ClassSl5ipy CmiyrightF /^// COPyRIGHT DEPOSnV SONNETS SUGGESTED BY PAINTINGS IN THE COLLECTION OF ELOISE LEE AND FREDERIC FAIRCHILD SHERMAN BY- FREDERIC FAIRCHILD SHERMAN 1- New ^rk, PRIVATELY PRINTED MGMXI r- :1 Copyright, 191 1, by Frederic Fairchild Sherman CCI.A303531 w MOONRISE Painted by Ralph Albert Blakelock THE GRAND CANYON Painted by Elliott Daingerfield A COUNTRY ROAD Painted by John H. Twachtman NOVEMBER WINDS Painted by Norwood MacGilvary A MAY DAY Painted by Lillian M. Genth MOONLIGHT Painted by Ralph Albert Blakelock THE GRAND CANYON [Painted by Elliott Daingerfield] Gleaming with glory in its setting grand The Canyon like a great fire-opal lies Burning with the bright beauty of the skies — A perfect jewel in the sunlit land. And here an artist with a magic hand Has made the vision of its wonder rise Like some mirage in heaven for our eyes To feast upon and try to understand. This world is but the mighty diadem God, as a crown, wears on his kingly brow, And this great opal, burning like the sun, What is it but that single perfect gem Outshining all earth's jewels, flashing now Among them, and of all the brightest one ? A COUNTRY ROAD [Painted by John H. Twachtman] This road that takes us through a world so green Is the old highway of the happy heart We used to walk, that took us tar apart From the vain world to some such sylvan scene Of country quiet, hidden in between The hills of home. And what a touch of art To paint it ending where the others start That lead to ends so different, so mean ! These are the fields and this the summer sky Of that glad earth where in the long ago We lived our lives of innocence and joy, Like the young gods of fabled days gone by Whose happiness it was our lot to know. Sweetheart, when first I loved you as a boy ! NOVEMBER WINDS [Painted by Norwood MacGilvary] The leafless branches of the mighty trees — Those harps of God — each softly sways and sings ; Invisibly His fingers touch the strings And all the world is filled with memories. Haunting the music is, m minor keys, And sometimes with a sound as of the wings Of unseen birds, from heaven again it brings The summer back on the November breeze. Ciray though the skies, the sun does not forget To temper with its warmth each touch of cold That passes ghost-like through the Autumn air. The empty fields are full of fragrance yet. The odour of that wondrous wine of gold That cheers the heart of him who lingers there ! A MAY DAY [Painted by Lillian M. Genth] Forevermore adown this path of May The wood-nymphs with their garland of bright flowers Will dance throughout the happy sunlit hours Of youth's unclouded and immortal day. The world will change, the years will pass away, And they be joyous in these leafy bowers Where bird notes rain from heaven in sweet showers, — Glad children in a garden still at play. Time cannot take from us this Paradise Nor drive from it the spirits of our youth. Safe in the Eden of the long ago They shall live on, our joy when all else dies. Unchanged and beautiful, to be in truth At last the greatest happiness we know. MOONLIGHT [Painted by Ralph Albert Blakelock] Queen of the air and mistress of the night, Out of the dark, the silvery moon doth rise — How like an angel to our wondering eyes. Her lovely face with heaven's glory bright ? See, there she walks transfigured in our sight Along the hidden pathways of the skies Even unto the gates of Paradise That open on God' s gardens of delight ! Trembling with beauty at her feet unfold The fleecy clouds, those fragile flowers of love Whose perfume fills the evening like a dream ; The very whisper of the wind doth hold A hint of music from the realms above — The echo of some grand immortal theme ! TWENTY-FIVE COPIES OF THIS BOOK ON JAPANESE VELLUM PRIVATELY PRINTED BY THE AUTHOR FOR HIS FRIENDS VL.V C^ 1-^' ' One copy del. to Cat. Div. DEC 23 1»13