Thomas R. Lounsbury, ed. (1838–1915). Yale Book of American Verse. 1912.
Richard Hovey 1864–1900
Richard Hovey243 The Wander-Lovers
D
That ’s the life for me!
Wandering with the wandering wind,
Vagabond and unconfined!
Roving with the roving rain
Its unboundaried domain!
Kith and kin of wander-kind,
Children of the sea!
Swallows of the lea! Arabs of the whole wide girth Of the wind-encircled earth! In all climes we pitch our tents, Cronies of the elements, With the secret lords of birth Intimate and free. From Fundy to the Keys; Every bend and every creek Of abundant Chesapeake; Ardise hills and Newport coves And the far-off orange groves, Where Floridian oceans break, Tropic tiger seas. Tarrying there and here! Just as much at home in Spain As in Tangier or Touraine! Shakespeare’s Avon knows us well, And the crags of Neufchâtel; And the ancient Nile is fain Of our coming near. Daughter of the air! Marna of the subtle grace, And the vision in her face! Moving in the measures trod By the angels before God! With her sky-blue eyes amaze And her sea-blue hair! In her veins a-stir! Marna of the aspen heart Where the sudden quivers start! Quick-responsive, subtle, wild! Artless as an artless child, Spite of all her reach of art! Oh, to roam with her! Daughter of the sea! Marna of the quick disdain, Starting at the dream of stain! At a smile with love aglow, At a frown a statued woe, Standing pinnacled in pain Till a kiss sets free! Daughter of the fire! Marna of the deathless hope, Still alert to win new scope Where the wings of life may spread For a flight unhazarded! Dreaming of the speech to cope With the heart’s desire! After the divine! Striving ever for some goal Past the blunder-god’s control! Dreaming of potential years When no day shall dawn in fears! That ’s the Marna of my soul, Wander-bride of mine!