To C. H.
I bring my gift as children bring a shell,
A weed, a pebble, from their hour of play, —
Poor hoardings, save as these to memory tell
The golden chronicle of holiday.
SWITZERLAND
I
The Welcome
From dawn to dusk across rich plains, broad streams,
Into an eerie land of towering dome
And peak, as on the misty map of dreams,
Until your face smiled out and made it home.
II
Vevey
Our Vevey, shield of patriot refugees,
Holy, and yet so gay, — her dainty sandals
Teasing Lake Leman, while her poplar trees
Were glorified to sacramental candles.
III
The Alpine Glow
Beyond those shining poplars and the hush
Of azure waves, when sunset flamed the west,
How solemnly the heights would wait their flush,
Like shriven spirits standing to be blest!
IV
The Defile of St. Maurice
Dearest of all we loved that orient portal
At the lake's end, her triple-mountain door.
The heavenly gate, transfiguring our mortal
To light of light, could hardly glisten more.
V
Evening on the Balcony
With fall of dusk, how strange our summits grew,
Dim, ghostly shapes, caprices of the mist,
Until the stars stole softly from the blue
To keep their immemorial Alpine tryst!
VI
Evening by the Hearth
What coaxing and what architectural feats
Before the wood, our merry plunder, won
Far up the forest, would exhale its heats,
Spending for us slow centuries of sun!
VII
From R├┤chers de Naye
Far up the forest, past the pilgrim host
Of climbing pines, tree toiling after tree,
Above the clouds we stood as on the coast
Of some primeval, frore, stupendous sea.
VIII
Above the Clouds
Above the clouds we saw a Switzerland
Illimitable, crystalline, sublime,
Crest upon crest, the molding of God's hand,
Awful as in the very birth of time.
IX
The Vintage
But now the wine was fragrant in the pale,
Deep-clustered grapes, the riches of the Vaud.
We marvelled that the harvesters could scale
Their steepy vineyards hung 'twixt lake and snow.
X
Alpine Bells
Their busy voices, crisping French, were crossed
By tinkle, tinkle of the homing herds.
The mountain slopes waxed russet. Like to frost
Glittered the wings of Lake Geneva's birds.
XI
Muettes
Ah, free muettes! Was it the dazzling play,
The myriad sparkle of your wild white wings,
That woke the longing for the far-away,
Alluring us to wider wanderings?
XII
Last Days
The fainter gold of dawn, the ruddier moon,
The creamy, soft, reluctant lights that fell
Across new snow each briefer afternoon,
All warned us on, yet all forbade farewell.
I TALY
I
On Entering
Grace before meat! But what is meat to this,
The manna of the soul, the radiant face
Of Italy that shakes the heart with bliss?
Seeing, we bow our heads and say a grace.
II
Haunted
Haunted, oh haunted! Is't divine Apollo
To whom the olives listen, or the sweet
And wayward Pan that fauns and dryads follow
With shimmering, dancing, evanescent feet?
III
Milan
The sibylline gray olives! pagan still
For all this flight of angels clustered high
On consecrate white turrets. What day will
They spread their shining wings and seek the sky?
IV
Florence
But this abides. Rememberest how we saw
The tower of Giotto soaring to the moon,
The dim Duomo brooding mystic awe,
Our Lady's lilies in perpetual June?
V
Wraiths
Upon such purple nights proud spirits go
Like flames from church to palace, — warrior, sage,
Savonarola, Fra Angelico,
Dante in youth, not Dante in his age.
VI
The Path of Armies
Romeward! No marvel ranks of cypress grow
Along that route the lords of terror trod, —
Names whispered yet by Tiber and by Po,
Theodoric, Hannibal, the " Scourge of God. "
VII
Rome
Ruins on ruins! O eternal city,
Thou palimpsest of all the past, what soul
Can give thy martyr host its meed of pity,
Or bear thy doom's reverberant thunder-roll?
VIII
The Appian Way
What is the past? Didst find it where we went
Far out on that enmarbled, scriptured Way?
We found the unappeasable lament,
Bewildered cry of spirit over clay.
IX
Naples
On through the silver rain to one swift smile
Of sunset on an opalescent bay,
Vesuvius benignly blue the while,
Forgetful of his fatal yesterday.
