Complete Works of Robert Louis Stevenson (Illustrated)
Page 396
And posting on the rails, to home return, —
Home, and the friends whose honouring name you bear.
Hyères, .
IX
BURLESQUE SONNET
TO ÆNEAS WILLIAM MACKINTOSH
Thee, Mackintosh, artificer of light,
Thee, the lone smoker hails! the student, thee;
Thee, oft upon the ungovernable sea,
The seaman, conscious of approaching night;
Thou, with industrious fingers, hast outright
Mastered that art, of other arts the key,
That bids thick night before the morning flee,
And lingering day retains for mortal sight.
O Promethean workman, thee I hail,
Thee hallowed, thee unparalleled, thee bold
To affront the reign of sleep and darkness old,
Thee William, thee Æneas, thee I sing;
Thee by the glimmering taper clear and pale,
Of light, and light’s purveyance, hail, the king.
X
THE FINE PACIFIC ISLANDS
(HEARD IN A PUBLIC-HOUSE AT ROTHERHITHE)
The jolly English Yellowboy
Is a ‘ansome coin when new,
The Yankee Double-eagle
Is large enough for two.
O, these may do for seaport towns,
For cities these may do;
But the dibbs that takes the Hislands
Are the dollars of Peru:
O, the fine Pacific Hislands,
O, the dollars of Peru!
It’s there we buy the cocoanuts
Mast ‘eaded in the blue;
It’s there we trap the lasses
All waiting for the crew;
It’s there we buy the trader’s rum
What bores a seaman through....
In the fine Pacific Hislands
With the dollars of Peru:
In the fine Pacific Hislands
With the dollars of Peru!
Now, messmates, when my watch is up,
And I am quite broached to,
I’ll give a tip to ‘Evving
Of the ‘ansome thing to do:
Let ‘em just refit this sailor-man
And launch him off anew
To cruise among the Hislands
With the dollars of Peru:
In the fine Pacific Hislands
With the dollars of Peru!
Tahiti, August .
XI
AULD REEKIE
When chitterin’ cauld the day sall daw,
Loud may your bonny bugles blaw
And loud your drums may beat.
Hie owre the land at evenfa’
Your lamps may glitter raw by raw,
Along the gowsty street.
I gang nae mair where ance I gaed,
By Brunston, Fairmileheid, or Braid;
But far frae Kirk and Tron.
O still ayont the muckle sea,
Still are ye dear, and dear to me,
Auld Reekie, still and on!
XII
THE LESSON OF THE MASTER
TO HENRY JAMES
Adela, Adela, Adela Chart,
What have you done to my elderly heart?
Of all the ladies of paper and ink
I count you the paragon, call you the pink.
The word of your brother depicts you in part:
“You raving maniac!” Adela Chart;
But in all the asylums that cumber the ground,
So delightful a maniac was ne’er to be found.
I pore on you, dote on you, clasp you to heart,
I laud, love, and laugh at you, Adela Chart,
And thank my dear maker the while I admire
That I can be neither your husband nor sire.
Your husband’s, your sire’s, were a difficult part;
You’re a byway to suicide, Adela Chart;
But to read of, depicted by exquisite James,
O, sure you’re the flower and quintessence of dames.
Vailima, October .
XIII
THE CONSECRATION OF BRAILLE
TO MRS. A. BAKER
I was a barren tree before,
I blew a quenchèd coal,
I could not, on their midnight shore,
The lonely blind console.
A moment, lend your hand, I bring
My sheaf for you to bind,
And you can teach my words to sing
In the darkness of the blind.
Vailima, December .
XIV
SONG
Light foot and tight foot,
And green grass spread,
Early in the morning,
But hope is on ahead.
Brief day and bright day,
And sunset red,
Early in the evening,
The stars are overhead.
THE LIGHT-KEEPER
I
The brilliant kernel of the night,
The flaming lightroom circles me:
I sit within a blaze of light
Held high above the dusky sea.
Far off the surf doth break and roar
Along bleak miles of moonlit shore,
Where through the tides the tumbling wave
Falls in an avalanche of foam
And drives its churnèd waters home
Up many an undercliff and cave.
