Bonk ,Al% h% Copyiight]^?___iVL2_ CJ3EXRIGHT DEPOSm ARIZONA AND OTHER POEMS A R I Z O NA AND OTHER POEMS BY ELISE PUMPELLY CABOT NEW YORK E. P. BUTTON &- COMPANY 681 FIFTH AVENUE Copyright, 1919, By E. p. button & COMPANY All Rights Reserved iibo 20 i9i9 Printed In the United States of America PGI.A561056 TO T. H. C. To thee, whose seasons season each month's start; To thee, who bearest all my vagrant ways; To thee, who summest up my fill of days. Weathering; who for self most prudent art. Who sufFerest for me the incautious part; To thee, whose confidence all ill allays. That diverse thought 'gainst me nor comes nor stays, I dedicate my unreserved heart. Thou art the years I climb the heavens on, Sure steps thou makest lead an upward course. Thou turnest me away from trammeling Earth, And makest me a crown of glory don. Hast thou not given me immortal force, husband, mothering thy wife's rebirth! [v] CONTENTS Page Dedication: Sonnet to T. H. C. . . v ARIZONA: Part I Arizona i Part II Grand Canyon 23 OTHER POEMS: I Look Not At Me, Look At My Outlook Round 35 II There is in Life But One In- vestment 36 III One Asked Me for My Cup; I Gave Him Drink 37 IV I Stood 38 V Life's Vision 40 VI We Know^ Not What We Our- selves Have 41 VII O Life, Give Me Back My Natal Gleam 42 VIII Remembrance is Life Foretold . 43 IX Today is Our Dimmed Speck on Life's Proud Horizon Line . . 44 X Us With Ourselves Harsh Time Instills 45 XI All Me, or Nothing, I Give . . 46 XII I Throw My Heart Away ... 47 XIII Like a Leaf I Am Spread . . 48 XIV The Wind Cries to the Sky . 49 [vii] Page XV To T. H. C, Jr so XVI To My Sister Pauline ... 51 XVII I Came Upon a Violet Growing Quite Alone 52 XVIII Rhapsodic Voice, Who Crieth Day 53 XIX O, August Skies, Where is the Voice of Spring? 54 XX O, Woman from Yonder, Who Art Thou? 55 XXI The Master Sculptor Forms a Face to Stay 56 XXII Life Like a Tree High Reaching Eeels the Sky 57 XXIII Here on the Waters that Roll and Roar 58 XXIV Winter Hushed the Long Brawn Coast 59 LOVE POEMS: I O Time Who Carveth Space, Our Soul's Design! 63 II How Strange that Love Forever Keeps Apace 64 III Ever Wilt Thou Be Loved, O, Wind-tossed Shore .... 65 IV O Love, Thou Hast Possession of My Being 66 V The Sea Whirls, Wind Cast, Wild and Vast, Unasked .... 6^ VI Thou Art a Lover of the Rest- less Sea 68 [viii] Pais VII I Dare to Hope that Thou Canst Ever Strive 69 VIII Would That I Were the Night Thou Gladly Meetest ... 70 IX Love Me Not For Sake Alone . 71 X When I Say I Love Thee . . 72 XI I Find Tomorrow's Sun as Yester- day 73 XII If When Life Presseth Hardest . 74 XIII Let Not Sweet Slumber Mar Thy Sight 75 XIV Burnt are the Petals of Life as a Rose 76 SONNETS: I To My Mother 79 II To My Father on His Eightieth Birthday 80 III To My Father on His Eighty- First Birthday 82 IV I Would Hold Fast the Lark of Poesy 84 V I Know a Distant Land Reached Only By 85 VI If Sometimes Lofty Wish Were Granted Me 87 VII Be Thou Not Slain By Thine Adversity 88 VIII Can He Who Loves the Perfume OF THE Rose 89 IX I Deem Thee Fair Beyond Beloved Day 91 [ix] Page X I Sometimes Wish that I a Violet Were 92 XI Unfold Within Mine Arms the Depth of Thine 93 XII Could Substance Fade and Then Disintegrate 94 XIII When Winter Sears the World's Once Glowing Face ... 95 XIV Loved Loveliness Hath Not in Ugliness 96 XV When Thou Art By My Mind No Longer Thinks 97 XVI Thou Knowest Not to Love's Serenity 98 XVII I Fear that Thou Unused to Me Wilt Be 99 XVIII I Almost Fear that Thou Hast Given Way 100 XIX In Thee IS No Insidious Age Taint ioi SONNETS IN BLANK VERSE: I Hothouse Plants 105 II Into a Bewildered Sea Life Sent a Fleet 107 HI We All Are Individuals, A Part . 109 IV A Soulless Cycle no [x] ARIZONA PART I. ARIZONA AN above himself looks down up- on himself, vast desert sea, self encircling self, wild horizon, tor- ment sea, seething peak upon peak, writh- ing spray, infested sky, eternal tempest. Man's life is irrupted with the tragedy of self, indelible shadows, ravaged chasms of the heart. Man above himself looks down upon himself. Soul knows not body ; body knows not soul. [3] II ^ DRAGON-LIKE Plateau, drag- on among a multitude of dragons, bareboned reptiles bleaching in the sun, Life is a skeleton-land over which are hovering reflections, past and future fulfillments, clinging raiments of old de- sires, spread in full blaze upon the bones of the dead. So we return clothed with knowledge. [4] Ill ^^^S»IANTS have done their utmost jl^^^ here, unfathomable wilderness. O, depth within, below mortal comprehension, doth Nature appoint thy semblance here? Proclaimeth she our identity strewn upon her mortal sands? We ourselves are witness of our deeds, calm visage of despair awaiting our own