Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/302

With lightnings from on high,
Play over my babies' cheeks,
Where the loud-voiced ocean shrieks,
With a kiss and a breath that speaks
Like a mother's lonely sigh.

Tell them that when the sky
Sends white clouds drifting by,
And the summer winds are high,
And the low summer tides,
When they hear the sea-lion's roar
Come to the answering shore,
Bid them lay the long, white oar
Where the heavy anchor hides.

Bid them loose the boat full soon
When they see the curved moon
Dipping the white lagoon,
Where the blue, old lilies float;
When the sea-birds leave the river,
And the spotted fishes quiver,
And the homeless breakers shiver,
Darlings, bring the little boat.

PORTLAND, OREGON.

The Poet Laborer—Stephen Maybell
From the Morning Oregonian, July 26, 1872
By Mrs. M. M. Miller

In the chapter on humor in this book is included a poem, "The Willamette Bridge", by Stephen Maybell, with a biographical note on him. His clever and satiric poem, which was helped to fame by the long agitation for a bridge across the river, was written a year or two previous to this tribute to him by Mrs. Miller. The West Shore referred to him as having been at that time "a young and untutored bard of some native genius, who resided in East Portland."

Your muse is sunny-faced and sweet,
 She meets you in the fairest nooks
Sequestered in some dim retreat,
 She reads with you from Nature's books.