bark supplied.</div> -<div class="verse">Winona’s thrifty mother came and went,</div> -<div class="verse">Her form with household cares and burdens bent,</div> -<div class="verse">Fresh fuel adds, and stirs the boiling pot.</div> -<div class="verse">Meanwhile the young Winona, half reclined,</div> -<div class="verse">Plies her swift needle, that resource refined</div> -<div class="verse">For woman’s leisure, whatsoe’er her lot,</div> -<div class="verse">The kingly palace or the savage cot.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The cronies smoked without a sign or word,</div> -<div class="verse">Passing the pipe sedately to and fro;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Only a distant wail of hopeless woe,</div> -<div class="verse">A mother mourning for her child, was heard,</div> -<div class="verse">And Gray Cloud moved, as though the sound had stirred</div> -<div class="verse">Some dusty memory; still that bitter wail,</div> -<div class="verse">Rachel’s despairing cry without avail,</div> -<div class="verse">That beats the brazen firmament in vain,</div> -<div class="verse">Since the first mother wept o’er Abel slain.</div> -<div class="verse">At length the conjurer’s lips the silence broke,</div> -<div class="verse">Softly at first as to himself he spoke,</div> -<div class="verse">Till warmed by his own swarming fancies’ brood</div> -<div class="verse">He poured the strain almost in numbers rude.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>THE COMBAT BETWEEN THE THUNDER-BIRDS AND THE WATER-DEMONS.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Gray Cloud shall not be as other men,</div> -<div class="verse">Dull clods that move and breathe a day or two,</div> -<div class="verse">Ere other clods shall bury them from view.</div> -<div class="verse">Tempest and sky have been my home, and when</div> -<div class="verse">I pass from earth I shall find welcome there.</div> -<div class="verse">Sons of the Thunder-Bird my playmates were,</div> -<div class="verse">Ages ago<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> (the tallest oak to-day</div> -<div class="verse">In all the land was but a grass blade then).</div> -<div class="verse">Reared with such brethren, breathing such an air,</div> -<div class="verse">My spirit grew as tall and bold as they;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -<div class="verse">We tossed the ball and flushed the noble prey</div> -<div class="verse">O’er happy plains from human footsteps far;</div> -<div class="verse">And when our high chief’s voice to arm for war</div> -<div class="verse">Rang out in tones that rent the morning sky,</div> -<div class="verse">None of the band exulted more than I.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A god might gaze and tremble at the sight</div> -<div class="verse">Of our array that turned the day to night;</div> -<div class="verse">With bow and shield and flame-tipped arrows all,</div> -<div class="verse">Rushing together at our leader’s call,</div> -<div class="verse">Like storm clouds sweeping round a mountain height.</div> -<div class="verse">The lofty cliffs our warlike muster saw,</div> -<div class="verse">Hard by the village of great Wabashaw,<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></div> -<div class="verse">Where through a lake the Mississippi flows;</div> -<div class="verse">Far o’er the dwelling of our ancient foes,</div> -<div class="verse">The hated Water-Demon<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> and his sons,</div> -<div class="verse">Cold, dark and deep the sluggish current runs.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Up from their caverns swarming, when they heard</div> -<div class="verse">The rolling signal of the Thunder-Bird,</div> -<div class="verse">The Water-Demon and his sons arose,</div> -<div class="verse">And answered back the challenge of their foes.</div> -<div class="verse">With horns tumultuous clashing like a herd</div> -<div class="verse">Of warring elks that struggle for the does,</div> -<div class="verse">They lashed the wave to clouds of spray and foam,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Through which their forms uncouth, like buffaloes</div> -<div class="verse">Seen dimly through a morning mist, did loom,</div> -<div class="verse">Or isles at twilight rising from the shore.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Though we were thirty, they at least fourscore,</div> -<div class="verse">We rushed upon them, and a midnight pall</div> -<div class="verse">Over the seething lake our pinions spread,</div> -<div class="verse">’Neath which our gleaming arrows thickly sped,</div> -<div class="verse">As shooting stars that in the rice-moon fall.</div> -<div class="verse">Rent by our beating wings the cloud-waves swung</div> -<div class="verse">In eddies round us, and our leader’s roar</div> -<div class="verse">Smote peal on peal, and from their bases flung</div> -<div class="verse">The rocks that towered along the trembling shore.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A Thunder-Bird—alas, my chosen friend,</div> -<div class="verse">But even so a warrior’s life should end,—</div> -<div class="verse">A Thunder-Bird was stricken; his bright beak,</div> -<div class="verse">Cleaving the tumult like a lightning streak,</div> -<div class="verse">Smote with a fiery hiss the watery plain;</div> -<div class="verse">His upturned breast, where gleamed one fleck of red,</div> -<div class="verse">His sable wings, one moment wide outspread,</div> -<div class="verse">Blackened the whirlpool o’er his sinking head.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The Water-Demon’s sons by scores were slain</div> -<div class="verse">By our swift arrows falling like the rain;</div> -<div class="verse">With yells of rage they sank beneath the wave</div> -<div class="verse">That ran all redly now, but could not save.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -<div class="verse">We asked not mercy, mercy never gave;</div> -<div class="verse">Our flaming darts lit up the farthest caves,</div> -<div class="verse">Fathoms below the reach of deepest line;</div> -<div class="verse">Our cruel spears, taller than mountain pine,</div> -<div class="verse">Mingled their life blood with the ruddy wave.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The combat ceased, the Thunder-Birds had won.</div> -<div class="verse">The Water-Demon with one favorite son</div> -<div class="verse">Fled from the carnage and escaped our wrath.</div> -<div class="verse">The vapors, thinly curling from the shore,</div> -<div class="verse">Faint musky odors to our nostrils bore.</div> -<div class="verse">The air was stilled, the silence of the dead;</div> -<div class="verse">The sun, just starting on his downward path,</div> -<div class="verse">A rosy mantle o’er the prairie shed,</div> -<div class="verse">Save where, like vultures, ominous and still,</div> -<div class="verse">We clustered close, on sullen wings outspread;</div> -<div class="verse">And sometimes, with a momentary chill,</div> -<div class="verse">A giant shadow swept o’er plain and hill,—</div> -<div class="verse">A Thunder-Bird careering overhead,</div> -<div class="verse">Seeking the track by which the foe had fled.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">While thus we hovered motionless, the sun</div> -<div class="verse">Adown the west his punctual course had run,</div> -<div class="verse">When lo, two shining points far up the stream</div> -<div class="verse">That split the prairie with a silver seam,—</div> -<div class="verse">The fleeing Water-Demon and his son;</div> -<div class="verse">Like icicles they glittered in the beam</div> -<div class="verse">Still struggling up from the horizon’s rim.</div> -<div class="verse">His sleeping anger kindled at the sight,</div> -<div class="verse">Our leader’s eyes glowed like a flaming brand.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Thrilled by one impulse, all our sable band</div> -<div class="verse">Dove through the gathering shadows of the night</div> -<div class="verse">On wings outshaken for a headlong flight.</div> -<div class="verse">Anger, revenge, but more than all the thirst,</div> -<div class="verse">The glorious emulation to be first,</div> -<div class="verse">Stung me like fire, and filled each quivering plume.</div> -<div class="verse">With tenfold speed our sharp beaks cleft the gloom,</div> -<div class="verse">A swarm of arrows singing to the mark,</div> -<div class="verse">We hissed to pierce the foe ere yet ’twas dark.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Still up the stream the Water-Demons fled,</div> -<div class="verse">Their bodies glowed like fox-fire far ahead;</div> -<div class="verse">But every moment saw the distance close</div> -<div class="verse">Between our thirsting spear-heads and our foes.</div> -<div class="verse">Louder the blast our buzzing pinions made</div> -<div class="verse">Than mighty forest in a whirlwind swayed;</div> -<div class="verse">The giant cliffs of Redwing speeding back,</div> -<div class="verse">Like spectres melting from a cloudy wrack,</div> -<div class="verse">Melted from view in our dissolving track.</div> -<div class="verse">Kaposia’s village, clustered on the shore,</div> -<div class="verse">With sound of snapping poles and tipis riven,</div> -<div class="verse">Vanished like swan’s-down by a tempest driven.</div> -<div class="verse">Stung by our flight, the keen air smote us sore</div> -<div class="verse">As ragged hailstones; on, still on, we strained,</div> -<div class="verse">And fast and faster on the chase we gained,</div> -<div class="verse">But neck and neck the fierce pursuit remained,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Till close ahead we saw the rocky walls</div> -<div class="verse">O’er which the mighty river plunging falls,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></div> -<div class="verse">And at their base the Water-Demons lay:</div> -<div class="verse">The panting chase at last had turned to bay.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Then thrilled my nerves with more than mortal strength;</div> -<div class="verse">A breath of Deity was in the burst</div> -<div class="verse">That bore me out a goodly lance’s length</div> -<div class="verse">To meet the Water-Demon’s son accurst.</div> -<div class="verse">His evil horn clanged hollow on my shield</div> -<div class="verse">Just as my spear transfixed him through and through;</div> -<div class="verse">A moment towering o’er the foam he reeled,</div> -<div class="verse">Then sank beneath the roaring falls from view.</div> -<div class="verse">A dying yell that haunts me yet he gave,</div> -<div class="verse">And as he fell the crippled water coiled</div> -<div class="verse">About him like a wounded snake, and boiled,</div> -<div class="verse">leashing itself to madness o’er his grave.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">We knew not where the parent Demon fled;</div> -<div class="verse">None of our spears might pierce his ancient mail,</div> -<div class="verse">Welded with skill demoniac scale on scale.</div> -<div class="verse">Some watery realm he wanders, and ’tis said</div> -<div class="verse">That he is changed and bears a brighter form,</div> -<div class="verse">And goodly sons again about him swarm;</div> -<div class="verse">And peace, ’tis but a hollow truce I know,</div> -<div class="verse">Now reigns between him and his ancient foe.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -<div class="verse">He hates me still, and fain would do me harm,</div> -<div class="verse">But neither man nor demon dares offend,</div> -<div class="verse">Who hath the cruel Thunder-Bird for friend.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<h3 id="PART_II">PART II.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Nature hath her <i>élite</i> in every land,</div> -<div class="verse">Sealed by her signet, felt although unseen.</div> -<div class="verse">Winona ’mid her fellows moved a queen,</div> -<div class="verse">And scarce a youthful beau in all the band</div> -<div class="verse">But sighed in secret longing for her hand.</div> -<div class="verse">One only she distinguished o’er the rest,</div> -<div class="verse">The latest aspirant for martial fame,</div> -<div class="verse">Redstar, a youth whose coup-stick like his name</div> -<div class="verse">(Till recently he had been plain Chaské)<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></div> -<div class="verse">Was new, fresh plucked the feathers on his crest.</div> -<div class="verse">Just what the feats on which he based his claim</div> -<div class="verse">To warlike glory it were hard to say;</div> -<div class="verse">He ne’er had seen more than one trivial fray,</div> -<div class="verse">But bold assurance sometimes wins the day.</div> -<div class="verse">Winona gave him generous credit, too,</div> -<div class="verse">For all the gallant deeds he meant to do.</div> -<div class="verse">His gay, barbaric dress, his lofty air</div> -<div class="verse">Enmeshed her in a sweet bewildering snare.</div> -<div class="verse">Transfigured by the light of her own passion,</div> -<div class="verse">She saw Chaské in much the usual fashion</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Of fairer maids, who love, or think they do.</div> -<div class="verse">’Tis not the man they love, but what he seems;</div> -<div class="verse">A bright Hyperion, moving stately through</div> -<div class="verse">The rosy ether of exalted dreams.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Alas! that love, the purest and most real,</div> -<div class="verse">Clusters forever round some form ideal;</div> -<div class="verse">And martial things have some strange necromancy</div> -<div class="verse">To captivate romantic maiden fancy.</div> -<div class="verse">The very word “Lieutenant” hath a charm,</div> -<div class="verse">E’en coupled with a vulgar face and form,</div> -<div class="verse">A shrivelled heart and microscopic wit,</div> -<div class="verse">Scarce for a coachman or a barber fit;</div> -<div class="verse">His untried sword, his title, are to her</div> -<div class="verse">Better than genius, wealth, or high renown;</div> -<div class="verse">His uniform is sweeter than the gown</div> -<div class="verse">Of an Episcopalian minister;</div> -<div class="verse">And “dash,” for swagger but a synonym,</div> -<div class="verse">Is knightly grace and chivalry with him.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Unnoted young Winona’s passion grew,</div> -<div class="verse">Chaské alone the tender secret knew;</div> -<div class="verse">And he, too selfish love like hers to know,</div> -<div class="verse">Warmed by her presence to a transient glow,</div> -<div class="verse">Her silent homage drank as ’twere his due.</div> -<div class="verse">Winona asked no more though madly fond,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor hardly dreamed as yet of closer bond;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -<div class="verse">But Chance, or Providence, or iron Fate</div> -<div class="verse">(Call it what name you will), or soon or late,</div> -<div class="verse">Bends to its purpose every human will,</div> -<div class="verse">And brings to each its destined good or ill.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>THE GROVE.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O’erlooking Minnetonka’s shore,</div> -<div class="verse">A grove enchanted lured of yore,</div> -<div class="verse">Inured to their deepest woe and joy,</div> -<div class="verse">A happy maiden and careless boy;</div> -<div class="verse">Lured their feet to its inmost core,</div> -<div class="verse">Where like snowy maidens the aspen trees</div> -<div class="verse">Swayed and beckoned in the breeze,</div> -<div class="verse">While the prairie grass, like rippling seas,</div> -<div class="verse">Faintly murmuring lulling hymns,</div> -<div class="verse">Rippled about their gleaming limbs.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">There is no such charm in a garden-close,</div> -<div class="verse">However fair its bower and rose,</div> -<div class="verse">As a place where the wild and free rejoice.</div> -<div class="verse">Nor doth the storied and ivied arch</div> -<div class="verse">Woo the heart with half so sweet a voice</div> -<div class="verse">As the bowering arms of the wild-wood larch,</div> -<div class="verse">Where the clematis and wild woodbine</div> -<div class="verse">Festoon the flowering eglantine;</div> -<div class="verse">Where in every flower, shrub, and tree</div> -<div class="verse">Is heard the hum of the honey-bee,</div> -<div class="verse">And the linden blossoms are softly stirred,</div> -<div class="verse">As the fanning wings of the humming-bird</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Scatter a perfume of pollen dust,</div> -<div class="verse">That mounts to the kindling soul like must;</div> -<div class="verse">Where the turtles each spring their loves renew—</div> -<div class="verse">The old, old story, “coo-roo, coo-roo,”</div> -<div class="verse">Mingles with the wooing note</div> -<div class="verse">That bubbles from the song-bird’s throat;</div> -<div class="verse">Where on waves of rosy light at play,</div> -<div class="verse">Mingle a thousand airy minions,</div> -<div class="verse">And drifting as on a golden bay,</div> -<div class="verse">The butterfly with his petal pinions,</div> -<div class="verse">From isle to isle of his fair dominions</div> -<div class="verse">Floats with the languid tides away;</div> -<div class="verse">Where the squirrel and rabbit shyly mate,</div> -<div class="verse">And none so timid but finds her fate;</div> -<div class="verse">The meek hen-robin upon the nest</div> -<div class="verse">Thrills to her lover’s flaming breast.</div> -<div class="verse">Youth, Love, and Life, ’mid scenes like this,</div> -<div class="verse">Go to the same sweet tune of bliss;</div> -<div class="verse">E’en the flaming flowers of passion seem</div> -<div class="verse">Pure as the lily buds that dream</div> -<div class="verse">On the bosom of a mountain stream.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Such was the grove that lured of yore,</div> -<div class="verse">O’erlooking Minnetonka’s shore,</div> -<div class="verse">Lured to their deepest woe and joy</div> -<div class="verse">A happy maiden and careless boy,—</div> -<div class="verse">Lured their feet to its inmost core;</div> -<div class="verse">Where still mysterious shadows slept,</div> -<div class="verse">While the plenilune from her path above</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -<div class="verse">With liquid amber bathed the grove,</div> -<div class="verse">That through the tree-tops trickling crept,</div> -<div class="verse">And every tender alley swept.</div> -<div class="verse">The happy maiden and careless boy,</div> -<div class="verse">Caught for a moment their deepest joy,</div> -<div class="verse">And the iris hues of Youth and Love,</div> -<div class="verse">A tender glamour about them wove;</div> -<div class="verse">But the trembling shadows the aspens cast</div> -<div class="verse">From the maiden’s spirit never passed;</div> -<div class="verse">And the nectar was poisoned that thrilled and filled,</div> -<div class="verse">From every treacherous leaf distilled,</div> -<div class="verse">Her veins that night with a strange alloy.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Swift came the hour that maid and boy must part;</div> -<div class="verse">A glow unwonted, tinged with dusky red</div> -<div class="verse">Winona’s conscious face as home she sped;</div> -<div class="verse">And to the song exultant in her heart,</div> -<div class="verse">Beat her light moccasins with rhythmic tread.</div> -<div class="verse">But at the summit of a little hill,</div> -<div class="verse">Along whose base the village lay outspread,</div> -<div class="verse">A sudden sense of some impending ill</div> -<div class="verse">Smote the sweet fever in her veins with chill.</div> -<div class="verse">The lake she skirted, on whose mailèd breast</div> -<div class="verse">Rode like a shield the moon from out the west.</div> -<div class="verse">She neared her lodge, but there her quick eye caught</div> -<div class="verse">The voice of Gray Cloud, and her steps were stayed,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -<div class="verse">For over her of late an icy fear</div> -<div class="verse">Brooded with vulture wings when he was near.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">She knew not why, her eye he never sought,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor deigned to speak, and yet she felt dismayed</div> -<div class="verse">At thought of him, as the mimosa’s leaf</div> -<div class="verse">Before the fingers touch it shrinks with dread.</div> -<div class="verse">She paused a moment, then with furtive tread</div> -<div class="verse">Close to the tipi glided like a thief;</div> -<div class="verse">With lips apart, and eager bended head,</div> -<div class="verse">She listened there to what the conjurer said.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">His voice, low, musical, recounted o’er</div> -<div class="verse">Strange tales of days when other forms he wore:</div> -<div class="verse">How, far above the highest airy plain</div> -<div class="verse">Where soars and sings the weird, fantastic crane,</div> -<div class="verse">Wafted like thistle-down he strayed at will,</div> -<div class="verse">With power almost supreme for good or ill,</div> -<div class="verse">Over all lands and nations near and far,</div> -<div class="verse">Beyond the seas, or ’neath the northern star,</div> -<div class="verse">And long had pondered where were best to dwell</div> -<div class="verse">When he should deign a human shape to wear.</div> -<div class="verse">“Whether to be of them that buy and sell,</div> -<div class="verse">With fish-scale eyes, and yellow corn-silk hair,</div> -<div class="verse">Or with the stone-men chase the giant game.</div> -<div class="verse">But wander where you may, no land can claim</div> -<div class="verse">A sky so fair as ours; the sun each day</div> -<div class="verse">Circles the earth with glaring eye, but sees</div> -<div class="verse">No lakes or plains so beautiful as these;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Nor e’er hath trod or shall upon the earth</div> -<div class="verse">A race like ours of true Dakota birth.</div> -<div class="verse">Our chiefs and sages, who so wise as they</div> -<div class="verse">To counsel or to lead in peace or war,</div> -<div class="verse">And heal the sick by deep mysterious law.</div> -<div class="verse">Our beauteous warriors lithe of limb and strong,</div> -<div class="verse">Fierce to avenge their own and others’ wrong,</div> -<div class="verse">What gasping terror smites their battle song</div> -<div class="verse">When, night-birds gathering near the dawn of day,</div> -<div class="verse">Or wolves in chorus ravening for the prey,</div> -<div class="verse">They burst upon the sleeping Chippeway;<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></div> -<div class="verse">Their women wail whose hated fingers dare</div> -<div class="verse">To reap the harvest of our midnight hair;</div> -<div class="verse">Swifter than eagles, as a panther fleet,</div> -<div class="verse">A hungry panther seeking for his meat,</div> -<div class="verse">So swift and noiseless their avenging feet.</div> -<div class="verse starbreak">* * * * *</div> -<div class="verse">Dakota matrons truest are and best,</div> -<div class="verse">Dakota maidens too are loveliest.”</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">He ceased, and soon, departing through the night,</div> -<div class="verse">She watched his burly form till out of sight.</div> -<div class="verse">And then the Raven spoke in whispers low:</div> -<div class="verse">“Gray Cloud demands our daughter’s hand, and she</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Unto his tipi very soon must go.”</div> -<div class="verse">Winona’s mother sought to make reply,</div> -<div class="verse">But something checked her in his tone or eye.</div> -<div class="verse">Again the Raven spoke, imperiously:</div> -<div class="verse">“Winona is of proper age to wed;</div> -<div class="verse">Her suitor suits me, let no more be said.”</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Winona heard no more; a rising wave</div> -<div class="verse">Of mingled indignation, fear, and shame</div> -<div class="verse">Like a resistless tempest shook her frame,</div> -<div class="verse">The earth swam round her, and her senses reeled;</div> -<div class="verse">Better for her a thousand times the grave</div> -<div class="verse">Than life in Gray Cloud’s tent, but what could she</div> -<div class="verse">Against the stern, implacable decree</div> -<div class="verse">Of one whose will was never known to yield?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Winona fled, scarce knowing where or how;</div> -<div class="verse">Fled like a phantom through the moonlight cool</div> -<div class="verse">Until she stood upon the rocky brow</div> -<div class="verse">That overlooked a deep sequestered pool,</div> -<div class="verse">Where slumbering in a grove-encircled bay</div> -<div class="verse">Lake Minnetonka’s purest waters lay.</div> -<div class="verse">Unto the brink she rushed, but faltered there—</div> -<div class="verse">Life to the young is sweet; in vain her eye</div> -<div class="verse">Swept for a moment grove and wave and sky</div> -<div class="verse">With mute appeal. But see, two white swans fair</div> -<div class="verse">Gleamed from the shadows that o’erhung the shore,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Like moons emerging from a sable screen;</div> -<div class="verse">Swimming abreast, what haughty king and queen,</div> -<div class="verse">With arching necks their regal course they bore.</div> -<div class="verse">Winona marvelled at the unwonted sight</div> -<div class="verse">Of white swans swimming there at dead of night,</div> -<div class="verse">Her frenzy half beguiling with the scene.</div> -<div class="verse">Unearthly heralds sure, for in their wake</div> -<div class="verse">What ruddy furrows seamed the placid lake.</div> -<div class="verse">Almost beneath her feet they came, so near</div> -<div class="verse">She might have tossed a pebble on their backs,</div> -<div class="verse">When lo, their long necks pierced the waters clear,</div> -<div class="verse">As down they dove, two shafts of purest light,</div> -<div class="verse">And chasing fast on their descending tracks,</div> -<div class="verse">A swarm of spirals luminous and white,</div> -<div class="verse">Swirled to the gloom of nether depths from sight.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Then all was still for some few moments’ space,</div> -<div class="verse">So smooth the pool, so vanished every trace,</div> -<div class="verse">It seemed that surely the fantastic pair</div> -<div class="verse">Had been but snowy phantoms passing there.</div> -<div class="verse">Winona hardly hoped to see them rise,</div> -<div class="verse">But while she gazed with half expectant eyes,</div> -<div class="verse">The waters strangely quivered in a place</div> -<div class="verse">About the bigness of a tipi’s space,</div> -<div class="verse">Where weirdly lighting up the hollow wave</div> -<div class="verse">Beat a deep-glowing heart, whose pulsing ray</div> -<div class="verse">Now faded to a rosy flush away,</div> -<div class="verse">Now filled with fiery glare the farthest cave.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -<div class="verse">A shapeless bulk arose, then, taking form,</div> -<div class="verse">Bloomed forth upon the bosom of the lake</div> -<div class="verse">A crystal rose, or hillock mammiform,</div> -<div class="verse">And round its base the curling foam did break</div> -<div class="verse">As round a sunny islet in a storm;</div> -<div class="verse">And on it poised a swiftly changing form,</div> -<div class="verse">With filmy mantle falling musical,</div> -<div class="verse">And colors of the floating bubble’s ball,</div> -<div class="verse">Fair and elusive as the sprites that play,</div> -<div class="verse">Bright children of the sun-illumined spray,</div> -<div class="verse">’Mid rainbows of a mountain waterfall.</div> -<div class="verse">Then mingling with the falling waters came</div> -<div class="verse">In whispers sibilant Winona’s name;</div> -<div class="verse">So indistinct and low that voice intense,</div> -<div class="verse">That she, half frightened, cowering in the grass</div> -<div class="verse">In much bewilderment at what did pass,</div> -<div class="verse">Till thrice repeated noted not its sense.