SONGS OF THE MEXICAN SEAS

BY JOAQUIN MILLER AUTHOR OF “SONGS OF THE SIERRAS,” “SONGS OF ITALY,” ETC.

BOSTON ROBERTS BROTHERS 1887

Copyright, 1887, By Roberts Brothers.

University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge.

TO ABBIE.

Note.—The lines in this little book, as in all my others, were written, or at least conceived, in the lands where the scenes are laid; so that whatever may be said of the imperfections of my work, I at least have the correct atmosphere and color. I have now and then sent forth from Mexico, and from remoter shores of the Gulf, fragments of these thoughts as they rounded into form, and some of them have been used at a Dartmouth College Commencement, and elsewhere; but as a whole the book is new.

From the heart of the Sierra, where I once more hear the awful heart-throbs of Nature, I now intrust the first reception of these lessons entirely to my own country. And may I not ask in return, now at the last, when the shadows begin to grow long, something of that consideration which, thus far, has been accorded almost entirely by strangers?

Joaquin Miller.

Mount Shasta, California, A.D. 1887.

SONGS OF THE MEXICAN SEAS.

THE SEA OF FIRE.

In that far land, farther than Yucatan, Hondurian height, or Mahogany steep, Where the great sea, hollowed by the hand of man Hears deep come calling across to deep; Where the great seas follow in the grooves of men Down under the bastions of Darien:

In that land so far that you wonder whether If God would know it should you fall down dead; In that land so far through the wilds and weather That the lost sun sinks like a warrior sped,— Where the sea and the sky seem closing together, Seem closing together as a book that is read:

In that nude warm world, where the unnamed rivers Roll restless in cradles of bright buried gold; Where white flashing mountains flow rivers of silver As a rock of the desert flowed fountains of old; By a dark wooded river that calls to the dawn, And calls all day with his dolorous swan:

In that land of the wonderful sun and weather, With green under foot and with gold over head, Where the spent sun flames, and you wonder whether ’T is an isle of fire in his foamy bed: Where the oceans of earth shall be welded together By the great French master in his forge flame red,—

Lo! the half-finished world! Yon footfall retreating,— It might be the Maker disturbed at his task. But the footfall of God, or the far pheasant beating, It is one and the same, whatever the mask It may wear unto man. The woods keep repeating The old sacred sermons, whatever you ask.

The brown-muzzled cattle come stealthy to drink, The wild forest cattle, with high horns as trim As the elk at their side: their sleek necks are slim And alert like the deer. They come, then they shrink As afraid of their fellows, of shadow-beasts seen In the deeps of the dark-wooded waters of green.

It is man in his garden, scarce wakened as yet From the sleep that fell on him when woman was made. The new-finished garden is plastic and wet From the hand that has fashioned its unpeopled shade; And the wonder still looks from the fair woman’s eyes As she shines through the wood like the light from the skies.

And a ship now and then from some far Ophir’s shore Draws in from the sea. It lies close to the bank; Then a dull, muffled sound of the slow-shuffled plank As they load the black ship; but you hear nothing more, And the dark dewy vines, and the tall sombre wood Like twilight droop over the deep sweeping flood.

The black masts are tangled with branches that cross, The rich, fragrant gums fall from branches to deck, The thin ropes are swinging with streamers of moss That mantle all things like the shreds of a wreck; The long mosses swing, there is never a breath: The river rolls still as the river of death.

I.

In the beginning,—ay, before The six-days’ labors were well o’er; Yea, while the world lay incomplete, Ere God had opened quite the door Of this strange land for strong men’s feet,— There lay against that westmost sea One weird-wild land of mystery.

A far white wall, like fallen moon, Girt out the world. The forest lay So deep you scarcely saw the day, Save in the high-held middle noon: It lay a land of sleep and dreams, And clouds drew through like shoreless streams That stretch to where no man may say.

Men reached it only from the sea, By black-built ships, that seemed to creep Along the shore suspiciously, Like unnamed monsters of the deep. It was the weirdest land, I ween, That mortal eye has ever seen:

A dim, dark land of bird and beast, Black shaggy beasts with cloven claw,— A land that scarce knew prayer or priest, Or law of man, or Nature’s law; Where no fixed line drew sharp dispute ’Twixt savage man and silent brute.

II.

It hath a history most fit For cunning hand to fashion on; No chronicler hath mentioned it; No buccaneer set foot upon. ’T is of an outlawed Spanish Don,— A cruel man, with pirate’s gold That loaded down his deep ship’s hold.

