Page:Songs from Vagabondia (1897).djvu/20
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A vagrant’s morning wide and blue,
In early fall, when the wind walks, too
In early fall, when the wind walks, too
A shadowy highway cool and brown,
Alluring up and enticing down
Alluring up and enticing down
From rippled water to dappled swamp,
From purple glory to scarlet pomp;
From purple glory to scarlet pomp;
The outward eye, the quiet will,
And the striding heart from hill to hill;
And the striding heart from hill to hill;
The tempter apple over the fence;
The cobweb bloom on the yellow quince;
The cobweb bloom on the yellow quince;
The palish asters along the wood,—
A lyric touch of the solitude;
A lyric touch of the solitude;
An open hand, an easy shoe,
And a hope to make the day go through,—
And a hope to make the day go through,—
Another to sleep with, and a third
To wake me up at the voice of a bird;
To wake me up at the voice of a bird;
The resonant far-listening morn,
And the hoarse whisper of the corn;
And the hoarse whisper of the corn;
The crickets mourning their comrades lost,
In the night’s retreat from the gathering frost;
In the night’s retreat from the gathering frost;
(Or is it their slogan, plaintive and shrill,
As they beat on their corselets, valiant still?)
As they beat on their corselets, valiant still?)
A hunger fit for the kings of the sea,
And a loaf of bread for Dickon and me;
And a loaf of bread for Dickon and me;
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