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">She rose, and on the very brink defined,</div> -<div class="verse">Against the sky in silhouette outlined,</div> -<div class="verse">Erect before the Water-Demon stood.</div> -<div class="verse">Again those accents weird her wonder stirred,</div> -<div class="verse">And this is what the listening maiden heard:</div> -<div class="verse">“Thy fate, Winona, hangs on thine own choice</div> -<div class="verse">To scorn or heed the Water-Demon’s voice.</div> -<div class="verse">Gone are thy pleasant days of maidenhood,</div> -<div class="verse">And evil hours draw nigh, but knowest thou not,</div> -<div class="verse">That what thou fleest is the common lot</div> -<div class="verse">Of all thy sisters? Thou must be the bride</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Of one thou lovest not, must toil for him,</div> -<div class="verse">Watch for his coming, and endure his whim;</div> -<div class="verse">Must share his tent, and lying at his side</div> -<div class="verse">Weep for another till thine eyes grow dim.</div> -<div class="verse">And he, so fondly loved, will pass thee by</div> -<div class="verse">Indifferent with cold averted eye;</div> -<div class="verse">E’en he, whose wanton hands and hated arms</div> -<div class="verse">Have crushed the fair flower of thy maidenhood,</div> -<div class="verse">Will weary of thy swiftly fading charms,</div> -<div class="verse">And seek another when thy beauty wanes.</div> -<div class="verse">Aha, thou shudderest; in thy tense veins,</div> -<div class="verse">Fierce and rebellious, leaps the mingling blood</div> -<div class="verse">Of countless warriors, high of soul and brave;</div> -<div class="verse">And would’st thou quench their spirit ’neath the wave?</div> -<div class="verse">Is Gray Cloud’s life more dear to thee than thine?</div> -<div class="verse">The village sleeps, unguarded is his tent,</div> -<div class="verse">Thy knife is keen, and unto thee is lent</div> -<div class="verse">A spell to-night of potency malign.</div> -<div class="verse">Cradled in blissful dreams alone he lies,</div> -<div class="verse">And he shall stray so deep in sleep’s dominions,</div> -<div class="verse">He would not waken though the rushing pinions</div> -<div class="verse">Of his own Thunder-Bird should shake the sky.</div> -<div class="verse">All freedom-loving spirits are with thee,</div> -<div class="verse">Strike hard and fear not as thou would’st be free;</div> -<div class="verse">Lest thine own hatred prove too weak a charm,</div> -<div class="verse">The Water-Demon’s hate shall nerve thine arm.”</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The Water-Demon sank and disappeared,</div> -<div class="verse">And faint and fainter fell those accents weird,</div> -<div class="verse">Until the air was silent as the grave,</div> -<div class="verse">Still as December’s crystal seal the wave.</div> -<div class="verse">Homeward again Winona took her way.</div> -<div class="verse">How changed in one short hour! no longer now</div> -<div class="verse">The song-birds singing at her heart, but there</div> -<div class="verse">A thousand gnashing furies made their lair,</div> -<div class="verse">And urged her on; her nearest pathway lay</div> -<div class="verse">Over a little hill, and on its brow</div> -<div class="verse">A group of trees, whereof each blackened bough</div> -<div class="verse">Bore up to heaven as if in protest mute</div> -<div class="verse">Its clustering load of ghostly charnel fruit,<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></div> -<div class="verse">The swaddled forms of all the village dead—</div> -<div class="verse">Maid, lusty warrior, and toothless hag,</div> -<div class="verse">The infant and the conjurer with his bag,</div> -<div class="verse">Peacefully rotting in their airy bed.</div> -<div class="verse">As on a battle plain she saw them lie,</div> -<div class="verse">Fouling the fairness of the moonlit sky;</div> -<div class="verse">And heavily there flapped above her head,</div> -<div class="verse">Some floating drapery or tress of hair,</div> -<div class="verse">Loading with pestilential breath the air</div> -<div class="verse">That fanned her temples, or the reeking wing</div> -<div class="verse">Of unclean bird obscenely hovering;</div> -<div class="verse">And something crossed her path that halting nigh,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -<div class="verse">At the intruder glared with evil eye,—</div> -<div class="verse">She hardly heeded passing swiftly by.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Leaving behind that hideous umbrage fast,</div> -<div class="verse">What wraith escaping from its tenement,</div> -<div class="verse">Winona through the sleeping village passed,</div> -<div class="verse">And pausing not, to Gray Cloud’s tipi went,</div> -<div class="verse">Laid back the door, and with a stealthy tread,</div> -<div class="verse">Entered and softly crouched beside his head.</div> -<div class="verse">Her gaze that seemed to pierce his inmost thought,</div> -<div class="verse">Keen as the ready knife her hand had sought,</div> -<div class="verse">And through the open door the slant moonbeams</div> -<div class="verse">Smiting the sleeper’s face awaked him not.</div> -<div class="verse">He vaguely muttered in his wandering dreams</div> -<div class="verse">Of “medicine,” and of the Thunder-Bird.</div> -<div class="verse">As if to go, her knife she half returned;</div> -<div class="verse">Whether her woman’s heart with pity stirred,</div> -<div class="verse">Or superstitious awe, she slightly turned,</div> -<div class="verse">But gazing still, over his features came</div> -<div class="verse">The semblance of a smile, and his arms moved,</div> -<div class="verse">Clasping in rosy dreams some form beloved,</div> -<div class="verse">And his lips moved, and though no sound she heard,</div> -<div class="verse">She thought they shaped her name, and a red flame</div> -<div class="verse">Leaped to her brain, and through her vision passed;</div> -<div class="verse">A raging demon seized and filled her frame,</div> -<div class="verse">And like a lightning flash leaped forth her knife:</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -<div class="verse">That cold keen heart-pang is his last of life;</div> -<div class="verse">The Water-Demon is avenged at last.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<h3 id="PART_III">PART III.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">She struck but once, no need hath lightning stroke</div> -<div class="verse">For second blow to rend the heart of oak,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor waited there to see how Gray Cloud died;</div> -<div class="verse">Her fury all in that fierce outburst spent,</div> -<div class="verse">As from a charnel cave she fled the tent;</div> -<div class="verse">The wolfish dog suspiciously outside</div> -<div class="verse">Sniffed at her moccasins but let her pass.</div> -<div class="verse">Her tipi soon she reached, distant no more</div> -<div class="verse">Than arrow from a warrior’s bowstring sent,</div> -<div class="verse">Paused but to wipe her knife upon the grass,</div> -<div class="verse">And found her usual couch upon the floor.</div> -<div class="verse">But not to sleep; she closed her eyes in vain,</div> -<div class="verse">Shutting away the moonlight from her view;</div> -<div class="verse">Darkness and moonlight wore the same dread hue,</div> -<div class="verse">Flooding the universe with crimson stain.</div> -<div class="verse">She clasped her bosom with her hands to still</div> -<div class="verse">The throbbing of her heart that seemed to fill</div> -<div class="verse">With tell-tale echoes all the air; an owl</div> -<div class="verse">The secret with unearthly shrieks confessed,</div> -<div class="verse">And Gray Cloud’s dog sent forth a doleful howl</div> -<div class="verse">At intervals; but worse than all the rest,</div> -<div class="verse">That dreadful drum still beating in her breast,</div> -<div class="verse">As furious war-drums in the scalp-dance beat</div> -<div class="verse">To the mad circling of delirious feet.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Early next morning, as the first faint rays</div> -<div class="verse">Of sunlight through the rustling lindens played,</div> -<div class="verse">Two children sent to seek the conjurer’s aid,</div> -<div class="verse">Gazed on the sight, with horror and amaze,</div> -<div class="verse">Of Gray Cloud’s lifeless body rolled in blood.</div> -<div class="verse">Fast through the village spread the news, and stirred</div> -<div class="verse">With mingled fear and wonder all who heard.</div> -<div class="verse">The oracles were baffled and dismayed,</div> -<div class="verse">And spoke with muffled tones and looks of dread:</div> -<div class="verse">“Some envious foeman lurking in the wood,</div> -<div class="verse">With medicine more strong than his,” they said,</div> -<div class="verse">“Stole in last night and gave the fatal wound.”</div> -<div class="verse">The warriors scoured the country miles around,</div> -<div class="verse">Seeking for sign or trail, but naught they found:</div> -<div class="verse">The murderer left behind no clue or trace</div> -<div class="verse">More than a vampire’s flight through darkling space.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The Raven with a stoic calmness heard</div> -<div class="verse">Of Gray Cloud’s death, nor showed by look or word</div> -<div class="verse">The wrath that to its depth his being stirred.</div> -<div class="verse">Winona heard the news with false surprise,</div> -<div class="verse">As if just roused from sleep she rubbed her eyes;</div> -<div class="verse">When she arose her knees like aspens shook,</div> -<div class="verse">But this she quelled and forced a tranquil look</div> -<div class="verse">To feign the calmness that her soul forsook.</div> -<div class="verse">And when the mourning wail rose on the air,</div> -<div class="verse">Winona’s voice was heard commingling there.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -<div class="verse">She gathered with the other maidens where,</div> -<div class="verse">On a rude bier, the conjurer’s body lay</div> -<div class="verse">Adorned and decked in funeral array.</div> -<div class="verse">She flung a handful of her sable hair,</div> -<div class="verse">And wept such tears above the painted clay<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></div> -<div class="verse">As weeps a youthful widow, only heir,</div> -<div class="verse">Over the coffin of a millionaire.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Moons waxed to fulness and to sickles waned.</div> -<div class="verse">The gossips still conversed with bated breath.</div> -<div class="verse">The appalling mystery of Gray Cloud’s death,</div> -<div class="verse">Wrapped in impenetrable gloom, remained</div> -<div class="verse">A blighting shadow o’er the village spread.</div> -<div class="verse">But youthful spirits are invincible,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor fear nor superstition long can quell</div> -<div class="verse">The bubbling flow of that perennial well;</div> -<div class="verse">And so the youths and maidens soon regained</div> -<div class="verse">The wonted gayety that late had fled.</div> -<div class="verse">All save Winona, in whose face and mien,</div> -<div class="verse">Unto the careless eye, no change was seen;</div> -<div class="verse">But one that noted might sometimes espy</div> -<div class="verse">A furtive fear that shot across her eye,</div> -<div class="verse">As in a forest, ’thwart some bit of blue,</div> -<div class="verse">Darts a rare bird that shuns the hunter’s view.</div> -<div class="verse">Her laugh, though gay, a subtle change confessed,</div> -<div class="verse">And in her attitude a vague unrest</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Betrayed a world of feelings unexprest.</div> -<div class="verse">A shade less light her footsteps in the dance,</div> -<div class="verse">And sometimes now the Raven’s curious glance</div> -<div class="verse">Her soul with terrors new and strange oppressed.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Grief shared is lighter, none had she to share</div> -<div class="verse">Burdens that grew almost too great to bear,</div> -<div class="verse">For Redstar sometimes seemed to look askance,</div> -<div class="verse">And sought, they said, to win another breast.</div> -<div class="verse">Winona feigned to laugh, but in her heart</div> -<div class="verse">The rumor rankled like a poisoned dart.</div> -<div class="verse">Sometimes she almost thought the Raven guessed</div> -<div class="verse">The guilty secrets that her thoughts oppressed,</div> -<div class="verse">And sought, whene’er she could, to shun his sight.</div> -<div class="verse">Apart from human kind, still more and more,</div> -<div class="verse">The Raven dwelt, and human speech forbore.</div> -<div class="verse">And once upon a wild tempestuous night,</div> -<div class="verse">When all the demons of the earth and air</div> -<div class="verse">Like raging furies were embattled there,</div> -<div class="verse">She, peering fearfully, amid the swarm</div> -<div class="verse">Flitting athwart the flashes of the storm,</div> -<div class="verse">By fitful gleams beheld the Raven’s form.</div> -<div class="verse">To her he spoke not since the fateful night</div> -<div class="verse">His chosen comrade passed from human sight,</div> -<div class="verse">Save only once, forgetting he was by</div> -<div class="verse">And half forgetting too her cares and woes,</div> -<div class="verse">Unto her lips some idle jest arose.</div> -<div class="verse">“Winona,” said the Raven, in a tone</div> -<div class="verse">Of stern reproof that on the instant froze</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -<div class="verse">All thought of mirth, and when she met his eye,</div> -<div class="verse">As by a serpent’s charm it fixed her own;</div> -<div class="verse">The hate and anger of a soul intense</div> -<div class="verse">Were all compressed in that remorseless glance,</div> -<div class="verse">The coldly cruel meaning of whose sense</div> -<div class="verse">Smote down the shield of her false innocence.</div> -<div class="verse">She strove to wrest her eye from his in vain,</div> -<div class="verse">Held by that gaze ophidian like a bird,</div> -<div class="verse">As in a trance she neither breathed nor stirred.</div> -<div class="verse">And gazing thus an icy little lance,</div> -<div class="verse">Smaller than quill from wing of humming-bird,</div> -<div class="verse">Shot from his eyes, and a keen stinging pain</div> -<div class="verse">Sped through the open windows of her brain.</div> -<div class="verse">Her senses failed, she sank upon the ground,</div> -<div class="verse">And darkness veiled her eyes; she never knew</div> -<div class="verse">How long this was, but when she slowly grew</div> -<div class="verse">Back from death’s counterfeit, and looked around,</div> -<div class="verse">So little change was there, that it might seem</div> -<div class="verse">The scene had been but a disordered dream.</div> -<div class="verse">The Raven sat in his accustomed place,</div> -<div class="verse">Smoking his solitary pipe; his face,</div> -<div class="verse">A gloomy mask that none might penetrate,</div> -<div class="verse">Betrayed no sign of anger, grief, or hate;</div> -<div class="verse">Absorbed so deep in thoughts that none might share,</div> -<div class="verse">He noted not Winona’s presence there;</div> -<div class="verse">From his disdainful lips the thin blue smoke</div> -<div class="verse">From time to time in little spirals broke,</div> -<div class="verse">Floating like languid sneers upon the air,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -<div class="verse">And settling round him in a veil of blue</div> -<div class="verse">So sinister to her disordered view,</div> -<div class="verse">That she arose and quickly stole away.</div> -<div class="verse">She shunned him more than ever from that day,</div> -<div class="verse">And never more unmoved could she behold</div> -<div class="verse">That countenance inscrutable and cold.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But Hope and Love, like Indian summer’s glow,</div> -<div class="verse">Gilding the prairies ere December’s snow,</div> -<div class="verse">Lit with a transient beam Winona’s eye.</div> -<div class="verse">The season for the Maidens’ Dance drew nigh,</div> -<div class="verse">And Redstar vowed, whatever might betide,</div> -<div class="verse">To claim her on the morrow as his bride.</div> -<div class="verse">What now to her was all the world beside?</div> -<div class="verse">The evil omens darkening all her sky,</div> -<div class="verse">Malicious sneers, her rival’s envious eye,</div> -<div class="verse">While her false lover lingered at her side,</div> -<div class="verse">All passed like thistle-down unheeded by.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The evening for the dance arrived at last;</div> -<div class="verse">An ancient crier through the village passed,</div> -<div class="verse">And summoned all the maidens to repair</div> -<div class="verse">To the appointed place, a greensward where,</div> -<div class="verse">Since last year unprofaned by human feet,</div> -<div class="verse">Rustled the prairie grass and flowers sweet.</div> -<div class="verse">None but the true and pure might enter there—</div> -<div class="verse">Maidens whose souls unspotted had been kept.</div> -<div class="verse">At set of sun the circle there was formed,</div> -<div class="verse">And thitherward the happy maidens swarmed.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -<div class="verse">The people gathered round to view the scene:</div> -<div class="verse">Old men in broidered robes that trailing swept,</div> -<div class="verse">And youths in all their finery arrayed,</div> -<div class="verse">Dotting like tropic birds the prairie green,</div> -<div class="verse">Their rival graces to the throng displayed.</div> -<div class="verse">Winona came the last, but as she stept</div> -<div class="verse">Into the mystic ring one word, “Beware!”</div> -<div class="verse">Rang out in such a tone of high command</div> -<div class="verse">That all was still, and every look was turned</div> -<div class="verse">To where the Raven stood; his stern eye burned,</div> -<div class="verse">And like a flower beneath that withering glare</div> -<div class="verse">She faded fast. No need that heavy hand</div> -<div class="verse">To lead Winona from the joyous band;</div> -<div class="verse">No need those shameful words that stained the air:</div> -<div class="verse">“Let not the sacred circle be defiled</div> -<div class="verse">By one who, all too easily beguiled,</div> -<div class="verse">Beneath her bosom bears a warrior’s child.”</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Winona swiftly fleeing, as she passed,</div> -<div class="verse">One look upon her shrinking lover cast</div> -<div class="verse">That scared his coward heart for many a day,</div> -<div class="verse">Into the deepest woods she took her way.</div> -<div class="verse">The dance was soon resumed, and as she fled,</div> -<div class="verse">Like hollow laughter chasing overhead,</div> -<div class="verse">Pursued the music and the maidens’ song.</div> -<div class="verse">Just as she passed from sight an angry eye</div> -<div class="verse">Glared for a moment from the western sky,</div> -<div class="verse">And flung one quivering shaft of dazzling white,</div> -<div class="verse">With tenfold thunder-peal, adown the night.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Her mother followed her, and sought her long,</div> -<div class="verse">Calling and listening through the falling dew,</div> -<div class="verse">While fast and furious still the cadence grew</div> -<div class="verse">Of the gay dance, whose distant music fell,</div> -<div class="verse">Smiting the mother like a funeral knell.</div> -<div class="verse">High rode the sun in heaven next day before</div> -<div class="verse">The stricken mother found along the shore</div> -<div class="verse">The object of her unremitting quest.</div> -<div class="verse">The cooling wave whereon she lay at rest</div> -<div class="verse">Had stilled the tumult of Winona’s breast.</div> -<div class="verse">Along that shapely ruin’s plastic grace,</div> -<div class="verse">And in the parting of her braided hair,</div> -<div class="verse">The hopeless mother’s glances searching there</div> -<div class="verse">The Thunder-Bird’s mysterious mark might trace.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">So died Winona, and let all beware,</div> -<div class="verse">For vengeance follows fast and will not spare,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor maid, nor warrior that dares offend</div> -<div class="verse">Who hath the cruel Thunder-Bird for friend.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<h3>FOOTNOTES</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Thunder-Bird, a supernatural winged creature which -causes thunder and lightning by the flapping of its -wings and the winking of its eyes.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The name given by the Dakotas to the first-born, if a -female.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Tipi, skin tent.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> An edible root found on the prairies.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> The Crow Indians, hereditary foes of the Dakotas, -call themselves Absaraka, which means crow in their -language.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Each Indian guest at a banquet carries with him his -own wooden bowl and horn spoon.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Many Indians believe in the transmigration of souls, -and some of them profess to remember previous states -of existence.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> A renowned chief formerly living on Lake Pepin.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> A supernatural monster inhabiting the larger rivers -and lakes, and hereditary foe of the Thunder-Bird.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The falls of St. Anthony.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> The name given to the first-born, if a male. Upon -becoming a warrior or performing some notable feat, the -youth is permitted to select another name.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Hereditary foe of the Dakotas.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> The Dakotas formerly disposed of their dead by fastening -them to the branches of trees, or to rude platforms. -This is still practised to some extent.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> The Indians paint and adorn a body before sepulture.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="MISCELLANEOUS_POEMS">MISCELLANEOUS POEMS</h2> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TO_A_YOUNG_MAN">TO A YOUNG MAN.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Caress thy pleasures with a reverent touch,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Too soon at best their early fragrance flees.</div> -<div class="verse">Seek not to know, to see, or taste too much:</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The sweetest, deepest cup hath still its lees;</div> -<div class="verse">The blushing grape is not too rudely pressed,</div> -<div class="verse">When gushes forth its richest and its best.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Bird, bubble, butterfly on light wing straying,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With changing tints of crimson, blue, and gold,</div> -<div class="verse">Upon warm waves of summer sunlight swaying,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When thy frail, flaming wing the boy shall hold,</div> -<div class="verse">Alas, how soon its fragile charms expire!</div> -<div class="verse">E’en so when strong men seize their soul’s desire.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Rend not with ruthless hand the lily’s bell,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To gather all its sweetness at a breath;</div> -<div class="verse">Spill not the pearl deep in its bosom’s cell,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The crystal gift Aurora’s tears bequeath.</div> -<div class="verse">So shall a delicate perfume be thine,</div> -<div class="verse">Through all the weary hours of day’s decline.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The gentlest spirits of the earth and air—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sweet mysteries to ruder men unknown—</div> -<div class="verse">Will yield delights as delicate as rare,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The secret bowers of Love shall be thy own,</div> -<div class="verse">The one great bliss, so long thy hope’s despair,</div> -<div class="verse">Will press with eager feet to find thee there.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TELL_ME_DEAR_BIRD">TELL ME, DEAR BIRD.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">In the warm twilight where I mused, there came</div> -<div class="verse">A bird of unknown race with breast of flame.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Tell me, dear bird, O bird with breast of flame,</div> -<div class="verse">I conjure thee, e’en by his sacred name,</div> -<div class="verse">How may I lure and win Love to my side?</div> -<div class="verse">There is no lure for Love, in patience bide,</div> -<div class="verse">And if he cometh not await him still,</div> -<div class="verse">Love cometh only when and where he will.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But when he cometh, bird with breast of flame,</div> -<div class="verse">Teach me his roving feet to bind and tame.</div> -<div class="verse">Many have sought to bind him, but in vain;</div> -<div class="verse">He will not brook nor gold nor silken chain.</div> -<div class="verse">If he is caught, Love languishes and dies,</div> -<div class="verse">And ’tis not Love, if free to stay, he flies.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Tell me, dear bird, O bird with breast of flame,</div> -<div class="verse">When true Love comes, how may I know his name?</div> -<div class="verse">What are the golden words upon his tongue:</div> -<div class="verse">What message sweeter than a seraph’s song?</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Love hath no shibboleth, and where are words</div> -<div class="verse">For the enraptured songs of summer birds?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Tell me, dear Love, O bird with breast of flame,</div> -<div class="verse">The deepest sense and meaning of thy name?</div> -<div class="verse">Two all-sufficing souls for woe or bliss,</div> -<div class="verse">But what they do, or what their converse is,</div> -<div class="verse">Love only knows; they walk where none may see,</div> -<div class="verse">Wrapped in the shades of a sweet mystery.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="PERDITA">PERDITA.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Far away under Hesper,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In seas never crossed,</div> -<div class="verse">Like a faint-uttered whisper,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Forgotten and lost;</div> -<div class="verse">Where no sail ever flies</div> -<div class="verse indent1">O’er the face of the deep,</div> -<div class="verse">A lost island lies</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Forgotten, asleep.</div> -<div class="verse">An island reposes,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Distant and dim,</div> -<div class="verse">Where a cloud-veil of roses</div> -<div class="verse">Never uncloses,</div> -<div class="verse">Dreams and reposes</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On the horizon’s rim.</div> -<div class="verse">An island arrayed</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In such magical grace,</div> -<div class="verse">It would seem to be made</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For some happier race.</div> -<div class="verse">Each valley and bower</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Has a charm of its own;</div> -<div class="verse">A perfume each flower,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Elsewhere unknown;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -<div class="verse">A charm of such power</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That once known to the heart,</div> -<div class="verse">If but for an hour,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">It can never depart.