A deep ship’s hold of plundered gold! The golden cruise, the golden cross, From many a church of Mexico, From Panama’s mad overthrow, From many a ransomed city’s loss, From many a follower stanch and bold, And many a foeman stark and cold.

He found this wild, lost land. He drew His ship to shore. His ruthless crew, Like Romulus, laid lawless hand On meek brown maidens of the land, And in their bloody forays bore Red firebrands along the shore.

III.

The red men rose at night. They came, A firm, unflinching wall of flame; They swept, as sweeps some fateful sea O’er land of sand and level shore That howls in far, fierce agony. The red men swept that deep, dark shore As threshers sweep a threshing-floor.

And yet beside the slain Don’s door They left his daughter, as they fled: They spared her life, because she bore Their Chieftain’s blood and name. The red And blood-stained hidden hoards of gold They hollowed from the stout ship’s hold, And bore in many a slim canoe— To where? The good priest only knew.

IV.

The course of life is like the sea: Men come and go; tides rise and fall; And that is all of history. The tide flows in, flows out to-day,— And that is all that man may say; Man is, man was,—and that is all.

Revenge at last came like a tide,— ’T was sweeping, deep, and terrible; The Christian found the land, and came To take possession in Christ’s name. For every white man that had died I think a thousand red men fell,— A Christian custom; and the land Lay lifeless as some burned-out brand.

V.

Ere while the slain Don’s daughter grew A glorious thing, a flower of spring, A lithe slim reed, a sun-loved weed, A something more than mortal knew; A mystery of grace and face,— A silent mystery that stood An empress in that sea-set wood, Supreme, imperial in her place.

It might have been men’s lust for gold,— For all men knew that lawless crew Left hoards of gold in that ship’s hold, That drew ships hence, and silent drew Strange Jasons to that steep wood shore, As if to seek that hidden store,— I never either cared or knew.

I say it might have been this gold That ever drew and strangely drew Strong men of land, strange men of sea, To seek this shore of mystery With all its wondrous tales untold: The gold or her, which of the two? It matters not; I never knew.

But this I know, that as for me, Between that face and the hard fate That kept me ever from my own, As some wronged monarch from his throne, God’s heaped-up gold of land or sea Had never weighed one feather’s weight.

Her home was on the wooded height,— A woody home, a priest at prayer, A perfume in the fervid air, And angels watching her at night. I can but think upon the skies That bound that other Paradise.

VI.

Below a star-built arch, as grand As ever bended heaven spanned; Tall trees like mighty columns grew— They loomed as if to pierce the blue, They reached as reaching heaven through.

The shadowed stream rolled far below, Where men moved noiseless to and fro As in some vast cathedral, when The calm of prayer comes to men, With benedictions, bending low.

Lo! wooded sea-banks, wild and steep! A trackless wood; a snowy cone That lifted from this wood alone! This wild wide river, dark and deep! A ship against the shore asleep!

VII.

An Indian woman crept, a crone, Hard by about the land alone, The relic of her perished race. She wore rich, rudely-fashioned bands Of gold above her bony hands: She hissed hot curses on the place!

VIII.

Go seek the red man’s last retreat! A lonesome land, the haunted lands! Red mouths of beasts, red men’s red hands: Red prophet-priest, in mute defeat!

His boundaries in blood are writ! His land is ghostland! That is his, Whatever man may claim of this; Beware how you shall enter it! He stands God’s guardian of ghostlands; Ay, this same wrapped half-prophet stands All nude and voiceless, nearer to The awful God than I or you.

IX.

This bronzed child, by that river’s brink, Stood fair to see as you can think, As tall as tall reeds at her feet, As fresh as flowers in her hair; As sweet as flowers over-sweet, As fair as vision more than fair!

How beautiful she was! How wild! How pure as water-plant, this child,— This one wild child of Nature here Grown tall in shadows. And how near To God, where no man stood between Her eyes and scenes no man hath seen,— This maiden that so mutely stood, The one lone woman of that wood.

Stop still, my friend, and do not stir, Shut close your page and think of her. The birds sang sweeter for her face; Her lifted eyes were like a grace To seamen of that solitude, However rough, however rude.

The rippled rivers of her hair, That ran in wondrous waves, somehow Flowed down divided by her brow,— Half mantled her within its care, And flooded all, or bronze or snow, In its uncommon fold and flow.

A perfume and an incense lay Before her, as an incense sweet Before blithe mowers of sweet May In early morn. Her certain feet Embarked on no uncertain way.

