University of Virginia Library


225

VII. ON THE HILLS I WANDERED EARLY.

On the hills I wandered early,
And I met a maiden there,
Who was twining wild flowers
With the tresses of her hair.
And I thought when I beheld her
In her simple garb array'd,
This is one of Nature's blossoms,
Form'd for solitude and shade.
To the dance I went at midnight,
And I saw a maiden there,
With a diadem of jewels
Round the tresses of her hair.
It was she I met so early,
But her simple garb was gone,
And she now seemed formed to revel
In the sunshine of a throne.
Oh! when youth and beauty mingle
In the mansions of the gay,
Let not the old condemn them,
Or turn scornfully away.
For in truth there may be many
Who, like my fair mountain maid,
Keep their brightness for the sunshine,
And their virtues for the shade.