Classic Poem

Because the skies were blue, because
The sun in fringes of the sea
Was tangled, and delightfully
Kept dancing on as in a waltz,
And tropic trees bowed to the seas
And bloomed and bore years through and through,
And birds in blended gold and blue
Were thick and sweet as swarming bees,
And sang as if in Paradise
And all that Paradise was spring —
Did I too sing with lifted eyes,
Because I could not choose but sing.

With garments full of sea winds blown
From isles beyond of spice and balm,
Beside the sea, beneath her palm,
She waits, as true as chiseled stone,
My childhood's child, my June in May,
So wiser than thy father is,
These lines, these leaves, and all of this
Are thine — a loose, uncouth bouquet —
So, wait and watch for sail or sign,
A ship shall mount the hollow seas
Blown to thy place of blossomed trees,
And birds, and song, and summershine.

I throw a kiss across the sea,
I drink the winds as drinking wine,
And dream they are all blown from thee —
I catch the whispered kiss of thine.
Shall I return with lifted face,
Or head held down as in disgrace
To hold thy two brown hands in mine?