Come, think how perfect before men, How sweet as sweet magnolia bloom Embalmed in dews of morning, when Rich sunlight leaps from midnight gloom Resolved to kiss, and swift to kiss Ere yet morn wakens man to bliss.

X.

The days swept on. Her perfect year Was with her now. The sweet perfume Of womanhood in holy bloom, As when red harvest blooms appear, Possessed her now. The priest did pray That saints alone should pass that way.

A red bird built beneath her roof, Brown squirrels crossed her cabin sill, And welcome came or went at will. A hermit spider wove his web, And up against the roof would spin His net to catch mosquitoes in.

The silly elk, the spotted fawn, And all dumb beasts that came to drink, That stealthy stole upon the brink In that dim while that lies between The coming night and going dawn, On seeing her familiar face Would fearless stop and stand in place.

She was so kind, the beasts of night Gave her the road as if her right; The panther crouching overhead In sheen of moss would hear her tread And bend his eyes, but never stir Lest he by chance might frighten her.

Yet in her splendid strength, her eyes, There lay the lightning of the skies; The love-hate of the lioness, To kill the instant, or caress: A pent-up soul that sometimes grew Impatient; why, she hardly knew.

At last she sighed, uprose, and threw Her strong arms out as if to hand Her love, sun-born and all complete At birth, to some brave lover’s feet On some far, fair, and unseen land, As knowing now not what to do!

XI.

How beautiful she was! Why, she Was inspiration! She was born To walk God’s summer hills at morn, Nor waste her by this wood-dark sea. What wonder, then, her soul’s white wings Beat at its bars, like living things!

Once more she sighed! She wandered through The sea-bound wood, then stopped and drew Her hand above her face, and swept The lonesome sea, and all day kept Her face to sea, as if she knew Some day, some near or distant day, Her destiny should come that way.

XII.

How proud she was! How darkly fair! How full of faith, of love, of strength! Her calm, proud eyes! Her great hair’s length,— Her long, strong, tumbled, careless hair, Half curled and knotted anywhere, From brow to breast, from cheek to chin, For love to trip and tangle in!

XIII.

At last a tall strange sail was seen: It came so slow, so wearily, Came creeping cautious up the sea, As if it crept from out between The half-closed sea and sky that lay Tight wedged together, far away.

She watched it, wooed it. She did pray It might not pass her by, but bring Some love, some hate, some anything, To break the awful loneliness That like a nightly nightmare lay Upon her proud and pent-up soul Until it barely brooked control.

XIV.

The ship crept silent up the sea, And came— You cannot understand How fair she was, how sudden she Had sprung, full-grown, to womanhood: How gracious, yet how proud and grand; How glorified, yet fresh and free, How human, yet how more than good.

XV.

The ship stole slowly, slowly on;— Should you in Californian field In ample flower-time behold The soft south rose lift like a shield Against the sudden sun at dawn, A double handful of heaped gold, Why you, perhaps, might understand How splendid and how queenly she Uprose beside that wood-set sea.

The storm-worn ship scarce seemed to creep From wave to wave. It scarce could keep— How still this fair girl stood, how fair! How proud her presence as she stood Between that vast sea and west wood! How large and liberal her soul, How confident, how purely chare, How trusting; how untried the whole Great heart, grand faith, that blossomed there!

XVI.

Ay, she was as Madonna to The tawny, lawless, faithful few Who touched her hand and knew her soul: She drew them, drew them as the pole Points all things to itself. She drew Men upward as a moon of spring, High wheeling, vast and bosom-full, Half clad in clouds and white as wool, Draws all the strong seas following.

Yet still she moved as sad, as lone As that same moon that leans above, And seems to search high heaven through For some strong, all-sufficient love, For one brave love to be her own, To lean upon, to love, to woo, To lord her high white world, to yield His clashing sword against her shield.

Oh, I once knew a sad, white dove That died for such sufficient love, Such high-born soul with wings to soar: That stood up equal in its place, That looked love level in the face, Nor wearied love with leaning o’er To lift love level where she trod In sad delight the hills of God.

XVII.

How slow before the sleeping breeze, That stranger ship from under seas! How like to Dido by her sea, When reaching arms imploringly,— Her large, round, rich, impassioned arms, Tossed forth from all her storied charms,— This one lone maiden leaning stood Above that sea, beside the wood!