X
On Classic Waters
By turquoise Capri, pearly-throned Sorrento,
We sailed the sea old Neptune dominates,
Past Stromboli, who flung us for memento
A globe of fire, and through the narrow gates.
E GYPT
I
Alexandria
The Pharos dark against a dawn whose gold
Outshone Hypatia's dream; a sea besprent
With boats; then palms, and stately figures stoled,
Red-fezzed, white-turbaned, veiled. The Orient!
II
The Delta
Mizraim! patriarchal camel-trains,
Gray buffaloes by lithe brown boys bestrid,
Clay villages, and look! beyond the plains,
The silver outlines of a pyramid.
III
Cairo
The Arabian Nights! a jewel city clad in
Color and sheen! The latticed harem listens
To the muezzin's sweet-toned call. Aladdin
Rubs life's enchanted lamp until it glistens.
IV
The Sphinx
Thou Watcher of the East six thousand years,
Indomitable Hope the sands entomb
Only to yield again, what have the spheres
Confided to thee? Thou awaitest Whom?
V
Karnak
Marmoreal chaos! wilderness of shrines!
How pale the melancholy moonlight falls
On obelisk and column, cut with signs
Of perished pomps and silent rituals!
VI
Our Vision
Poor heathen gods! Whither did Isis soar
On her bright vulture wings — the wings that we
Saw, plumed with sunset, overspread once more
Her Egypt of the Lily and the Bee?
VII
Luxor
Amen and Mut and Khonsu, faintly flushed
On wall and pillar, in vain patience hark;
Their beautiful brown colonnades are hushed
Save for soft pipings of the crested lark.
VIII
The Valley of the Tombs of the Kings
Pharaohs tyrannical in very death!
Nature must die with them. No least green thrust
In all this ghastly vale that compasseth
Their golden-shrined, imperishable dust.
IX
Abydos
But where, divine Osiris, gracious Master
Over the Field of Peace, dread Lord of Doom,
Beneath these fallen fanes of alabaster
Is thy mysterious, defeated tomb?
X
Philae
The Pearl of Egypt! Once the Holy Isle
And now itself a sacrifice. The oar
Shoves ruthlessly against the dim, drowned smile
Of piteous gods whose wrath is feared no more.
XI
Abu Simbel
Of Egypt's countless altars, only one
Hath still adoring fires; one only block
Is warmed with worship of the dawning sun
That pierces to it through the riven rock.
XII
The Nile
But rest we votaries of the Lotus-crowned
And the Papyrus-crowned, the blended stream
That flows through memory with a hidden sound
Of ancient music, a perpetual dream.
P ALESTINE
I
First View of the Holy Land
Faint in the pearly dawn, a silver line
It gleamed upon the sea; our hearts were there
Before our vision, your dear heart and mine,
And every face about us was a prayer.
II
Carmel
Long, level mount in purple fold on fold
Of shadow, with the rainbow arch above.
In lieu of Egypt's burning blue and gold,
Low, tender skies of sorrow and of love.
III
At Bethlehem
A Russian pilgrim fell with gesture wild
Before the manger; while in circuit shy
A sweet young mother kissed the walls and smiled
And softly sang a Syrian lullaby.
IV
At Nazareth
A little Child, a Joy-of-Heart, with eyes
Unsearchable, he grew in Nazareth,
His daily speech so innocently wise
That all the town went telling: " Jesus saith. "
V
By the Sea of Galilee
Erect in youthful grace and radiant
With spirit forces, all imparadised
In a divine compassion, down the slant
Of these remembering hills He came, the Christ.
VI
In His Steps
Should not the glowing lilies of the field
With keener splendor mark His footprints yet
— Prints of the gentle feet whose passing healed
All blight from Tabor unto Olivet?
VII
At Gethsemane
There is a sighing in the pallid sprays
Of these old olives, as if still they kept
Their pitying watch, in Nature's faithful ways,
As on that night when the disciples slept.
VIII
At Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft
His love had gathered thee beneath its wings
And thou wouldst not! — Love crucified aloft
On Calvary, enthroned the King of Kings.
IX
At Calvary
O Death, where is thy victory over Love?
Thy worst, the cross of torture, crown of scorn,
Love took and made exceeding joy thereof,
Illimitable joy of Easter morn.