fall. [5] IV jONDERFUL night sky flushing high above me, darkling sap- phire, thou thrustest flaming stars, living diamonds — depths gleaming through crystal blue! Dark heart of fire thou — cravest — me ! I cannot reach thee. Thou hast come down. Lo, Love's Omnipotence! [6] C^^^N the heart of the Saguaro forest, ^1r< ancient tribe, stands a carcass, stark and dry, stripped of its green mantle, bared of flesh, vulture-eaten, skele- ton against the sky, reminding the passer- by of eternity and man's short hour. [7] VI NTO the giant saguaro brave birds have bored their way to safety. High up in the strong-armed barbed saguaros they have made their nests, invincible ones. Who is safer than he who builds his home of thorns'? The coward fears the prick of Fate, not he who dares all, becoming himself the dreaded one: — forever sentinel to those who fear him. [8] VII NE moment — Earth is thrilled again ; the cup of life glows red. The Universe partakes the draught thereof. Almighty Nature holds us one and all enthralled. Love's fire colors once our neutral form, to blacken to eternal embers. [9] vnr MNO longer hold myself; wine of the air I am. My soul breathes unto night a thousand answers to the stars. I combine in me with night a , full acknowledgment, a sky as vast, a sky above — in me. [10] IX fREAT circle, Life's horizon, vast rim, mountain peaks, colossal Cup, thou art offered to the sky! O, quenchless Beyond, thou drawest man to thy lips ! [11] \|^S^^OW wonderful to lie under the limig covering of night on the top of the world, face to face with the universe, — held in the Desert's offering hand, confined only by the fingered moun- tain peaks ! How wonderful to gaze into the eyes of night, to be the gift of Nature to the sky, to live one moment beyond one's own confine, speaking gratitude to the vast sky! [12] XI fe^^l^ AWN ! thou hast every possibility Hl^SiM of life! What canst thou not reveal to man in thy flaming sky? Enough thou sayest, to recreate a world of men. Blind are we. How many of us read thy words aright? We pass them by, cold letters, divining not the fire of eternal life behind them burning. Dawn, thy oppor- tunity is full ! We, alas, know not the meaning of thy gorgeous page. Dazed we watch thy letters pale; cold embers, left upon the sky; Life's opportunity flicker- ing into naught. From too little faith no knowledge comes. [13] XII LAVA stream once thou wert hot, a molten vein, — now thou art ' cold, — still, — a blackened death. Was it Earth's venomous effort to lay waste the enfolded land? Did she strive to free herself and break her captive bond ? Will she arise some day clothed in flame, freed of her body here? Earth, thou ancient sufferer, art thou immortal too? [14] XIII HE fullness of night's gaze is upon me. I am given to the stars. O, the power of those eyes ! Nature draws me into her farthermost realm; the whole heaven absorbs me. [15] XIV ESERT moon ; immersed in thee I rise, petty tread of life deserted! There is no path for me; my feet fly the trackless solace of the heavens, nor mark my way; the Universe my expanse, with thee great soul of night. [16] XV >REAT rose flaming on the moun- tain peak; thy petals one by one, falling, fade. Thou art blown; a headless stalk, sweet memory of Life's long day. So we outlive our one moment of ecstasy. [17] XVI ALL, white-faced Poppies, your leaves and stalks are a mass of prickles. O, monsters, big and small, ye have taken armored clothing. Here is a land where individuals abound. They know their rights. They have found themselves; — bare souls, each paying with his own earnings. Life, for greater life. [18] XVII ^^^^ AWN, creator, thou enfoldest — jjl^WJW vision of life upon my heart. I awake ; my love fills the world. Who bringeth light is my magnet. Dawn, thou flame ! Urgent explosive of day ! Fire of unfailing worth ! Thy flash assures hidden clarity. He who loveth, knoweth the inner sun ; he see'th Life's blaze. [19] XVIII N amber spire, rising higher and higher against purple mountains; " the desert vents herself, her fury flaring to the sky. We make ourselves inventions of evil doings, a fire quickly blazed, a little smoke. Evil endures a moment's flush, and then — leaves but a burnt out shell. [20] XIX ^ FLORESCENT desert, butter- fly's wing takes its hue from thee. Birds dye their feathers deep in thy bloom, finding in thee their own color. Love finds love in the equiv- alent heart. [21] ARIZONA PART II. GRAND CANYON XX N the heart of Earth I am throb- bing, her life stream bearing me on. I thrill with her breathing, her vitality ! Enshadowed, I am participat- ing in the draught of Hell. At the depth of Earth's dark pit I am. What a gash she hath made ! Black walls enclose me. Earth's tormented