Under the walls of Monterey Through the mist of the valley damp and gray The sentinels hear the sound, and say, "That is the wraith Of Victor Galbraith!" MY LOST YOUTH. OFTEN I think of the beautiful town That is seated by the sea; Often in thought go up and down The pleasant streets of that dear old town, And my youth comes back to me. And a verse of a Lapland song Is haunting my memory still: "A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." I can see the shadowy lines of its trees, And the burden of that old song, I remember the black wharves and the slips, And the sea-tides tossing free; And Spanish sailors with bearded lips, And the beauty and mystery of the ships, And the magic of the sea. And the voice of that wayward song Is singing and saying still: "A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." I remember the bulwarks by the shore, And the music of that old song Throbs in my memory still: "A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." I remember the sea-fight far away, Where they in battle died. And the sound of that mournful song Goes through me with a thrill: "A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." I can see the breezy dome of groves, The shadows of Deering's Woods; And the friendships old and the early loves Come back with a sabbath sound, as of doves In quiet neighborhoods. And the verse of that sweet old song, It flutters and murmurs still : "A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." I remember the gleams and glooms that dart Across the school-boy's brain; The song and the silence in the heart, That in part are prophecies, and in part Are longings wild and vain. And the voice of that fitful song Sings on, and is never still: "A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." There are things of which I may not speak; There are dreams that cannot die ; There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak, And bring a pallor into the cheek, And the words of that fatal song Come over me like a chill: "A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." Strange to me now are the forms I meet As they balance up and down, Are singing the beautiful song, Are sighing and whispering still: "A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." And Deering's Woods are fresh and fair, And with joy that is almost pain My heart goes back to wander there, And among the dreams of the days that were, I find my lost youth again. And the strange and beautiful song, The groves are repeating it still: "A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." THE ROPEWALK. IN that building, long and low, Like the port-holes of a hulk, Gleam the long threads in the sun; While within this brain of mine Cobwebs brighter and more fine By the busy wheel are spun. At their shadow on the grass. Then a homestead among farms, And a woman with bare arms Drawing water from a well; Nearly lifts him from the ground. Blow, and sweep it from the earth! Then a school-boy, with his kite Gleaming in a sky of light, And an eager, upward look; Ships rejoicing in the breeze, Sea-fog drifting overhead, All these scenes do I behold, In that building long and low; While the wheel goes round and round, With a drowsy, dreamy sound, And the spinners backward go. THE GOLDEN MILE-STONE. LEAFLESS are the trees; their purple branches Spread themselves abroad, like reefs of coral, Rising silent In the Red Sea of the winter sunset. From the hundred chimneys of the village, Like the Afreet in the Arabian story, Tower aloft into the air of amber. CATAWBA WINE. THIS Song of mine Is a Song of the Vine, To be sung by the glowing embers Of wayside inns, When the rain begins To darken the drear Novembers Of the Scuppernong, And the Muscadel Nor the red Mustang, Of whose purple blood Has a dash of Spanish bravado. For richest and best Is the wine of the West, That grows by the Beautifu! River; Whose sweet perfume Fils all the room With a benison on the giver. And as hollow trees Are the haunts of bees, Forever going and coming; So this crystal hive Is all alive With a swarming and buzzing and hum ming. Very good in its way Is the Verzenay, Or the Sillery soft and creamy; Has a taste more divine, There grows no vine As grows by the Beautiful River. Drugged is their juice When shipped o'er the reeling Atlantic, With the fever pains, That have driven the Old World frantic. To the sewers and sinks And after them tumble the mixer; Or at best but a Devil's Elixir. While pure as a spring Is the wine I sing, And to praise it, one needs but name it; For Catawba wine Has need of no sign, No tavern-bush to proclaim it. And this Song of the Vine, The winds and the birds shall deliver On the banks of the Beautiful River. SANTA FILOMENA. The tidal wave of deeper souls And lifts us unawares Out of all meaner cares. Honor to those whose words or deeds And by their overflow The trenches cold and damp, The wounded from the battle-plain, In dreary hospitals of pain, The cheerless corridors, And slow, as in a dream of bliss, As if a door in heaven should be The light shone and was spent. A Lady with a Lamp shall stand Nor even shall be wanting here And Alfred, King of the Saxons, Had a book upon his knees, "So far I live to the northward, "So far I live to the northward, With sheep and swine beside; "I ploughed the land with horses, With their sagas of the seas; — For thinking of those seas. "To the northward stretched the desert, Till after three days more. Of the red midnight sun. "The sea was rough and stormy, The tempest howled and wailed, But onward still I sailed. Here Alfred, King of the Saxons, He neither paused nor stirred, And wrote down every word. "And now the land," said Othere, "Bent southward suddenly, And I followed the curving shore And ever southward bore Into a nameless sea. "And there we hunted the walrus, In two days and no more And dragged them to the strand!" And Othere the old sea-captain Stared at him wild and weird, Then smiled, till his shining teeth Gleamed white from underneath His tawny, quivering beard. And to the King of the Saxons, In witness of the truth, Raising his noble head, He stretched his brown hand, and said "Behold this walrus-tooth" |