</div> -<div class="verse">E’en the surges of ocean,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ceasing their roar,</div> -<div class="verse">Their rage and commotion,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sigh in on the shore</div> -<div class="verse">With a melody saintly,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As vespers that seem</div> -<div class="verse">Chanted so quaintly,</div> -<div class="verse">By sisters so saintly,</div> -<div class="verse">Mingling so faintly</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With the voice of a dream.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">One summer time olden,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That standeth alone</div> -<div class="verse">With its memories golden,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That isle was my own.</div> -<div class="verse">O island enchanted!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where now does she rove—</div> -<div class="verse">The bright nymph that haunted</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Thy fountain and grove,</div> -<div class="verse">While still at her side,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Whereever she strayed,</div> -<div class="verse">By the mountain or tide,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">My footsteps were stayed?</div> -<div class="verse">Do her pulses still beat</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To the pulses of yore?</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Say, now, do her feet</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Tread some pitiless shore,</div> -<div class="verse">Still hoping to meet</div> -<div class="verse indent1">One who cometh no more?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O that summer! its ray</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In my heart lingers yet,</div> -<div class="verse">Long after the day-</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Star it came from has set.</div> -<div class="verse">My star of the night</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And of morning was she,</div> -<div class="verse">My song-bird, my white-</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Wingèd bark on the sea;</div> -<div class="verse">My rainbow, illuming</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With beauty and light;</div> -<div class="verse">My rose-garden, blooming,</div> -<div class="verse">Sweetly perfuming</div> -<div class="verse">The hours of the night.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But at last, in its fleetness,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">It seemed that each day</div> -<div class="verse">From the charm and the sweetness</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Took something away,</div> -<div class="verse">Till the flowers all faded</div> -<div class="verse indent1">From summer’s bright crown,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The skies were o’ershadowed,</div> -<div class="verse">The forests were brown.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In the voices of morning</div> -<div class="verse">There crept a new tone,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -<div class="verse">A faint whispered warning</div> -<div class="verse indent1">From regions unknown,</div> -<div class="verse">And over each heart</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Stole a mystical fear</div> -<div class="verse">That our joy would depart</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With the flight of the year.</div> -<div class="verse">A pale, cold, new-comer</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Had entered our isle,</div> -<div class="verse">From a land beyond summer</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And sunshine and smile,</div> -<div class="verse">Subduing us quite,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Though we saw not his face,</div> -<div class="verse">As winter gives blight</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When it cometh apace.</div> -<div class="verse">Her glances and mine</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sought each other no more,</div> -<div class="verse">Each fearing some sign</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Not seen there before.</div> -<div class="verse">Yet no word was revealing</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Misgiving or chill;</div> -<div class="verse">Each sought for concealing</div> -<div class="verse">The deathly, congealing</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Foreboding of ill.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But at last came a night</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When our last song was sung,</div> -<div class="verse">And like children in fright</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Together we clung.</div> -<div class="verse">No farewell was spoken,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -<div class="verse indent1">Our voices were dumb,</div> -<div class="verse">But we knew without token</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That parting was come.</div> -<div class="verse">In the darkness that bound us</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A night-bird did sing,</div> -<div class="verse">And the black air around us</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Was moved by his wing,</div> -<div class="verse">As in vulture waves sweeping</div> -<div class="verse indent1">He sped from the shore,</div> -<div class="verse">And away from my keeping</div> -<div class="verse indent1">My Day-star he tore.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="STANZAS_TO_BLANK">STANZAS TO ⸺.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Bitter bewailing</div> -<div class="verse">Sweet Life’s sad failing</div> -<div class="verse">Is unavailing</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Your prayers or mine.</div> -<div class="verse">Years onward sweeping</div> -<div class="verse">Bring blight for reaping,</div> -<div class="verse">For laughter weeping,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Wormwood for wine.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The old sweet vision</div> -<div class="verse">Comes to derision</div> -<div class="verse">The dream Elysian</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That once was ours.</div> -<div class="verse">The rushing river</div> -<div class="verse">Mocks our endeavor,</div> -<div class="verse">And soon will sever</div> -<div class="verse indent1">My bark from yours.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">One joy shall bide me</div> -<div class="verse">Whate’er betide me,</div> -<div class="verse">This still shall guide me</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Till life shall fleet;</div> -<div class="verse">Though friends forsake me,</div> -<div class="verse">Fate rudely shake me,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -<div class="verse">And Time shall break me</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Beneath his feet,</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">No power above me</div> -<div class="verse">From this can move me—</div> -<div class="verse">My Queen did love me!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">One golden day</div> -<div class="verse">Her proud heart found me,</div> -<div class="verse">Her arms were around me,</div> -<div class="verse">Her red lips crowned me</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A King for aye.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O rapturous meeting!</div> -<div class="verse">Thy passionate greeting</div> -<div class="verse">Was the high beating</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of a young soul,</div> -<div class="verse">For one full yearning,</div> -<div class="verse">Hour spurning,</div> -<div class="verse">The fetters burning</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of Fate’s control.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The chilling power</div> -<div class="verse">Of rank and dower</div> -<div class="verse">That sacred hour</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Soon overcast,</div> -<div class="verse">And from our faces</div> -<div class="verse">Swept the faint traces</div> -<div class="verse">Of those embraces,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The first and last.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">She may recover,</div> -<div class="verse">When days are over,</div> -<div class="verse">Some happier lover,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Forsaking me.</div> -<div class="verse">I, e’en though hated,</div> -<div class="verse">Am consecrated;</div> -<div class="verse">More meanly mated</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Can never be.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Let new flames redden</div> -<div class="verse">Where light loves deaden,</div> -<div class="verse">Let pulses leaden</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Leap forth anew;</div> -<div class="verse">But on this altar</div> -<div class="verse">Till breath shall falter,</div> -<div class="verse">Though all else alter,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Nought shall renew.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="LOVES_TRIBUTES">LOVE’S TRIBUTES.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O that I might inspire my song with power</div> -<div class="verse">To crown thy brows with more than queenly dower;</div> -<div class="verse">To pour on thee a more than golden shower,</div> -<div class="verse">And fill thy soul with sunshine every hour.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Time breaks at last the lyre’s sweetest strings,</div> -<div class="verse">And palls the sweetest note the minstrel sings,</div> -<div class="verse">And riches fly away on falcon wings:</div> -<div class="verse">Love only to his trust unchanging clings.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Then be my song of whatsoe’er degree,</div> -<div class="verse">And gifts however bright and fair to see,</div> -<div class="verse">Rare trophies peril won by land and sea,</div> -<div class="verse">Yet Love his own chief offering must be.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">All that the flower of Love may yield is thine,</div> -<div class="verse">From blushing bud to clusters on the vine,</div> -<div class="verse">With colors rich as rubies from the mine,</div> -<div class="verse">And odors mounting to the soul like wine.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But all, I know, is paltry in thine eyes,</div> -<div class="verse">So far above them all thy worth doth rise.</div> -<div class="verse">In vain my muse with feeble pinions tries</div> -<div class="verse">To reach the regions where thy merit lies.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Still o’er Love’s treasures hold thy sovereign sway;</div> -<div class="verse">Taste them or spill them, keep or cast away;</div> -<div class="verse">By night or daytime, hasten or delay,</div> -<div class="verse">Trample them, cull them, go thine own sweet way.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_LITTLE_SHEPHERDESS">THE LITTLE SHEPHERDESS.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">PASTORELLE.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Little lamb, I pray O come to me,</div> -<div class="verse">None to caress and love have I but thee.</div> -<div class="verse">Why art thou not some tender shepherd swain,</div> -<div class="verse">Then loving thee would ease my weary pain.</div> -<div class="verse">My sister Susan, she is fair and tall,</div> -<div class="verse">And she may choose among the shepherds all,</div> -<div class="verse">And she is called sweet names—my dear, my pet;</div> -<div class="verse">Ah me! I’m brown, and I’m too little yet.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Then stepping forth from a concealing shade,</div> -<div class="verse">A youth beyond compare approached the maid,</div> -<div class="verse">And, whisp’ring softly in her startled ear,</div> -<div class="verse">She heard the tender words, “My pet, my dear.”</div> -<div class="verse">She blushing stood, confused with downcast eyes,</div> -<div class="verse">But heart and face were filled with glad surprise;</div> -<div class="verse">And happier far than Susan tall and fair,</div> -<div class="verse">The little nut-brown maiden trembling there.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="A_FAREWELL">A FAREWELL.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">’Tis true that once I sighed for</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That tender heart of thine;</div> -<div class="verse">I thought I could have died for</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The bliss I now decline.</div> -<div class="verse">Too many swains enchanted,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Since then within that heart,</div> -<div class="verse">Have had sweet shelter granted</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For me to claim a part.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Farewell, dear one, thy sorrow,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Thy tears are all in vain;</div> -<div class="verse">That tender heart to-morrow</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Will find some newer swain.</div> -<div class="verse">Thou hast no necromancy</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To restore the passing sway,</div> -<div class="verse">Of what was but the fancy</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of an idle summer day.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TO_A_FICKLE_FAIR_ONE">TO A FICKLE FAIR ONE.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Some birds mate three times in a year,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And I have called thee oft my bird.</div> -<div class="verse">I knew not even shame and fear</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Could bind thee long; take my last word,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">Good-bye, sweet bird.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<h3 id="TO_THE_SAME_1">TO THE SAME.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Constancy and the Phœnix, birds that dwell</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In the bright realms of song, happy his fate</div> -<div class="verse">Who elsewhere meets with one, for, mark it well,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sooner or later he will find its mate.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_PALACE_OF_REPOSE">THE PALACE OF REPOSE.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Helpless we start before the break of day,</div> -<div class="verse">And grope along an unknown path our way,</div> -<div class="verse">Or follow leaders blind, and many fall;</div> -<div class="verse">But on we press, heedless and joyous all,</div> -<div class="verse">As happy fledglings fluttering in the brake,</div> -<div class="verse">That nothing reck of prowling fox or snake.</div> -<div class="verse">When over us at last the daylight dawns,</div> -<div class="verse">We bear the marks of many cruel thorns;</div> -<div class="verse">But brightly on the far horizon gleams</div> -<div class="verse">(Of more than earthly grace the vision seems)</div> -<div class="verse">The Palace of Repose, that rears on high</div> -<div class="verse">Its golden domes against the western sky,</div> -<div class="verse">While warm and tender as a poet’s dreams,</div> -<div class="verse">The restful radiance from each tower that streams.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Now through the early morning air we fly,</div> -<div class="verse">As the young shepherd sped with beaming eye</div> -<div class="verse">Fast fixed upon the rose-born butterfly.</div> -<div class="verse">Toward flowery vales and hills our pathway leads,</div> -<div class="verse">But when we reach them all their beauty fades.</div> -<div class="verse">Hills that were fairer, ere their paths were won,</div> -<div class="verse">Than the long slopes of fountained Helicon,</div> -<div class="verse">Are marred by poisonous weeds and flinty stone;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -<div class="verse">And forms that seemed, against the distant skies,</div> -<div class="verse">Winging their snowy way to Paradise,</div> -<div class="verse">Are birds unclean, whose wings are like a breath</div> -<div class="verse">From some great charnel-house in lands of death.</div> -<div class="verse">And shifting sands beneath our feet are spread,</div> -<div class="verse">And pitfalls numberless beset our way,</div> -<div class="verse">Where noisome reptiles fill us with dismay;</div> -<div class="verse">On either side lie, fathomless and dim,</div> -<div class="verse">Wide plains where wander phantoms stark and grim.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Noon comes; the goal no nearer, on we haste,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor note the lengthening shadows of the past.</div> -<div class="verse">Luring us on we hear the far, faint moan</div> -<div class="verse">Of music, weird and sweet as Memnon’s tone,</div> -<div class="verse">Heard in the desert by the traveller lone;</div> -<div class="verse">Bewildering as the sounds the shepherds erst</div> -<div class="verse">Heard in the vales of Thessaly, when first</div> -<div class="verse">Apollo’s wondrous music on them burst.</div> -<div class="verse">Of all that started with us, hand in hand,</div> -<div class="verse">Only a few are left, a dwindling band.</div> -<div class="verse">With haggard faces fixed upon the goal,</div> -<div class="verse">E’en as the needle to the steadfast pole,</div> -<div class="verse">Swifter and swifter, till the evening air</div> -<div class="verse">Sings like a serpent through our back-blown hair.</div> -<div class="verse">But lo, the night has come,</div> -<div class="verse indent13">The sun goes down,</div> -<div class="verse">His trailing robes with crimson glories crown</div> -<div class="verse">The palace we had almost deemed was ours.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Dearer than ever seem those fading towers,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose oriel windows gleam like soul-lit eyes</div> -<div class="verse">For one bright moment ere thick darkness lies</div> -<div class="verse">On earth and sky, then trembling, faint, and sore,</div> -<div class="verse">Closing our pathway, lo, we find a door,</div> -<div class="verse">The entrance to a narrow house that still</div> -<div class="verse">Blocks up the way of every human will.</div> -<div class="verse">Wander where’er we may, this self-same goal</div> -<div class="verse">Is reached at last by every weary soul.</div> -<div class="verse">Our burdens fall unheeded, and our gains,—</div> -<div class="verse">This is the end of all our toil and pains.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Over the threshold hangs a shrunken lute,</div> -<div class="verse">Upon a tree where grows nor flower nor fruit;</div> -<div class="verse">Bewildering odors fill the heavy air,</div> -<div class="verse">The nightshade and the wolf’s-bane mingle there;</div> -<div class="verse">The faint perfume of rose and lily, too,</div> -<div class="verse">Is swallowed up by asphodel and rue.</div> -<div class="verse">We enter in, behold, a lowly bed,</div> -<div class="verse">How sweet the poppied perfume o’er it shed,</div> -<div class="verse">Where the red poppy swings its censer head.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">There sleep shall seize and bind us, sleep supreme,</div> -<div class="verse">That knows no waking morn, no troubled dream.</div> -<div class="verse">The years shall swiftly cover us from sight,</div> -<div class="verse">In silence and insuperable night.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="MOODS">MOODS.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">My wayward youth had drained the cup of Life,</div> -<div class="verse">Wasting its treasures in the fitful strife,</div> -<div class="verse">The mad revolt of a rebellious soul,</div> -<div class="verse">That beats the stubborn bars of Fate’s control.</div> -<div class="verse">My foolish heart whispered, there is no God,</div> -<div class="verse">And if there is, let cravens fear his rod:</div> -<div class="verse">Be thy own god, slake thy imperious thirst</div> -<div class="verse">Where’er thou wilt, no fountain is accurst.</div> -<div class="verse">Many strange paths my restless feet had sought,</div> -<div class="verse">Not all ignoble, but to each I brought</div> -<div class="verse">The turbulence of will that grasps at all,</div> -<div class="verse">And, failing, breaks itself against the wall.</div> -<div class="verse">Too late I knew my impotence at last,</div> -<div class="verse">When the bright glow of youth was overpast.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Worn out, exhausted by the weary route</div> -<div class="verse">That leads from knowledge to disgust and doubt,</div> -<div class="verse">Defeat, deceit, and baffled purpose stole</div> -<div class="verse">Like a corroding canker to my soul.</div> -<div class="verse">I hated Life, scorned and despised my kind,</div> -<div class="verse">So far astray may err the unbridled mind.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -<div class="verse">I had been nigh to death; the sullen wave</div> -<div class="verse">Already my consenting feet did lave,</div> -<div class="verse">When one who thought to be my friend, and fain</div> -<div class="verse">Had done me kindness, plucked me back again.</div> -<div class="verse">They said my reason wandered, and had found</div> -<div class="verse">A peaceful nook remote from sight or sound</div> -<div class="verse">Of busy men; there by the moonlit sea</div> -<div class="verse">On a soft couch I lay, where over me</div> -<div class="verse">Through the low lattice the sea odors crept,</div> -<div class="verse">And from the landward side about me swept</div> -<div class="verse">Soft languid waves of amorous perfume,</div> -<div class="verse">Of pollen-dust, of bursting bud and bloom.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Wrecked by the storm of life, and cast aside</div> -<div class="verse">Like drift rejected by the loathing tide,</div> -<div class="verse">Vacant of heart and thought I lay; the air</div> -<div class="verse">That wooed my cheek and gently stirred my hair,</div> -<div class="verse">Laden with yearning voices of the spring,</div> -<div class="verse">Awoke in me no answering tone or string.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">From the deep shadows of the sleeping wood</div> -<div class="verse">A baleful night-bird swept the solitude;</div> -<div class="verse">The shuddering moonlight like a living thing</div> -<div class="verse">Shrank from the touch of his defiling wing;</div> -<div class="verse">And fiercely following like an eager pack</div> -<div class="verse">Of wingèd hounds upon his lurid track,</div> -<div class="verse">Lewd mocking spirits filled the thickening air,</div> -<div class="verse">Swarming as to a charnel banquet there.</div> -<div class="verse">Close at my ear burst forth a piercing yell,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -<div class="verse">As if each ghoul and fiend from nether hell</div> -<div class="verse">Had burst its bonds, and joined that chorus fell;</div> -<div class="verse">My quivering veins and nerves to frenzy stung,</div> -<div class="verse">In discord jangled like a harp unstrung.</div> -<div class="verse">Suddenly at my heart a quick sharp pluck,</div> -<div class="verse">As ’twere some foot of small fierce bird had struck</div> -<div class="verse">And griped me sore; then after some short space</div> -<div class="verse">The keen pain seized me in another place;</div> -<div class="verse">I felt myself clasped in a rude embrace,</div> -<div class="verse">And o’er my body spread swift fleeting pangs,</div> -<div class="verse">Sickening and deadly as a serpent’s fangs.</div> -<div class="verse">Quivering in every limb then I was ’ware</div> -<div class="verse">Of a strange woman bending o’er me there,</div> -<div class="verse">With ashen hair, that in the moonlight pale</div> -<div class="verse">Rippled about her shoulders like a veil;</div> -<div class="verse">In her cold eyes that pierced me through and through,</div> -<div class="verse">There dimly lurked a look that once I knew.</div> -<div class="verse">Her face was bloodless, as of one that’s dead,</div> -<div class="verse">But oh! her little mouth, how rosy red,</div> -<div class="verse">Beset with glittering little fangs that bled,</div> -<div class="verse">Fresh from the cruel feast whereon they fed.</div> -<div class="verse">Cold was her bosom, and her clammy arms—</div> -<div class="verse">No ruddy current warmed those shapely charms.</div> -<div class="verse">The air grew stifling, and upon my ear</div> -<div class="verse">Fell strident whispers chilling me with fear.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">“Dost thou not know my face? in my close kiss</div> -<div class="verse">Lingers no essence of the olden bliss?</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Doth not my breath revive the ancient fire,</div> -<div class="verse">And fill the shrunken veins of dead desire?</div> -<div class="verse">I am the child of all thy joys; ere Death</div> -<div class="verse">Swallowed them up each left with me some breath,</div> -<div class="verse">Some drop of blood, some accent, or some look,</div> -<div class="verse">A token from each fleeting hour I took;</div> -<div class="verse">In me thy vanished raptures all unite</div> -<div class="verse">The perfect fruit of all thy past delight.</div> -<div class="verse">Long have I sought thee, now that thou art found,</div> -<div class="verse">Now that my limbs about thee have been wound,</div> -<div class="verse">And that my lips have fed upon thy face,</div> -<div class="verse">Nothing shall tear thee more from my embrace;</div> -<div class="verse">Dearer thou art to me than all that dwell</div> -<div class="verse">In the wide triple realms, Earth, Heaven and Hell.</div> -<div class="verse">Thou art my fruitful vineyard, and my well,</div> -<div class="verse">My gilded mountain top, and flowery dell</div> -<div class="verse">Whereon my lips shall pasture all the night,</div> -<div class="verse">Vanishing only with the morning light.</div> -<div class="verse">For in thy arms the olden joys I taste,</div> -<div class="verse">And round us swarm the spectres of the past;</div> -<div class="verse">The ruddy light still in their hollow eyes</div> -<div class="verse">Lingers that shone upon our revelries</div> -<div class="verse">In gay Lisboa’s palaces of pride,</div> -<div class="verse">When every mask and cheek was flung aside,</div> -<div class="verse">Virtue was mocked, and God and man defied.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">“And youthful joys far from Lisboa’s town</div> -<div class="verse">Through some green byway of the years float down;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Over fair Lusitania’s hills and plains</div> -<div class="verse">Again we wander free from sinful stains;</div> -<div class="verse">Though viewed through mist of tears, the earliest scenes</div> -<div class="verse">Are brightest still whatever intervenes.</div> -<div class="verse">The leafy songs that thrill the listening wood,</div> -<div class="verse">And answering birds that make sweet interlude,</div> -<div class="verse">The sylvan lakes illuminated by</div> -<div class="verse">The rainbows arching all our summer sky,</div> -<div class="verse">And swans that drift along the shore at rest—</div> -<div class="verse">A string of pearls upon a swelling breast.”</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Ranging amid the garden groves of youth,</div> -<div class="verse">The luring voice grew softer, till in sooth</div> -<div class="verse">Like pulsing of a moonlight lute it fell,</div> -<div class="verse">Lulling my senses with a rhythmic spell.</div> -<div class="verse">I know not if I slumbered, but anon</div> -<div class="verse">Those odious limbs about my own were thrown;</div> -<div class="verse">I started up with thick and laboring breath,</div> -<div class="verse">And sickening loathing almost unto death;</div> -<div class="verse">“O Christ!” I cried, lo, at that sacred name</div> -<div class="verse">The foul shape vanished, and instead one came</div> -<div class="verse">Clad in soft light as from an inner flame,</div> -<div class="verse">And held an ebon cross whereon there bled</div> -<div class="verse">A great white Christ, with loving arms outspread.