SALT MARSHES 



" And the sea lends large, as the marsh : lo, out of his 



plenty the sea 

 Pours fast: full soon the time of the flood-tide must be: 

 Look how the grace of the sea doth go 

 About and about through the intricate channels that flow 

 Here and there, 

 Everywhere, 

 Till his waters have flooded the uttermost creeks and the 



low-lying lanes, 

 And the marsh is meshed with a million veins, 

 That like as with rosy and silvery essences flow 



In the rose-and-silver evening glow 

 Farewell, my lord Sun! 

 The creeks overflow: a thousand rivulets run 

 'Twixt the roots of the sod; the blades of the marsh-grass 



stir; 

 Passeth a hurrjdng sound of wings that westward whirr; 

 Passeth, and all is still; and the currents cease to run; 

 And the sea and the marsh are one. 



" How still the plains of waters be! 



The tide is in his ecstasy. 



The tide is at his highest height: 



And it is night." 



Sidney Lanier was a true lover of tlie marshes, 

 and saw and appreciated their every detail. 

 And again: 



" The tide's at full: the marsh with flooded streams 

 Glimmers, a limpid labyrinth of dreams. 

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