* PS3J0 W89 aa H8 THE JOHN • CRAIG LIBRARY COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, PARTMENT CF HnRTimn ti'ir e, CORNFI I 1 1 ".j i vtocitv ITHACA, N. Y. Cornell University Library PS 310.W89H8 In the woods with Bryant, Longfellow and 3 1924 014 495 497 ..'"; Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014495497 IX THE WOODS -*? BRYANT. LONGFELLOW, AND HALLECK ll.l.rsTKATEIi FROM DRAWINGS BY JOHN A. HOWS. " The minncrii's of silent nooks. The murmnr'd longing of the wood."— Lowi N E W Y R K : JAMES d. GREGORY, PUBLISHER. MDCCCLXIII. •p, ; ? | : Unteiwl nccir.liii- to Aft "!' Congress, in the year 1862, BY JAMES <;. GREGORY, Clerk's Officii of tin- District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New Y-ork. . V i» I! Ii . I'RI N T K It. The Death of the Wh Wm. Ci'llen Bryant. "Wlien Woods were G-reen, Henry \V. Longfellow. AVyoiiiin^— ,V jH'rji^nnHil, F 1 TZ - < • 1 1 E K N K tl A L L E C K . ujrabm. Messrs. ANNIX. BOBHETT-IJOOPKU, KILMKli, BlitlSS, KINNHIISl.KV. KOUKliT, COX, X. nltli .4 <'' gXWZi The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year. Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead; They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread. The robin and tlie wren are flown. And In >n the shrubs the jav. And from the wood-top calls the crow Through all the gloom v da y. Where are the Mowers, the fair young i.*« beauty stood, 'ill lull the frost from the clear cold heaven, as falls the plague on men, And the brightness of their smile was r? And now when comes the calm mild day. As still such days will come, To call the squirrel and the hee b'roni out their winter In une : AV 1 u'i i the sound of dropping nuts is heard, Though till the trees are still, And twinkle in the smoky light The waters of the rill, then I think of one who in her youthful beauty died, The fair, meek blossom that grew up and failed by my I" the cold, moist earth we laid Lit, When the forests east the leaf, Ami we wept that one so lovely Should Lave a life so brief; ^ et not unmeet it was that we, Like that young friend of ours. So gentle and so beautiful, Should perish with the flowers. Pleasant it was, when woods were green, And winds were soft and low, T<> lie amid sunn 1 sylvan scene, Where, the long; drooping houghs between, Shadows dark, and sunlight sheen Alternate come and go; 13 Or, where the denser grovi receives No sunlight from above, But the dark foliage interweaves In one unbroken roof of leaves Underneath whose sloping eaves The shadows hardly move. Beneath some patriarchal tree T lay upon the ground ; His hoary arms uplifted he, And all the broad leaves over mi Clapped their little hands in glee, With one continuous sound; slumberous sound — a sound that brings The feelings of a dream — As of i in numbered wings, s=f r A As, when a bell no longer swings, Faint the hollow murmur rings O'er meadow, lake, and stream. And dreams of that which cannot die, Bright visions came to me, As lapped in thought I used to lie. And gaze into the summer sky, f| Where the sailing clouds went by, Like ships upon the sea; that the son] of youth engage Ere Fancy lias been quelled : Old legends of the monkish page, Traditions of the saint and sago, Tales that have the rime i if age, A ml chronicles of Kid. And, loving still these quaint old themes, Even in the city's throng 1 feel the freshness of the streams, That, crossed by shades and sunny gleams Water the green land of dreams, The holy land of song. vJK4!!|f™Ulr at Pentecost, which brings w Tlie Spring, clothed like a bride, Vv ben nestling buds uiiibhl their wings And bishop's-caps have golden rinjrs, -Musing upon many tilings, I sought the woodlands wide. The given trees whispered low and mild; It was a sound of joy .' They were my playmates when a child, And rocked me in their arms so wild! .Still they looked at me and smiled, As if I were a boy; And ever whispered, mild and low. "Come, Lie a child once more! And waved their long arms to and fro, And beckoned solemnly and slow: ( ), I could not choose bat go Into the woodlands hoar: the blithe ami breathing air, Into the solemn wood. Solemn and silent everywhere! Nature with folded hands seemed there, Kneeling at her evening prayer! Like one in prayer er 1 stood. m< K? tfure me rose an avenue, ' '1 tall and sombrous pines ; Abroad their fan-like branches grew And, where the sunshine darted throuwh, Spread a vapor soft and blue, In long and sloping lines. Jailing on my weary brain, Like a fast-falling shower. The dreams of youth came back again, Low lispings of the summer rain, Dropping on the ripened grain, vYs once upon the flower. Visions of childhood! Stay, stay! Ye were so sweet and wild! And distant voices seemed to say, " It cannot be ! Thev pass awav !' Thou eom'st in beauty, on my gaze at last. "On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming!" Image of many a dream, in hours long past, When life was in its bud and blossoming, And waters gushing from the fountain spring <>(' pure enthusiast thought, dimmed my voun^ eyes, As by the poet borne, on unseen wing. 1 breathed, in fancy, 'neath thy cloudless skies, The summer's air, and heard her echoed harmonies [ then but dreamed: thou art before me now. In life, a vision of the brain no more. I've stood upon the wooded mountains brow, That beetles high thy lovelv valley o'er; And now, where winds thy river's greenest shore, Within a bower of Svoamores am laid And winds, as soft and sweet as ever bore I'lie fragrance of wild flowers through sun and shade i & '/_. i'C singing in the trees, whose low boughs press my head. bath made tliee lovelier than the power Even of Campbell's pen hath pictured: he 18* ; ■> > Had woven, had he gazed one sunny hour ?Ls2&fV Upon thy smiling vale, its scenery With more of truth, and made each rock and tree Known like old friends, and greeted from afar.