In his verses the catbird nests in the trumpet vine, the pewee pours forth a woodland welcome, the redbird sings a vesper song, the lilacs are musky of the May, the bluebells and the wind flowers bloom. We hear
"… tinkling in the clover dells, The twilight sound of cattle bells."
His verse often shows exactness of observation, characteristic of modern students of nature, as well as a romantic love of the outdoor world. Note the specific references to the shape and color of individual natural objects in these lines from Cawein:—
"May-apples, ripening yellow, lean
With oblong fruit, a lemon-green,
Near Indian-turnips, long of stem,
That bear an acorn-oval gem."
He loves the nymphs of mythology, the dryads, naiads, and the fairies. One of his poems is called There Are Fairies:—
"There are fairies, I could swear
I have seen them busy where
Rose-leaves loose their scented hair,
* * * * *
Leaning from the window sill
Of a rose or daffodil,
Listening to their serenade,
All of cricket music made."
In luxuriance of imagery and profuse appeal to the senses, he is the Keats of the South. Lines like these remind us of the greater poet's The Eve of St. Agnes:—
"Into the sunset's turquoise marge
The moon dips, like a pearly barge
Enchantment sails through magic seas
To fairyland Hesperides."
Keats exclaims:—
"O for a beaker full of the warm South."