Her eyes are white and stormy-blue ;
Her breast throbs like a gale ;
And like the whip of a hurricane
Is the slap of her spotted tail;
Her love is the love of the mother brute,
But her wrath is the wrath of the male.
He romps along his cavern
With a primal playfulness ;
His play is wild and turbid ;
(His soul will bide no less) ;
And white Pinellas shivers
Beneath his strong caress.
"South of Tampa," whose title only has been suggested by Robert Frost's "North of Boston" is a vigorous, impressive study in contrast, with strong local coloring. The first division of the poem is sternly, almost oppressively, realistic and pessimistic: the second division is essentially idealistic and buoyantly optimistic. The contrast is clearly and vigorously drawn. Florida history receives a pleasing treatment in "Sunset on Lake Howard," which is a colorful fancy that is rich in sensuous beauty. The poet's love of the rugged majesty of Florida landscapes and watercourses is well shown in "The St. Johns' River," with its bold, free conception and its impressive mediaeval imagery. The series of poems would be incomplete without one descriptive of the orange, Florida's most distinctive fruit. This is found in "April Bloom," which is redolent of the subtle fragrance of the orange blossom.
The foregoing poems constitute in themselves a collection of verse that is notable for its insight into and its interpretation of the spirit of Florida. They are doubtless the largest group of poems, and one of the worthiest collections, to be found in the work of any poet who has written of Florida. Though these poems include some of his best work, yet they do not constitute Mr. Barnett's chief claim for recognition. His larger contribution to the literature of today is his other verse, for it is this latter verse that is most representative of his genius and which raises him above the plane of the local poet. It is this verse which gives him claims for consideration as an interpreter of the spirit of national life.
