To James Whitcomb Riley With Admiration And Regard

_O lyrist of the lowly and the true,
  The song I sought for you
  Hides yet unsung. What hope for me to find,
  Lost in the dædal mind,
  The living utterance with lovely tongue!
  To say, as erst was sung
  By Ariosto of Knight-errantry,--
  Through lands of Poesy,
  Song's Paladin, knight of the dream and day,
  The wizard shield you sway
  Of that Atlantes power, sweet and terse,
  The skyey-builded verse:
  The shield that dazzles, brilliant with surprise,
  Our unanointed eyes.--
  Oh, had I written as 't were worthy you,
  Each line, a spark of dew,--
  As once Ferdusi shone in Persia,--
  Had strung each rosy spray
  Of the unfolding flower of each song;
  And Iran's bulbul tongue
  Had sobbed its heart out o'er the fountain's slab
  In gardens of Afrasiab._