| |
| WILD umbrage far around me clings | |
| To breezy knoll and hushed ravine, | |
| And o’er each rocky headland flings | |
| Its mantle of refreshing green. | |
| |
| The echoes that so boldly rung | 5 |
| When cannon flashed from steep to steep, | |
| And Freedom’s airy challenge flung, | |
| In each romantic valley sleep. | |
| |
| His counsels here our chieftain breathed, | |
| Here roved his mild, undaunted eye, | 10 |
| When yon lone fort, with thickets wreathed, | |
| Held captive Britain’s gallant spy. | |
| |
| Fit home to rear a nation’s youth | |
| By self-control to nerve the will, | |
| Through knowledge gain expansive truth, | 15 |
| And with high aims life’s circle fill. | |
| |
| How grateful is the sudden change | |
| From arid pavements to the grass, | |
| From narrow streets that thousands range, | |
| To meadows where June’s zephyrs pass! | 20 |
| |
| Beneath the cliffs the river steals | |
| In darksome eddies to the shore, | |
| But midway every sail reveals | |
| Reflected on its crystal floor. | |
| |
| In tranquil mood the cattle walk | 25 |
| Along the verdant marge to feed, | |
| While poised upon the mullein stalk | |
| The chirping redbird picks the seed. | |
| |
| Low murmurs in the foliage bred, | |
| The clear horizon’s azure line, | 30 |
| Fresh turf elastic to the tread, | |
| And leafy canopies are thine. | |
| |
| White fleecy clouds move slowly by, | |
| How cool their shadows fall to-day! | |
| A moment on the hills they lie, | 35 |
| And then like spirits glide away. | |
| |
| Amid the herbage, yesternight, | |
| His web the cunning spider threw, | |
| And now, as sparkling diamonds bright, | |
| It glistens with the pendent dew. | 40 |
| |
| Gay butterflies dart on and sink | |
| O’er the sweet blossoms of the pea, | |
| And from the clover’s globe of pink | |
| Contented hums the downy bee. | |
| |
| In all this varied beauty glows | 45 |
| Deep meaning for the thoughtful heart, | |
| As it were fain to teach repose, | |
| And lofty confidence impart. | |
| |
| How vivid to my fancy now, | |
| Uprise the forms that life redeem! | 50 |
| The ardent eye, the open brow, | |
| And tender smile beside me seem. | |
| |
| For Nature’s presence gathers back | |
| The deeds that grace, the loves that cheer, | |
| And as her holy steps we track, | 55 |
| Hope’s rainbow breaks through sorrow’s tear. | |
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