Science.

Miranda-like, above the world she waves
The wand of Prospero; and, beautiful,
Ariel the airy, Caliban the dull,
Lightning and steam, are her unwilling slaves.

Madison Julius Cawein

Madison Julius Cawein was born on March 23, 1865, in Louisville, Kentucky and died on December 8, 1914. Known as the “Keats of Kentucky,” his poetry often focused on nature, mythology, and the lush landscapes of his home state. Throughout his lifetime, Cawein published more than 30 books of poetry. He is remembered for his vivid and descriptive style and his ability to capture the beauty of the natural world. His works provide a window into the pastoral and often mystical world of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Madison Julius Cawein

Touchstones

Madison Julius Cawein, Simple Poetry

A Niello

Madison Julius Cawein, Simple Poetry

The Little Boy, The Wind, And The Rain

Madison Julius Cawein, Simple Poetry

The Picture

Madison Julius Cawein, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

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Arcanna

Earth hath her images of utterance,
Her hieroglyphic meanings which elude;
A symbol language of similitude,
Into whose secrets science may not glance;
In which the Mind-in-Nature doth romance
In miracles that baffle if pursued
No guess shall search them and no thought intrude
Beyond the limits of her sufferance.
So doth the great Intelligence above
Hide His own thought's creations; and attire
Forms in the dream's ideal, which He dowers
With immaterial loveliness and love
As essences of fragrance and of fire
Preaching th' evangels of the stars and flowers.

Madison Julius Cawein

Beauty

High as a star, yet lowly as a flower,
Unknown she takes her unassuming place
At Earth's proud masquerade the appointed hour
Strikes, and, behold! the marvel of her face.

Madison Julius Cawein

Beauty

High as a star, yet lowly as a flower,
Unknown she takes her unassuming place
At Earth's proud masquerade--the appointed hour
Strikes, and, behold, the marvel of her face.

Madison Julius Cawein

Frost

Magician he, who, autumn nights,
Down from the starry heavens whirls;
A harlequin in spangled tights,
Whose wand's touch carpets earth with pearls.

Through him each pane presents a scene,
A Lilliputian landscape, where
The world is white instead of green,
And trees and houses hang in air.

Where Elfins gambol and delight,
And haunt the jewelled bells of flowers;
Where upside-down we see the night
With many moons and starry showers.

And surely in his wand or hand
Is Midas magic, for, behold,
Some morn we wake and find the land,
Both field and forest, turned to gold.

Madison Julius Cawein

Witchcraft

This world is made a witchcraft place
With gazing on a woman's face.
Now 'tis her smile, whose sorcery
Turns all my thoughts to melody.
Now 'tis her frown, that comes and goes,
That makes my day a page of prose.
And now her laugh, or but a word,
That in my heart frees wild a bird.
Some day, perhaps, a kiss of hers,
Will lift from my dumb life the curse
Of longing, inarticulate,
That keeps me sad and celibate.

Madison Julius Cawein

Mirabile Dictu.

    There lives a goddess in the West,
        An island in death-lonesome seas;
    No towered towns are hers confessed,
        No castled forts and palaces.
    Hers, simple worshipers at best,
        The buds, the birds, the bees.

    And she hath wonder-worlds of song
        So heavenly beautiful, and shed
    So sweetly from her honeyed tongue,
        The savage creatures, it is said,
    Hark marble-still their wilds among,
        And nightingales fall dead.

    I know her not, nor have I known;
        I only feel that she is there;
    For when my heart is most alone
        There broods communion on the air,
    Concedes an influence not its own,
        Miraculously fair.

    Then fain is it to sing and sing,
   ...

Madison Julius Cawein