breast my living tomb. Black river of torture, writhing senselessly, whirlpool of life, in vain I search thee for one moment's rest. Whither goest thou, overflow of life? [25] XXI HAVE seen the struggling river of the under-world, the incessant outpouring of Earth's self. The heart of Earth penetrates the sea. She knew not why or where she went, a vent of self to larger self. [26] XXII HE depth of the canyon is in me, I am of it. It is I. Life created ^ me of her whole. Mine eyes see my soul, my soul of the depth of things. What I see is what I am, what I see mine. I see what my soul bringeth. In darkness I am vast. I encompass space. My soul createth from magnitude. I am that I am — space. I fear not my soul. My soul interpreteth life, and to life returneth; for it is in the nature of things that what one giveth cometh back in full measure. The emptied space refilleth with equal strength, not like in kind but in degree. Life developeth him who giveth life. [27] XXIII j|ari^.jACH peak in the canyon is a dif- '1^^^ ferent shade, separate, one of a whole. Silence ringeth its utter depth of silence. Great is thy voice, O, Nature; in one note thou hast endless tones, each a color in harmony with the whole ! O canyon, Earth's dumb sym- phony, thou expressest the glory of silence ; thou hast colored indeed thy notes. Look- ing on thee, I hear thy fathomless Silence. [28] XXIV HE crescent-shaped horizon out- ■W?wt lines the canyon, unperturbed. Below lies the river, a mighty power, writhing to find itself. The crescent horizon is unconcerned ; another self below consciousness is carving its way to free- dom. Of many selves and opposites are we. [29] XXV 53ERE could one exist on the brink of disaster, yet conscious of its depth. He who knoweth formeth insoluble expenditure; he who avoideth sinketh ever deeper into the pit that endeth not. Give heed to the voice that calleth, lest a day cometh when thou wilt hear no' more, when thou findest not. Then shalt thou be left as the soul that weareth no knowledge and counteth as naught. [30] way. XXVI RAPTUROUS Dawn is calling the mountains to follow her. One moment — and she has gone her Death's embers lie, spent sheet enshrouding them. The mountains stand spectre of their fire. [31] OTHER POEMS Mgig^OOK not at me, look at my outlook }Il^(k round, Behind, beside, before, far, every- where, See what I see, be where I've been, and dare All that I dare, then find what I have found. Be me; and yet let not myself astound Even the me in thee, for I must fare Onward to horizons where breadths out- wear Forgottenness, unwound, refound, high bound. [35] n HERE is in life but one invest- ■^(1% ment, Spending! Thou canst not save to live. Extravagance is Life's security. [36] Ill •^ — ^' ^NE asked me for my cup; I gave him drink. My love was strong — my heart I gave him drink. I knew not God — my heart I gave him drink ; My heart I gave him drink, I gave him drink. My cup was empty. God! I — gave — him — drink. God filled my heart ; God filled my heart, my heart. God gave me of, God gave me of His heart To drink. God gave me of, me of, His heart. [37] IV STOOD By the sea, By the plains. By the mountains. There came From the sea, From the plains, From the mountains A wind, Salt from the sea, Fresh from the plains. Soft from the mountains. It lifted me Back from the sea, Away from the plains. Up on the mountains. I stood on the mountains Blown by the winds of time; [38] I stood there alone In a light divine. I knelt on my knees And I prayed to God. I stood on my feet And I threw my arms up to God. I cried to God "Lift me ! Lift me ! Lift me ! Take me away from all the evil, Keep me ! Keep me ! Keep me !" God laid his hand on my head; God took my hands and pressed them to His lips; God filled my soul with the wine of love; God gave me love from His lips. [39] LIFE S VISION FROM Christ's writings on the sand PON the desert's sands I saw a face, Christ marked it long ago. How well he knew the feature's every trace, The searching eyes of woe. And did he read, as I have read, the heart Packed full of many a gem Stored sacredly for every man a part Could he but grasp of them? And surely I have found the key hung there. Christ gave to Life his breath, Into whose eyes he gazed, through which and where He saw God's smile, not death. [40] VI 'E know not what we ourselves have. We are striving for that per- fection That we already have. For nothing else attracts. What we are in our depth Attracts us back. [41] VII ^ LIFE, give me back my natal gleam, Teach me what I knew not that I knew! [423 VIII EMEMBRANCE is Life foretold, The backward glance the Future 'sold. [43] IX m 0-DAY is our dimmed speck on Life's proud horizon line; I see it with my far