230 IN THE DAYS OF AUDUBON 



Ibis, Ibis! whose thin wings of white 

 Scarce stir the roses of the sunset light, 

 When day dissolving leaves the coasts to night, 

 And far seas hide the sun; 



From weedy weirs, where blaze the tropic noons; 

 Savannas dark, where cool the fiery moons; 

 From still Lake Worth, and mossy-walled lagoons, 

 Where never footsteps stray; 



To far Clearwater, and its isles of pine; 

 From beryl seas to seas of opaline, 

 Those level coasts where helpless sea-conchs shine — 

 Thou driftest on thy way! 



Ibis, Ibis, bird of Hermes bold, 

 The avatar to men from gates of gold, 



That blessed all eyes that saw thy wings of old! 

 My thought, like thee, hath wings. 



1 follow thee, as cool the shadows fall, 

 And burn the stars on yon horizon's wall; 

 And Memphian altars, as my thoughts recall, 



My soul to thee upsprings! 



My heart to-night with nature's soul is thrilled, 

 As with the fire that priests of Isis filled 

 When rose thy wings, and all the world was stilled 

 Beneath thy lucent plumes! 



O Ibis, Ibis! whence thy silent flight? 

 O'er Everglades that only fireflies light, 

 Magnolias languid with their blooms, when night 

 Gathers from far her glooms; 



