w 
 
 • -/ 
 
 * 4 
 
 • ^ 
 
 • 
 
 ✓ 
 
 • 
 
 at 
 
 e 
 
 at 
 
 • 
 
 > • 
 
 > * 
 
 > • 
 
 \> 
 
 • 
 
 > 
 
 • 
 
 V* 
 
 * 
 
 ✓ 
 
 •1< 
 
 * W' 
 
 ♦ ^ 
 
 # 
 
 at 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Of 
 
 • 
 
 at 
 
 ♦ 
 
 •A* 
 
 * 
 
 >?• 
 
 > 
 
 ■m 
 
 > 
 
 * 
 
 > 
 
 * 
 
 at 
 
 * 0f 
 
 Kp 
 
 R < 
 
 41 ] 
 
 $ :: 
 
 u 
 
 at 
 
 (U 
 
 at 
 
 [ # ] 
 
 > • 
 
 \> » 
 
 Wl • ..; 
 
 NjV 
 
 f • . 
 
 > 
 
 r# 
 
 > 
 
 \ •■ 
 
 ;*' 
 
 * w' 
 
 [*y 
 
 ®p- viSltStiRr- 
 
 # 
 
 at 
 
 hn j 
 
 *r 
 
 • 
 
 at 
 
 M*j 
 
 > *i 
 
 V* , • 
 
 
 V > 
 
 ? * 
 
 > 
 
 f »j 
 
 > 
 
 # 
 
 
 Mllj +( 
 
 P -;y 
 
 E' 
 
 # ’ 
 
 V 
 
 ♦ 
 
 
 • 
 
 a( 
 
 f* ] 
 
 
 > [ • 
 
 ; >L •J 
 
 
 ? #* 
 
 W 
 
 • 
 
 > 
 
 # 
 
 'f 
 
 • % ,( • k*f 
 
 '• * ' r 1 * *f 
 
 ♦'. >K >(*j> ♦ 
 
 • ^ • at 
 
 t 
 
 # > 
 
 [*]✓!# ] 
 
 > 
 
 # s> • V* 
 
w 
 
 f * 
 
 * 
 
 [J 
 
 - 
 

 
 
 
 is 
 
 — 
 
 i# 
 
©SKftSei <55*1*© ®^?s55s 
 
 • ' - 
 
 EARTHBOUND 
 
 AUDREY SILCOX 
 
 —HI m m V :<£'•'? r : .: ■ 
 
 @a* *s§ iftS ®#n«§! Sa**s9 ^ ©**i*s 
 
This is Chap-Book Number Sixty-three 
 
 O F THIS EDITION OF EARTHBOUND 
 AND OTHER POEMS, BY AUDREY 
 SILCOX, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY 
 COPIES HAVE BEEN PRINTED. THIS 
 CHAP-BOOK IS A PRODUCT OF THE 
 RYERSON PRESS, TORONTO, CANADA. 
 
 Copyright, Canada, 1932, by 
 The Ryerson Press, Toronto 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
 
 Thanks are due the Editors of The New York Times, The New 
 York Sun , The Toronto Globe, The New Outlook , for permission to 
 reprint certain of the poems included in this chap-book. 
 
 E-3 McLennan 
 Silcox, Audrey. 
 
 Ear t h bo u n d and other poems 
 71851239 
 
Earthbound and Other Poems 
 
 By Audrey Silcox 
 
 EARTHBOUND 
 
 E VEN in heaven 
 This child of earth 
 Will seek in dreams 
 His place of birth. 
 
 And hungering, 
 
 Will know again 
 White lilacs drenched 
 In an April rain. 
 
 A flying wedge 
 In an autumn sky, 
 
 And the scent of leaf-smoke 
 Drifting by. 
 
 The sorcery 
 Of a white thorn tree 
 And a winding road 
 That runs to the sea. 
 
 The eternal hope 
 Of upturned clod, 
 
 And a fresh wind blowing 
 O’er the fields of God. 
 
 Page One 
 
 30 i 023 
 
FROM GENERATION UNTO GENERATION 
 
 A T close of day I smile to see them there 
 L Beside the lire, as twilight shadows creep, 
 
 My mother, and my daughter, comrades rare, 
 
 Their bed-time tryst with “Mother Goose” to keep. 
 From tale to merrier tale the pages flit 
 ’Neath finger-tips so petal-like, so fair. 
 
 Beside those patient hands to service knit. 
 
 The quiet face, down-bent, so etched by care, 
 
 Broods tenderly above that cheek serene, 
 
 Dewy, unmarred, fresh from the kiss of God, 
 
 The earnest eyes whose gaze so crystalline, 
 
 But lately glimpsed the heaven towards which we plod. 
 My own eyes dim with sudden, burning tears 
 Of gratitude and fierce, protective zeal, 
 
 In blinding knowledge of the ravished years, 
 
 Prescient of all the hidden years conceal. 
 
 God, without Thee, upon what shifting sand 
 Do I, the shaft of life where meet these twain. 
 
 Midst ravening currents of the cruel years, stand 
 And know my weak strength vain ! 
 
