Page:Poems Jackson.djvu/42

Beyond this honoring, no wage I ask.
Then, ere I know, sweet night slips in her stead,
And, while by sunset fires I rest and bask,
Warm to her faithful breast she folds my head.

THE ZONE OF CALMS.^[1]

S yearning currents from the trackless snows,
And silent Polar seas, unceasing sweep
To South, to North, and linger not where leap
Red fires from glistening cones,—nor where the rose
Has triumph on the snow-fed Paramos,
In upper air,—nor yet where lifts the deep
Its silver Atolls on whose bosoms sleep
The purple sponges; and, as in repose
Meeting at last, they sink upon the breast
Of that sweet tropic sea, whose spicy balms
And central heat have drawn them to its arms,—
So soul seeks soul, unsatisfied, represt,
Till in Love's tropic met, they sink to rest,
At peace forever, in the "Zone of Calms."

MESSAGE.

OR one to bear my message, I looked out
In haste, at noon. The bee and swallow passed
Bound south. My message was to South. I cast
It trusting as a mariner. No doubt,

1. The Zone of Calms is the space comprised between the second degree north latitude and the second degree south.