e!
You bring me the breath of the prairies,
Known in the days that are sped,
The wild geese's cry and the blue, blue sky
And the sailing clouds o'er head!

My eyes are weary with longing
For a sight of the sage grass gray,
For the dazzling light of a noontide bright
And the joy of the open day!
Oh, to hear once more the clanking
Of the noisy cowboy's spur,
And the south wind's kiss like a mild caress
Making the grasses stir.

I dream of the wide, wide prairies
Touched with their glistening sheen,
The coyotes' cry and the wind-swept sky
And the waving billows of green!
And oh, for a night in the open
Where no sound discordant mars,
And the marvelous glow, when the sun is low,
And the silence under the stars!

Ho, wind from the western prairies!
Ho, voice from a far domain!
I feel in your breath what I'll feel till death,
The call of the plains again!
The call of the Spirit of Freedom
To the spirit of freedom in me;
My heart leaps high with a jubilant cry
And I answer in ecstasy!
_Ethel MacDiarmid._

WHERE THE GRIZZLY DWELLS[4]

I ADMIRE the artificial art of the East;
But I love more the inimitable art of the West,
Where nature's handiwork lies in virginal beauty.
Amidst the hum of city life
I saunter back to dreams of home.
Astride the back of my trusty steed
I wander away, losing myself
In the foothills of the Rockies.

Away from human habitations,
Up the rugged slopes,
Through the timbered stretches,
I hear the frightful cry of wolves
And see a bear sneaking up behind.

Many nights ago,
While herding a bunch of cattle
During the round-up season,
I lay upon the grass
Looking at the mated stars;
I wondered if a cowboy
Could go to the Unknown Place,
The Happy Hunting Ground,
When this short life is over.

But, here or there, I shall always live
In the land of mountain air
Where the grizzly dwells
And sage brush grows;
Where mountain trout are not a few;
In the land of the Bitterroot,--
The Indian land,--Land of the Golden West.
_James Fox._

[4] Fox is a halfbreed Indian who sent me a lot of verse. Although he
had never heard of Walt Whitman, these stanzas suggest that poet. The
spelling and p