Page:The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1908.djvu/369

CREOLE LOVER'S SONG Or from ocean to descry

Green plantations sloping nigh,

Starry peaks, of beryl hewn,

Whose strong footholds hidden lie

Furlong deep beneath the sea!

Long the mariners wistfully

Landward gaze, and say aright,

Earth has no more beauteous sight!"

CREOLE LOVER'S SONG

wind, whispering wind,

Wind of the Carib sea!

The palms and the still lagoon

Long for thy coming soon;

But first my lady find:

Hasten, nor look behind!

To-night Love's herald be.

The feathery bamboo moves,

The dewy plantains weep;

From the jasmine thickets bear

The scents that are swooning there,

And steal from the orange groves

The breath of a thousand loves

To waft her ere she sleep.

And the lone bird's tender song

That rings from the ceiba tree,

The firefly's light, and the glow

Of the moonlit waters low,—

All things that to night belong

And can do my love no wrong

Bear her this hour for me.

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