</div> -<div class="verse">Singing afar a tender voice I heard,</div> -<div class="verse">Faintly the accents fell, “Flee as a bird.”</div> -<div class="verse">Then, as the spring-tides yearning to the moon,</div> -<div class="verse">Flood the dry hollows where we walked at noon,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -<div class="verse">E’en so the tidal-wave of feeling rose,</div> -<div class="verse">And memories wakened from their long repose,</div> -<div class="verse">And rushing back through many a dusty year</div> -<div class="verse">Left me again a reverent child at prayer.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Again the simple worshippers I saw</div> -<div class="verse">Kneeling in fervent prayer; I heard with awe</div> -<div class="verse">Once more the shameful tale recounted o’er:</div> -<div class="verse">The buffets and revilings that He bore,</div> -<div class="verse">The crown of thorns, the wormwood, and the gall,</div> -<div class="verse">And our foul sins more bitter than them all,</div> -<div class="verse">Filling the cup that our vile hands have pressed</div> -<div class="verse">To the pure lips of our expiring Christ.</div> -<div class="verse">Gazing upon the Saviour’s agony,</div> -<div class="verse">Through my dark soul a cleansing current swept,</div> -<div class="verse">And tears of humble penitence I wept.</div> -<div class="verse">Softly I wept at first, then gathering force,</div> -<div class="verse">Burst forth a storm of passionate remorse,</div> -<div class="verse">Till my frail couch shook like an autumn leaf</div> -<div class="verse">In the tempestuous torrent of my grief.</div> -<div class="verse">Stretching my trembling hands, “O Christ!” I cried,</div> -<div class="verse">“Would that with thee I might be crucified,</div> -<div class="verse">So I might share thy love. O let me find</div> -<div class="verse">Some sure retreat remote from all my kind,</div> -<div class="verse">Far from the voice of priest or minister,</div> -<div class="verse">Where reigns the silence of the sepulchre;</div> -<div class="verse">To some far rocky island let me flee,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Piercing the bosom of an unknown sea,</div> -<div class="verse">There let me live in sweet converse with thee.</div> -<div class="verse">Or in some Theban desert, too remote</div> -<div class="verse">E’en for the sound of Memnon’s warning note,</div> -<div class="verse">Or ’mid the rocks on Sinai’s shaking brow,</div> -<div class="verse">Where the fierce fires of God’s anger glow;</div> -<div class="verse">Or buried in some clammy convent cell,</div> -<div class="verse">No matter where, dear Lord, so I may dwell</div> -<div class="verse">Apart from all the universe but thee;</div> -<div class="verse">So that my name may perish utterly</div> -<div class="verse">From memory of man; so that no sound</div> -<div class="verse">Of human voice or footstep may resound</div> -<div class="verse">Through the deep portals of my solitude.</div> -<div class="verse">There let me purge my sins with penance rude,</div> -<div class="verse">The scourge, the midnight vigil, and the fast,</div> -<div class="verse">Until I know thee, face to face at last.”</div> -<div class="verse">How weak are all this life’s most tempting joys,</div> -<div class="verse">Love, wealth, ambition, transitory toys,</div> -<div class="verse">To those that flood the lonely anchorite</div> -<div class="verse">In the rapt moments of his soul’s delight.</div> -<div class="verse">The sweetest words of Jesus are not found</div> -<div class="verse">In Holy Writ; who in his grace abound,</div> -<div class="verse">Forsaking all the world to bear his cross,</div> -<div class="verse">Counting all human love and honor dross;</div> -<div class="verse">Who wears the thorny crown upon his head,</div> -<div class="verse">And loveth better than his daily bread</div> -<div class="verse">The scourge, the iron chain, the stony bed,</div> -<div class="verse">Worn out with vigils, spent with sighs and tears,</div> -<div class="verse">Jesus perchance may whisper in his ears,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Sweeter than music of the choral spheres,</div> -<div class="verse">The unwritten words that soothed the Magdalene.</div> -<div class="verse">Perchance on Jesus’ bosom he may lean,</div> -<div class="verse">A deeper sense than language can impart</div> -<div class="verse">Lies in the throbbing of that wondrous heart.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The moon went down, the night grew dark and dense,</div> -<div class="verse">The aspiration of my soul intense</div> -<div class="verse">Took real form and garb, or so it seemed,</div> -<div class="verse">And bore me on to all that I had dreamed.</div> -<div class="verse">Into the narrow dungeon where I lay</div> -<div class="verse">The Saviour came, and gently put away</div> -<div class="verse">My scourging hand; his smile ineffable</div> -<div class="verse">With more than earthly radiance lit my cell—</div> -<div class="verse">Sweeter than wanton couch had ever known,</div> -<div class="verse">The rapture Jesus bringeth to his own.</div> -<div class="verse">Naked and prone upon the dungeon stone,</div> -<div class="verse">His love suffused me with a rosy glow.</div> -<div class="verse">His words of grace and pardon, murmured low,</div> -<div class="verse">Thrilled me and filled my spirit’s pulsing vein,</div> -<div class="verse">Till like a ship impatient for the main</div> -<div class="verse">Her snowy wings tugged at the anchor chain.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I slept profoundly; when I woke, the sun</div> -<div class="verse">Already more than half his course had run.</div> -<div class="verse">Light willing feet were moving round my couch,</div> -<div class="verse">And gentle hands with ministering touch.</div> -<div class="verse">They brought me dainties, and their cheerful words,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -<div class="verse">The hum of honey-bees, the voice of birds,</div> -<div class="verse">The grand old forest’s potent influence</div> -<div class="verse">Subdued and mingled with my every sense,</div> -<div class="verse">And moved my being to accord and tune</div> -<div class="verse">With all the leafy harmonies of June,</div> -<div class="verse">As if some conscious hand beneficent</div> -<div class="verse">A hideous nightmare pall had from me rent.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I wandered out alone beneath the trees</div> -<div class="verse">And in a tempting spot reclined at ease,</div> -<div class="verse">My head in the cool shade, and at my feet</div> -<div class="verse">Streaming the amber sunlight’s genial heat.</div> -<div class="verse">My spirits rose, and quickening pulses beat,</div> -<div class="verse">Surprised to find that living still was sweet.</div> -<div class="verse">The tree-tops o’er me seemed to melt away—</div> -<div class="verse">Green islets floating on an azure bay;</div> -<div class="verse">And I in fancy floated with them, too,</div> -<div class="verse">Drifting forever down the ether blue.</div> -<div class="verse">Half dreaming thus, so quietly I lay</div> -<div class="verse">The forest denizens resumed their play;</div> -<div class="verse">But furtively, as though they feared to break</div> -<div class="verse">The spell that brooded in the air, or wake</div> -<div class="verse">Some discord slumbering in the solitude.</div> -<div class="verse">A bird sang nigh me, but with voice subdued;</div> -<div class="verse">The mossy oaks like kingly graybeards stood,</div> -<div class="verse">And stretched inviting arms; the aspens wooed</div> -<div class="verse">With myriad beckoning leaves, and each slant beam,</div> -<div class="verse">Flung from the flying sun-god’s hand, did seem</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -<div class="verse">A rosy finger-tip that coyly pointed</div> -<div class="verse">To some deep trysting-place by wood-nymphs haunted.</div> -<div class="verse">Long vistas led away mysteriously,</div> -<div class="verse">So tempting that I almost thought to see</div> -<div class="verse">Arch faces from the nearer branches peeping,</div> -<div class="verse">And clumsy satyrs in the distance leaping.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The nymph, the satyr, and the bounding fawn</div> -<div class="verse">That filled the groves of Thessaly are gone.</div> -<div class="verse">The merry train that circled Oberon</div> -<div class="verse">Trip it no more upon the moonlit lawn.</div> -<div class="verse">But let them pass nor mourn the solitude:</div> -<div class="verse">Far sweeter than the whole fantastic brood</div> -<div class="verse">Is one weak, loving woman’s human form.</div> -<div class="verse">A woman’s voice, low, tremulous, and warm,</div> -<div class="verse">Hath a more potent spell to lull the charm</div> -<div class="verse">Than Orphean lute, or siren’s song, where passed</div> -<div class="verse">The wave-worn mariner lashed to his mast.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Two doves thrust out their small heads timidly</div> -<div class="verse">From the low branches of a neighboring tree,</div> -<div class="verse">Looking askance, and peering through the green,</div> -<div class="verse">Like foolish lovers fearing to be seen,</div> -<div class="verse">Then, reassured, resumed their blissful play.</div> -<div class="verse">I smiled to see them, thinking of a day,</div> -<div class="verse">Just such another day as this, last year,</div> -<div class="verse">When with a damsel I had wandered here,</div> -<div class="verse">Amid these very vistas, and I thought</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Of a deep vine-clad arbor we had sought.</div> -<div class="verse">Our words, our looks, our tender dalliance, all,</div> -<div class="verse">Like birds of passage at the swallow’s call,</div> -<div class="verse">Came trooping back, on light wings fluttering,</div> -<div class="verse">And through me swept the quickening breath of spring.</div> -<div class="verse">Seen through the shimmering aspen leaves afar</div> -<div class="verse">A fair face twinkled on me like a star,</div> -<div class="verse">And rustle of bright garments drawing nigh</div> -<div class="verse">Fluttered my heart with strange expectancy.</div> -<div class="verse starbreak">* * * * *</div> -<div class="verse">And soon two happy lovers wandered far,</div> -<div class="verse">And tarried till the rising of the evening star.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TO_BLANK_1">TO ⸺.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Her heart is a flower that long hath slept</div> -<div class="verse">Where clammy night-dews o’er it wept,</div> -<div class="verse">But now to love and rapture wakes</div> -<div class="verse">As the flushing glory of morning breaks,</div> -<div class="verse">And the heavy tears that chilled it so</div> -<div class="verse">Pure diamonds all in the sunshine glow.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Her hair is a sea of golden waves</div> -<div class="verse">Love’s beauteous temple wall that laves,</div> -<div class="verse">Rippling o’er two rosy shells</div> -<div class="verse">Wherein the soul of music dwells,</div> -<div class="verse">To break in hyacinthine curl</div> -<div class="verse">Caressing the base of purest pearl.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Her eyes, twin mountain pools that lie</div> -<div class="verse">Reflecting back the summer sky,</div> -<div class="verse">A fringe of graceful poplars there</div> -<div class="verse">Sway softly in the amorous air.</div> -<div class="verse">Oh! he who fathoms those wondrous eyes</div> -<div class="verse">Will see the joys of Paradise.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A crimson little rose her mouth</div> -<div class="verse">Exhales the memories of the South;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -<div class="verse">And when its petals gently move,</div> -<div class="verse">Breathing some tender word of love,</div> -<div class="verse">No angel’s voice at gates of bliss</div> -<div class="verse">Hath promise to compare with this.</div> -<div class="verse">Her brow a page of vellum fair,</div> -<div class="verse">’Twere vain to seek for tracery there;</div> -<div class="verse">Pure as Mount Athos, yet I know</div> -<div class="verse">Beneath that alabaster brow</div> -<div class="verse">One tender secret, guarded well,</div> -<div class="verse">Stirs sweetly in its guarded cell.</div> -<div class="verse starbreak">* * * * *</div> -<div class="verse">How many hundred hearts have beat</div> -<div class="verse">To the faint music of her feet;</div> -<div class="verse">What yearning eyes devour the grass</div> -<div class="verse">That ripples where her footsteps pass,</div> -<div class="verse">Beneath her kirtle’s airy sweep,</div> -<div class="verse">Like moonbeams glancing o’er the deep.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A snowy miracle of grace</div> -<div class="verse">Her circling arms, for whose embrace</div> -<div class="verse">Hyperion’s self might vainly sigh.</div> -<div class="verse">Oh! if within those arms to lie</div> -<div class="verse">To happy mortal e’er were given,</div> -<div class="verse">How tame were all the joys of heaven.</div> -<div class="verse">Sheltered by those endearing charms</div> -<div class="verse">From my own spirit’s dark alarms,</div> -<div class="verse">Endymion were not half so blest</div> -<div class="verse">Fainting upon his Phœbe’s breast.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TO_BLANK_2">TO ⸺.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Revolving years another May-day bring;</div> -<div class="verse">Earth at this bridal season’s glad return</div> -<div class="verse">Blooms forth again in bridal robes of spring,</div> -<div class="verse">Expectant, waiting, trembling, all things yearn.</div> -<div class="verse">Cries then aloud the voice I thought was slain,</div> -<div class="verse">Calls as of yore my stormy deep to thine;</div> -<div class="verse">Answer is mute, I hear no voice but mine.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<h3 id="TO_THE_SAME_2">TO THE SAME.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Rarer and dearer seen through smiles or tears,</div> -<div class="verse">Each day thy well-remembered face appears,</div> -<div class="verse">Beaming through all the clouds and mists of years.</div> -<div class="verse">Enfolding thee in dreams, my yearning kisses</div> -<div class="verse">Cling to that face till all our perished blisses</div> -<div class="verse">Come back like phantoms dear that re-awaken,</div> -<div class="verse">And haste to greet their loved ones long forsaken.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<h3 id="TO_THE_SAME_3">TO THE SAME.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Right gladly would I twine a wreath of flowers,</div> -<div class="verse">Each morn for thee from dewy garden bowers;</div> -<div class="verse">But when I cull them, lo! they turn at view,</div> -<div class="verse">E’en in my hands, to nightshade and to rue;</div> -<div class="verse">Circling, beloved one, thy temples rare,</div> -<div class="verse">Catching the halo of thy golden hair,</div> -<div class="verse">Again they glow, roses and lilies there.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="TRANSLATIONS_AND_IMITATIONS">TRANSLATIONS AND IMITATIONS</h2> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="IF_MY_VERSES_HAD_WINGS_LIKE_A_BIRD">IF MY VERSES HAD WINGS LIKE A BIRD.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">AFTER VICTOR HUGO.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">If my verses had wings like a bird,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To thy garden of perfume and light</div> -<div class="verse indent1">They would flutter with timid delight,</div> -<div class="verse">If my verses had wings like a bird.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">If my verses, like fairies, had wings,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To thy fireside at eve they would fly,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To sparkle and gleam in thine eye,</div> -<div class="verse">If my verses, like fairies, had wings.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Pure pinions around and above,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">All day would rustle and gleam,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">They would whisper at night to thy dream,</div> -<div class="verse">If my verses were wingèd like Love.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TWIXT_SLEEP_AND_WAKING">’TWIXT SLEEP AND WAKING.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">AFTER THE FRENCH OF PROSPER BLANCHEMAIN.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Lying alone last night, ’twixt sleep and waking,</div> -<div class="verse">My cruel mistress passed, with queenly tread,</div> -<div class="verse">With smile of cold disdain, and haughty head,</div> -<div class="verse">And scornful eyes, whereat my heart was breaking;</div> -<div class="verse">The vision was so true in all its seeming,</div> -<div class="verse">I scarcely could believe that I was dreaming.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But when she came, and o’er me lowly bending,</div> -<div class="verse">Upon me rained the kisses of her mouth,</div> -<div class="verse">Laden with all the perfume of the South,</div> -<div class="verse">Murmuring the while of blisses never ending,</div> -<div class="verse">And in her eyes I saw the love-light gleaming,—</div> -<div class="verse">Ah! then I knew that I was only dreaming.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="WHITE_SWAN_SAILING">WHITE SWAN SAILING.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">FROM THE RUSSIAN.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">White swan, sailing all the day,</div> -<div class="verse">Peering in the wave below</div> -<div class="verse">As thou sailest proud and slow,</div> -<div class="verse">Round and round, and to and fro,</div> -<div class="verse">Seekest thou another, say?</div> -<div class="verse">Seest thou, in vaults below,</div> -<div class="verse">Through the wave inscrutable,</div> -<div class="verse">Joy of heaven or woe of hell?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Cruel swan, why mock me so?</div> -<div class="verse">Scornful sailing to and fro,</div> -<div class="verse">Answering not my questionings,</div> -<div class="verse">While above thy snowy breast</div> -<div class="verse">Rises haughty neck and crest.</div> -<div class="verse">Sure, beneath thy folded wings,</div> -<div class="verse">Knowledge lies of many things—</div> -<div class="verse">Secrets that I long to know.</div> -<div class="verse">Voices of the hollow wave,</div> -<div class="verse">Whispering as from a grave,</div> -<div class="verse">Murmur to thy listening ear</div> -<div class="verse">Secrets that I fain would hear.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Lo, I see another crest</div> -<div class="verse">Mirrored in the wave below,</div> -<div class="verse">And a bosom white as snow</div> -<div class="verse">Sails majestical and slow,</div> -<div class="verse">Unto thine ’tis closely pressed;</div> -<div class="verse">Face to face and breast to breast,</div> -<div class="verse">Two white swans majestic go</div> -<div class="verse">Round and round and to and fro.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Peering through the hollow wave</div> -<div class="verse">As into an open grave,</div> -<div class="verse">Lo, I see another there;</div> -<div class="verse">Find the face and form of one,</div> -<div class="verse">Thought of whom I fain would shun</div> -<div class="verse">More than all beneath the sun;</div> -<div class="verse">Find a face already where</div> -<div class="verse">Time’s inexorable touch</div> -<div class="verse">Leaveth traces overmuch,</div> -<div class="verse">And steely fingers soon will tear,</div> -<div class="verse">Rending cruel furrows there.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Peering through the hollow wave,</div> -<div class="verse">Wistfully as in a grave,</div> -<div class="verse">Could I see another breast</div> -<div class="verse">As it was in Long Ago</div> -<div class="verse">(Or perhaps I dreamed it so),</div> -<div class="verse">Where my own might hope to rest;</div> -<div class="verse">Not of mine the counterpart,</div> -<div class="verse">But a bosom white as snow,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Proud, but tender, pressed to mine,</div> -<div class="verse">As thy double unto thine;</div> -<div class="verse">Would the rapture slay me, say?</div> -<div class="verse">Swelling, welling from my heart,</div> -<div class="verse">Soul and body rend apart?</div> -<div class="verse">Would the rapture slay me? nay,</div> -<div class="verse">Such a death were sweeter bliss</div> -<div class="verse">Than I find in life like this.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_ROSES_OF_SAADI">THE ROSES OF SAADI.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">AFTER THE FRENCH OF DESBORDES-VALMORE.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">As I passed through the Valley of Roses to-day</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I gathered the fairest and sweetest for thee,</div> -<div class="verse">But my robes were so full that the knots burst away,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And all my sweet roses fell into the sea.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A wave slowly bore them away from my sight,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Flaming forth like a cloud-billow rosy and red;</div> -<div class="verse">But on me you may breathe all their fragrance to-night,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For my bosom is sweet with the odors they shed.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="ROSE-BUDS">ROSE-BUDS.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">AFTER THE FRENCH OF BÉRANGER.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O timid rose-buds, why delay your bloom,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The frost of Time is chill upon my hair;</div> -<div class="verse">Unclose your petals, shed your sweet perfume,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Like vesper incense on the evening air.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Gladden my withered heart while yet you may,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A rock is hid beneath each glowing wave;</div> -<div class="verse">The ardent sun, wooing your lips to-day,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To-morrow’s noon may mock your poet’s grave.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And rose-buds, ere their time may pass away;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The worm is there, an envious wind may blight;</div> -<div class="verse">How many rose-buds have I seen decay,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">While thistles flaunt their colors in the light.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I pluck nor buds, nor full-blown roses now,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Your tender charms from me have naught to fear;</div> -<div class="verse">No rosy wreath awaits this wrinkled brow,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Let regal youth the crown and sceptre bear.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Weary of strife, of cold, vain theorems,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of counting spots upon the sun’s fair face,</div> -<div class="verse">Would that a bed beneath your friendly stems</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Were hollowed for my final resting-place.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">When the Great Reaper comes, let me be found</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Among the roses, fresh and pure as truth;</div> -<div class="verse">Their perfume shed above me and around,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Whispering my failing heart of Love and Youth.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O timid rose-buds, why delay your bloom,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The frost of Time is chill upon my hair;</div> -<div class="verse">Unclose your petals, shed your sweet perfume</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Like vesper incense on the evening air.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_BIRD_I_WAIT_FOR">THE BIRD I WAIT FOR.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">AFTER THE FRENCH OF MOREAU.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Dead, buried suns of former years arise,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And flowers bloom I thought had died last spring;</div> -<div class="verse">The birds that fled last fall our wintry skies</div> -<div class="verse indent1">People again the woods on joyous wing;</div> -<div class="verse">At dawn soft rustling pinions waken me,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And swallows darken window-pane and door;</div> -<div class="verse">Breathless I listen, gazing wistfully,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Alas, the bird I wait for comes no more.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A high ambition swept my pulses through;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Gazing one day upon the eagle’s flight,</div> -<div class="verse">I pierced with him the heaven’s o’erarching blue,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And beat my pinions at the gates of light.</div> -<div class="verse">To-day the bird of Jove alone defies</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The sun-god’s burning glance, the tempest’s roar;</div> -<div class="verse">I watch his flight unmoved, with listless eyes,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The bird I fondly wait for comes no more.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The lark pours forth his liquid flood of song,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Seeking the secret covert where love lies,</div> -<div class="verse">Wherein to weave a palace for his young;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">He sings his song, he loves his love and dies,</div> -<div class="verse">His sweet small soul with his own music thrilled.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">O mocking warbler, cease the song to pour,</div> -<div class="verse">Of Love victorious, fierce desire fulfilled,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The bird I fondly wait for comes no more.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The martin hovers o’er the slumbering bay,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Deep mirrored in the blue abyss he lies,</div> -<div class="verse">Now swiftly whirls and darts in idle play,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Now rocked as in a poet’s reveries.</div> -<div class="verse">O happy friend, follow thy fantasy,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Dream on the wave, wanton along the shore,</div> -<div class="verse">The bird I fondly wait for comes no more.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Arrive at last, O messenger from heaven,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Black envoy, bearing in thy beak of yore</div> -<div class="verse">The bread to famishing Elijah given.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Has God for me no portion I implore?</div> -<div class="verse">It soon will be too late, the shadows press,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And night-birds gather round my darkening door.</div> -<div class="verse">Dead with the prophet in the wilderness,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Alas, the bird I wait for comes no more.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="VISIONS">VISIONS.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">FROM THE FRENCH OF ALFRED DE MUSSET.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">One midnight when I was a wayward child,</div> -<div class="verse">I read by stealth a romance weird and wild;</div> -<div class="verse">My veins were tingling and my cheeks aflame,</div> -<div class="verse">When suddenly before my vision came</div> -<div class="verse">Two sad dark eyes appealing wistfully,</div> -<div class="verse">A child in sable garb who looked like me.