I bring my gift as children bring a shell,
A weed, a pebble, from their hour of play, —
Poor hoardings, save as these to memory tell
The golden chronicle of holiday.
SWITZERLAND
I
The Welcome
From dawn to dusk across rich plains, broad streams,
Into an eerie land of towering dome
And peak, as on the misty map of dreams,
Until your face smiled out and made it home.
II
Vevey
Our Vevey, shield of patriot refugees,
Holy, and yet so gay, — her dainty sandals
Teasing Lake Leman, while her poplar trees
Were glorified to sacramental candles.
III
The Alpine Glow
Beyond those shining poplars and the hush
Of azure waves, when sunset flamed the west,
How solemnly the heights would wait their flush,
Like shriven spirits standing to be blest!
IV
The Defile of St. Maurice
Dearest of all we loved that orient portal
At the lake's end, her triple-mountain door.
The heavenly gate, transfiguring our mortal
To light of light, could hardly glisten more.
V
Evening on the Balcony
With fall of dusk, how strange our summits grew,
Dim, ghostly shapes, caprices of the mist,
Until the stars stole softly from the blue
To keep their immemorial Alpine tryst!
VI
Evening by the Hearth
What coaxing and what architectural feats
Before the wood, our merry plunder, won
Far up the forest, would exhale its heats,
Spending for us slow centuries of sun!
VII
From R├┤chers de Naye
Far up the forest, past the pilgrim host
Of climbing pines, tree toiling after tree,
Above the clouds we stood as on the coast
Of some primeval, frore, stupendous sea.
VIII
Above the Clouds
Above the clouds we saw a Switzerland
Illimitable, crystalline, sublime,
Crest upon crest, the molding of God's hand,
Awful as in the very birth of time.
IX
The Vintage
But now the wine was fragrant in the pale,
Deep-clustered grapes, the riches of the Vaud.
We marvelled that the harvesters could scale
Their steepy vineyards hung 'twixt lake and snow.
X
Alpine Bells
Their busy voices, crisping French, were crossed
By tinkle, tinkle of the homing herds.
The mountain slopes waxed russet. Like to frost
Glittered the wings of Lake Geneva's birds.
XI
Muettes
Ah, free muettes! Was it the dazzling play,
The myriad sparkle of your wild white wings,
That woke the longing for the far-away,
Alluring us to wider wanderings?
XII
Last Days
The fainter gold of dawn, the ruddier moon,
The creamy, soft, reluctant lights that fell
Across new snow each briefer afternoon,
All warned us on, yet all forbade farewell.
I TALY
I
On Entering
Grace before meat! But what is meat to this,
The manna of the soul, the radiant face
Of Italy that shakes the heart with bliss?
Seeing, we bow our heads and say a grace.
II
Haunted
Haunted, oh haunted! Is't divine Apollo
To whom the olives listen, or the sweet
And wayward Pan that fauns and dryads follow
With shimmering, dancing, evanescent feet?
III
Milan
The sibylline gray olives! pagan still
For all this flight of angels clustered high
On consecrate white turrets. What day will
They spread their shining wings and seek the sky?
IV
Florence
But this abides. Rememberest how we saw
The tower of Giotto soaring to the moon,
The dim Duomo brooding mystic awe,
Our Lady's lilies in perpetual June?
V
Wraiths
Upon such purple nights proud spirits go
Like flames from church to palace, — warrior, sage,
Savonarola, Fra Angelico,
Dante in youth, not Dante in his age.
VI
The Path of Armies
Romeward! No marvel ranks of cypress grow
Along that route the lords of terror trod, —
Names whispered yet by Tiber and by Po,
Theodoric, Hannibal, the " Scourge of God. "
VII
Rome
Ruins on ruins! O eternal city,
Thou palimpsest of all the past, what soul
Can give thy martyr host its meed of pity,
Or bear thy doom's reverberant thunder-roll?
VIII
The Appian Way
What is the past? Didst find it where we went
Far out on that enmarbled, scriptured Way?
We found the unappeasable lament,
Bewildered cry of spirit over clay.
IX
Naples
On through the silver rain to one swift smile
Of sunset on an opalescent bay,
Vesuvius benignly blue the while,
Forgetful of his fatal yesterday.
