Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/307

 THE DRAGON-FLY S QUEST. 3OI

&quot; In the solemn green water- world lying

Slept the larvae in peace long ago, Till the sun, through the golden wave calling, Wakened surely the dull life below

&quot; Until creatures, new formed, woke to gladness

Strange gladness, not full, nor complete ; For the ooze of the soil was about them, And clung like a clog to their feet.

&quot;Very wise water-bugs whispered softly That, climbing up rush-ladders high, One could come to a kingdom of flowers, A land underneath a blue sky.

&quot; Nay, that wings all unfettered went yonder,

That death meant the water-line fair,

Where grossness of earth-form departed,

And the freed spirit soared into air.

&quot;There were doubters, of course, to dispute it;

What hath been shall be evermore, They said, as they clung to the rushes Or slept on the wave-covered shore.

&quot;But the dragon-fly, steadily going

Up higher toward sunlight divine, Bade his comrades good-by as he pledged them A vow with the lily-root wine :

&quot; When I glow in the light I am seeking,

And the kiss of the sun thrills me through, 26

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