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A child so like to me in form and face,</div> -<div class="verse">It seemed a mirror standing in the place.</div> -<div class="verse">He cast on me one long and earnest look,</div> -<div class="verse">Then bent with me o’er the forbidden book.</div> -<div class="verse">A smile mysterious he wore, but never spoke,</div> -<div class="verse">And vanished from me as the daylight broke.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The years sped by; one dreamy autumn day</div> -<div class="verse">The eager chase had led me far astray;</div> -<div class="verse">Fantastic shadows thronged the solitude</div> -<div class="verse">Of the deep mountain forest where I stood,</div> -<div class="verse">And there appeared beneath a spreading tree,</div> -<div class="verse">A wanderer dressed in black, who looked like me.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">He held a quaint old lute and a fresh spray</div> -<div class="verse">Of eglantine; I gently asked my way.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -<div class="verse">He answered me no word, but took with pride</div> -<div class="verse">A path straight up the towering mountain side.</div> -<div class="verse">His parting glance fell on me with a thrill</div> -<div class="verse">Of meaning so intense it haunts me still.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Another year sped by; one night outside</div> -<div class="verse">The room wherein my sainted mother died</div> -<div class="verse">I stood alone, and friendless with my grief—</div> -<div class="verse">Youth’s crushing grief that hopes not for relief,—</div> -<div class="verse">I oped the door, lo, there on bended knee</div> -<div class="verse">An orphan dressed in black who looked like me.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Kneeling before the sacred ashes there</div> -<div class="verse">He seemed a radiant angel in despair.</div> -<div class="verse">His face was bathed in tears, his head was crowned</div> -<div class="verse">With thorns, his lute was flung upon the ground,</div> -<div class="verse">And o’er his sable garments flowed a tide</div> -<div class="verse">Of crimson from the sword that pierced his side.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Since then in every crisis I have known,</div> -<div class="verse">Whether in busy town or desert lone,</div> -<div class="verse">Angel or demon, whichsoe’er it be,</div> -<div class="verse">That sable apparition comes to me.</div> -<div class="verse">I never hear his voice, he stands apart,</div> -<div class="verse">Yet like a brother twines about my heart.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Now, all my idols burned in civil strife,</div> -<div class="verse">Willing to love or re-create my life,</div> -<div class="verse">My feet, self-exiled from their natal strand,</div> -<div class="verse">Gather the dust of many a foreign land;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -<div class="verse">A labyrinthine maze I vainly grope,</div> -<div class="verse">Seeking the faint, vague vestige of a hope.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Still in those moments when life’s pulses go</div> -<div class="verse">Surging almost to fatal overflow,</div> -<div class="verse">When the blind, fettered spirit seems at last</div> -<div class="verse">Ready its fetters and its scales to cast,</div> -<div class="verse">Before my vision comes, on land or sea,</div> -<div class="verse">A wanderer, dressed in black, who looks like me.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_FISHERMANS_BRIDAL">THE FISHERMAN’S BRIDAL.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">AFTER DELAVIGNE.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The sea is high, the night is dark,</div> -<div class="verse">Sweet son, O why unmoor thy bark</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Before the morning?</div> -<div class="verse">On such a night as this last year,</div> -<div class="verse">I fain had kept thy brother here;</div> -<div class="verse indent2">O heed the warning.</div> -<div class="verse indent3">But the fisherman smiling</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Bounded from shore,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">His labor beguiling,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Bending the oar,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">Singing, she loveth me,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">No fear I know,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">No wave appalleth me,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Loving her so.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">With white wing cleft the inky sky,</div> -<div class="verse">A sea-bird with a plaintive cry,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Saddening the air:</div> -<div class="verse">The nest I built with so much toil,</div> -<div class="verse">This night became the tempest’s spoil;</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Beware, beware!</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -<div class="verse indent3">Still the fisherman smiling,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Bending the oar,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">The darkness beguiling,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Sang as before:</div> -<div class="verse indent3">My Nanna calleth me,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">No fear I know,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">No wave appalleth me,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Loving her so.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Faintly arose a sad appeal,</div> -<div class="verse">Blent with the storm by which his keel</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Was rudely driven.</div> -<div class="verse">O brother, ere thy knell shall toll,</div> -<div class="verse">Pray for thy elder brother’s soul,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Who died unshriven.</div> -<div class="verse indent3">But the message unheeded</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Its warning bore,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">As onward he speeded,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Bending the oar,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">Murmuring, she calleth me,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">No fear I know,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">No wave appalleth me,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Loving her so.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Weary at dawn he reached the strand,</div> -<div class="verse">But lo, there passed a mourning band;</div> -<div class="verse indent2">For whom? he cried.</div> -<div class="verse">For whom, O fishermen, that bell</div> -<div class="verse">That strikes upon my heart its knell?</div> -<div class="verse indent2">’Tis for thy bride.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Then as if on the shore,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Stricken down by a dart,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">Deep darkness came o’er</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Him, chilling his heart,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">Whispering, she calleth me,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">No fear I know,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">No wave appalleth me,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Loving her so.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="YOU_HAD_MY_WHOLE_HEART">YOU HAD MY WHOLE HEART.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">FROM THE FRENCH OF DESBORDES VALMORE.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">You had my whole heart,</div> -<div class="verse">I thought I had thine,</div> -<div class="verse">No beguiling or art,</div> -<div class="verse">A heart for a heart.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Your heart is returned,</div> -<div class="verse">But alas! where is mine?</div> -<div class="verse">Your heart is returned,</div> -<div class="verse">But mine you have spurned.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The leaf and the bloom</div> -<div class="verse">And the fruit of the same,</div> -<div class="verse">Leaf, color, and bloom,</div> -<div class="verse">Sweet flower and perfume.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Oh, what hast thou done?</div> -<div class="verse">My sovereign supreme,</div> -<div class="verse">Oh, what hast thou done?</div> -<div class="verse">Beneath the fair sun.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">An orphan bereft</div> -<div class="verse">Of mother and home,</div> -<div class="verse">An orphan bereft,</div> -<div class="verse">With my grief I am left.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Deserted, alone,</div> -<div class="verse">Through the cold world to roam,</div> -<div class="verse">Deserted, alone,</div> -<div class="verse">But heaven hears my moan.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">One day you will muse,</div> -<div class="verse">Broken-hearted and old,</div> -<div class="verse">One day you will muse</div> -<div class="verse">On the love you refuse.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">You will seek me one day</div> -<div class="verse">But you shall not behold;</div> -<div class="verse">You will call me one day,</div> -<div class="verse">I shall not obey.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">You will come to my door</div> -<div class="verse">With penitent head,</div> -<div class="verse">A friend, as of yore,</div> -<div class="verse">You will knock at my door.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">It will coldly be said,</div> -<div class="verse">She is gone, she is dead;</div> -<div class="verse">Her spirit has fled,</div> -<div class="verse">Will coldly be said.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="ART">ART.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">FROM THE FRENCH OF THÉOPHILE GAUTIER.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Yes, art with grievous pangs is born</div> -<div class="verse indent1">From Nature’s most endearing molds;</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The child is torn,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Not wooed, from fierce rebellious folds.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Slay not thy art by false constraint,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Yet know her rules are stern as Fate;</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Without complaint</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The muse should wear a buskin strait.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Would’st have thy verse endure, thy muse</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The common facile forms must shun,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The slipshod shoes</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In which so many feet have run.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Sculptor, beware the plastic clay,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Changing at every whim’s command</div> -<div class="verse indent4">From day to day,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And marred by every careless hand.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Strive with the marbles pure of Greece,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Wrested from Paros’ snowy mines,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Smite, and release</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The deep-imprisoned god-like lines.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The chisel of Praxiteles</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Such peerless beauty had not known,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">If art in Greece</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Had deigned to use a meaner stone.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Let the fierce molten metal fuse</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Heroic forms and high contours</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Of Syracuse;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Nought but the matchless bronze endures.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Upon the agate’s flinty face</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Apollo’s features high and pure</div> -<div class="verse indent4">In profile trace,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With touches delicate and sure.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Beware of water and pastel,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Deep on fantastic vase and urn</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Thy colors frail</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In seven-fold heated furnace burn.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Fashion the writhing, maddening limb</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of nymph and goddess; bring once more</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The monsters grim,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Dear to the blazonry of yore.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The virgin mother saintly mild,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Crowned with her nimbus; on her breast</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The wondrous child,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The globe beneath the cross of Christ.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Crowns fall and sceptres pass, robust</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And radiant art outlives them all.</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Torso and bust</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Survive the city’s triple wall.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The medal by the ploughman found</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Reveals the countenance austere,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The temples crowned,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That filled the antique world with fear.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Even the gods wax old and pass</div> -<div class="verse indent1">From high Olympus; verse alone,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Stronger than brass,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Preserves to fallen Zeus his throne.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The graver guide with care supreme,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The chisel smite, fix like a rock</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Thy floating dream</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Deep in the stem resisting block.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Tongues and religions die, while art,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Poised in the lofty realms of thought,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Serene, apart,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Exults in sempiternal youth.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="BARCAROLLE">BARCAROLLE.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">FROM THE SAME.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O sun-bright maiden, choose and say,</div> -<div class="verse">Whither shall we two sail to-day?</div> -<div class="verse">The rose’s breath is on the gale</div> -<div class="verse">That softly moves our silken sail;</div> -<div class="verse">Our masts of gleaming ivory</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Are strung like harps with yellow hair,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That make Æolian music there;</div> -<div class="verse">A seraph shall our pilot be.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O sun-bright maiden, choose and say,</div> -<div class="verse">Whither shall we two sail to-day?</div> -<div class="verse">Our pinnace lifts her snowy wing</div> -<div class="verse">And flutters like a living thing;</div> -<div class="verse">And from the shore the morning wind</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Toys with our awning’s purple fold;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Our rudder is of beaten gold</div> -<div class="verse">And leaves a rosy track behind.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O sun-bright maiden, choose and say,</div> -<div class="verse">Whither shall we two sail to-day?</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Our hold with love-apples is stored,</div> -<div class="verse">And all strange fruits, a goodly hoard;</div> -<div class="verse">A wingèd boy sits at the prow,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Pointing our path with beaming eye</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And smile of deepest mystery;</div> -<div class="verse">A wreath of myrtle crowns his brow.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O sun-bright maiden, choose and say,</div> -<div class="verse">Whither in Love’s realm shall we stray?</div> -<div class="verse">Say, shall we seek some storied isle,</div> -<div class="verse">Where warm Ægean waters smile?</div> -<div class="verse">Or shall I see the Arctic sun</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A flood of crimson glories shed</div> -<div class="verse indent1">At midnight on that golden head,</div> -<div class="verse">Or sail to seas where pearls are won?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O sun-bright maiden, choose and say</div> -<div class="verse">Whither shall we two sail to-day?</div> -<div class="verse">Follow the track of Heracles—</div> -<div class="verse">Seeking the far Hesperides;</div> -<div class="verse">Or where the South Sea flower expands,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Float idly in the moonlight wan;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or sail beneath the rainbow’s span—</div> -<div class="verse">Bright gateway to Love’s golden lands?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O sun-bright maiden, choose and say,</div> -<div class="verse">There is no one to say thee nay.</div> -<div class="verse">O seek, she saith, that faithful shore</div> -<div class="verse">Where loving hearts will change no more.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Alas, my sails for many a year</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Have sped through all Love’s wide domain,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Seeking that blessed shore in vain:</div> -<div class="verse">That land is still unknown, my dear.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SHADOWS">SHADOWS.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">FROM THE SAME.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Be still, my heart, keep silence, O my soul,</div> -<div class="verse">Thy fierce rebellious transports are in vain,</div> -<div class="verse">Oblivion’s turbid wave must o’er thee roll.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Cease the faint pulsing of the weary brain,</div> -<div class="verse">Fold up the remnant of thy wings at last,</div> -<div class="verse">And rot, beneath the inexorable chain.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Soon shalt thou be with refuse vile outcast,</div> -<div class="verse">Flung down the bottomless abyss that still</div> -<div class="verse">Yawns to the future from the darkling past.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Thy hopes are dead, broken thy lofty will,</div> -<div class="verse">Thy name and memory will be blotted out</div> -<div class="verse">Before the rattling clods thy grave refill.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">No marble shaft for thee the heavens will flout,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor tear-drenched willow shed her graceful spray,</div> -<div class="verse">No lying epitaph the truth will scout,</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">No choir will chant, no man of God will pray,</div> -<div class="verse">No tears will silver the funereal pall—</div> -<div class="verse">Dark cloud that hides thy shame from light of day.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The felled tree strangely moves his comrades tall,</div> -<div class="verse">Waking the echoes of the mountain side,</div> -<div class="verse">But not a leaf will quiver at thy fall.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Like the mute convoy of the suicide,</div> -<div class="verse">Thou shalt wind down through night to find thy doom:</div> -<div class="verse">Thy ashes shall be scattered far and wide.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">No circling rings shall break the sullen gloom</div> -<div class="verse">Of the dark pool that closes o’er thy head,</div> -<div class="verse">No widowed soul shall hover o’er thy tomb.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">For the chaste secrets which thy soul hath wed,</div> -<div class="verse">With thee the pit shall bury them from view,</div> -<div class="verse">Fathoms below the deepest deep-sea lead.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Our Mother, Nature, hath her favorites too,</div> -<div class="verse">Like any other dame, spoiled children they;</div> -<div class="verse">Unwelcome waif, why should they share with you?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Upon them fall the myrtle and the bay,</div> -<div class="verse">E’en in the desert they would find at need</div> -<div class="verse">Enchanted palaces along their way.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Though for the morrow’s morn they take no heed,</div> -<div class="verse">Yet through their fingers filter golden sands,</div> -<div class="verse">And at a generous breast they freely feed.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Kneading a withered breast with famished hands</div> -<div class="verse">Their outcast brethren pine, or seek in vain</div> -<div class="verse">Some kinder bosom in relentless lands.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And if for them upon the desert plain</div> -<div class="verse">Illusive gardens rise, and fountains play,</div> -<div class="verse">They vanish like the rainbow after rain.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Or if by chance a sunbeam gone astray</div> -<div class="verse">Glints through the gloom that shrouds them evermore,</div> -<div class="verse">A chilling cloud obscures th’ unwonted ray.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The wisest plans but mock their hopes the more,</div> -<div class="verse">Bringing them to derision and dismay:</div> -<div class="verse">The sea engulfs them though they hug the shore.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The tree shall crush them, hollow with decay,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose grateful shade invites them to draw nigh:</div> -<div class="verse">The heart they lean on wins them to betray.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A turtle drops upon them from the sky;</div> -<div class="verse">The tower that has braved a thousand years</div> -<div class="verse">Falls without warning just as they pass by.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The friend who shared their youthful smiles and tears</div> -<div class="verse">Accuses them of treason to the crown,</div> -<div class="verse">Sending them to the rack with blows and jeers.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Born on the Danube, in the Seine they drown;</div> -<div class="verse">Poor fools, why fly so far to find the fate</div> -<div class="verse">That like a slimy monster sucks them down?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Why strive with Fate? no jot will he abate;</div> -<div class="verse">Even the brawny knees of Hercules</div> -<div class="verse">Must bend or break before him soon or late.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">They drain a bitter cup with poisonous lees,</div> -<div class="verse">A life ignoble and a death of shame,</div> -<div class="verse">And in some potter’s field they find surcease;</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Or, dying nobly, leave behind no name,</div> -<div class="verse">While, mounting on their bones, some brazen cheat</div> -<div class="verse">Reaches the very pinnacle of Fame.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Destiny mocks them from her lofty seat,</div> -<div class="verse">Dipping their sponge in vinegar and gall:</div> -<div class="verse">Want grinds them in the dust with iron feet.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Hard by the accursed sea whose waves appal,</div> -<div class="verse">A scape-goat lone, beneath the wingless skies,</div> -<div class="verse">They wander where the ashen apples fall.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Night takes for them a thousand baleful eyes,</div> -<div class="verse">Piercing at once their deepest hiding-place:</div> -<div class="verse">Straight to their heart each poisoned arrow flies.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Thrust out of camp, the scape-goat of their race,</div> -<div class="verse">Abhorred they live, and dead, the loathing earth</div> -<div class="verse">Vomits their phantom from the burial-place.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Such is thy history, O my soul, from birth;</div> -<div class="verse">Dark pages with decaying odors rife,</div> -<div class="verse">A maze of treachery, and pain, and dearth.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Yet ’tis the story of a vulgar life;</div> -<div class="verse">No title casts a glamour o’er its woes,</div> -<div class="verse">No footlights gild its unromantic strife.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Across the web the flying shuttle goes,</div> -<div class="verse">Weaving with common threads a homely plot,</div> -<div class="verse">Yet dark and sinister the pattern shows.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Why woo so long a world that loves thee not?</div> -<div class="verse">O soul, whence long have perished hope and faith,</div> -<div class="verse">Why cling to life, when death is all thy lot?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Sweeter than bridal bed the couch of death,</div> -<div class="verse">More restful far than sleep; the asphodel</div> -<div class="verse">Is sweeter than the crimson poppy’s breath.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">King, queen, and harlot, priest and infidel,</div> -<div class="verse">Heaped up at random peacefully they rest,</div> -<div class="verse">Commingling in one mighty urn pell-mell.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Despairing brother, whose fast chilling breast</div> -<div class="verse">Nor love, nor wine may warm, descend with me,</div> -<div class="verse">And burst the shadowy gates an eager guest.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Abase thy head, and bend thy stubborn knee;</div> -<div class="verse">And like a Scythian chief in triumph led,</div> -<div class="verse">Welcome the agony that sets thee free.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">One short, fierce agony, and all is said;</div> -<div class="verse">Beneath the coffin lid, sealed once for all,</div> -<div class="verse">Compose thy limbs as in a royal bed.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Swift as the fleeting shadow on the wall</div> -<div class="verse">Thy feeble footprints fall along the sand,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor voice, nor echo will thy song recall.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">In the Corinthian brass thy feeble hand</div> -<div class="verse">Can write no name; thy chisel cannot bite</div> -<div class="verse">The marbles of Carrara pure and grand.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">He who would climb Fame’s towering mountain height</div> -<div class="verse">Must have a double gift, a genius rare:</div> -<div class="verse">Unto a happy star he must unite.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Poet, alas! and lover, brethren are;</div> -<div class="verse">Twins of the soul, each hath his cherished dream,</div> -<div class="verse">Some saint ideal, worshipped from afar;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Some fount of youth, some pure Pactolian stream,</div> -<div class="verse">Some orb that beams with strange unearthly ray,</div> -<div class="verse">Some flaming vision potent to redeem.