Would I were in Alaska this fair night!
Sailing that noble sweep of sapphire sea
Where for a thousand miles continuously
The snow-pearl mountains shimmer, lustrous, white,
Or burn to opals in the northern light.
But once again to gaze with longing eyes
Where sheer from sparkling ocean-depths they rise
To ravish the beholder with delight!
To hear the thunder of the waves that break
Full on some glacier’s proud and splendid breast,
Where Color moves with winged sandals shod;
Once more to voyage to the purple West;
To feel my soul with speechless rapture ache─
My praying heart swell big and sweet with God!
“Once More to Voyage to the Purple West” as it appears in Higginson’s The Vanishing Race (1911).