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 1891.
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 1893.
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.