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SOUTHERN LIFE IN SOUTHERN LITERATURE


of "the Laureate of the South." In 1882 a complete edition of his poems was published in Boston. Shortly after the publication of this volume, Hayne s health began to give way, and he died in 1886.] A DREAM OF THE SOUTH WINDS l O fresh, how fresh and fair Through the crystal gulfs of air, The fairy South Wind floateth on her subtle wings of balm! And the green earth lapped in bliss, To the magic of her kiss Seems yearning upward fondly through the golden-crested calm! From the distant Tropic strand, Where the billows, bright and bland, Go creeping, curling round the palms with sweet, faint undertune, From its fields of purpling flowers Still wet with fragrant showers, The happy South Wind lingering sweeps the royal blooms of June. All heavenly fancies rise On the perfume of her sighs, Which steep the inmost spirit in a languor rare and fine, And a peace more pure than sleep s Unto dim, half-conscious deeps, Transports me, lulled and dreaming, on its twilight tides divine. Those dreams! ah me! the splendor, So mystical and tender, Wherewith like soft heat-lightnings they gird their meaning round, And those waters, calling, calling, With a nameless charm enthralling, Like the ghost of music melting on a rainbow spray of sound! 1 The selections from Hayne are reprinted by permission of the holder of the copyright, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.