The clear bell chimes: the clockworks strain:
The turning lenses flash and pass,
Frame turning within glittering frame
With frosty gleam of moving glass:
Unseen by me, each dusky hour
The sea-waves welter up the tower
Or in the ebb subside again;
And ever and anon all night,
Drawn from afar by charm of light,
A sea-bird beats against the pane.
And lastly when dawn ends the night
And belts the semi-orb of sea,
The tall, pale pharos in the light
Looks white and spectral as may be.
The early ebb is out: the green
Straight belt of sea-weed now is seen,
That round the basement of the tower
Marks out the interspace of tide;
And watching men are heavy-eyed,
And sleepless lips are dry and sour.
The night is over like a dream:
The sea-birds cry and dip themselves;
And in the early sunlight, steam
The newly-bared and dripping shelves,
Around whose verge the glassy wave
With lisping wash is heard to lave;
While, on the white tower lifted high,
With yellow light in faded glass
The circling lenses flash and pass,
And sickly shine against the sky.
1869.
II
As the steady lenses circle
With a frosty gleam of glass;
And the clear bell chimes,
And the oil brims over the lip of the burner,
Quiet and still at his desk,
The lonely light-keeper
Holds his vigil.
Lured from afar,
The bewildered sea-gull beats
Dully against the lantern;
Yet he stirs not, lifts not his head
From the desk where he reads,
Lifts not his eyes to see
The chill blind circle of night
Watching him through the panes.
This is his country’s guardian,
The outmost sentry of peace.
This is the man,
Who gives up all that is lovely in living
For the means to live.
Poetry cunningly gilds
The life of the Light-Keeper,
Held on high in the blackness
In the burning kernel of night.
The seaman sees and blesses him;
The Poet, deep in a sonne
t,
Numbers his inky fingers
Fitly to praise him:
Only we behold him,
Sitting, patient and stolid,
Martyr to a salary.
1870.
The Poems
Stevenson’s childhood home, 17 Heriot Row, Edinburgh
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF POEMS
TO ALISON CUNNINGHAM
A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES
BED IN SUMMER
A THOUGHT
AT THE SEA-SIDE
YOUNG NIGHT-THOUGHT
WHOLE DUTY OF CHILDREN
RAIN
PIRATE STORY
FOREIGN LANDS
WINDY NIGHTS
TRAVEL
SINGING
LOOKING FORWARD
A GOOD PLAY
WHERE GO THE BOATS?
AUNTIE’S SKIRTS
THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE
THE LAND OF NOD
MY SHADOW
SYSTEM
A GOOD BOY
ESCAPE AT BEDTIME
MARCHING SONG
THE COW
HAPPY THOUGHT
THE WIND
KEEPSAKE MILL
GOOD AND BAD CHILDREN
FOREIGN CHILDREN
THE SUN TRAVELS
THE LAMPLIGHTER
MY BED IS A BOAT
THE MOON
THE SWING
TIME TO RISE
LOOKING-GLASS RIVER
FAIRY BREAD
FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE
WINTER-TIME
THE HAYLOFT
FAREWELL TO THE FARM
NORTH-WEST PASSAGE
THE CHILD ALONE
THE UNSEEN PLAYMATE
MY SHIP AND I
MY KINGDOM
PICTURE-BOOKS IN WINTER
MY TREASURES
BLOCK CITY
THE LAND OF STORY-BOOKS
ARMIES IN THE FIRE
THE LITTLE LAND
GARDEN DAYS
NIGHT AND DAY
NEST EGGS
THE FLOWERS
SUMMER SUN
THE DUMB SOLDIER
AUTUMN FIRES
THE GARDENER
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS
ENVOYS
TO WILLIE AND HENRIETTA
TO MY MOTHER
TO AUNTIE
TO MINNIE
TO MY NAME-CHILD
TO ANY READER
DEDICATION
BOOK I
ENVOY
A SONG OF THE ROAD
THE CANOE SPEAKS
THE HOUSE BEAUTIFUL
A VISIT FROM THE SEA
TO A GARDENER
TO MINNIE
TO K. de M.