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The fount is dry, the vision fades away;</div> -<div class="verse">The mystic light that led them through the night</div> -<div class="verse">Dies in a marsh, and leaves them far astray.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O God, to tread but once by morning light</div> -<div class="verse">The alabaster palace of our dreams,</div> -<div class="verse">Counting its colonnades with waking sight;</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">To greet the lovely images that gleam</div> -<div class="verse">Athwart the gardens of our revery,</div> -<div class="verse">And drink the waters of its mystic stream;</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">To make the plunge, piercing triumphantly</div> -<div class="verse">The crystal vault, bring back the golden vase</div> -<div class="verse">Long buried with the treasures of the sea.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">’Twere fine to feel the thrill of flight through space,</div> -<div class="verse">Adown the far empyrean to float,</div> -<div class="verse">Or track the eagle in his headlong chase.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">To find the deed outstrip the noble thought,</div> -<div class="verse">To find fit words to mate our passion’s cry,</div> -<div class="verse">And pour the tide with its full burden fraught.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Sailing through unknown seas, to catch the sigh</div> -<div class="verse">Of mighty rivers, and through night’s eclipse</div> -<div class="verse">See new worlds heaving upward to the sky;</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">To feel upon the flower of our lips</div> -<div class="verse">The regal kiss that sometimes hovers there;</div> -<div class="verse">To find the glen wherein the rainbow dips;</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">To stop the wheel of fortune in the air;</div> -<div class="verse">To see before us on the glowing page</div> -<div class="verse">The wavering thoughts our midnight musings bear.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Such lots, alas, in this decrepit age</div> -<div class="verse">Are rare; Polycrates might wear his ring,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor fear to rouse the avenging goddess’ rage.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Seeking the upper chambers where we cling,</div> -<div class="verse">The cruel wave mounts upward step by step,</div> -<div class="verse">Mingling its murmur with our revelling,</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Till slimy phocas, shapes that banish sleep,</div> -<div class="verse">Gnash foully at our very bedsides there,</div> -<div class="verse">Belched from the bowels of the nether deep.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The church is dark, the altar cold and bare,</div> -<div class="verse">And rending from their brows the aureole,</div> -<div class="verse">The saints blaspheming die in their despair.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The sun senescent, near his final goal,</div> -<div class="verse">Casts from his bloodshot eye one baleful glare,</div> -<div class="verse">Ere yet the heavens vanish like a scroll.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Each living thing shall perish foul or fair,</div> -<div class="verse">The flood will top the tallest mountain chain,</div> -<div class="verse">For vengeance cometh on and will not spare.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">For twenty days and nights through wind and rain,</div> -<div class="verse">The raven’s midnight wing, cleaving the waste,</div> -<div class="verse">Seeks for a haven where to rest in vain.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Headlong she falls, famished and spent at last,</div> -<div class="verse">And as the widening circles mark the flood,</div> -<div class="verse">All Earth is but a tomb whence life has passed.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A common sepulchre for bad and good,</div> -<div class="verse">Upon this wave no ark of safety rides,</div> -<div class="verse">Bitter with tears and red with human blood.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">No second patriarch his vessel guides,</div> -<div class="verse">A hive of life; a swelling fountain head,</div> -<div class="verse">To burst upon Ararat’s rugged sides.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Atlas has fallen! hark, O hark! o’erhead</div> -<div class="verse">The crack of doom, the supports of the world</div> -<div class="verse">Are snapped like reeds beneath Behemoth’s tread.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Our Mother Earth, by storms of chaos whirled,</div> -<div class="verse">Reels like a drunken harlot down through space,</div> -<div class="verse">By wanton buffets from her orbit hurled.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Unto the lips of an expiring race</div> -<div class="verse">The Son holds up the cup of human woes;</div> -<div class="verse">The Father sees with coldly sneering face.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">When will our crucifixion cease? still flows</div> -<div class="verse">The ruddy current from our open side,</div> -<div class="verse">And red drops cluster on our pallid brows.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Enough of tears and blood; O turn aside</div> -<div class="verse">The poisoned chalice; doth not this suffice?</div> -<div class="verse">That Thy dear Son upon the cross has died?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">He died for naught; man still must pay the price</div> -<div class="verse">Unless a newer Christ rise from the dead:</div> -<div class="verse">The Pontiff asks a fresher sacrifice.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">For nigh two thousand years the Lamb hath bled;</div> -<div class="verse">His empty veins leave not the faintest stain</div> -<div class="verse">Upon the priestly knife that gleams o’erhead.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Messiah cometh not, we watch in vain;</div> -<div class="verse">The veil is rent, broken the altar stone,</div> -<div class="verse">The worshippers are slain, the church o’erthrown.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SONNET_OU_VONT_ILS">SONNET: <i>OU VONT ILS?</i></h3> - -<p class="subheading">FROM THE FRENCH OF SULLY PRUDHOMME.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">To what strange land gather the slain of Love?</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Heaven were no world for them, it hath no bliss</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To match the raptures that they knew in this;</div> -<div class="verse">No summer night, no dark secluded grove,</div> -<div class="verse">Or deep ravine with sheltering boughs above;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Nor can the foul fiends of the dread abyss</div> -<div class="verse indent1">So rend a soul as the fierce agonies</div> -<div class="verse">Of Love’s disdain, the doubts and fears thereof.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Tame were the joys of the bright sphere above</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To which the saints so ardently aspire,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And vain the anguish of eternal fire</div> -<div class="verse">To him who knows the martyrdom of Love.</div> -<div class="verse">For souls consumed and dead there is no room</div> -<div class="verse">In heaven or hell: oblivion is their doom.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_GAY_CASHIER">THE GAY CASHIER.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Two gallant burglars, who for many a day</div> -<div class="verse">Had laid their plans, at last had made their way</div> -<div class="verse">Into a bank upon a stormy night;</div> -<div class="verse">Then with what fond, what rapturous delight</div> -<div class="verse">Unto the vault they flew to seize the swag!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">O cruel joke, there was no swag at all:</div> -<div class="verse">That night the gay cashier, a heartless wag,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With all the funds had skipped for Montreal.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_RAVAGES_OF_TIME">THE RAVAGES OF TIME.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">SCARRON.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The monuments of human pride and power,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Engulfed by ocean wave or desert sand,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And crushed by time’s inexorable hand,</div> -<div class="verse">Built for eternity, last but an hour.</div> -<div class="verse">Where are the hanging gardens and the towers</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of Babylon? the marbles tall and grand</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That stood like gods on the Ægean strand?</div> -<div class="verse">Fallen and crumbled. So shall crumble ours.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Time slays or withers all on which we dote;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">His swift, remorseless touches ne’er relent,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Destroying marble, mortar, and cement.</div> -<div class="verse">Then why should I repine because my coat</div> -<div class="verse">Is threadbare on the seams with three years’ wear,</div> -<div class="verse">Out at the elbows, and beyond repair?</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="HALLUCINATION">HALLUCINATION.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">FROM THE FRENCH.</p> - -<h4 id="HALLUCINATION_I">I.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Last night, or did I dream? my lady led</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Me to a wall I oft had passed before,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And opened there a curious secret door</div> -<div class="verse">Made by some cunning workmen ages dead.</div> -<div class="verse">We entered furtively, and as our tread</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Resounded on the long untrodden floor,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Back swung the portal with a clanging roar.</div> -<div class="verse">Fleeing like startled children on we sped,</div> -<div class="verse">And found an inner chamber, where was spread</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A board with gold and crystal, and a store</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of fruits and flowers from every unknown shore,</div> -<div class="verse">And curious flasks, whose contents gleaming red</div> -<div class="verse">A ruddy radiance o’er my lady shed,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And flung fantastic flames upon the floor.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> - -<h4 id="HALLUCINATION_II">II.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Bathed in the amber of an unseen flame,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A royal couch with silken curtains fair</div> -<div class="verse">Gleamed like a jewel in the alcove there;</div> -<div class="verse">A dreamy languor stole through all my frame,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sweet beyond power of language to declare;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A breath of perfume moved the swooning air,</div> -<div class="verse">Stirring the golden ringlets of my dame;</div> -<div class="verse">And while we faltered, lo, a small voice came:</div> -<div class="verse">“O happy pair, with rosy forms aglow,</div> -<div class="verse">Here lie within the temple’s deep alcove</div> -<div class="verse">Sweet mysteries that I pant to have you know;</div> -<div class="verse">Wine that hath stained the trampling feet of Love,</div> -<div class="verse">And fruit that ripened in the sacred grove:</div> -<div class="verse">Break every seal, and let the purple flow.”</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4 id="HALLUCINATION_III">III.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I turned to seek my lady’s eyes, when lo!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The vision vanished, and I stood alone</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Without the temple walls, whose cold gray stone</div> -<div class="verse">Mocked my endeavor, rising row on row.</div> -<div class="verse">I called my lady’s name, fearful and low.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">No answer, save the hoot-owl’s jeering tone,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And the pale mocking moon that coldly shone.</div> -<div class="verse">Now, sadly round the temple walls I go,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose deepest mysteries I thought to know.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -<div class="verse indent1">I thought its inmost chamber mine; fond fool,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I only stood within some vestibule,</div> -<div class="verse">Where all men’s feet may wander to and fro,</div> -<div class="verse">And saw, reflected from some mirror there,</div> -<div class="verse">My own imaginings too warm and fair.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4 id="HALLUCINATION_IV">IV.<br /> -IN THE GROVE.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Once more the huntress clad in silvery mail</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Seeks her Endymion, over hill and glade;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Once more the hour so dear to youth and maid—</div> -<div class="verse">The hour that all Love’s guardian spirits hail.</div> -<div class="verse">Wrapped in the moonlight like a lucent veil,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Is it for me, young priestess, that, arrayed</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Still in thy vestal robes, thy feet have strayed</div> -<div class="verse">So far from where the sacred fires pale?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Last night within the temple’s dim alcove</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I durst not lift my conscious eyes to thine.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Lo, now thy lips and eyes have sought for mine,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And round my neck thy sheltering arms entwine,</div> -<div class="verse">While our commingling footsteps freely rove</div> -<div class="verse">Through all the mysteries of the silent grove.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TO_MY_CRITICS">TO MY CRITICS.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">IMITATED FROM DE MUSSET.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">My verse contains some images, ’tis true,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Byron’s pages found, what then, he too</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On other pages found them long before,</div> -<div class="verse">(Byron, I think, would hardly grudge them me,</div> -<div class="verse">Seeing I need them so much worse than he).</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Read carefully the old Italian lore,</div> -<div class="verse">If you, to draw it very mild, would see</div> -<div class="verse">How freely Byron borrowed; he or she</div> -<div class="verse">As stupid as a school teacher must be</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Who thinks in eighteen hundred eighty-four</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To find a thought or rhyme not used before.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And yet I must not speak of “waters blue,”</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of “sunny skies,” and “eyes of heavenly hue,”</div> -<div class="verse">Nor use some old stock metaphor at need</div> -<div class="verse">Because, forsooth, pedantic fools may read,</div> -<div class="verse">The same in every language,—Sanscrit, Greek,</div> -<div class="verse">Hebrew and Latin, Dutch and Arabic.</div> -<div class="verse">Great bards of yore, and they of yesterday,</div> -<div class="verse">Before whose sun my rushlight pales away,</div> -<div class="verse">To whose deep flood, my song is but a rill,—</div> -<div class="verse">All, great and small, hear the same chorus still.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Read the old rotting magazines and see</div> -<div class="verse">The very venom that they void on me;</div> -<div class="verse">The arsenal where roving malice meets</div> -<div class="verse">The rusty darts that stung the heart of Keats.</div> -<div class="verse">Vile innuendo, and malignant sneer,</div> -<div class="verse">Blanche, Tray, and Sweetheart, hardly changed are here.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The lowest place amid the minstrel throng</div> -<div class="verse">Is all I claim; in the full tide of song</div> -<div class="verse">My voice is lost; upon my page appears</div> -<div class="verse">No burning message from supernal spheres.</div> -<div class="verse">But Teian glow and Lesbian passion still</div> -<div class="verse">A thousand lyres in every land they thrill.</div> -<div class="verse">A chord once found belongs, the whole world through,</div> -<div class="verse">To every minstrel that can strike it true.</div> -<div class="verse">My verses rhyme (at least some of them do),</div> -<div class="verse">And sweet as ever in our ear there chimes</div> -<div class="verse">The melody of old recurrent rhymes.</div> -<div class="verse">Dove ever mates with love, and bliss with kiss,</div> -<div class="verse">In every song from Sappho’s day to this.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_YOUTH_AND_THE_OLD_MAN">THE YOUTH AND THE OLD MAN.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">FLORIAN.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">“Old man,” said an ambitious youth one day</div> -<div class="verse">“Show me the path to wealth and fame, I pray.”</div> -<div class="verse">Answering not, the old man mused awhile,</div> -<div class="verse">His thin lips wreathing with a cynic smile,</div> -<div class="verse">Then spoke: “Is fame thy wish? With earnest zeal</div> -<div class="verse">Devote thyself to serve the commonweal;</div> -<div class="verse">To her give all thy talents and thy time,</div> -<div class="verse">The flush of youth, and vigorous manhood’s prime;</div> -<div class="verse">And should the foeman come with deadly strife,</div> -<div class="verse">In her defence be swift to lose thy life,</div> -<div class="verse">Perchance with ‘failure’ branded on thy heart.</div> -<div class="verse">The road to wealth is surer; seek the mart,</div> -<div class="verse">Where cunning money-changers lie in wait,</div> -<div class="verse">Casting their nets with watered stocks for bait.</div> -<div class="verse">Or join the nobler throng, whose argosies</div> -<div class="verse">Bear on white wings across the distant seas</div> -<div class="verse">The honest——” “Hold, old man, I’ll none of these;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -<div class="verse">With intrigue and deceit I would not soil</div> -<div class="verse">My soul, and yet I shrink from sordid toil.”</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Again the old man mused in silence while</div> -<div class="verse">Around his mouth hovered a cynic smile,</div> -<div class="verse">Then answered thus: “Why, simply be a fool,</div> -<div class="verse">And win both fame and wealth, in spite of rule.”</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_CATHEDRAL_BELL_AND_ITS_RIVAL">THE CATHEDRAL BELL AND ITS RIVAL.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">IRIARTE.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">In a renowned cathedral hung a bell,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The pride of all the country far and near;</div> -<div class="verse">A bell whose deep vibrations never fell</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Save on the greatest church-days of the year.</div> -<div class="verse">Then for some moments brief the air was thrilled</div> -<div class="verse indent1">By some deep strokes with solemn pause between;</div> -<div class="verse">The heart devout with pious awe was filled,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And sinners felt repentance swift and keen.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Within a neighboring hamlet poor and small,</div> -<div class="verse">With crumbling belfry tottering to its fall,</div> -<div class="verse">There stood a paltry chapel low and mean;</div> -<div class="verse">A cracked and rusty cow-bell hung therein,</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Harsh and discordant, but the sexton sly,</div> -<div class="verse">Only upon the solemn days and high,</div> -<div class="verse">Six times a year at most, its voice awoke,</div> -<div class="verse">Like the cathedral bell with solemn stroke.</div> -<div class="verse">This strange reserve, in parish bells unknown,</div> -<div class="verse">Gave to the wretched bell a high renown.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Its jangling equalled to the rustic’s ear</div> -<div class="verse">The tones majestic of its grand compeer.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Pretentious, owl-like silence oft supplies</div> -<div class="verse">The lack of wit in those accounted wise.</div> -<div class="verse">“Be swift to listen and be slow to speak,”</div> -<div class="verse">If a high name for wisdom you would seek.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="BLUE_EYES_AND_BLACK_EYES">BLUE EYES AND BLACK EYES.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">IMITATED FROM ANDALUSIAN COPLAS.</p> - -<h4 id="EYES_I">I.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Two miracles are thy blue eyes,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Haughty or tender;</div> -<div class="verse">Robbing our Andalusian skies</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Of half their splendor.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Celestial eyes of heaven’s own hue,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Twin thrones of glory,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose glances every day subdue</div> -<div class="verse indent2">New territory.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Blue were the waters and the skies</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Of happy Eden;</div> -<div class="verse">And blue should be a Christian’s eyes,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Matron or maiden.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">By heaven those peerless orbs of blue</div> -<div class="verse indent2">To thee were given,</div> -<div class="verse">And all the mischief that they do</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Is known in heaven.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I thought thy blue eyes beacons fair,—</div> -<div class="verse indent2">O treacherous seeming;</div> -<div class="verse">O treacherous waves of golden hair,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">That wrecked my dreaming!</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Two saints the blue eyes seemed to me</div> -<div class="verse indent2">That wrought my ruin:</div> -<div class="verse">Who would have thought that saints could be</div> -<div class="verse indent2">A soul’s undoing?</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4 id="EYES_II">II.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Black eyes are truer still, I ween,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Than any other:</div> -<div class="verse">Dark were the eyes of Eden’s Queen,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And Mary Mother.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The holy ones of sacred lore</div> -<div class="verse indent2">All dark are painted,</div> -<div class="verse">Inspired prophetess of yore</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And maiden sainted.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Blue eyes are cold as polished steel,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">For all their splendor;</div> -<div class="verse">While thine a lambent flame reveal,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">So warm and tender.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Dearer thine olive hue, and eyes</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Of raven blackness,</div> -<div class="verse">Than all the azure of the skies,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And lily’s whiteness.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Thine eyebrows are a Moorish grove,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Whence issuing fleetly</div> -<div class="verse">Two wingèd archers lightly rove,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Wounding so sweetly.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But when their victims bleeding lie</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Faintly appealing,</div> -<div class="verse">Two tender blackamoors draw nigh</div> -<div class="verse indent2">With balm of healing.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="COMPLAINT_TO_THE_VIRGIN">COMPLAINT TO THE VIRGIN.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">FROM A CUBAN POETESS.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Mother ineffable, whose radiant brow</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The stars have crowned,</div> -<div class="verse">O’er all earth’s daughters chosen, thou</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The sinless found;</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Of Adam’s fallen race, the first and last</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Untouched by strife,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose beauteous feet unstained and pure have passed</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The snares of life.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The angelic heralds at those spotless feet</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Once bent the knee,</div> -<div class="verse">And now adore at the effulgent seat</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Eternally.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A gift too pure and bright for earthly bloom,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Flower of the sky;</div> -<div class="verse">The odors of whose matchless grace perfume</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The courts on high.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Look down in pity from thy lofty throne,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Through realms of light,</div> -<div class="verse">To where thy sorrowing sister walks alone</div> -<div class="verse indent4">In deepest night.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Oh, see the endless waves of anguish fierce</div> -<div class="verse indent4">That o’er me roll!</div> -<div class="verse">Hast thou not bled? did not the sword once pierce</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Thy tender soul?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Beating the breakers on the outer bar</div> -<div class="verse indent4">My vessel lies;</div> -<div class="verse">For me there beams no friendly guiding-star,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">No beacons rise.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Blest beacon seen in my despairing dreams,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Burst forth on me,</div> -<div class="verse">And light my stormy pathway with thy beams,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Star of the sea.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O baleful night, when some malignant blast,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Mocking and wild,</div> -<div class="verse">Into an orphan’s cradle rudely cast</div> -<div class="verse indent4">A sleeping child!</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Of careless childhood’s flowers and smiles and tears,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The tears were mine.</div> -<div class="verse">Alas! I gather in maturer years</div> -<div class="verse indent4">No fruit or wine.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">All night I bruise my failing wings in vain,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Seeking for rest—</div> -<div class="verse">A bird unmated on an arid plain</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Without a nest.