The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-10-05

or inspiration, he read as follows. A fantasy that came to me As wild and wantonIy designed As ever any dream might be Unraveled from a madman's mind- A tangle-work Of tissue wrought By cunning of the spider-brain, And woven, in an hour of pain, To trap the giddy flies Of thought He paused. and with a look of almost wild entreaty he pleaded: You under stand 1t. don't you2''
 nodded hesitatingly.
 .'why certainly you do. The meanings g the plainest thing in it. Whats your idea of it's meaning? tell mel-Why don't you tell me!'
 Read 1t again that may note 1t care fully"
 He repeated it.
 Why said I, 'iit appears to me to be the introduction to poem written un- der peculiar circumstances, and contain ing, perhaps, some strange ideas that l the author would excuse for the reason of their coming in the way they did' ''Rightr' he exclaimed, joyously; and now if you'll give me your most critical attention, and promise not to interrupt, I'll read the poem entire.-
 Go on," I said, for I was far more eager to listen than I would have hin know.
 And will you excuse any little wild ness of gesture or expression that may see fit to introduce in the rendition?' Certainly" said l, certainly; go oni'' And you won't interrupt or get ex- cited? Light another cigar; and here's a chair to throw your feet across. Now. unbutton your coat and lean back. Are you thoroughly eomfortable?'
 Thoroughly" said I, impatiently-"a thousand thoroughlies."
 "All right" he said; I'm glad to hear you say 1t; but before I proceed I de- sire to call your attention to the fact that this poem Is a literary orphan-a founding, you understand?'
 T understand; go on."
 And with a manner all too wild 10 be following monstrosity Of rhyme:
 T stood beneath a summer moon
 All swollen to uncanny girth 1 And hanging, like the sun at noon,
 Above the center of the earth; But with sad and sallow light, As it had sickened of the night And fallen in a pallid swoon.
 Around me I could hear the rush
 Of sullen winds, and feel the whirr Of unseen wings apast me brush
 
 And, like a carpeting of plush,
 A lawn unrolled beneath my feet
 Bespangled oer with flowers as sweet
 To look upon as those that nod
 Within the garden-helds of God,
 But odorless as those that blow In ashes in the shades below. And on my hearing fell a storm
 Of gusty music, sadder yet
 Than every whimper of regret That sobbing utterance could form.
 And patched with scraps of sound
 that seemed
 Torn out of tunes that demons
 dreamed,
 And pitched to such a piercing key,
 It stabbed the ear with agony;
 And when at last it lu1led and died
 I stood aghast and terrified shuddered and I shut my eyes,
 And still could see, and feel aware
 Some mystic presence waited there; And staring with dazed surprise,
 I saw a creature so divine
 That never subtle thought of mine May reproduce to inner sight
 So fair vision of delight. "A syllable of dew that drips
 From out a lily's laughing lips Could not be sweeter than the word. listened to, yet never heard For, oh, the woman hiding there Within the shadows of her hair, Spake to me in an undertone
 So delicate, my soul alone But understood it as a moan
 Of some weak melody of wind A heavenward breeze had left behind. "A tracery of trees, grotesque
 Against the sky, behind her seen, Like shapeless shapes of arabesque Wrought in an Oriental screen; And tall, austere and statuesque She loomed before it-e'en as though
 The spirit-hand of Angelo
 Had chselled her to life complete,
 With chips of moonshine round her
 feet
 And grew jealous of the dusk,
 To see it softly touch her face,
 As lover-like. with fond embrace, It folded round her like husk: But when the glitter of her hand,
 Like wasted glory, beckoned me,
 My eyes grew blurred and dull and
 dim
 My vision failed-I could not see I could not stir-I could but stand,
 Till, quivering in every limb.
 I flung me prone. as though to swim The tide of grass whose waves Of
 green
 Went rolling ocean-wide between My helpless shipwrecked heart and her
 Who claimed me for a worshipper. And writhing thus in my despair,
 heard a weird, unearthly sound,
 That seemed to lift me from the
 ground.
 And hold me floating in the air. looked, and To! saw her bow
 Above a harp within her hands; A crown of blossoms bound her brow. And on her harp were twisted strands Of silken starlight, rippling OCT With music never heard before By mortal ears; and, at the strain, I felt my spirit snap it's chain And break away--and I could see If as it turned and fled from me To greet its mistress, where she smiled To see the phantom dancing wild And wizard-like before the spell Her mystic fingers knew so we'll" I sat throughout 1t all as though un- der the strange influence of an eastern drug. My fancy was so wrought upon I only saw the reader mistily and cioth- ed. as 1t were, fin a bedragoned costume of the orient. My mind seemed idle steeped in drowse and languor and yet peopled with a thousand shadowy fancies that came trooping from chaotic hiding places, and mingling in a revelry of such riotous extravaganza 1t seemed holi- day of selfish thought.
 I shook my head. I rubbed my eyes. arose bewildered, and sat down again; arose again and walked across the room. my strange companion following every