questioning eye. What doth it mean in ages' climb to mine and thine Accomplishment this brilliant day passed by? It is the tarnished mark of our indebted- ness — We are but spent instants without redress. [44] S with ourselves harsh Time instils, His hammer mocks the emptiness. Ourselves with self, each second fills; And silence tolls the hollow years. [45] XI m LL me, or nothing, I give ; Air that I breathe, or no air ; Dust of my treading before, Prints of my life as I live ; Soul of me searchingly bare; All of me, all — even more. [46] XII M THROW my heart away As a bird who sings all day Giving her song away. I cheer the passers by And lonely souls who die All shrivelled and unfed, Just so my heart I spread. [47] XIII ^^^^IKE a leaf I am spread ^I^bII ^^^^ upon a frozen ground. While I warm all beneath Am I withering on the ground? [48] XIV HE wind cries to the sky, "I will ! I will ! I will !" And I to thee, yet still, — The wind, and even I O sky, knowest thou why, Why wind and I will, will? Is Life more Life to fill ? Ah, Love I will, — and die. [49] XV TO T. H. C, JR. ^HEN I look at thy sweet up- turned face, Thine eyes true and grave, I scarcely trace The boy thou art, for in thy glance I clearly see as in a trance, The man of thee. Thy whole soul's worth Lies mellowed, thou wert ripe at birth. [50] XVI TO MY SISTER PAULINE m HE rosebud faded and died on the stalk, The rose that was once so fair to see, To breathe of and love, to crave and to kiss. O God, thy roses are sweet, sweetened by Thee — The rosebud faded and died on the stalk, The rose that gave me her fill. Did I miss A breath of her heart, or a dart of her thrill? O, the bewildering sips of her honeyed lips. Fiery sips ! Mine she is still, the stalk Of her stark, and her will mine to fulfil. [51] XVII CAME upon a violet growing quite alone, In a mossy dell, deep down, dark as a prisoner's cell ; Yet even there the sun peeped through the bars of stone To search the heart of the hidden one. There's ne'er a part Of earth too black for Life's reclaim. The violet won Her triumph crown, the bluest flame of the burning sun. [52] XVIII RHAPSODIC voice, who crieth day What usherest thou in ecstasy? New hope more permanent than yesterday ! Or breakest thou another heart as they Who carve invisibly' Love's wrecking way? O, throat triumphant, every day Will choose the trumpeter, let come what may. Art thou an omen then who seemest gay, Or pilot good, through Dawn to Eve? Then pray Sweet anchorage for each sad soul astray. Relief thou bringest sure. Glad bird, O stay. [53] XIX ^H^' AUGUST Skies, where is the voice of Spring? ' July hath heard the latest bird last sing.' And June, O, June, how many more to thee Have called sincerest hearts incessantly ? August Skies are ye dumb, or is hope fled ? Have ye the will? Burdened fail ye to spread Glad being afar? O, August Skies wide cries High silences, await next Spring's replies. [54] m m XX WOMAN from Yonder, who art thou? Of world's evolving heights thy brow "Whose eyes eternal are, Life's star, And Heaven's arch thy presence far. Magnet impending love thou art, The immensity of whole Time's heart. Insatiable being thou art all ! Created, creating call's call. O, Woman from Yonder, near and far, Thou flamest ages, star to star. [551 ^^sdSSi XXI HE Master Sculptor forms a face to stay, Draws Nature's unadulterated might, Prints of the Master mind, reflected light. Slowly he molds immortal lips of clay. As silently he pours his heart away. His spirit burns in marble, flaming bright, Resplendent of the Master's visioned sight. Illumined image of the day. [56] XXII pMgt^ IFE like a tree high reaching feels uI CsII m the sky; Yet underground we nourish fruitfulness, Ourselves dependents, roots entangling, less Our making than of circumstance whereby We feed our bodies need. Uplooking, why? Body ascends and soul descends, the stress Of each for each. O, yearning one, express Thy Earth-tied self in Soul's immensity ! C571 XXIII B SERE on the waters that roll and roar, the sea tide of Life, We rise and we float in and out, dashed by the spray — call it strife. We smother, we choke, baffled for breath, our hearts toward the sun. Yearning we clutch and we reach up — our desire is won — Too often we sink drowned in the depths in the raging of strife. Is it the hand of Fate in our midst drag- ging us down? Call it Life. Life kills, and Life gives life to her souls tossed high on her foam. [58] XXIV [INTER hushed the long brawn coast, Winter, an eternal drear! Flank on flank the ice ranks fell. Bearded rocks, dead men to the skies upheld, Glassy-eyed and open-mouthed The sun bedazzling them. Along the coast, the iron coast, Grim winter sternly stood. And the beat of salt froze ghastly white. The ocean spray rose — stark! Winter clung with permanence — A frozen sky, a frozen sea, Frozen heart upon the coast of Death. [59] LOVE POEMS 3 TIME who carveth space, our soul's design ! Out of the past thou stealest foundation, Makest another form where Love returneth To find always her own self-lit outline; For love with love will ever be redone. All poureth back, all that Love, sculptor learneth. [63] II ■ OW strange that Love forever keeps apace With us. To-day is run its time- ly course, To-morrow never hath a moment's loss. How strange that in this earthly daily race Love makes the trace of our immortal face. Then thinkest thou Love in haphazard's toss Is met? Ah, no, Love with infinite force Afore appointed comes to find her place! [64] Ill VER wilt thou be loved, O, wind- tossed shore, Thy sweet will be sea lapped, thy lips regained, As oft in wild embrace thy heart is drained ; The clamoring waves now clasp thee as before ; Thy tide-swept bosom yields, heart craved of yore. Still mastered of a passion unrestrained. Thy form bared to the sea, sun-burned, salt-stained. Is Nature's own, sea-drenched forever more. [65] IV ^ LOVE, thou hast possession of my being, I think no longer ill of any one. Could I, I would; but all thought ill begun Turneth to love. My love possesseth see- ing, And love denieth every ill, agreeing To refill ill with love till ill be don . O Love, thou art my will. Immortal sun, Thou bringest Faith, a heart of love ill freeing ! [66] HE sea whirls, wind cast, wild and ■^wt vast, unasked, Mournful and glad, bewildered, sad, unmasked. Every emotion fed and bled, wind led, Only the boundless is spread without dread. [67] VI HOU art a lover of the restless sea; Therein thou art component of her heart. Hath she not reached herself in equal part To thee? Attractions mirror like must be. Thou hast in thee the vastness of the free. [68] VII DARE to hope that thou canst ever strive In thy heart's thought of me. If fire could Die pale, and shattered, crumble, ashes would Outlive the leap of flame from which alive A murmur breathes revibrant to survive Forgetful nothingness. As such I should In gratitude bless thee who understood Me once, that moment must forever thrive. [69] VIII [OULD that I were the night thou gladly meetest, Night they grateful receiver — Dark night thou greetest; Into her arms thou fallest, one with night, She claimeth all of thee, thou her delight. Oh, that I were deep night; to her thou leapest In full desire, thy lips with hers thou keepest. With night thou dreamest love, in rap- turous sleep. And then do thou and she the heavens keep. [70] K j jWTg^^OVE me not for my sake alone, 'jlk^lw Love me for the sake of nothing "; that is known, i Love me for thy sake and for my sake, and for what thou feelest, ; Though all things fail thee, still thou ] stealest ', The light of the soul. '\ [71] X HEN I say I love thee I mean more than love bring. can When I love thee I lay at thy feet Every atom of the universe. Big and small my heart is. Little when it contains me alone. And vast — when thou and all else consume me. Therefore, O! My Beloved, with thee I am omnipotent. [72] XI FIND to-morrow's sun as yester- day; To-day is half begun. How shall I say I found to-morrow done, when yesterday Is yet but scarcely won, to-day at play, To-morrow not begun"? And yet I may, For in thine eye, true one, as yesterday I see eternal sun. To-morrow's ray More bright the future won, and yesterday Fulfills to-day's own sun, so makes to-day To-morrow surely won, and yesterday To-day and every day a foretold day. [73] XII F when Life presseth hardest, And thou afar art farthest Even from me, Ariseth, keener prying. One note, thy heart outcrying Thy love for me. For all I gave thee, still Am giving, now fulfill In loving me. Since such thy precious longing Can never be thy wronging, Forgive — then — me. [74] XIII EwgiSdET not sweet slumber mar thy Or blur thy memory of me. Let through this night thy vision be A star — of brilliancy, Throwing through blackness beams of light Upon thy spirit bright. Even when Dawn is hov'ring nigh, Quivering through the sky, Let me then beam on thee. Let me thy day-star be Tho' faded out of sight A flame still burning in thy memory. [75] i i XIV URNT are the petals of Life as a rose fallen and crumbled to dust. Blackened the heart of the past is, ashes that must Forever be sifted, more precious than sun- beams that open the budding to- morrow. Once was a passion completed, — too per- fect, the Gods had not broken to borrow — Blackened the heart of the past is, ashes that must Forever be sifted. O, loving to-morrow The rose of the past is, Life — Eternity's dust. [76] SONNETS TO MY MOTHER JHAT unimprisoned sun sprite stole Night's star Bejewelled eyes? What dawn beperfumed rose Rebiidded lips for Love's dew cup — ^who knows *? What glistening lily mirrored from afar The fiery Phoebus his sun-gashed scar Perpetuating Love's relentless throes? Who hath assembled these, thy heaven glows, O Venus, betimes melting Earth's heart bar? Goddess, thou hast thyself made thyself sweet. Ever Life stealing from thine ultimate Life state, uniting thine intelligences, Immortal sparks, thy radiant self complete. O heart, a wondrous love thou dost relate, Thyself thine heir of beauty's essences. [79] II V TO MY FATHER ON HIS EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY ^^^^ OW summer finds her sweets ac- |1k>3JR ceptable, And every wind that harshly shook her head Dies down, and only Love's warm sky instead Now silently unfolds her breast; the dull Winds whispering of Charity, a lull In Life's wild storm, the peace of Heaven spread Upon the quiet heart of earth. Not dead — She is creating life insatiable. And thus art thou, my father, in thy bloom. From all thy life thou drawest now more life; Above thy calm the fragrant rose uplifts, And every day some lesser bud gives room [80] To greater truth. For thee there is no strife. Life's Regent — thou fulfillest Summer's gifts. [81] Ill TO MY FATHER ON HIS EIGHTY-FIRST BIRTHDAY O thy persistent youth I dedicate Thine age, thine eighty-one out- reaching years. Time who, fulfilled with hope, discarding fears, Now looks to thee, the Summer of last late Spring; such is Life's unfolding of her great. And every year but adds, to grandeur rears Luxuriant foliage. To what then steers Thy growth ? Next and next Spring. Life doth await. In what mysterious awakening art Thou found, when honey fills the bud of life? What sky doth mock the blue of flowers' gloss That leads thee to thy strength, immortal heart? [82] Thou knowest not when thou art deep in strife, Then dost thou win, win to toss back Life's dross. [83] IV WOULD hold fast the lark of poesy, Some moments he hath given me his wing. Above sad Earth we gaily soared, trilling Rich cadences with grace notes wild and free. No sun hath proven stronger brilliancy, And never looked so small the little thing We call the world. O rhapsodic bird, now bring Compelling influence to quicken me ! Once thy melodious self became my guide. Give me thy spirit voice, my soul awaken ! Alone I may not reach that realm of thine. There is no service I would not with pride Perform to meet thy need. Thy will be slaken Even as thou hast given me Life's wine ! [84] KNOW a distant land reached only by A hard, untravelled road, where Patience leads When Doubt prevails, and Contradiction pleads. I have been there, not to abide. Yet why ? Because my cherished land exists to die, And dying, lives again when my soul needs. I find no guiding foot-prints under weeds Quick sprung on my last route. Await heart's cry. Such land may well be swept by lovlng- ness, Aye — all men's need. And from the whirl- wind of Desire, let aspiration wing afar. As seedlings sow their seeds blown wide. Not less [85] May Future harvest from the land where Love, Boundless, vibrates to the farthest star. [86] VI sometimes lofty wish were ranted me, As spiked mountain spears the ever blue, And heaven never failed to be true, I'd be possessor of serenity O'erlooking Life, in Safety, held by thee Enswooned forever in sky-sweetened dew. Better Life's thorn-pricked soul that striv- ing grew To royal height of perpetuity. If perfect life the unattainable goalless Goal, were in itself an attainable quest, Then mortals' wishes were mountain peaks' full worth Attainment; but Life is itself the soulless Aiming higher, regrasping, losing, lest Too good should spoil. Life is a ceaseless birth. [87] VII H^^I^E thou not slain by thine adversity ; Harsh winds have ever borne the forests' gloom, With tattered leaves have scattered silvern room To be o'erspread with sunbeam tracery. Joy must prevail, nor heart can crushed be Whilst Nature fills. And budding Life will bloom From Spring to Spring in the eternal loom, As such the hope of Life's ancestral tree. In every nook still waits the living seed, Faith. Be thou ready, Life cannot escape. If mosses hide once lovely lips, again Will rise with sweeter kiss another's lead, Life's harmony. For such the woods un- drape Hid beauty to give their eternal grain. [88] VIII K>j^^gy AN he who loves the perfume of jw*^^ the rose, Who knows Love's perfect petaled harmony, Exquisite flush from heart to lip, not be Diviner of the Spring-tide blush*? He knows The pulse within Earth's ripening breast quick grows. He knows the fragrance flowers breathe deeply, 'Neath budding trees' embrace, Life's secrecy. He knows