 * * * 
 
 TO MARY, IN LENT* 
 
 O MARY, on that far-off temple day, 
 
 When seven virgins cast their lots to choose, 
 Whether of gold or scarlet, purple, blue 
 They’d spin the threads for the new temple veil, 
 
 And the true purple fell by lot to you ; 
 
 There in the courtyard, while the white doves drooped 
 With drifting pinions through the tranquil air, 
 
 Came there no troubling dream, no shadow chill, 
 
 No piercing vision of a sundered veil, 
 
 Of purple robe beneath a thorn-crowned head, 
 
 Of bitter rood upon a far green hill? 
 
 *From the Protevangelion. 
 
 Page Two 
 
GRACE BEFORE WRITING 
 
 O N paper white as linen fair, 
 
 In ink that might be wine, 
 
 Bless now the words that are as bread 
 To that far love of mine. 
 
 Let here be cheer for loneliness, 
 
 And here be ease for pain, 
 
 And touch my homely chronicle 
 With laughter once again. 
 
 The simple tale of daily life. 
 
 The round of custom’s day, 
 
 Fall like a saga of the soul 
 On heart so far away. 
 
 Here are the humble elements 
 To grace a distant shrine; 
 
 The cloisters of the loving heart 
 Lead close to the divine. 
 
 * V V 
 
 DAY-DREAMER 
 
 H E waits through all the seasons, patient, mute. 
 But not despairing, for that hour sublime 
 When to his hand shall fall the magic fruit — 
 
 The golden apple on the bough of Time; 
 
 Swiftly his tongue shall taste it, and behold 
 There rise before his eyes, grown desert-dim, 
 
 Rich caravans of silver and of gold 
 
 With all the treasure life has held from him; 
 
 And on his ears the music of men’s praise 
 Shall fall and bring refreshing to his soul; 
 
 His path shall lie amid the pleasant ways, 
 
 His broken spirit shall again be whole. 
 
 Hard are the barren years, their burden great; 
 
 Still for thy golden fruit, life, he doth wait. 
 
RESURGAM 
 
 P LEDGE me no paradise of burning gold, 
 
 Tell me no tribal tales of gem on gem, 
 
 Think not my questing spirit to enfold 
 In robe of samite with bejewelled hem, 
 
 Nor for this pilgrim spirit newly-born, 
 
 Freed of its cumbering garb, fresh fetters weave 
 Or broider trammels of a creed outworn. 
 
 But lure me with the spell of April eve, 
 
 At sunset hour, when all the world is still 
 And for a lost enchantment seems to grieve 
 As for the glory fading from each hill; 
 
 Or call me with the ecstasy which breaks 
 Full-throated through the hush of April dawns; 
 Provoke me with the memory which awakes 
 When wind-stirred lilacs blow on dew-drenched lawns; 
 Entice me with the wistfulness which broods 
 O’er half-awakened orchards, like a prayer; 
 
 For that essential beauty which eludes, 
 
 Makes for this seeking heart a certain snare. 
 
 Give me sure hope of but one hawthorn lane, 
 
 And I shall rise again! 
 
 V V * 
 
 AUTUMN PROCESSIONAL 
 
 1 IKE a bacchanal troupe, October led 
 
 jHer harlequin hours from rout to gayer rout, 
 Leaving their tattered robes and banners spread 
 On many a ravished hillside round about; 
 
 Wilder and shriller grew the songs they sang. 
 Until All Hallows’ bells at midnight rang. 
 
 Changed in a twinkling is each reveller wild 
 To humble penitent who kneels and prays, 
 
 As gray November, like an abbess mild, 
 
 Missal in hand, shepherds her nun-like days; 
 Wistful and wraith-like, as they disappear, 
 
 They light the vesper tapers of the year. 
 
PATTERANS* 
 
 Y OU went this way, 
 
 My heart believes. 
 
 In the dust of the cross-roads 
 I found green leaves. 
 
 Hung on a thorny hedge, 
 
 I found your staff; 
 
 I snatched it up 
 With a sob and a laugh. 
 
 Often I yearn 
 
 For the warmth of your cloak, 
 
 Reeking of many 
 A peat-fire’s smoke. 
 
 No books your scrip held — 
 
 Your wisdom lay 
 Spun o’er the skies by night, 
 
 The green world by day. 
 
 Deeply we drank 
 Of life’s red cup; 
 
 I hunger now 
 For bite or sup. 
 
 Round my neck is the token 
 You bade me keep: 
 
 Each night I kiss it, 
 
 Before I sleep. 
 
 Whither the road winds 
 I know not at all, 
 
 Nor care — my heart follows 
 The sign of your call. 
 
 *A patteran is a sign to the initiate, usually an arrangement of grasses, 
 leaves or twigs, left by gypsies for members of their band coming after. 
 
 Page Five 
 
OLD HOME 
 
 T HE door is wide for many a guest, 
 The step is broad and low, 
 
 And there is welcoming and rest 
 For all who come and go. 
 
 The fireside speaks of sweet content. 
 
 Of long dreams and old love, 
 
 Of Yule-logs and of merriment 
 With holly-wreaths above. 
 
