( TO COUNTESS EDITH RUCELLAI, DESCENDANT OF JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE, — IN HER ALBUM, CONTAINING LINES BY BROWNING, LONGFELLOW, LOWELL, AND OTHERS )

Thou of a poet's blood, and many a tie
Of kin or friendship with the singing race:
How shall I dare, without a throb or sigh,
Near these lost bards beloved my name to place!

One wish I offer, though with halting fingers:
That in thy brood, of eager eyes divine,
The poet that within the mother lingers
May find a voice worthy the deathless line.