And all through the leaves of chestnut and elm
The sun made a cool green glow
As it shone through smaragd tinted water
Round the weedy piers below.
The sun made a cool green glow
As it shone through smaragd tinted water
Round the weedy piers below.
And then I'd dress and go hurrying down
To the rickety barn that we
Called "our studio." I was often late,
But the coffee kept hot for me.
To the rickety barn that we
Called "our studio." I was often late,
But the coffee kept hot for me.
We were always sketching a red-roofed pier
Where the seagulls whirled all day,
Or a boat that turned on its helpless side
Like an empty mussel lay.
Where the seagulls whirled all day,
Or a boat that turned on its helpless side
Like an empty mussel lay.
Or a rusty can that the shrinking tide
Left glittering in our view
With such tints of copper, garnet and rose
That Titian would love it too.
Left glittering in our view
With such tints of copper, garnet and rose
That Titian would love it too.
—One day I went to the upland moor
And a thunder-shower came;
But I braved the wet for I yearned to paint
How the fireweed's rippling flame
And a thunder-shower came;
But I braved the wet for I yearned to paint
How the fireweed's rippling flame
Went scorching through heather dust-brown and dead
Till it quenched at last might be
In a small round pool that stared at the sky
Dead-blue as chalcedony.
Till it quenched at last might be
In a small round pool that stared at the sky
Dead-blue as chalcedony.
Well, the pictures we toiled so hard to make—
They were crude affairs enough
With the paint laid on in "daring" strokes,
All ragged and thick and rough.
They were crude affairs enough
With the paint laid on in "daring" strokes,
All ragged and thick and rough.
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