Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
The Land of Dreams
By Samuel Eleazer Mann (1853–1918)[Born in Methuen, Mass., 1853. Died in Pelham, N. H., 1918.]
I
Through fragrant fields, where harvests rich were laid
In golden swaths, by reaper’s swinging blade;
I lingered on the banks of gurgling streams,
Where, through its leafy gates, the sunlight gleams,
And glimmers, through interstices of shade;
There every dewdrop is a gem displayed
Upon the brow of Beauty. Ah! this seems
Her home. Oh would that I could understand
Her speech, for now her voice most sweet I hear,
And now her touch, as from a mother’s hand,
I feel, and wake. ’Tis mother standing near;
And lo, the land of vision doth appear.
Behold! It is “My own, my native land.”