 | Poems by Miss H. F. Gould |  |
236
THE OLD ELM OF BOSTON.
I come before thee, old majestic Tree,
Not for inquiry into thy long story;
But for my eye to drink delight from thee—
To feast upon thy venerable glory.
Not for inquiry into thy long story;
But for my eye to drink delight from thee—
To feast upon thy venerable glory.
Encompassed by thy shadow, noble Elm,
I find my soul her deepest founts unsealing:
Emotions in a flood my heart o'erwhelm,
Till with their weight almost to thee I'm kneeling.
I find my soul her deepest founts unsealing:
Emotions in a flood my heart o'erwhelm,
Till with their weight almost to thee I'm kneeling.
Here dost thou stand, lone monarch of the green,
Demanding reverence from all who enter
Within the bounds of this unrivalled scene,
Whose countless beauties claim thee as their centre.
Demanding reverence from all who enter
Within the bounds of this unrivalled scene,
Whose countless beauties claim thee as their centre.
At once on thee, and on the placid Pond,
Thy fair companion, rests the eye, delighted
That nature, by so close and firm a bond,
So fine a pair upon this spot united.
Thy fair companion, rests the eye, delighted
That nature, by so close and firm a bond,
So fine a pair upon this spot united.
Children come hither, in the sunny glee
Of their bright morn, thy stately form surrounding;
With guileless hearts, from care and sorrow free;
Like flocks of lambs across the verdure bounding.
Of their bright morn, thy stately form surrounding;
With guileless hearts, from care and sorrow free;
Like flocks of lambs across the verdure bounding.
And never, never more are they to find
A spot that memory shall so fondly cherish.
Thy living image will remain behind,
While after things may pass away or perish.
A spot that memory shall so fondly cherish.
Thy living image will remain behind,
While after things may pass away or perish.
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Beauty's full eye, when art, the dazzling hall,
And fashion's glare, have caused its light to dwindle,
Sees thy green ornaments surpass them all;
And resting here, its purest beams rekindle.
And fashion's glare, have caused its light to dwindle,
Sees thy green ornaments surpass them all;
And resting here, its purest beams rekindle.
Youth, when hope's airy visions fill his heart
With things to be, in disappointment turning
From those that are, from tumult steps apart
To thee, to cool a restless spirit's burning.
With things to be, in disappointment turning
From those that are, from tumult steps apart
To thee, to cool a restless spirit's burning.
As thy wide branches pendant o'er him spread,
Like aged arms some power divine possessing,
He seems to feel thee pouring on his head
The holy unction of a patriarch's blessing.
Like aged arms some power divine possessing,
He seems to feel thee pouring on his head
The holy unction of a patriarch's blessing.
Man with life's noontide fervor on his mind,
Where cares in crowds are jostling for their places,
May here commune with wisdom, so to find
This world too fickle for a soul's embraces.
Where cares in crowds are jostling for their places,
May here commune with wisdom, so to find
This world too fickle for a soul's embraces.
Age, with his temples bound in silver frost,
As thy new-opened leaves hang fresh before him,
Thinks, though his verdure for this life is lost,
Of bloom to which another may restore him.
As thy new-opened leaves hang fresh before him,
Thinks, though his verdure for this life is lost,
Of bloom to which another may restore him.
But, oh! the changes witnessed in thy day,
Since man, as now thou seest him, first came hither:
Thine own peculiar people passed away!
Swept like thine autumn leaves, thou know'st not whither!
Since man, as now thou seest him, first came hither:
Thine own peculiar people passed away!
Swept like thine autumn leaves, thou know'st not whither!
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Where are they? Question all in thy survey.
Enough are near, a righteous answer owing
To this demand repeated. Where are they,
Whose fathers saw thee in the sapling growing?
Enough are near, a righteous answer owing
To this demand repeated. Where are they,
Whose fathers saw thee in the sapling growing?
Look round! Inquire at yonder lofty dome,
How from these grounds their first possessor vanished.
Ask Justice, there in her terrestrial home,
If 't was by her the red man hence was banished.
How from these grounds their first possessor vanished.
Ask Justice, there in her terrestrial home,
If 't was by her the red man hence was banished.
Ask Piety, within her temple wall,
Kneeling beneath that heavenward-pointing steeple,
Before her Father, who is Lord of all,
Whose was the soil where first he placed thy people.
