Ina D. Coolbrith Poems

Commencement poem, written for the
University of California, June,1876.

“Into the balm of the clover,
...

The green leaves grow and grow,
And the birds build in the trees:
Ah, Sweethearts, could I linger, linger,
With soul at ease!
...

(“H. H.”)

What songs found voice upon those lips,
What magic dwelt within the pen,
...

Who say these walls are lonely-these-
They may not see the motley throng
That people it, as thick as bees
The scented clover beds among.
...

The sea is a molten pearl,
And pearl the fleckless sky’
The firstling leaves unfurl,
And the air is a fragrant sigh.
...

The green leaves grow and grow,
And the birds build in the trees;
Ah, sweethearts, could I linger, linger,
With soul at ease!
...

“What gift hast thou got for Me,
The Crucified for thee? ”
No worthy thing:
Nor song, nor praise, nor tears,
...

A lark’s song dropped from heaven,
A rose’s breath at noon;
A still, sweet stream that flows and flows
Beneath a still, sweet moon:
...

Clean winds sweep over it,
Blue sky to cover it,
The sun to give it light
And moon and stars of night;
...

(Eccl. VII,3) To ‘Uncle George Bromley

I hold not that sorrow than laughter
Is better for man;
...