TO N. V. de G. S.
TO WILL. H. LOW
TO MRS. WILL. H. LOW
TO H. F. BROWN
TO ANDREW LANG
ET TU IN ARCADIA VIXISTI
TO W.E. HENLEY
HENRY JAMES
THE MIRROR SPEAKS
KATHARINE
TO F. J. S.
REQUIEM
THE CELESTIAL SURGEON
OUR LADY OF THE SNOWS
THE SICK CHILD
IN MEMORIAM F.A.S.
TO MY FATHER
IN THE STATES
A PORTRAIT
A CAMP
THE COUNTRY OF THE CAMISARDS
SKERRYVORE
SKERRYVORE
THE PARALLEL
BOOK II
IN SCOTS
TABLE OF COMMON SCOTTISH VOWEL SOUNDS
THE MAKER TO POSTERITY
ILLE TERRARUM
A MILE AN’ A BITTOCK
A LOWDEN SABBATH MORN
THE SPAEWIFE
THE BLAST —
THE COUNTERBLAST —
THE COUNTERBLAST IRONICAL
THEIR LAUREATE TO AN ACADEMY CLASS
DINNER CLUB
EMBRO HIE KIRK
THE SCOTSMAN’S RETURN FROM ABROAD
IN A LETTER FROM MR. THOMSON TO MR. JOHNSTONE
MY CONSCIENCE!
TO DOCTOR JOHN BROWN
THE SONG OF RAHÉRO: A LEGEND OF TAHITI
THE SLAYING OF TÁMATÉA
THE VENGING OF TÁMATÉA
RAHÉRO
THE FEAST OF FAMINE
MARQUESAN MANNERS
THE PRIEST’S VIGIL
THE LOVERS
THE FEAST
THE RAID
TICONDEROGA
A LEGEND OF THE WEST HIGHLANDS
TICONDEROGA
THE SAYING OF THE NAME
THE SEEKING OF THE NAME
THE PLACE OF THE NAME
HEATHER ALE
CHRISTMAS AT SEA
SONGS OF TRAVEL
THE VAGABOND
YOUTH AND LOVE — I
YOUTH AND LOVE — II
WE HAVE LOVED OF YORE
MATER TRIUMPHANS
TO THE TUNE OF WANDERING WILLIE
WINTER
TO DR. HAKE
TO — —
IF THIS WERE FAITH
MY WIFE
TO THE MUSE
TO AN ISLAND PRINCESS
TO KALAKAUA
TO PRINCESS KAIULANI
TO MOTHER MARYANNE
IN MEMORIAM E.H.
TO MY WIFE
TO MY OLD FAMILIARS
TO S. C.
THE HOUSE OF TEMBINOKA
THE SONG
THE WOODMAN
TROPIC RAIN
AN END OF TRAVEL
TO S.R. CROCKETT
EVENSONG
A FAMILIAR EPISTLE
RONDELS
OF HIS PITIABLE TRANSFORMATION
EPISTLE TO CHARLES BAXTER
THE SUSQUEHANNAH AND THE DELAWARE
EPISTLE TO ALBERT DEW-SMITH
ALCAICS TO HORATIO F. BROWN
A LYTLE JAPE OF TUSHERIE
TO VIRGIL AND DORA WILLIAMS
BURLESQUE SONNET
THE FINE PACIFIC ISLANDS
AULD REEKIE
THE LESSON OF THE MASTER
THE CONSECRATION OF BRAILLE
SONG
THE LIGHT-KEEPER
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF POEMS
A CAMP
A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES
A FAMILIAR EPISTLE
A GOOD BOY
A GOOD PLAY
A LEGEND OF THE WEST HIGHLANDS
A LOWDEN SABBATH MORN
A LYTLE JAPE OF TUSHERIE
A MILE AN’ A BITTOCK
A PORTRAIT
A SONG OF THE ROAD
A THOUGHT
A VISIT FROM THE SEA
ALCAICS TO HORATIO F. BROWN
AN END OF TRAVEL
ARMIES IN THE FIRE
AT THE SEA-SIDE
AULD REEKIE
AUNTIE’S SKIRTS
AUTUMN FIRES
BED IN SUMMER
BLOCK CITY
BOOK I
BOOK II
BURLESQUE SONNET
CHRISTMAS AT SEA
DEDICATION
DINNER CLUB
EMBRO HIE KIRK
ENVOY
ENVOYS
EPISTLE TO ALBERT DEW-SMITH
EPISTLE TO CHARLES BAXTER
ESCAPE AT BEDTIME
ET TU IN ARCADIA VIXISTI
EVENSONG
FAIRY BREAD
FAREWELL TO THE FARM
FOREIGN CHILDREN
FOREIGN LANDS
FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE
GARDEN DAYS
GOOD AND BAD CHILDREN
HAPPY THOUGHT
HEATHER ALE
HENRY JAMES
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS
IF THIS WERE FAITH
ILLE TERRARUM
IN A LETTER FROM MR. THOMSON TO MR. JOHNSTONE
IN MEMORIAM E.H.
