Pauline B. Barrington. Sunrise at Santa Barbara. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

Sunrise at Santa Barbara

By Pauline B. Barrington


THE SEA hides its curious heart
Under a bridal robe of mother-o’-pearl,
Mother-o’-pearl flushed with rose,
Waiting.

Against a turquoise sky	5
The mountains kneel, mauve-gray
In the gray-pink sand
Of the curving shore,
Waiting.

The moon, pale and wan,	10
Hangs a flat design in silver
On the expectant sky,
Waiting.

The palm trees, in parallel rows
Along the Plaza, clasp	15
Nervous, wavering fingers,
Waiting.

Riding on a many-fluted shell
Held on the backs of jade tritons,
Comes Venus Anadyomene, straight and slim,	20
Combing the night curls
From her ruddy hair,
Blown by the four winds
To the meeting with her lover.

Then, he comes—the young Sun,	25
Glorious in amazing strength and splendor,
Striding across the mountains
To pave a path of brazen metal
For the whiteness of her feet,
The two little feet of his bride.	30
He surrounds, covers, hides her
In golden madness.

The sea roughens,
Sending her waves with the morning breeze
Against the shore.	35
It is day!