To Ellen, George, and Josephine Sturgis
Cambridge, Massachusetts. December 25, 1911

Now in my bag, wheree’er I go,
Order will reign, tho’ tempests blow,
Or porters fling it to and fro;
For thanks to Ellen, George, and Jo,
Shirts ties and collars, cased in leather,
In roughest hands or foulest weather,
Can never get mixed up together.

So in my thoughts your loves abide
Each quite distinct, all side by side;
No jolts of chance or rolling tide
Shall e’er confuse them, nor divide.
G.S.

From The Letters of George Santayana:  Book Two, 1910-1920.  Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001.
Location of manuscript: The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge MA