POEMS OF OCCASION
WRITTEN AT THE OPENING OF A HOUSE-BOOK
(TO MR. AND MRS. W. O. P.)
Trailing hemlock, serried spruce,
Pine-tree, staunch and bold,
Still, as 't is your royal use,—
Each a stately seneschal,—
Guard this home through seasons long
From summer's heat and winter's cold!
Fame shall gild its every wall,
Beauty dwell with art and song,
And (of all life's guerdons best)
Love light the hearth—where blessings fall
On Master, Mistress, happy Guest.
Bar Harbor, August 22, 1906.
70° NORTH
(TO H. M. A.)
What 's this! your tall ship sighted at the Line?
Some three degrees I 'd fain sail back to meet you,—
But orders hold, so let me flash this sign
Astern, and greet you.
You, who so oft have hailed me, ship to ship,—
A cheery consort in our "roaring forties";
Prithee, to whom shall not my ensigns dip,
If he your sort is?
Long on your desk (long in that "Study" chair—
To change the metaphor), dear Alden, still be!
The sturdiest master that was ever there,
Or ever will be.
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