Page:Songs and Sonnets (1906).djvu/161



a Western prairie once I met
 * A flock of pelicans—a glorious sight!
 * Now in the sun they gleamed a dazzling white,

Now, circling, darkened to a silhouette; Great-breasted things, with sweeping pinions set
 * To rhythmic curves of slow, majestic flight,
 * They rose into the measureless blue height,

Undaunted, radiant—I see them yet.

I see them yet! for when I turn my eyes
 * Beyond these city walls of my despite,

Behold their buoyant forms still sweep the skies
 * Like spirits of the air, incarnate, bright,

And something untamed in me seems to rise
 * And with them breast those boundless seas of light!