Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891.
On Nearing WashingtonRobert Underwood Johnson (18531937)
C
Though other streets exact a grudging fee:—
How leap my pulses when afar I see
The dawn creep whitening down thy solemn dome!
For now my care-restricted steps may roam
Thy urban groves—a forest soon to be—
Where, like thy shining river, placid, free,
Contentment dwells and beckons me to come.
For their delight what Mays and what Novembers!—
Kindling the flame, and if it ever sleep,
New-lighting it within the breathing embers;
Dear even in their sorrow! for when they weep
’T is for rare joys, scarce known till Love remembers.