Page:Near nature's heart; a volume of verse (IA nearnaturesheart00jack).pdf/31



In little Naples by the sea The birds join in their jubilee, Where long-leaved pine and royal palm Exhale the breath of their fragrant balm, In little Naples by the sea.

The sea responds by day and night, With a stately choral of life and might; And when his storms arise and rage, He spares the hamlet of winsome age, The modest Naples by the sea.

And many an eve the sun will make His matchless glories till men awake To find the sea, the land, the sky Reset with gems for the artist's eye; In lovely Naples by the sea.

And so there come to this favored spot The young and old to cast their lot, Near Nature's healing heart, and rest, Like a child on his loving mother's breast— In quiet Naples by the sea.

Here roamed the happy Seminole, And peacefully here possessed his soul, Till thrust away by men of skill, The conquering whites, with greedy will— In unborn Naples by the sea.

E'er Indian came, the troglodyte Reigned in his cave by a primal right; And ages and ages remoter still, Flew monsters of hideous claw and bill O'er charming Naples yet to be.

A long ascent from warring snakes, From reptilian waters and slimy lakes, To singing birds and mirthful men, To smiling mothers and sportive children, In balmy Naples by the sea.

But higher still to the coming man, To great sons of Art in her perfect plan; To the glorious day when hulking clods, Transmuted to men, are ranked with gods, In little Naples by the sea!

THE FAMILY OF MY FRIEND JONES

The seven children of my friend Jones, Have each of them a lot of bones, To grow and strengthen, or else to break