IN MEMORIAM F.A.S.
IN SCOTS
IN THE STATES
KATHARINE
KEEPSAKE MILL
&n
bsp; LOOKING FORWARD
LOOKING-GLASS RIVER
MARCHING SONG
MARQUESAN MANNERS
MATER TRIUMPHANS
MY BED IS A BOAT
MY CONSCIENCE!
MY KINGDOM
MY SHADOW
MY SHIP AND I
MY TREASURES
MY WIFE
NEST EGGS
NIGHT AND DAY
NORTH-WEST PASSAGE
OF HIS PITIABLE TRANSFORMATION
OUR LADY OF THE SNOWS
PICTURE-BOOKS IN WINTER
PIRATE STORY
RAHÉRO
RAIN
REQUIEM
RONDELS
SINGING
SKERRYVORE
SKERRYVORE
SONG
SONGS OF TRAVEL
SUMMER SUN
SYSTEM
TABLE OF COMMON SCOTTISH VOWEL SOUNDS
THE BLAST —
THE CANOE SPEAKS
THE CELESTIAL SURGEON
THE CHILD ALONE
THE CONSECRATION OF BRAILLE
THE COUNTERBLAST —
THE COUNTERBLAST IRONICAL
THE COUNTRY OF THE CAMISARDS
THE COW
THE DUMB SOLDIER
THE FEAST
THE FEAST OF FAMINE
THE FINE PACIFIC ISLANDS
THE FLOWERS
THE GARDENER
THE HAYLOFT
THE HOUSE BEAUTIFUL
THE HOUSE OF TEMBINOKA
THE LAMPLIGHTER
THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE
THE LAND OF NOD
THE LAND OF STORY-BOOKS
THE LESSON OF THE MASTER
THE LIGHT-KEEPER
THE LITTLE LAND
THE LOVERS
THE MAKER TO POSTERITY
THE MIRROR SPEAKS
THE MOON
THE PARALLEL
THE PLACE OF THE NAME
THE PRIEST’S VIGIL
THE RAID
THE SAYING OF THE NAME
THE SCOTSMAN’S RETURN FROM ABROAD
THE SEEKING OF THE NAME
THE SICK CHILD
THE SLAYING OF TÁMATÉA
THE SONG
THE SONG OF RAHÉRO: A LEGEND OF TAHITI
THE SPAEWIFE
THE SUN TRAVELS
THE SUSQUEHANNAH AND THE DELAWARE
THE SWING
THE UNSEEN PLAYMATE
THE VAGABOND
THE VENGING OF TÁMATÉA
THE WIND
THE WOODMAN
THEIR LAUREATE TO AN ACADEMY CLASS
TICONDEROGA
TICONDEROGA
TIME TO RISE
TO — —
TO A GARDENER
TO ALISON CUNNINGHAM
TO AN ISLAND PRINCESS
TO ANDREW LANG
TO ANY READER
TO AUNTIE
TO DOCTOR JOHN BROWN
TO DR. HAKE
TO F. J. S.
TO H. F. BROWN
TO K. de M.
TO KALAKAUA
TO MINNIE
TO MINNIE
TO MOTHER MARYANNE