As  the  sunset's  charm  thrills  through  me,

Musing  on  the  sand-swept  marge,
Fancy  brings  a  boatman  to  me

With  his  pearl-enameled  barge;
And  he  bids  me  leave  the  highlands,

With  their  shadow  and  their  stain,
And  sail  with  him  to  the  islands

Lying  in  the  azure  main.
Farewell  now  to  all  things  human,

In  the  boatman's  barge  I  stand,
Trust  of  man  or  love  of  woman

I  leave  on  the  shore  of  sand.
Through  empurpled  mis:s  that  hover

Round  the  islands  of  the  blest,
In  the  sunset  I  go  over

To  the  lotus  land  of  rftst.
64  RHYMES    OF    THE    ROCKIES.
L'ENVOY,

Through  wond'rovis  scenes  our  pleasant  path  has  wound

From  •'  Palmer  Lake  "  to  that  enchanted  ground

The  "  Garden  of  the  Gods."     We've  paused  to  view

The  many  marvels  of  fair  "  Manitou."

Have  gazed  with  reverence  upon  "  Cheyenne,"

Made  doubly  sacred  by  the  poet's  pen

And  poet's  grave;  have  seen  the  mighty  earth

Grow  small  beneath  us,  and  new  stars  take  birth

As  "  Veta  Pass  "  was  conquered,  and  with  brown

Rocks  girded,  gazed  on  "  Blanca's  "  triple  crown ;

Have  passed  o'er  "Toltec,"  marvelous,  sublime!

Triumphant  work  of  science,  art  and  time;

Have  seen  the  "  Castles"  of  that  perished  race

Who  dwelt  on  cliffs,  and  have  beheld  the  place,

Wondrous  and  wild,  where  flows  the  "  Animas"

Through  cloven  cliffs  which  let  its  waters  pass.
Then  northward  turned  we've  seen  upreared  on  high

The  "  Holy  Cross  "  emblazoned  on  the  sky,

From  "  Fremont  Pass  "  beheld  beneath  our  feet

The  soaring  eagle  ply  his  pinions  fleet.
Deep  in  the  "  Royal  Gorge  "  have  breathless  whirled

As  through  some  cavern  of  the  under-world.
