| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. (1878–1962). Anthology of Massachusetts Poets. 1922. |
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| Memphis |
| | | Gordon Malherbe Hillman |
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| WHY should I sing of my present? It is nothing to me or you, | |
| Rather I’d dream of Dixie and tie ships on the old bayou! | |
| Rather I’d dream of my packets and the lazy river days, | |
| Rather I’d dream of my levee and the crimson sunset haze, | |
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| Rather I’d dream of my triumphs, of the days that are long gone by, | 5 |
| Rather I’d dream of flame-tipped stacks against a saffron sky, | |
| Of level lawns of topaz, of level fields of jade, | |
| Of the rambling pillared mansions that my fathers’ fathers made! | |
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| Why should I sing of my present? It is nothing to you or me, | |
| But the river road, the great road, the high road to the sea! | 10 |
| Aye, that is worth the dreaming, aye, that was worth the pain. | |
| Send me back my river, and I shall wake again! | |
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