.

A POET'S PIPE

_FROM THE FRENCH OF CHARLES BAUDELAIRE._

  A poet's pipe am I,
  And my Abyssinian tint
  Is an unmistakable hint
  That he lays me not often by.
  When his soul is with grief o'erworn
  I smoke like the cottage where
  They are cooking the evening fare
  For the laborer's return.

  I enfold and cradle his soul
  In the vapors moving and blue
  That mount from my fiery mouth;
  And there is power in my bowl
  To charm his spirit and soothe,
  And heal his weariness too.

RICHARD HERNE SHEPHERD.