X
On Classic Waters
By turquoise Capri, pearly-throned Sorrento,
We sailed the sea old Neptune dominates,
Past Stromboli, who flung us for memento
A globe of fire, and through the narrow gates.
E GYPT
I
Alexandria
The Pharos dark against a dawn whose gold
Outshone Hypatia's dream; a sea besprent
With boats; then palms, and stately figures stoled,
Red-fezzed, white-turbaned, veiled. The Orient!
II
The Delta
Mizraim! patriarchal camel-trains,
Gray buffaloes by lithe brown boys bestrid,
Clay villages, and look! beyond the plains,
The silver outlines of a pyramid.
III
Cairo
The Arabian Nights! a jewel city clad in
Color and sheen! The latticed harem listens
To the muezzin's sweet-toned call. Aladdin
Rubs life's enchanted lamp until it glistens.
IV
The Sphinx
Thou Watcher of the East six thousand years,
Indomitable Hope the sands entomb
Only to yield again, what have the spheres
Confided to thee? Thou awaitest Whom?
V
Karnak
Marmoreal chaos! wilderness of shrines!
How pale the melancholy moonlight falls
On obelisk and column, cut with signs
Of perished pomps and silent rituals!
VI
Our Vision
Poor heathen gods! Whither did Isis soar
On her bright vulture wings — the wings that we
Saw, plumed with sunset, overspread once more
Her Egypt of the Lily and the Bee?
VII
Luxor
Amen and Mut and Khonsu, faintly flushed
On wall and pillar, in vain patience hark;
Their beautiful brown colonnades are hushed
Save for soft pipings of the crested lark.
VIII
The Valley of the Tombs of the Kings
Pharaohs tyrannical in very death!
Nature must die with them. No least green thrust
In all this ghastly vale that compasseth
Their golden-shrined, imperishable dust.
IX
Abydos
But where, divine Osiris, gracious Master
Over the Field of Peace, dread Lord of Doom,
Beneath these fallen fanes of alabaster
Is thy mysterious, defeated tomb?
X
Philae
The Pearl of Egypt! Once the Holy Isle
And now itself a sacrifice. The oar
Shoves ruthlessly against the dim, drowned smile
Of piteous gods whose wrath is feared no more.
XI
Abu Simbel
Of Egypt's countless altars, only one
Hath still adoring fires; one only block
Is warmed with worship of the dawning sun
That pierces to it through the riven rock.
XII
The Nile
But rest we votaries of the Lotus-crowned
And the Papyrus-crowned, the blended stream
That flows through memory with a hidden sound
Of ancient music, a perpetual dream.
P ALESTINE
I
First View of the Holy Land
Faint in the pearly dawn, a silver line
It gleamed upon the sea; our hearts were there
Before our vision, your dear heart and mine,
And every face about us was a prayer.
II
Carmel
Long, level mount in purple fold on fold
Of shadow, with the rainbow arch above.
In lieu of Egypt's burning blue and gold,
Low, tender skies of sorrow and of love.
III
At Bethlehem
A Russian pilgrim fell with gesture wild
Before the manger; while in circuit shy
A sweet young mother kissed the walls and smiled
And softly sang a Syrian lullaby.
IV
At Nazareth
A little Child, a Joy-of-Heart, with eyes
Unsearchable, he grew in Nazareth,
His daily speech so innocently wise
That all the town went telling: " Jesus saith. "
V
By the Sea of Galilee
Erect in youthful grace and radiant
With spirit forces, all imparadised
In a divine compassion, down the slant
Of these remembering hills He came, the Christ.
VI
In His Steps
Should not the glowing lilies of the field
With keener splendor mark His footprints yet
— Prints of the gentle feet whose passing healed
All blight from Tabor unto Olivet?
VII
At Gethsemane
There is a sighing in the pallid sprays
Of these old olives, as if still they kept
Their pitying watch, in Nature's faithful ways,
As on that night when the disciples slept.
VIII
At Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft
His love had gathered thee beneath its wings
And thou wouldst not! — Love crucified aloft
On Calvary, enthroned the King of Kings.
IX
At Calvary
O Death, where is thy victory over Love?
Thy worst, the cross of torture, crown of scorn,
Love took and made exceeding joy thereof,
Illimitable joy of Easter morn.
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