through every leaf and fern Love glows. Spring, Spring, O, Spring, thou art Love's complete answer ! Her promise to herself, fulfillments fill. O, Love infallible createst thou Posterity, thy promise Life's advancer? [89] Thou art then Spring, born of immortal will, Progenitor of Life's continual Now. [90] IX DEEM thee fair beyond beloved Day Into whose eyes I cannot gaze my fill. Her too great brilliance doth my sight en- thrill "With dazzling emptiness. I turn away To find a darkness, blank with blank at play ; And then I know that she my thought doth kill. To my dismay I've lost my precious will, For she who seemeth fair doth all betray. But thou, O midnight flame, art my soul's light, I cannot get enough of thy dark blue. From searching thee, I still must search again. Endless my quest and endless my soul sight. O everlasting strength, thine eyes me drew To thine own silence, my eternal plane ! [91] X SOMETIMES wish that I a vio- let were Of deepest blue, the midnight's sapphire hue, With starred eyes gazing wistfully at you, And I spell-bound — Ah! I could no way stir — Yet gazing ever up, I might incur A rapturous glance from you, "My radiant blue Is all for you." You'd say, "This violet grew For me, — " grasp me, O, if I a violet were You'd place me on your breast, — wear me with pride, — If I a violet were. I'd be a sweet To you, — a sweet beyond compare, — if I A violet were. Ah ! Could I but abide On your heart, once supremely yours, I'd greet E'en death, and you'd be my eternity. [92] B XI NFOLD within mine arms the depth of thine Own aromatic breast's wild frag- rancy. I'll drink in ecstasy thy breath away ; Thou be my saturating perfumed wine. Press more and more of sweet thy lips on mine, Cling thou to my insatiate heart I pray, Enclasp thy self to me, forever stay, Twined closer, even than a twisted vine. Give me love heaped on love immeasurable, Sparkling, prof usioned love ; unslakened be Our thirst, creating ever new a sweet Unlimited, that we may deep instil Each other's love, revivified and free. Our hearts flushed to love's wild immortal beat. [93] XII I^^^^OULD substance fade and then Pl^^B disintegrate ; As distant air quick travels mak- ing naught Of space ! Could I afar from thee be wrought Unto thy mind, awake with thee! Could Fate Assign us each to each! 'Spite ultimate Obstacle, let us appear summoned by thought. Could I remain, as in thy heart once brought, Thy love, life of thy life insatiate! Across Life's broadening deep our whisper- ing Memories reach, too strong not to subsist, Too yearning to be fed, too patient held, Until, O Fate again insistent, bring Us face to face. Though mortal bars exist We shall remeet in Love's fulfilling weld. [94] XIII ?HEN Winter sears the world's once glowing face What hath the future then in store for it? Could'st thou suppose another Spring could sit Upon so drear a brow, the dread replace Redoubling charms without a single trace Of woe bygone? And I alone unlit By thee — how could I know thou wer'tenwrit Upon my book of fate by Heaven's grace ? Thou hast returned, more blessed than the rose To June's adored cheek, a richer sweet. O heart, bewildering from what deep thy kiss? Hast thou the swerveless strength no mortal knows? Thou bring'st unflinching life to Life's wild beat, O lips, avowing everlasting bliss! [95] XIV 30VED Loveliness hath not in ugliness Dissolved all : for Loveliness in thee Doth dwell. Sweetheartedness will ever be The nectar Beauty craves, and Love not less Thy lovingness. Could summer skies express Thy kindly eyes, such beaming purity, Or Mother's joy in baby's smile? E'en see Tenderness doth thy loveliness confess. Lavishing soul of Loveliness, why grieve? White rose of Godliness could not fulfill In more sublime a bloom than thou. Then leave Full memories, dear sweetening heart, until Lovingness doth all Loveliness retrieve. Thy loveliness become immortal will. [96] XV ^HEN Thou art by my mind no longer thinks ; Like to the shallow pool without relation To Life I seem to be, nor no sensation Of poignant winds upon my surface sinks Within. Awake and blank I seem, yet links My soul with thine as perfect as creation Mating land and sea. Thou bringest Love's libation Of whose full deep Eternity's lip drinks. Think not the quiet surface of my soul Denotes a void beneath. Thou couldst not know Thou, being all, that thou strong one, art sun Upon my heart's fulfilled brimming whole. O, messenger of Nature's bounteous flow Thou drawest deep to deep, forever one. [97] >2 XVI HOU knowest not to Love's seren- ity ^ There comes an unforseen, un- called for change. O Summer's gilded one, couldst thou estrange Thyself from thy heart's warmth and frigid be Before thy nature turned her seasonably