The Sowing of the Wind.

« ؟Who'll come a sowing, a sowing, a sowing?
؟Who'll come a sowing the merry west wind?
The snow-drift's going; the spring-tide's flowing;
The summer's before, and the winter behind. »
« Oh we'll go a sowing, a sowing, a sowing;
Care is a graybeard that died in the snow.
The fair river's flowing, with oars for the rowing;
Down stream's easy—back we'll never go. »
« ؟Who'll go a reaping, a reaping, a reaping?
The cyclone's whirling before and behind;
The sand-drifts are heaping, the fisher-folk weeping:
This is the crop of the merry west wind. »
« Our faces sadden; the sky is leaden;
The pulp was sweet, but bitter is the rind;
The earth is wooden; the lightnings redden;
Oh, we cannot face the harvest of the merry west wind! »

« A Vision, » though somewhat lacking in power, reminds us of Whittier's « Reformer. » It is the cry of one who feels the burden of human wrong. The « lion-hearted man » is represented as exhorting his fellows thus:

Your wisdom, turn it into good
For all men's sorrow, lest the vain
Self-centred phantom, Learning, should
Breed sickly worms within the brain.
Your treasure, see ye spare it not;
Undo the wrongs your fathers made;
Lest wealth be but the gangrene-spot
Of dying empire, dustward laid.

« Day Dreams » is a sweet and fanciful poem, perfect in its way. The following piece embodies a poetic thought, gracefully expressed, and is brief enough to quote in full: