Chapter XXI: Afterword

_What vague traditions do the golden eves.
What legends do the dawns
Inscribe in fire on Heaven's azure leaves,
The red sun colophons?_

_What ancient Stories do the waters verse?
What tales of war and love
Do winds within the Earth's vast house rehearse,
God's stars stand guard above?--_

_Would I could know them as they are expressed
In hue and melody!
And say, in words, the beauties they suggest.
Language their mystery!_

_And in one song magnificently rise,
The music of the spheres,
That more than marble should immortalize
My name in after years._

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.

2. The original text incorrectly listed "The Path by the Creek" as beginning on page 3 in the Contents. The poem actually starts on page 2 and this printer error has been corrected in the Contents section.

3. The listing "Sunset and Song" in Contents has been changed to "Sunset and Storm" in accordance with the title above the poem.

4. The original indentation for "Poppies" stanza has been ignored for consistency with other stanzas' indentation in the "Musings" section.

5. Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained.