ON OLD CAPE COD _By Ferdinand C. Lane_ _Drawings by Rena V. Rockwell_ SECOND EDITION To Emma - my Wife Copyright 1961 by Ferdinand C. Lane [Illustration] ON OLD CAPE COD How rich is life on old Cape Cod Where autumn smiles in golden rod, And marshes flame, though not with fire - A region blest of heart’s desire. In vain we’d roam the Seven Seas There are no quainter shores than these. Here nature in indulgent mood Enfolds us with her solitude; And here her cleansing winds combine The tonic of the salt and pine, The while old ocean’s muffled swells Are chiming like cathedral bells. The days drift by without a care As sweet fern odors scent the air, And watching wheeling gulls at play The world of strife seems far away. It must have been a kindly God Who shaped the sands of old Cape Cod. TABLE OF CONTENTS On Monomoy 5 The Song of the Sea Shell 6 Winds of the Cape 7 The Enchanted Marsh 8 The Fragrance of the Cape 9 Sea Lavender 10 The Final Rose 10 Fairy Rings 11 Beach Plums 12 On Truro Hills 13 My Drift Wood Fire 15 The Sand Piper 16 The Whistling Buoy off Nauset 17 Peaked Hill Bars 18 The Rime of the Three Captains 19 Storm Signals 20 Neptune’s Coursers 21 To a Spider Web wet with Dew 22 The Dunes 23 The Flight of the Wild Geese 25 Sweet Fern 26 White Sail 26 The Humming Bird 27 O Road that Winds Among the Hills 28 The Beach Grass Threnody 28 To a Rose Jar 29 Blue Berries 30 The Watcher 31 The Sea Shell Boat 32 Flotsam 33 The Ancient Log Book 34 The Dance of the Moon Beams 35 Marshes of Sandwich 37 The Smile of the Sea 37 Our Cape Cod Home 38 Thunder Storm Off Race Point 40 To a Scrimshawed Whale’s Tooth 41 Creeping Fog 42 Wooden Sailor 43 The Dreamer 44 The Chant of the Night Wind 45 Midnight 46