The Waiting Rain [pp. 77-78]

7 hlie Waitin,g Raini.
The slumbrous eyelids' droop
Belies her heart's hot beat;
Her throbbing pulses leap
To murmured secrets, deep,
Of teeming life in hidden cells,
Where occult forces meet.
Bathed in the sunlight's glow
Her veins secrete the wine
Of purpling grapes' rich flood,
The secret of the lily's bud,
The petalled sheen of poppies' gold,
The glints of tasselled pine.
She waits the vintage of the dew,
The heat's hot ministry;
Her ear against the earth,
She knows the season's birth,
The stir of Eden's gifts renewed,
The still of Nature's alchemy.
A thrill within the cell,
A stir in silk cocoon,
In linnet's throat a softer strain;She calls the waiting rain,
And bids unlock the cells of life,
And make the brown earth bloom.
Glow then, ye flushing hills;
Bloom soft, ye valleys wide.A song, through all the air,
A glowing pageant rare!
The noiseless noise of growing things,
The purpling mountain's side!
0, then my goddess, brown,
My California,-_ queen,What gifts of bloom, and fruits of gold,
What vintage rare, thy presses hold!
Thy girdle's clasp is virgin light,
Thy robe, the morning's purple sheen.
Eleanor Mary Ladd.
78
[Jan.