The Poems of Madison Cawein, Volume 4 (of 5) / Poems of mystery and of myth and romance

A collection of lyric poems alternating moods of uncanny and classical romance, divided into two sections: the first evokes haunted gardens, moonlit houses, fairies, mermaids, and spectral figures; the second reimagines Greco-Roman gods and pastoral myths, offering paeans to Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, Dionysos, naiads, and fauns. Across brief narrative lyrics and atmospheric fragments the speaker meditates on love, loss, memory, and nature, using imagery of night, sea, ruins, and blossoms to blend melancholy with enchantment. Settings shift from domestic decay and cemetery plots to mythic landscapes, while archaic diction, descriptive tableaux, and evocative sound create a sustained mood of mystery and romantic reverie.