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I roam a timid stranger on the earth—</div> -<div class="verse indent4">A foreign land—</div> -<div class="verse">Bewildered by the light, the joy and mirth</div> -<div class="verse indent4">On every hand.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A vine-clad mountain to the beaming skies</div> -<div class="verse indent4">That lifts its crest,</div> -<div class="verse">While an abyss of untold horror lies</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Beneath its breast.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Some loving souls at birth are consecrated</div> -<div class="verse indent4">To pain and grief;</div> -<div class="verse">Through gloomy vales they stray, unknown, unmated,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Without relief.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I seek no longer these sad mysteries</div> -<div class="verse indent4">To penetrate;</div> -<div class="verse">I must not murmur at the high decrees</div> -<div class="verse indent4">That fix my fate.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">They say that God regards with pitying eye</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The poor and weak,</div> -<div class="verse">Smiting the haughty head, and passing by</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The low and meek.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">No daring oak, whose branches, heaven defying,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Pierce the blue sky;</div> -<div class="verse">A blighted leaf before the tempest flying,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">A reed am I.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A poor blind pilgrim through the wilderness</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Groping my way,</div> -<div class="verse">Striving with agonizing tears to press</div> -<div class="verse indent4">From night to day.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A heart whence all illusions long have perished</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Seeks not for bliss.</div> -<div class="verse">I ask not human love, O Mother cherished,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">I ask but this:</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A lowly shelter far from tongues maligning</div> -<div class="verse indent4">And bitter sneers;</div> -<div class="verse">There let me pray and quench all fierce repining</div> -<div class="verse indent4">With grateful tears.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And some glad morning through my cloister swelling,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">A golden portal</div> -<div class="verse">May burst, and flood with rosy light my dwelling,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">And joys immortal.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_CRUCIFIXION">THE CRUCIFIXION.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">OLD FRENCH SONNET.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">While Jesus suffered for the human race</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Upon the tree, death came and found him there.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Transfixed with shame, at first he did not dare</div> -<div class="verse">To look upon his sovereign’s awful face.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But Jesus, full of majesty and grace,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Meekly bowed down his head, august and fair,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Veiling the glory that it used to wear,</div> -<div class="verse">And waves of darkness fell upon the place.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Then shuddering Death his shameful task fulfilled;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Earth to her centre rocked as though the day</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of doom were come; the veil was rent away—</div> -<div class="verse">All Nature moaned and quivered, horror-filled.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The very stones were softened, thou alone,</div> -<div class="verse">Vile scoffing sinner, took a heart of stone.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="FROM_THE_SPANISH">FROM THE SPANISH.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Unhappy he who buys</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The toys that Cupid offers;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For each delight he proffers</div> -<div class="verse">Some dear illusion dies.</div> -<div class="verse">Sell not thy dearest treasures</div> -<div class="verse">For his too fleeting pleasures.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_BOOK_OF_LIFE">THE BOOK OF LIFE.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">LAMARTINE.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Each soul the Book of Life must read and prove—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Fate turns the leaves whether we will or no.</div> -<div class="verse">We cannot linger o’er the lines we love,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or hasten o’er the dreary lines of woe.</div> -<div class="verse">We have not read the page of Love aright</div> -<div class="verse">When, lo! the page of Death appalls our sight.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="MEMORIAL_DAY_AND_OTHER_POEMS">MEMORIAL DAY, AND OTHER POEMS.</h2> - -<p class="subheading">DEDICATED TO THE G. A. R.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TWENTY_YEARS_AGO">TWENTY YEARS AGO.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">WRITTEN FOR MEMORIAL DAY IN 1885.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">For twenty years the snowy wings of Peace</div> -<div class="verse">Over the land have brooded; flocks increase</div> -<div class="verse">Upon the fields, now blessed by smiling stars,</div> -<div class="verse">Where drave the reeking chariot-wheels of Mars.</div> -<div class="verse">How like a falcon’s flight the years have flown,</div> -<div class="verse">Since Appomattox rang the curtain down;</div> -<div class="verse">And listening to my voice are tall young men,</div> -<div class="verse">And women fair who were but children then.</div> -<div class="verse">Our young Republic, freed from all his chains,</div> -<div class="verse">For peaceful conquest girds his lusty reins.</div> -<div class="verse">The smiling Mississippi to the sea</div> -<div class="verse">Rolls as in days of old, unvexed and free,</div> -<div class="verse">And East and West in one grand commonweal</div> -<div class="verse">Are bound by triple bands of shining steel.</div> -<div class="verse">The apple tree historic rots away;</div> -<div class="verse">Our gunboats all have crumbled to decay;</div> -<div class="verse">The rifle-pits that scarred the Southern plains</div> -<div class="verse">Are washed away by twenty winters’ rains;</div> -<div class="verse">The impetuous onset of the bayonet line</div> -<div class="verse">Tramples no more the growing corn and vine,</div> -<div class="verse">And nesting birds pour forth their raptures where</div> -<div class="verse">The thunder-bolts of battle rent the air.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -<div class="verse">But still remain in many hearts we know</div> -<div class="verse">The ghastly scars of twenty years ago.</div> -<div class="verse">How many a comrade’s widow treads alone</div> -<div class="verse">A narrow path by cruel thorns o’ergrown!</div> -<div class="verse">’Tis long since song of mating bird has thrilled</div> -<div class="verse">That lonely heart, with tender memories filled,—</div> -<div class="verse">Memories still speeding backward to the time</div> -<div class="verse">When, brave and beautiful in manhood’s prime,</div> -<div class="verse">Her bridegroom more than twenty years ago</div> -<div class="verse">Sprang at the bugle call to meet the foe.</div> -<div class="verse">Strong men for other women dig the gold,</div> -<div class="verse">Tread out the wine, and weave the silken fold;</div> -<div class="verse">Her wine of Life in forests dark and dank</div> -<div class="verse">The thirsty soil of Mississippi drank;</div> -<div class="verse">Her daily lot for more than twenty years</div> -<div class="verse">Has been the widow’s toil, and widow’s tears.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Comrades, we’re growing old; upon our hairs</div> -<div class="verse">Gather the frosts of more than twenty years,</div> -<div class="verse">Since in the trench at Petersburg we lay,</div> -<div class="verse">Or, gayly holding our triumphal way,</div> -<div class="verse">Unto the sea we swept with Sherman’s pennon,</div> -<div class="verse">Or heard the roar of Stonewall Jackson’s cannon,</div> -<div class="verse">Waking the echoes of the Rapidan,</div> -<div class="verse">Or through the valley whirled with Sheridan.</div> -<div class="verse">Still surges up as though of yesterday</div> -<div class="verse">The memory of those that passed away;</div> -<div class="verse">Still floating down the vista of the years,</div> -<div class="verse">We hear their voices, see their smiles and tears.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -<div class="verse">In each successive strife how fast they fell—</div> -<div class="verse">The tried companions that we knew so well.</div> -<div class="verse">Some, fleeing from the ghastly prison pen,</div> -<div class="verse">By bloodhounds tracked were slain in swamp and fen;</div> -<div class="verse">Some ashes mingle with the sounding tide,</div> -<div class="verse">And some enrich the rugged mountain side,</div> -<div class="verse">Where the tall pines of frowning Kenesaw</div> -<div class="verse">Quivered like reeds before the blast of war;</div> -<div class="verse">Now looming up in shadowy ranks they stand</div> -<div class="verse">Like guardian phantoms brooding o’er the land.</div> -<div class="verse">No higher impulse thrilled the knights of old</div> -<div class="verse">Who to the crusades like a torrent rolled,</div> -<div class="verse">To pour for the dear cross their blood like wine</div> -<div class="verse">Upon the plains of Holy Palestine,</div> -<div class="verse">And feed on desert sands in the far East</div> -<div class="verse">The jackals ravening for their glorious feast.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">They reck not where their scattered ashes rest</div> -<div class="verse">Who speed to the reunion of the blest;</div> -<div class="verse">As eaglets soaring to the gates of light</div> -<div class="verse">Spurn the dull shells that long confined their flight.</div> -<div class="verse">For you the amaranthine wreath we twine,</div> -<div class="verse">Raise the high song, and pour the ruddy wine;</div> -<div class="verse">For you the rhythmic beat of martial feet,</div> -<div class="verse">As the long lines go swaying down the street;</div> -<div class="verse">For you the plaintive reed’s subduing moan</div> -<div class="verse">Commingles with the hautboy’s rapturous tone,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -<div class="verse">The rolling drum, the thrilling trumpet blare,</div> -<div class="verse">And silken banners float upon the air</div> -<div class="verse">Like bright ethereal drapery trailing there.</div> -<div class="verse">The noblest sons of Earth, of every clime,</div> -<div class="verse">Welcome you to their galaxy sublime;</div> -<div class="verse">And flowers, by maidens fairer still than they,</div> -<div class="verse">Are offered to your sacred shades to-day;</div> -<div class="verse">Roses and dittany—and lilies fair,</div> -<div class="verse">Mingle their breath upon the vernal air;</div> -<div class="verse">But sweeter than the fleeting gifts we bring</div> -<div class="verse">Your memory perennial shall spring,</div> -<div class="verse">And loving tears each spring-time shall bedew</div> -<div class="verse">The flowers that loving hands shall here renew;</div> -<div class="verse">And younger bards, with truer touch than mine,</div> -<div class="verse">Will pour for you the flood of song divine,</div> -<div class="verse">While millions yet unborn, with quickening breath,</div> -<div class="verse">Will hear the tale heroic of your death.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O host of gallant comrades sweeping by,</div> -<div class="verse">Up the red track of glory to the sky—</div> -<div class="verse">Reynolds, McPherson, Dahlgren, Garesché,</div> -<div class="verse">And all the unknown names as brave as they,—</div> -<div class="verse">Great hearts and souls as those of song and story,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose only guerdon was a deathbed gory;</div> -<div class="verse">As youthful as of yore we see you now,</div> -<div class="verse">The flush of victory on each radiant brow,</div> -<div class="verse">And youthful in our withering hearts shall glow</div> -<div class="verse">Your generous valor in the Long Ago.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="ABRAHAM_LINCOLN">ABRAHAM LINCOLN.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Song, legend, history, I scan in vain;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Outside of Holy Writ, no shape appears</div> -<div class="verse indent1">So godlike as thy homely form; the spheres</div> -<div class="verse">Darken and die, thy glory shall not wane.</div> -<div class="verse">Monarchs have sat self-crowned upon the Seine</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And on the Tiber; nations sick with fears</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Have builded altars to them, drenched with tears</div> -<div class="verse">And smoking with a hecatomb of slain.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O Christ of Freedom, no high altars fume</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For thee, but freely flow the tears and blood,</div> -<div class="verse">The pure sweet blood of thy own martyrdom,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And tears of mingled grief and gratitude</div> -<div class="verse">From the dark millions by thy pen set free,</div> -<div class="verse">Led from their long Gethsemane by thee.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_PRISONERS_DREAM">THE PRISONER’S DREAM.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">On the last sad day of the dying year,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As I lay in my prison racked with pain,</div> -<div class="verse">I heard the voices of children clear</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Swelling out on the night in a peaceful strain.</div> -<div class="verse">They sang a farewell to the dying year,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And the far faint tones of an organ fell</div> -<div class="verse">With a soothing cadence upon my ear,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And I slept at last in my loathsome cell.</div> -<div class="verse">My body slept with its clanking chain,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">But the prison walls fled far away,</div> -<div class="verse">And my spirit, glad and free again,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Went forth as upon its bridal day.</div> -<div class="verse">I never had thought again to sing,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">But a song welled forth from my joyous heart,</div> -<div class="verse">As waters gush from a long-sealed spring</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When the chains of winter are rent apart.</div> -<div class="verse">“I’m coming, I’m coming, my dove, my dear;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In the heaven of thy arms, my own sweet wife,</div> -<div class="verse">I’ll usher the birth of the glad new year;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I’m coming, I’m coming, my love, my life!”</div> -<div class="verse starbreak">* * * * *</div> -<div class="verse">Hark! the clang of the changing sentry’s steel;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Awaken, O fool, from thy blissful bed;</div> -<div class="verse">On the stony floor of thy dungeon kneel,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And hug thy chain, for the dream is fled.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="HOW_OFT_A_SENTRY_SAD_AND_LONE">HOW OFT A SENTRY SAD AND LONE.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">How oft, a sentry sad and lone,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The starry midnight host I’ve counted,</div> -<div class="verse">As up the eastern horizon</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Into the sky they slowly mounted.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Two still seemed missing from their place,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The brightest of the heavenly number;</div> -<div class="verse">But now I find them in thy face,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Nightly they beam upon my slumber.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="FROM_COPLAS_OF_AN_ANDALUSIAN">FROM COPLAS OF AN ANDALUSIAN -SOLDIER.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">If daring deeds might win thy vows,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">At nothing would I falter;</div> -<div class="verse">I’d dare thy father’s beetling brows,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or those of grim Gibraltar.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I’ll seek the thickest of the strife,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And lofty deeds of glory;</div> -<div class="verse">My girl shall be a General’s wife,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or mourn a lover gory.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Light batteries on the fatal field,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Their countless victims strewing,</div> -<div class="verse">Are the bright eyes to which I yield</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For quarter meekly suing.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Thy lips are silken banners, and</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Beneath their crimson lustre,</div> -<div class="verse">In gleaming lines the soldiers stand,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Two ranks prepared for muster.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The girl that jilts a veteran bold</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To marry a clodhopper,</div> -<div class="verse">Would throw away the finest gold</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To pick up worthless copper.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="FROM_THE_SAME">FROM THE SAME.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The conscripts march, O cruel theft,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">While those that are rejected,</div> -<div class="verse">The crooked and the lame, are left</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To comfort maids dejected.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">If swift promotion you would gain,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Yet shrink from war and slaughter,</div> -<div class="verse">The path is old and very plain—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Marry the General’s daughter.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_GLORY_OF_A_SPANISH_DRAGOON">THE GLORY OF A SPANISH DRAGOON.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">FROM THE SAME.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">My little Pepita</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Will be jealous I know,</div> -<div class="verse">For I promised to meet her,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">But how can I go?</div> -<div class="verse">I come off of guard,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And go on police;</div> -<div class="verse">My sergeant’s a hard</div> -<div class="verse indent1">One, and gives me no peace.</div> -<div class="verse">There’s the devil to pay</div> -<div class="verse indent1">At fatigue duty too;</div> -<div class="verse">Every hour of the day</div> -<div class="verse indent1">There is something to do.</div> -<div class="verse">A soldier at work,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">What a pitiful sight!</div> -<div class="verse">I’d desert to the Turk</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In the very next fight,</div> -<div class="verse">But his way of baptizing</div> -<div class="verse indent1">You all will agree,</div> -<div class="verse">Is quite too surprising,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">It would never suit me.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -<div class="verse">But my sergeant is worse</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Than a Turk or a Jew,</div> -<div class="verse">He finds something to curse</div> -<div class="verse indent1">At, whatever I do.</div> -<div class="verse">At every roll-call,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">If I’m not upon time,</div> -<div class="verse">Drill, stables, and all,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">He counts it a crime;</div> -<div class="verse">He laughs at my story,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In the guard-house I’m thrown,—</div> -<div class="verse">And this is the glory</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of a Spanish dragoon.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="WRITTEN_FOR_A_REUNION_OF_VETERANS">WRITTEN FOR A REUNION OF VETERANS -IN THE YEAR 1915.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Comrades, once more to-night we gather here,</div> -<div class="verse">A dwindling band of graybeards; autumn sere</div> -<div class="verse">Pales into winter, Indian summer’s glow</div> -<div class="verse">Fades from the hills, reluctant still to go;</div> -<div class="verse">And Earth itself fades from our sight away,</div> -<div class="verse">Like rosy clouds that flit at close of day;</div> -<div class="verse">In our hearts too the flame burns low at last,—</div> -<div class="verse">An arctic winter closes round us fast.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">While the remaining grains, how few, alas!</div> -<div class="verse">Of golden sand, pour through the hour-glass,</div> -<div class="verse">Fill up, dear friends, your goblets once again,</div> -<div class="verse">And warm the pulses in each shrunken vein</div> -<div class="verse">With sunshine garnered on some Gallic plain,</div> -<div class="verse">Or stolen from the vine-clad hills of Spain.</div> -<div class="verse">Here’s to the living absent, comrades they</div> -<div class="verse">So gay in camp, so dauntless in the fray,</div> -<div class="verse">The lingering remnant of the mighty host</div> -<div class="verse">That swept from far Atlanta to the coast.</div> -<div class="verse">Since then their prows through every sea have foamed,</div> -<div class="verse">And o’er five continents their feet have roamed,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -<div class="verse">And plucked the brightest bays in fields afar,</div> -<div class="verse">Who glittered brightest in the van of war.</div> -<div class="verse">But fast and faster from our sight they fail,</div> -<div class="verse">A few belated stragglers feebly hail</div> -<div class="verse">Along the banks of Styx the boatman pale.</div> -<div class="verse">Where’er they are, once more we pledge them all,</div> -<div class="verse">Ere from the thinning ranks we too shall fall.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Lift high the cup, a generous current pour,</div> -<div class="verse">Libations to the chosen friends of yore,</div> -<div class="verse">Who wander on the dim Plutonian shore.</div> -<div class="verse">A mist arises from the wine-stained ground,</div> -<div class="verse">And lo, what phantom faces gather round!</div> -<div class="verse">Like storm-blown wreaths they flit—e’en so must we</div> -<div class="verse">Soon pass like vapors blown across the sea.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Now draw together, fling apart the doors</div> -<div class="verse">Of wit and fancy, open up the stores</div> -<div class="verse">Of feeling that have been repressed so long;</div> -<div class="verse">Waken the voice of melody and song,</div> -<div class="verse">These fleeting moments sweetly to prolong,</div> -<div class="verse">And kindling up once more the altar fire,</div> -<div class="verse">Let the last embers all in flame expire.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="TWENTY-FIVE_SONNETS">TWENTY-FIVE SONNETS</h2> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TO_BLANK_3">TO ⸺.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Dear lady, doth the singer’s voice in thee</div> -<div class="verse">Awake an answering chord? if not so, be</div> -<div class="verse">Barren the song and all devoid of worth,</div> -<div class="verse">Save to awaken idle scorn and mirth;</div> -<div class="verse">Thy soul, self-poised in cold tranquillity,</div> -<div class="verse">Will smile to think how foolish some may be.</div> -<div class="verse">But if thy bosom swell with tender sighs,</div> -<div class="verse">If the deep fountains of thy soul are stirred,</div> -<div class="verse">Meeting some dear but unexpected word;</div> -<div class="verse">If, answering mine, responsive pulses rise,</div> -<div class="verse">And thy lips tremble to the happy eyes</div> -<div class="verse">Suffused with pleasure at the glad surprise</div> -<div class="verse">Of verses all too cold for thy completeness,</div> -<div class="verse">Know thy own heart hath lent them all their sweetness.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="POESY">POESY.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Before the human hand a stylus held,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ere papyrus’ or parchment’s mute appeal,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sweet songs were sung whose echoes charm us still;</div> -<div class="verse">From dying lips undying music welled.</div> -<div class="verse">Wedded to strains from chosen souls that swelled,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Were rescued from oblivion’s clammy seal,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Fantastic legend, laws of commonweal,</div> -<div class="verse">Heroic deeds in days of hoary eld.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Muse of the lyre and harp, till latest day</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Thy voice shall bear along the shores of Time,</div> -<div class="verse">While kingdoms crumble, and while tongues decay,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The numbers of the ancient bards sublime.</div> -<div class="verse">Still thy anointed favorites hold their sway,</div> -<div class="verse">’Mid falling stars, and gods that pass away.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_ROSE">THE ROSE.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The flushing wave bloomed into wondrous flower,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And rosy light burst forth unknown till then,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When Aphrodite dawned on gods and men.</div> -<div class="verse">Thy birth, O Rose, was in that mystic hour.</div> -<div class="verse">Transcendent Rose, pride of the Paphian bower,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And sweet consoler of the thorny glen,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">What virgin charms thy blush illumines when</div> -<div class="verse">Upon the virgin heart Love seals his power.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Fair as the lily was the Rose’s breast;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">But when the generous vine upon it bled,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Swift blushes o’er its swelling beauties spread</div> -<div class="verse">Till every leaf the tender flame confessed,</div> -<div class="verse">While from thy wakened heart, O queenly Rose,</div> -<div class="verse">Ambrosial incense on the air arose.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TO_A_FAIR_SANTA_BARBARAN">TO A FAIR SANTA BARBARAN.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Why blooms the fairest flower ’neath rosy skies,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where all is bloom and fragrance? why unfold</div> -<div class="verse indent1">There, where the nectar that its petals hold</div> -<div class="verse">Among the orange groves neglected lies,</div> -<div class="verse">And all its perfume all unheeded dies!