To George Sterling (Deep)

And I too found the seaward way —Venus Letalis. Deep are the chasmal years and lustrums long Since, following that dark Venus of thy dream, Thou camest to the lulling foams's extreme. . . . But, safely builded beyond change and wrong, And past 'the fleeting plaudits of the throng,' With blazons blown on some ethereal stream In crystal and in haliotis gleam, Crag-founded, thine aeolian domes of song. Yet, ah! the vanished voice we shall not hear! Alas! thy footsteps ending on the sand By doubtful seas and skies not understood. . . . Strange shells are found along that silent strand: Thou too hast often held them to thine ear And heard the baffled murmur of thy blood.