To gaze upon the glittering world of stars;

The poet's richest music only mars

The rasping of the locust's strident sound.

And yet I've never seen a wilder light

Glow in the beauteous eyes of dawning love,

Than flashes from this strange man's soul at sight

Of some rare flower he finds in mountain cove:

Mere fungus, or the poisonous, dank mushroom,

Enchants him more than rich magnolia bloom!

[Pg 40]

[Pg 40]

DEDICATION

O soul responsive to the subtlest thought

That flashes o'er the mind's electric wire,

Or ever swept the strings of fancy's lyre

To music learned in schools where Shakespeare taught:

O thou who knowest the springs whence Sappho caught

Love's brimming cup that did her song inspire,

Yet dost my plain, unlettered muse admire,

Who lived in better days when maidens wrought—

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