The ship crept strangely up the seas; Her shrouds seemed shreds, her masts seemed trees,— Strange tattered trees of toughest bough That knew no cease of storm till now. The maiden pitied her; she prayed Her crew might come, nor feel afraid; She prayed the winds might come,—they came, As birds that answer to a name.

The maiden held her blowing hair That bound her beauteous self about; The sea-winds housed within her hair: She let it go, it blew in rout About her bosom full and bare. Her round, full arms were free as air, Her high hands clasped, as clasped in prayer.

XVIII.

The breeze grew bold, the battered ship Began to flap her weary wings; The tall, torn masts began to dip And walk the wave like living things. She rounded in, she struck the stream, She moved like some majestic dream.

The captain kept her deck. He stood A Hercules among his men; And now he watched the sea, and then He peered as if to pierce the wood. He now looked back, as if pursued, Now swept the sea with glass, as though He fled or feared some hidden foe.

Swift sailing up the river’s mouth, Swift tacking north, swift tacking south, He touched the overhanging wood; He tacked his ship; his tall black mast Touched tree-top mosses as he passed; He touched the steep shore where she stood.

XIX.

Her hands still clasped as if in prayer, Sweet prayer set to silentness; Her sun-browned throat uplifted, bare And beautiful. Her eager face Illumed with love and tenderness, And all her presence gave such grace, Dark shadowed in her cloud of hair, That she seemed more than mortal fair.

XX.

He saw. He could not speak. No more With lifted glass he sought the sea; No more he watched the wild new shore. Now foes might come, now friends might flee; He could not speak, he would not stir,— He saw but her, he feared but her.

The black ship ground against the shore, She ground against the bank as one With long and weary journeys done, That would not rise to journey more.

Yet still this Jason silent stood And gazed against that sun-lit wood, As one whose soul is anywhere.

All seemed so fair, so wondrous fair! At last aroused, he stepped to land Like some Columbus. They laid hand On lands and fruits, and rested there.

XXI.

He found all fairer than fair morn In sylvan land, where waters run With downward leap against the sun, And full-grown sudden May is born. He found her taller than tall corn Tiptoe in tassel; found her sweet As vale where bees of Hybla meet.

An unblown rose, an unread book; A wonder in her wondrous eyes; A large, religious, steadfast look Of faith, of trust,—the look of one New welcomed in her Paradise.

He read this book,—read on and on From titlepage to colophon: As in cool woods, some summer day, You find delight in some sweet lay, And so entranced read on and on From titlepage to colophon.

XXII.

And who was he that rested there,— This Hercules, so huge, so rare, This giant of a grander day, This Theseus of a nobler Greece, This Jason of the golden fleece? And who was he? And who were they That came to seek the hidden gold Long hallowed from the pirate’s hold? I do not know. You need not care.

. . . . . .

They loved, this maiden and this man, And that is all I surely know,— The rest is as the winds that blow. He bowed as brave men bow to fate, Yet proud and resolute and bold; She, coy at first, and mute and cold, Held back and seemed to hesitate,— Half frightened at this love that ran Hard gallop till her hot heart beat Like sounding of swift courser’s feet.

XXIII.

Two strong streams of a land must run Together surely as the sun Succeeds the moon. Who shall gainsay The fates that reign, that wisely reign? Love is, love was, shall be again. Like death, inevitable it is; Perchance, like death, the dawn of bliss. Let us, then, love the perfect day, The twelve o’clock of life, and stop The two hands pointing to the top, And hold them tightly while we may.

XXIV.

How piteous strange is love! The walks By wooded ways; the silent talks Beneath the broad and fragrant bough. The dark deep wood, the dense black dell, Where scarce a single gold beam fell From out the sun. They rested now On mossy trunk. They wandered then Where never fell the feet of men.

Then longer walks, then deeper woods, Then sweeter talks, sufficient sweet, In denser, deeper solitudes,— Dear careless ways for careless feet; Sweet talks of paradise for two, And only two, to watch or woo.

She rarely spake. All seemed a dream She would not waken from. She lay All night but waiting for the day, When she might see his face, and deem This man, with all his perils passed, Had found the Lotus-land at last.

XXV.

The year waxed fervid, and the sun Fell central down. The forest lay A-quiver in the heat. The sea Below the steep bank seemed to run A molten sea of gold. Away Against the gray and rock-built isles That broke the molten watery miles Where lonesome sea-cows called all day, The sudden sun smote angrily.

Therefore the need of deeper deeps, Of denser shade for man and maid, Of higher heights, of cooler steeps, Where all day long the sea-wind stayed.