A DREAM OF THE TROPICS

I DREAMED that I dwelt in the brightest of climes
 And the fairest of isles, in a tropical sea.
Where summer extends, thro’ all seasons and times,
Her loveliest smiles over blossom and tree;

That the skies of the isle were invitingly blue;
That the birds were of plumage the richest and rarest
That sweetly and gently the soft falling dew
Kissed orange tree blossoms and lilies the fairest.

I dreamed that the maids of the isle were as fair
As the goddess of love when she rose from the ocean,
With love-lighted eyes and a wealth of dark hair,
That might claim from a poet a life-long devotion;

That I wandered at night by the light of the moon
With bright laughing girls, thro’ the spice scented groves,
Or dreamily sailed o’er the glassy lagoon,
And slumbered afloat in the star-lighted coves.

’Twas a dream, and it passed. I awoke with the dawn;
Coldly awoke to the hard and the real,
The snow deeply drifting on meadow and lawn
Dispelled all too quickly my fairy ideal.

I have wandered since then in those tropical seas,
On coral reefed islands have tarried full long;
But I found that the zephyrs were fraught with disease,
And the paradise birds were all wanting in song.