Grimmed face, a blight thus to arrange For thy acceptance in her storage grange? Thou art as Life, blown reed of Life, less free. And thou couldst never know Love's Autumn comes Thou bloom, with nothing to aspire to! O powerful one, thou hast no power as yet ; Even thyself against thyself will numb Thy love, no matter what thy heart would do. Unheeded we may call to our sun, set. [98] XVII FEAR that thou, unused to me wilt be From being all too used. As when the sun Diverted from his daily sight by one Impervious cloud almost forgets to see, Whilst unforgiving earth all drenchingly Faces blank sky; for her the day is done, And her response had only just begun. Love, thou could'st ever find more love in me. Should every day return thee to my side. As constant light in pledge with summer's eye, More brilliant keeping touch with rap- turous time Than merely day could do. Should'st thou abide I would excel as flower the bud, nor die Perpetually in bloom, as thou, sublime. [99] XVIII ALMOST fear that thou hast given way. Too much of me, and than a cold exchange ! Summer, too hot, burnt out her fire day, Into the black recesses of Life's grange Death's ashes piled recall the urgent past. Unrivalled summer can not be forgot, Ant' nothing is that can forever last Except fulfilling memory, or blot. Or blight of winter taking summer's place. Winter's enfringement mars the happy light Of summer's golden gown and smiling face. Yet Summer gone, cold winter hath a right. Through Life's persistent voice an echo rings Forecasting past and future minglings. [100] XIX ' N thee is no insidious age taint. Thou hast with youth enam oured thy warm being, With every climate thy proved heart agree- ing. With each exchange each season's trace more faint. Thou art Life resolute. Whilst others paint A broad outlook, thou truly art farseeing. And youth in thee continually is feeing Age, that he may not thee with him acquaint. As the one perfect oak stands unmolested Dost thou, the forests' best, the greater tree. And all because of thy magnanimous heart. Thy powerful mind desires Life unar- rested. And generosity outgiveth thee. High reaching to wide fulfillment thou art. [101] SONNETS IN BLANK VERSE HOTHOUSE PLANTS HEY feel the sun, but do they feel the world's Heart beat? Or ever breathe the pain of love? Life's gard'ner rears too many sheltered flowers, True in safe keeping they abide untouched, Perfect hybrids, living protected lives; But what know they of aught beyond his hand? Their petals never feel the urgent bee Draw life from their soft unbelieving selves To well again with knowledge dear, re- made; Their usefulness once found, could they be tame? Yet unsuspecting they must fade and die [105] While knowing naught but their own glass house world. Not so is it to those who grow up wild, They know too well the blood that fills their veins. They know that they are made for love and pain, They know that Life is sweet although it stings. [106] II NTO a bewildered sea Life sent a fleet; In mystery she left them founder- ing. Would they return? Not they, upon Her quest. Lost in the ocean's mightiness they found Themselves; Life's own Truth seeking company. From horizon to horizon they swiftly sped Avoiding most the world's frequented routes. In confidence was found Life's hidden gleam. What makes men — men? The ships they steer themselves, Launched on Life's main, frail unprotected crafts Battling determinedly their own will's way. From port to port forth sailing farther out [107] Away from narrow straits to open seas Where Life rolls large, where Life is filled with Life. [108] Ill JE all are Individuals, a part Ourselves, and something else, We are the breath Of mightiness, each one of us of worth. We all belong with equal right to God. And yet, let one of us but err in the world's Accepted code, that one then loses all — Aye, personality. From that day on He is his crime ; his crime hath swallowed him. Yet even so he is himself. His soul Awaketh him ; he knows the God within. What makes one weaken in the chain of right ? God only knows, and just as sure as men Are men, saves individuality. Sin unforgiven is by men alone. [109] A SOULLESS CYCLE m MOON rose vacant in a world of naught, A ghostly face to mirror empti- ness, Our thoughtless selves outlining our own fate. Forgetful that we live to live again. Forgetful that this life is our salvation, Forgetful that each moment lives or dies. We make of this what we hereafter are. O moon, thou art our absolute recorder. The nothingness of us thou hast revealed. Of naught can aught remain? From earth we grow. Remolded over — one from one evolving, Another moon foretells our emptiness, A spectral omen of a wasted life. [no] LIBRARY OF CONGRESS