To Edmund Clarence Stedman on his seventieth birthday, October 8,1903
Who wears this crown-greater than kings may wear-
Is monarch of a kingdom, once possessed,
...
Therein is sunlight, and sweet sound:
Cool flow of waters, musical,
Soft stir of insect-wings, and fall
Of blossom-snow upon the ground.
...
Good-By!
Under whatever sky
Thy pathway be,
Near or afar,
...
O winds, that ripple the long grass,
O winds, that kiss the jeweled sea,
Grow still and lingering as you pass,
About this laurel-tree!
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Citron, pomegranate, apricot, and peach;
Flutter of apple-blows, whiter than the snow:
Filling the silence with their leafy speech,
Budding and blossoming down row after row.
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Now the summer all is over!
We have wandered through the clover,
We have plucked in wood and lea
Blue-bell and anemone.
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O long, swinging bells of pomegranate!
O orange-buds, falling as snow!
O singing of swallow and linnet-
Singing high in the leaves, singing low-
...
Once, in a dream, I saw the Saviour’s face!
That Face within its aureole of Light,
Star, moon and sun, forever, to all night-
And in its glance such tenderness and grace,
...
(B. G.: Born January 28,1895)
Robed as with petals of the red rose-queen,
Unfolding in the dawn’s awakening rays,
...