(To Miss E. M. Argles.)
The first and last letters of captions form the double acrostic.
I sing a place wherein agree
All things on land that fairest be,
All that is sweetest of the sea.
Nor can I break the silken knot
That binds my memory to the spot
And friends too dear to be forgot.
BlufF
On rocky brow we loved to stand
And watch in silence, hand in hand,
The shadows veiling sea and land.
AnchoR
Then dropped the breeze; no vessel passed:
So silent stood each taper mast,
You would have deemed it chained and fast.
BroccolI
Above the blue and fleecy sky:
Below, the waves that quivering lie,
Like crispèd curls of greenery.
BarquE
“A sail!” resounds from every lip.
Mizen, no, square-sail—ah, you trip!
Edith, it cannot be a ship!
AppreciatioN
So home again from sea and beach,
One nameless feeling thrilling each.
A sense of beauty, passing speech.
ChilD
Let lens and tripod be unslung!
“Dolly!” 's the word on every tongue;
Dolly must sit, for she is young!
OdiouS
Photography shall change her face,
Distort it with uncouth grimace—
Make her bloodthirsty, fierce, and base.
MontH
I end my song while scarce begun;
For I should want, ere all was done,
Four weeks to tell the tale of one:
BelzonI
And I should need as large a hand,
To paint a scene so wild and grand,
As he who traversed Egypt's land.
EditorshiP
What say you, Edith? Will it suit ye?
Reject it, if it fails in beauty:
You know your literary duty!
On the rail between Torquay and Guildford, Sep. 28, 1869.