Kneeling beneath that heavenward-pointing steeple,
Before her Father, who is Lord of all,
Whose was the soil where first he placed thy people.
Ask Charity and Love, who, from the skies,
Make yon broad house their earthly habitation,
If He, whose angels they appear, denies
“The poor because he 's poor,” home, rest and nation.
Make yon broad house their earthly habitation,
If He, whose angels they appear, denies
“The poor because he 's poor,” home, rest and nation.
Ask of Affection watching, where in dust
Beloved and lost ones peacefully are sleeping,
If she regards not, as a sacred trust,
What she committed to those clods for keeping.
Beloved and lost ones peacefully are sleeping,
If she regards not, as a sacred trust,
What she committed to those clods for keeping.
Then ask her if she dwelt not with the race,
Whose earlier lost ones to this earth were given,
When, for another to usurp the place,
They from their kindred ashes hence were driven.
Whose earlier lost ones to this earth were given,
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They from their kindred ashes hence were driven.
Ask the calm, meditative, upright Man—
And let him not the crying answer smother,
How we have used, since here our rule began,
Our unenlightened, helpless, tawny brother!
And let him not the crying answer smother,
How we have used, since here our rule began,
Our unenlightened, helpless, tawny brother!
Nay!—to the future let the past account
For heathen weakness driven from protection
By Christian power! Oh! not to this amount,
Did I come here to swell my sad reflection.
For heathen weakness driven from protection
By Christian power! Oh! not to this amount,
Did I come here to swell my sad reflection.
The savage, saint, and all who ever trod
These shores, in forest, court, or fane, arising,—
Some, at the bar may plead, “an unknown God;”
But others—what the Judge deems best sufficing.
These shores, in forest, court, or fane, arising,—
Some, at the bar may plead, “an unknown God;”
But others—what the Judge deems best sufficing.
I would be grateful for my present bliss,—
That I, with this fair prospect in surveying,
At such an hour, to such a tree as this,
May say the former things that I was saying.
That I, with this fair prospect in surveying,
At such an hour, to such a tree as this,
May say the former things that I was saying.
Of right infringed—of unremembered vows—
One race before another disappearing—
Let the pure breeze now passing through thy boughs,
Sweep all I 've hinted far from mortal hearing!
One race before another disappearing—
Let the pure breeze now passing through thy boughs,
Sweep all I 've hinted far from mortal hearing!
I have not spoken yet, sublime old Tree,
Of thine acquaintance with the Whig and Tory;
And with my fathers' battles to be free,
That left thee mantled in Columbia's glory.
Of thine acquaintance with the Whig and Tory;
And with my fathers' battles to be free,
That left thee mantled in Columbia's glory.
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Ere then, thou wast a hero, veteran Elm!
The powers of air, that long had been assailing
Thy well-made arms, and that high feathery helm,
Had found thy heart and footing never-failing.
The powers of air, that long had been assailing
Thy well-made arms, and that high feathery helm,
Had found thy heart and footing never-failing.
So, amid war, with din, and flame, and blade,
And cannon's roar, that shook the hills around thee,
In philosophic grandeur, cool and staid,
Like our own Chief, the fiercest foeman found thee.
And cannon's roar, that shook the hills around thee,
In philosophic grandeur, cool and staid,
Like our own Chief, the fiercest foeman found thee.
Stand in thy strength, with Heaven alone thy shield!
Far, far I go; and then, another greeting
With thee my destiny may never yield;
But this in memory oft shall have repeating.
Far, far I go; and then, another greeting
With thee my destiny may never yield;
But this in memory oft shall have repeating.
Sometimes a passing bird will I beseech,
As hitherward her joyous flight she 's winging,
To save her sweetest song, till she can reach
“My dear old Elm,” for thee to have the singing.
As hitherward her joyous flight she 's winging,
To save her sweetest song, till she can reach
“My dear old Elm,” for thee to have the singing.
When she comes back, perhaps thou 'lt kindly send
Some little bud or leaf her beak has broken
Fresh from thy bosom, for thine absent friend,
That she may bring me a returning token.
Some little bud or leaf her beak has broken
Fresh from thy bosom, for thine absent friend,
That she may bring me a returning token.
| Poems by Miss H. F. Gould | |