| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
| |
| 870. The Pyxidanthera |
| | | By Augusta Cooper Bristol |
| |
| |
| SWEET child of April, I have found thy place | |
| Of deep retirement. Where the low swamp ferns | |
| Curl upward from their sheaths, and lichens creep | |
| Upon the fallen branch, and mosses dark | |
| Deepen and brighten, where the ardent sun | 5 |
| Doth enter with restrained and chastened beam, | |
| And the light cadence of the blue-bird’s song | |
| Doth falter in the cedar,—there the Spring | |
| In gratitude hath wrought the sweet surprise | |
| And marvel of thy unobtrusive bloom. | 10 |
| |
| Most perfect symbol of my purest thought,— | |
| A thought so close and warm within my heart | |
| No words can shape its secret, and no prayer | |
| Can breathe its sacredness—be thou my type, | |
| And breathe to one, who wanders here at dawn, | 15 |
| The deep devotion, which, transcending speech, | |
| Lights all the folded silence of my heart | |
| As thy sweet beauty doth the shadow here. | |
| |
| So let thy clusters brighten, star on star | |
| Of pink and white about his lingering feet, | 20 |
| Till, dreaming and enchanted, there shall pass | |
| Into his life the story that my soul | |
| Hath given thee. So shall his will be stirred | |
| To purest purpose and divinest deed, | |
| And every hour be touched with grace and light. | 25 |
| |
|
|
|
