Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/191

 GOLD AND CRIMSON. 185

While underneath the rustic bridge, The red. her colors bore.

A willow weeping by the bank

Swept in the ruddy spark, That shone amid her sombre shade

Like firelight through the dark. Swiftly the golden shallop sped,

Its destiny the sea, Till, rescued by a zephyr s breath,

The red joined company.

Then came the gust of angry wind

That parted gold and red, And left the riddle of our lives

For evermore unread. Hast thou, O friend, the harbor made ?

Say, was thy journey long? Were rocks and currents merciful ?

Did Sirens cheat with song?

Shall we each other meet again

Where ocean tides begin, And life-boats launched in sombre shade,

Through sunshine enter in ? I may not know, yet in my dreams

That fairy race I see, When crimson, grounded by the wood,

And gold, went to the sea. 16*

�� �