“Are far away where the shadows gray “On the spectral sand dunes lie, “So join in our mirth that is not of the earth “But more of the sea and the sky!” To the rhythmic beat of their twinkling feet The creaming breakers fret, As to and fro on a rollicking toe They gracefully pirouette. For the surges roll o’er the murmuring shoal Through a brooding harmony And the night wind sings of unspoken things In an eerie melody. “O cast your cares on the buoyant airs “Where the star points smoulder dim” Is their lilting song as they float along To the skyline’s molten rim. As their footsteps pave o’er the frosted wave A path to the magic west, With a carefree shout we would join the rout And follow their homing quest. But our feet are banned from that faery land Though our vaulting fancy yearns As it throbs in tune to the dying moon Till the morning redly burns. With our hearts in tune to the dying moon We stand in the hush of dawn; There are cryptic runes on the windswept dunes But that luminous path has gone. And the wet sands lie neath the empty sky As drear as the lifeless sea, But through our dreams flit the elfin beams Of that moonsprite revelry. MARSHES OF SANDWICH Marshes of Sandwich where slow currents wind Languidly seeking the outermost sea Drifting, some ultimate haven to find, Where far horizons stretch, boundless and free! Out there beyond the white sea wall of dunes, Murmurs of ocean that breathe faint and low Looming like mountain peaks crusted with snow Weaving blue shadows through hot afternoons. Languorous meadows where dragon flies dream, Level green solitudes soothing the eye, Golden with mist from the sun’s slanting beam Purpled by patches of cloud floating by. Prairies beloved of the homing wild geese Nature’s hurt children are healed by your balm; How we have longed for the infinite peace Born of your timeless, unchangeable calm! THE SMILE OF THE SEA O the sun’s molten gold seems to spatter and spill O’er the wavelets so dazzlingly bright, As they dance to the songs of the sandpiper’s shrill With their numberless sparkles of light. For the languorous winds with their deft fingers press Those wrinkles of sapphire and flame, And the fires they enkindle all surge to express A shout of exultant acclaim. How they twinkle and glitter like sparks from the steel While the gilded foam chuckles with glee, Till all nature, attuned to the rapture they feel Seems aglow with the smile of the sea. [Illustration] OUR CAPE COD HOME