 The rooms are mellow with a breath, 
 
 A perfume of the past; 
 
 They have known life and love and death, 
 The first things and the last. 
 
 Its rooms are never empty quite, 
 
 Nor silent utterly. 
 
 The past comes back on footsteps light, 
 And whispering memory; 
 
 For here has happiness been spent, 
 
 And here have tears been shed; 
 
 Here has been shared love’s sacrament, 
 Here mourned beloved dead. 
 
 * * V 
 
 SONG 
 
 O UT of the sky, the storm, 
 
 And out of the storm, the rain: 
 
 And out of the joy and the thrill of life 
 And out of its peace, comes pain! 
 
 Out of the dusk, the night, 
 
 And out of the night, the dew; 
 
 And out of the glare and the heat of life 
 And out of its grief, come you ! 
 
 Out of the sea, the dawn, 
 
 And out of the dawn, the sun: 
 
 And out of the depths of life comes love; 
 And I love you, dear one! 
 
AVIATOR’S SONG 
 
 D OWN sink the clinging arms of earth; 
 
 Insurgent from her bonds, I soar; 
 Forgetful of my lowly birth. 
 
 The fields of heaven I explore; 
 
 And down far road-ways of the sky, 
 
 I fly! I fly! 
 
 The babel of the world below 
 And all its warring sounds I leave; 
 
 The ether which the eagles know, 
 
 The silence of the blue, I cleave, 
 
 And ’scape the world of duller things. 
 
 On wings! On wings! 
 
 But earth-bound still, I hear her voice, 
 
 Infinite space my soul appals, 
 
 Her sheltering hills my heart rejoice, 
 
 Her fields, my homing heart recalls. 
 
 I sink again, to earth’s brown breast. 
 
 To rest — to rest, 
 
 * * V 
 
 MEMORIES 
 
 W HEN the day draws in and the wind awakes 
 And the shadows begin to creep, 
 
 When the spirit of things of a former time 
 Moves over the heart’s still deep, 
 
 I pause at the place where I always pause 
 When I walk where the memories keep — 
 
 Once you lay close in my arms asleep. 
 
 When the shadows began to creep. 
 
 When Life draws in and the dark comes close, 
 
 And the silence is very near, 
 
 I shall tell my heart as we stand and wait 
 The approach of the final fear. 
 
 How Love once lay in my arms asleep — 
 
 Was it only in yesteryear? — 
 
 Then I shall look up with a quiet soul, 
 
 When the silence comes very near. 
 
 Page Seven 
 
LENT 
 
L £U ' 
 
 5- THE . . iM 
 
 12. SHEEPFOLD 
 
 22. TWELVE 
 
 23. SONGS FOi 
 
 54. PENNIES ( 
 
 58. THE COQL 
 
 61. TWENTY 5 
 51. TAO 
 
 36. COSMIC 01 
 40. THE IMMI 
 
 45. MONSERFO 
 
 46. THE AULD 
 
 47. BITTERSW 
 
 48. OUTWARD 
 
 55. ARGOSIES 
 
 62. THE EMIG 
 
 63. EARTHBOl 
 
 4. THE CAPTIVE 
 7. THE LOST SHIP* 
 
 14. VAGRANT* 
 
 15. WHAT-NOTS 
 20. THE CRY OF INSt 
 
 56. THE ROSE OF THEl 
 60. RHYME AND RH\ 
 27. THE POET CONFIDf 
 33. LATER POEMS 
 
 41. THE FOUNTAIN 
 53. THE WAY TO FAI 
 
 16. SONGS* 
 
 21. WAIFS OF T 
 
 28. PAUL PERd 
 
 49. THE WANE 
 
 57. THE BLOSS 
 59. THE WIND 
 
 50, UNDER TH 
 
 52. THE NAIAlj , 
 A co m 
 
 
 ’V 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 ’ i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 
 » 
 
 - . 
 
 •Out of print 
 

 < 
 
 • 
 
 
 IP®, 
 
 # 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 > 
 
 » 
 
 > 
 
 # 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 • 
 
 % 
 
 t 
 
 # 
 
 # 
 
 +r 
 
 • 
 
 
 # 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 0 
 
 
 > 
 
 % | 
 
 > 
 
 * 
 
 > 
 
 • 
 
 > 
 
 # 
 
 w 
 
 i 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 +( 
 
 r^ptl 
 
 ✓ 
 
 n 1 
 
 < 
 
 r# ] 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 < 
 
 > 
 
 # 
 
 > 
 
 * 1 
 
 
 f # 
 
 > 
 
 3 
 
 V* 
 
 [ij 
 
 • 
 
 *( 
 
 r fu 
 
 
 V 
 
 *r 
 
 E 
 
 
 ♦ 
 
 
 > 
 
 • 
 
 \> 
 
 •] 
 
 Y* 
 
 E 
 
 * 
 
 3 
 
 W' 
 
 r 
 
 0 
 
 * 
 
 < 
 
 Mi | 
 
 •■if 
 
 ♦ 
 
 
 0 
 
 L^-^l 
 
 # 
 
 J ' K > *a > Kt- *. 
 
 3>H>0>3jG 
 
 lB 0H ■• ; - ■