WINGS* GRAY gulls that wheeled and dipped and rose Would shimmer and entice; 3 A soaring wing that shone so far The orient horizon bar Flushed, and the sea between 12 Like an Arabian carpet glowed With changeful hues where subtly flowed 15 And one pale plume in heaven's dim dome The new moon's ghostly sheen. 18 Katharine Lee Bates. *Used by permission, from "Wings," by Katharine Lee Bates. copyright by E. P. Dutton and Company. SALUTE TO THE TREES MANY a tree is found in the wood Some for the strength of the gnarled root, But the glory of trees is more than their gifts; 10 Their roots are the nurses of rivers in birth I have camped in the whispering forest of pines, And now, when the morning gilds the boughs "God bless thy branches and feed thy root! Thou ancient, friendly, faithful tree." Henry van Dyke. 30 THE CHANT OF THE COLORADO (At the Grand Canyon) MY BROTHER, man, shapes him a plan But I have toiled through a million years I have flooded the sands and washed them down, I have cut through gneiss and granite. No toiler of earth has wrought as I, Since God's first breath began it. 5 High mountain-buttes I have chiselled, to shade With the wind's aid, and the cloud's aid, I have bodied eternity. My brother, man, builds for a span: His life is a moment's breath. But I have hewn for a million years, Nor a moment dreamt of death. 10 15 By moons and stars I have measured my taskAnd some of the skies have perished: But ever I cut and flashed and foamed, As ever my aim I cherished: My aim to quarry the heart of earth, Till, in the rock's red rise, Its age and birth, through an awful girth My brother, man, builds as he can, My pinnacled walls employ. Slow shadows iris them all day long, 20 25 30 35 In visions ever fair. Cale Young Rice. A DEAD HARVEST In Kensington Gardens ALONG the graceless grass of town 5 A narrow silence in the park, A futile crop! for it the fire Smoulders, and, for a stack, a pyre. 1Ο 15 Alice Meynell. CHECK THE night was creeping on the ground; I heard the rustle of her shawl So I stared at the night, and she James Stephens. 5 10 |