| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 550. The Scarlet Tanager |
| | | By Joel Benton |
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| A BALL of fire shoots through the tamarack | |
| In scarlet splendor, on voluptuous wings; | |
| Delirious joy the pyrotechnist brings, | |
| Who marks for us high summer’s almanac. | |
| How instantly the red-coat hurtles back! | 5 |
| No fiercer flame has flashed beneath the sky. | |
| Note now the rapture in his cautious eye, | |
| The conflagration lit along his track. | |
| Winged soul of beauty, tropic in desire, | |
| Thy love seems alien in our northern zone; | 10 |
| Thou giv’st to our green lands a burst of fire | |
| And callest back the fables we disown. | |
| The hot equator thou mightst well inspire, | |
| Or stand above some Eastern monarch’s throne. | |
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