'Near the Beach, Shinnecock,'

'An artist's summer vacation is his busiest, happiest time; inspiration for the rest of the year.'

By William Meritt Chase

All winter, intent on the sun's zenith,

he paints with a frenzy to repeat

the ebullience of summer,

as if one can possess

what was relished one season

and carry it into the next, can

open a household of children and fling them

into a transient world of daylight

flickering on a sapphire sea,

on glossy grass-covered dunes,

on a child's face and hands, a woman's windblown dress;

where the shadows are vibrant

lavender, never gray or black;

where each grain of sunlight makes its own color,

its own dazzling swarm.