O poet bold and free as is the land that gave thee birth! Thy rhythm is the rhythm of the earth and sea and star, Stayed only by the hand of universal law. Thy art, indeed, knows not nor fears the world's conventional bound Nor does thy thought revolve, but in the orbit free Of those who seek the whole of being. The man divine, bound to the perfect law of soul and sense. This is thy message now, thy legacy for ages hence. Chelsea, Mass., 1888. (5) ELIZABETH PORTER GOULD. |