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And thou, dear maid, with wealth of love untold,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">More precious far than mines of gems and gold,</div> -<div class="verse">Why linger ’mid these cloyed and listless eyes?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O with thy voice, and smile ineffable,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And eyes so meet for sympathetic tears,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Seek some sad land oppressed by grief and fears,</div> -<div class="verse">A bright consoling angel there to dwell;</div> -<div class="verse">Fly, ere thy robes are wet with honey dew,</div> -<div class="verse">And thy own sweetness cloys thee through and through.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="LA_DIVA">LA DIVA.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A sea of faces ripple round her where,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As on a sunny isle, the Diva glows</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Behind the footlights like a full-blown rose;</div> -<div class="verse">A hush expectant fills the brooding air.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But hist, O hist! what dying cygnet there?</div> -<div class="verse indent1">How bubbling from her alabaster throat</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Pours forth the wave of every passion’s note—</div> -<div class="verse">Hope, fear, love’s ecstasy, and blank despair?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A moment’s silence ere the plaudits rise,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Till like a storm they beat the trembling walls,</div> -<div class="verse">And white hands plash like wave-crests to the skies.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Alas! ’tis o’er, the jealous curtain falls;</div> -<div class="verse">And as the tumult of our rapture dies,</div> -<div class="verse">A misty curtain veils our happy eyes.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TO_A_HAPPY_LOVER">TO A HAPPY LOVER.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Flaunt not before the world thy happy love,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Like the poor fatuous one whose pleasure lies</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Not in Love’s glance, but in the envious eyes</div> -<div class="verse">Of other fools; deep in the myrtle grove</div> -<div class="verse">Seek some untrodden way, shadowed above;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">There, if Love will, his unknown harmonies,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">His inmost heart and core, his tears and sighs,</div> -<div class="verse">And unimagined mysteries thou mayest prove.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">But if thou find his choicest fruits and flowers,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Guard them from eyes profane with jealous care;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Love, proud but tender, brooks no sign-board there,</div> -<div class="verse">Pointing the pathway to his sacred bowers;</div> -<div class="verse">Himself the entrance, hidden and o’ergrown,</div> -<div class="verse">Unto his chosen favorites will make known.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="METEMPSYCHOSIS">METEMPSYCHOSIS.</h3> - -<h4 id="METEMPSYCHOSIS_I">I.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I was a huntsman in my youth, and knew</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Each bird and beast that haunts the forest tall,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or wings the air, hard by the water-fall.</div> -<div class="verse">Over the plain and up the mountain blue</div> -<div class="verse">My twanging bow was heard, my arrows flew.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">My bowstring now is rent, my arrows all</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Like spears that from the withered pine-cones fall,</div> -<div class="verse">Have from my shrunken quiver vanished too.</div> -<div class="verse">Yet sometimes o’er me steals the olden mood,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And wandering in the forest deep and dark,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I greet each old familiar tree and mark,</div> -<div class="verse">Each spot whereon the lovely quarry stood,</div> -<div class="verse">While faintly through my withered veins once more</div> -<div class="verse">Leaps the triumphant thrill I knew of yore.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4 id="METEMPSYCHOSIS_II">II.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I shot an arrow through the wood one day</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In idle sport, and following where it led,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I found a doe that I had raised and fed,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Stricken, and bleeding fast her life away,</div> -<div class="verse">Her tender fawn transfixed beside her lay;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">One random shaft two happy lives had sped.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The dry leaves rustled to my startled tread,</div> -<div class="verse">And filled my fluttering heart with strange dismay;</div> -<div class="verse">For gazing in those failing eyes my soul</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Found there another soul, its very twin;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Unseen for years, but bowered deep within</div> -<div class="verse">The heart’s alcove,—oh, lost beyond control!</div> -<div class="verse">Those murdered eyes still gaze as from a glass</div> -<div class="verse">Framed in with bloody leaves and trampled grass.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THREE_SONNETS_IN_MEMORIAM">THREE SONNETS IN MEMORIAM.</h3> - -<h4 id="SONNET_IN_MEMORIAM_I">I.<br /> -DESPAIR—THE ABYSS.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O dread abyss, narrow, but dark and deep,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Still baffling all that men may do or dare</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To read the secrets of thy jealous care,</div> -<div class="verse">The mystery that thy shuddering caverns keep,</div> -<div class="verse">Over thy cruel mouth the earth I heap,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Hiding my treasure like a miser there.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">My hollow doubting voice I lift in prayer;</div> -<div class="verse">With ghastly lips I say: “’Tis but a sleep,</div> -<div class="verse">And I shall find my loved one freed from sorrow,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Glowing with love, and youth ineffable.”</div> -<div class="verse">O fool, the only sure thing thou canst borrow</div> -<div class="verse indent1">From coming years is death, thou knowest well.</div> -<div class="verse">Yet even this is gain; then hail each morrow</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That brings thee nearer to the self-same cell.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4 id="SONNET_IN_MEMORIAM_II">II.<br /> -QUESTIONING.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Beneath the leafless trees alone I stand,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where we two stood in June. O loved one, where</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Are now the radiant hopes that filled the air,</div> -<div class="verse">Circling around us swiftly like a band</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Of smiling sisters, clasping hand in hand?</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Dearer to me than all their visions fair</div> -<div class="verse indent1">This chill December night, so thou wert there.</div> -<div class="verse">And hast thou sought with them some better land?</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Would heaven be darkened for one form the less</div> -<div class="verse indent1">From the bright throng who in His love rejoice?</div> -<div class="verse indent1">From the celestial choir could not one voice,</div> -<div class="verse">Sweeter than all the rest, be spared to bless</div> -<div class="verse">My solitude? Say, dost thou sleep alone,</div> -<div class="verse">Voiceless, beneath the unrelenting stone?</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4 id="SONNET_IN_MEMORIAM_III">III.<br /> -CONSOLATION.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Alone? Ah, no: beneath the earth’s fair crust</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Assemble all the beautiful and good</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Whose memory transfigures womanhood;</div> -<div class="verse">And kingly men are there, the brave, the just;</div> -<div class="verse">How sweet to mingle with that sacred dust!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Standing to-night where we so oft have stood,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Their fragrance fills the silent solitude—</div> -<div class="verse">Sweet flowers of human love and hope and trust.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Where’er thou art, O sister of my soul,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Treading with gleaming feet the streets of gold,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or softly mingling with the forest mold,</div> -<div class="verse">Swift years shall bear me to the self-same goal,</div> -<div class="verse">Our radiant heads in the same aureole,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or the same flower-roots thrill our ashes cold.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="IN_MEMORY_OF_D_G_R">IN MEMORY OF D. G. R.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Bathed in the morning sunlight thou didst stand,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The sisters nine in homage gathered round,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Son of Apollo, with his laurels crowned,</div> -<div class="verse">His lyre of lyres trembling in thy hand.</div> -<div class="verse">The brush and chisel at thy high command</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Enchantment wrought, but sweeter far resounds</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The music of thy verse, the soulful sounds</div> -<div class="verse">Flung from thy pen as from a magic wand.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Had all thy wondrous powers to song been given,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">What floods of melody had filled the air—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Eros’ and Psyche’s voices mingling there.</div> -<div class="verse">Alas! the wine is spilled, the lyre is riven,</div> -<div class="verse">Stern Albion’s son, thy soft Italian name</div> -<div class="verse">Lives only in the Pantheon of Fame.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="IN_MEMORY_OF_JOHN_BROWN_OF_OSSAWATTOMIE">IN MEMORY OF JOHN BROWN OF OSSAWATTOMIE.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">INSCRIBED TO JOHN J. INGALLS.</p> - -<h4 id="IN_MEMORY_OF_JOHN_BROWN_I">I.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A cloud for years o’erhung the border-land,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Black, ominous, wherein were dimly seen</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Soul-terrifying shapes of beasts unclean,</div> -<div class="verse">And men uncleaner still, a hideous band,</div> -<div class="verse">Loathsome as reptiles from the slimy strand</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of vanished seas, in ages pliocene.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Prophets the portent read with vision keen,</div> -<div class="verse">But lying seers cried “Peace,” throughout the land,</div> -<div class="verse">’Tis but a cloud-bank changing with the wind,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And craven hearts draw their own pictures there,</div> -<div class="verse">And traitors sneered, and from the pulpit whined</div> -<div class="verse">Sleek hypocrites, blind leaders of the blind,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Buyers of souls, who gathered gold with care,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With gnashing and blaspheming filled the air.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> - -<h4 id="IN_MEMORY_OF_JOHN_BROWN_II">II.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A soul flamed forth like a titanic brand,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or fiery meteor through the murky sky,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Thrilled by electric arrows from on high;</div> -<div class="verse">And by swift wings of unseen seraphs fanned</div> -<div class="verse">The baleful clouds dispersed, as though a hand</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Omnipotent had swept the firmament</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And from its face the darkening veil had rent.</div> -<div class="verse">Vague shapes of fear, as by enchanter’s wand,</div> -<div class="verse">Were changed to forms substantial, and arose</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The Nation’s foes, implacable and fierce.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The canting knave, who chapter gave and verse</div> -<div class="verse">To justify the trade in human woes,</div> -<div class="verse">Slunk with his broad phylacteries away,</div> -<div class="verse">And strong men armed them for the deadly fray.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4 id="IN_MEMORY_OF_JOHN_BROWN_III">III.</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">True greatness is the greatest in defeat.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A laurel wreath entwined about that head</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Had but obscured the glory that it shed.</div> -<div class="verse">Unshaken in his high prophetic seat,</div> -<div class="verse">Beyond all crowns of vict’ry grand and great</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In happier days, as when, illusions fled,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">His fierce foes found him lying ’mid his dead,</div> -<div class="verse">Alike his spirit soared secure from Fate.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -<div class="verse">So, when the charging battle standards meet,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Gold fringe and silken fold are plucked away</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As by the myriad beaks of birds of prey,</div> -<div class="verse">Still on the staff, high in his ancient seat,</div> -<div class="verse">The brazen eagle sits, serene, the same,</div> -<div class="verse">Pride of the legions o’er the battle’s flame.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="OUR_LOST_ONES">OUR LOST ONES.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container smaller"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">“Hélas! dans le cercueil ils tombent en poussière</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Moins vite qu’en nos cœurs.”</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse right">—<span class="smcap">Hugo.</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Brethren and sisters all, what do we here,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With song and laughter, while around us stand,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With dumb reproachful gaze, a shadowy band,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The mournful shades of all our lost ones dear?</div> -<div class="verse">O conquering power of the eternal years!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">How swiftly fade away on every hand</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Their memories throughout the joyous land,</div> -<div class="verse">For whom we thought to shed eternal tears.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Smiling above them wave the flowers and grass,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where cold and still those cherished forms are strown,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Thickly as grain in the deep furrows sown,</div> -<div class="verse">Or sheaves in fields where merry reapers pass.</div> -<div class="verse">To dust they wither in our hearts, alas!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">More swiftly than beneath the cruel stone.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_OCEAN_OF_THE_PAST">THE OCEAN OF THE PAST.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">My wistful eyes still sweep thy sullen breast,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Dead sea, whose waves, once, following stroke on stroke,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Have swallowed mast and sail and hull of oak.</div> -<div class="verse">Now all thy cruel billows are at rest;</div> -<div class="verse">Hushed is thy roar, and stilled each raging crest;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">No phantom from thy mists may I evoke,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">No more my prow or sail the waves provoke,</div> -<div class="verse">Where sleeps my happy island of the blest.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Lo, while I gaze, like the responsive swell</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of some great yearning heart, the billows rise,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Till, in wild tumult leaping to the skies,</div> -<div class="verse">They toss the beauteous wrecks I loved so well,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Resistless through the rending barriers roll</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And sob through all the caverns of my soul.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="EVIL_DAYS">EVIL DAYS.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O Youth, O Hope, O Love, all phantoms vain!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ye lured me long with promise false as sweet,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">But now your flight outstrips my faltering feet.</div> -<div class="verse">Dear traitors, will ye ne’er return again?</div> -<div class="verse">Love lingered last, but all have been too fleet.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Now sinks the light of day in tears and pain,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The glories of the night unheeded wane:</div> -<div class="verse">Summer is winter, truth is but deceit.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Shall I not find upon some vernal day,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Fruition for the buds that blighted here?</div> -<div class="verse">The golden hours of youth I cast away,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">How I would hold those wasted treasures dear!</div> -<div class="verse">Still through the lonely chambers of my brain</div> -<div class="verse">No more, no more, echoes the sad refrain.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="ENVY_AND_SLANDER">ENVY AND SLANDER.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">TO N. A. M.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Envy is deathless, though the envious die,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And shafts of slander, hissing through the dark,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Have ever loved, like death, a shining mark.</div> -<div class="verse">Then do not think those shafts could pass thee by.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Thy conscious worth, and purpose pure and high</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Cannot defend from little curs that bark;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">No wall, high as the flight of morning lark,</div> -<div class="verse">Can top the poisoned arrows as they fly.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Rise o’er the herd in feeling, thought, or deed,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And feel the bitter sting of Envy’s tongue;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Rise higher yet, and thus confound the throng,—</div> -<div class="verse">Only a respite brief thy soul may read.</div> -<div class="verse">Success, e’en more than merit, is a crime</div> -<div class="verse">To tongues as tireless as the feet of Time.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TRUE_FREEDOM">TRUE FREEDOM.</h3> - -<p class="subheading">TO J. F. F.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">He is not truly free who fears to speak</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The burning words that flame from heart to tongue,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When in the presence of a hoary wrong,</div> -<div class="verse">E’en though upheld by gown and surplice sleek,</div> -<div class="verse">And hears unheeded the oppressed and weak.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Nor friendship from the great, the rich, the strong,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Nor grateful plaudits from the servile throng,</div> -<div class="verse">The free-born spirit must expect or seek.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Think not that power and place will come to thee—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sooner some sordid soul the race will win;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">E’en in the days of Cid and Paladin,</div> -<div class="verse">And glorious days of Arthur’s chivalry,</div> -<div class="verse">The golden spurs by cravens oft were won,</div> -<div class="verse">While hearts as brave as Arthur’s died unknown.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="SOCIETY">“SOCIETY.”</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Dear, simple friend, and did you think to find</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Aught but hypocrisy and fair smooth lies</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In this charmed circle, that would ostracize</div> -<div class="verse">All for a pair of gloves the most refined,</div> -<div class="verse">The noblest type of man or womankind?</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A set whose aspirations never rise</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Above the triumphs wealth and fashion buys;</div> -<div class="verse">Who ape the opinions with devotion blind,</div> -<div class="verse">The coats and gowns, of royal debauchees</div> -<div class="verse">And their bold paramours from over seas.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">How hope a noble womanhood to gain</div> -<div class="verse">Nourished upon such stifling airs as these.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Fashion forbids to rise above a plane</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That dudes and lah-de-dahs can just attain.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_STAGNANT_POOL">THE STAGNANT POOL.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Stooping beside a stagnant pool to drink</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I saw a woman, weary and forlorn,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With hair unkempt, and garments stained and torn;</div> -<div class="verse">All grace of womanhood was fled, no link</div> -<div class="verse">Remained of happier days; along the brink</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Swept by a stately dame with words of scorn;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">“Though I had thirsted since the early morn,</div> -<div class="verse">Before my feet in that foul wave should sink</div> -<div class="verse">My willing lips should press the cup of death.”</div> -<div class="verse indent1">O scornful dame! before the night was black,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Lo! I beheld thy swift feet speeding back,</div> -<div class="verse">With robes dishevelled and with gasping breath,</div> -<div class="verse">In this same wave thy parching lips to cool,</div> -<div class="verse">As eagerly as ’twere a mountain pool.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="THE_MAN_WITH_THE_MUCK-RAKE">THE MAN WITH THE MUCK-RAKE.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">An old and well-known allegory reading,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I found a quaint and curious picture there,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of one who gathered straws and dirt with care,</div> -<div class="verse">The golden crown above his head unheeding.</div> -<div class="verse">Science to-day, than avarice more misleading,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Hath slain our father’s faith and hope and prayer;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">We rake the seas, and sweep the earth and air</div> -<div class="verse">To find new theories for our own impeding.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And some for tinsel toys of social glory,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And Church and State, toil through the grovelling years.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">How can we hear the music of the spheres,</div> -<div class="verse">Clutching the muck-rakes of the allegory?</div> -<div class="verse">Our blunted senses only can discern</div> -<div class="verse">The paltry baubles over which we yearn.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="IMMORTALITY">IMMORTALITY.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">My vision floats far down the milky-way,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A shining track across a shoreless sea</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As deep and boundless as eternity.</div> -<div class="verse">Suns sail in myriads there, and comets stray,</div> -<div class="verse">Youthful, while hoary ages roll away.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">O fleeting life, the stars that shine on me</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Smiled just the same when star-lit Galilee</div> -<div class="verse">Beneath the Saviour’s feet in slumber lay.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">What countless swarms of man’s ephemeral race</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Live, love, and die, while ye sail coldly on!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Yet they shall rise, the teeming millions gone,</div> -<div class="verse">And gaze unmoved, while from their ancient place</div> -<div class="verse">The morning stars like baleful meteors fleet,</div> -<div class="verse">And while the heavens melt with fervent heat.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="TO_A_YOUNG_ARTIST">TO A YOUNG ARTIST.</h3> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The matchless artists of the olden time</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Knew naught of critic’s jargon; to their toil</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Bending as one that digs a stony soil,</div> -<div class="verse">Sparing nor bloom of youth nor manhood’s prime,</div> -<div class="verse">They caught and fixed their floating dreams sublime.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">So must we shun all vain polemic broil,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Nor vex our souls with theories’ turmoil</div> -<div class="verse">If to ideal heights we fain would climb.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Our vintage time is speeding fast away,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The morning faileth; then with double will,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In spite of noonday glare or evening chill,</div> -<div class="verse">Gather the glowing clusters while we may.</div> -<div class="verse">So may our failing eyes see some faint beams</div> -<div class="verse">Shed o’er our work from our supernal dreams.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="titlepage">THE END.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="transnote"> - -<p>Transcriber’s Note:</p> - -<p>In poem “Shadows”, final stanza, “vail” changed to “veil”.</p> - -<p>In poem “Twenty Years Ago”, penultimate stanza, “plantive” changed to -“plaintive”.</p> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Winona, A Dakota Legend, by Eli L. 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