| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 82. O Fairest of the Rural Maids |
| | | By William Cullen Bryant |
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| O FAIREST of the rural maids! | |
| Thy birth was in the forest shades; | |
| Green boughs, and glimpses of the sky, | |
| Were all that met thine infant eye. | |
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| Thy sports, thy wanderings, when a child, | 5 |
| Were ever in the sylvan wild; | |
| And all the beauty of the place | |
| Is in thy heart and on thy face. | |
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| The twilight of the trees and rocks | |
| Is in the light shade of thy locks; | 10 |
| Thy step is as the wind, that weaves | |
| Its playful way among the leaves. | |
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| Thine eyes are springs, in whose serene | |
| And silent waters heaven is seen; | |
| Their lashes are the herbs that look | 15 |
| On their young figures in the brook. | |
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| The forest depths, by foot unprest, | |
| Are not more sinless than thy breast; | |
| The holy peace, that fills the air | |
| Of those calm solitudes, is there. | 20 |
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