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 | The poems of Madison Cawein |  |
IV
And then I heard it singing,
The wind that touched my hair,
A song of wild expression,
A song that called in session
The wild-flowers sweetly swinging,
The wild-flowers lightly flinging
Their tresses to the air.
The wind that touched my hair,
A song of wild expression,
A song that called in session
The wild-flowers sweetly swinging,
The wild-flowers lightly flinging
Their tresses to the air.
317
And first, beneath a bramble arch,
The bloodroot rose; each bloom a torch
Of hollow snow, within which, bright,
The calyx grottoed golden light.
The bloodroot rose; each bloom a torch
Of hollow snow, within which, bright,
The calyx grottoed golden light.
Hepatica and bluet,
And gold corydalis,
Arose as to an aria;
Then wild-phlox and dentaria,
In rapture, ere they knew it,
Trooped forward, nodding to it,
Faint as a first star is.
And gold corydalis,
Arose as to an aria;
Then wild-phlox and dentaria,
In rapture, ere they knew it,
Trooped forward, nodding to it,
Faint as a first star is.
And then a music,—to the ear
Inaudible,—I seemed to hear;
A symphony that seemed to rise
And speak in colors to the eyes.
Inaudible,—I seemed to hear;
A symphony that seemed to rise
And speak in colors to the eyes.
I saw the Jacob's-ladder
Ring violet peal on peal
Of perfume, azure-swinging;
The bluebell slimly ringing
Its purple chimes; and, gladder,
Green note on note, the madder
Bells of the Solomon's-seal.
Ring violet peal on peal
Of perfume, azure-swinging;
The bluebell slimly ringing
Its purple chimes; and, gladder,
Green note on note, the madder
Bells of the Solomon's-seal.
Now very near, now faintly lost,
I saw their fragrant music tossed;
Mixed dimly with white interludes
Of trilliums starring cool the woods.
I saw their fragrant music tossed;
Mixed dimly with white interludes
Of trilliums starring cool the woods.
318
Then choral, solitary,
I saw the celandine
Smite bright its golden cymbals,
The starwort shake its timbrels,
The whiteheart's horns of Fairy,
With many a flourish airy,
Strike silvery into line.
I saw the celandine
Smite bright its golden cymbals,
The starwort shake its timbrels,
The whiteheart's horns of Fairy,
With many a flourish airy,
Strike silvery into line.
And, lo, my soul they seemed to draw,
By chords of loveliness and awe
Into a Fairy world afar
Where all man's dreams and longings are.
By chords of loveliness and awe
Into a Fairy world afar
Where all man's dreams and longings are.
| The poems of Madison Cawein | |