ARIZONIAN.

Because the skies were blue, because,

The sun in fringes of the sea
Was tangled, and delightfully

Kept dancing on as in a waltz,

And tropic trees bow'd to the seas,

And bloom'd and bore, years through and through,

And birds in blended gold and blue

Were thick and sweet as swarming bees,

And sang as if in paradise,

And all that paradise was spring

Did I too sing with lifted eyes,

Because I could not choose but sing.

With garments full of sea-winds blown
From isles beyond of spice and balm,
Beside the sea, beneath her palm,
She waits as true as chisell'd stone.

My childhood's child! my June in May!

So wiser than thy father is,

These lines, these leaves, and all of this

Are thine, a loose, uncouth boquet.
So wait and watch for sail and sign;
A ship shall mount the hollow seas,
Blown to thy place of blossom'd trees,
And birds, and song, and summer-shine.

I throw a kiss across the sea,

I drink the winds as drinking wine,

And dream they all are blown from thee:

I catch the whisper'd kiss of thine.

Shall I return with lifted face,

Or head held down as in disgrace,

To hold thy two brown hands in mine?

ENGLAND, 1871.