DAYS AND DREAMS
Reading edition
POEMS
BY
MADISON CAWEIN
AUTHOR OF "LYRICS AND IDYLS," "THE TRIUMPH OF MUSIC," ETC., ETC.
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK LONDON
27 West Twenty-third St. 27 King William St., Strand
The Knickerbocker Press
1891
Copyright, 1891 BY MADISON CAWEIN
The Knickerbocker Press, New York Printed and Bound by G. P. Putnam's Sons
TO JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY WITH ADMIRATION AND REGARD
O lyrist of the lowly and the true, The song I sought for you Hides yet unsung. What hope for me to find, Lost in the dædal mind, The living utterance with lovely tongue! To say, as erst was sung By Ariosto of Knight-errantry,— Through lands of Poesy, Song's Paladin, knight of the dream and day, The wizard shield you sway Of that Atlantes power, sweet and terse, The skyey-builded verse: The shield that dazzles, brilliant with surprise, Our unanointed eyes.— Oh, had I written as 't were worthy you, Each line, a spark of dew,— As once Ferdusi shone in Persia,— Had strung each rosy spray Of the unfolding flower of each song; And Iran's bulbul tongue Had sobbed its heart out o'er the fountain's slab In gardens of Afrasiab.