 | Louise de la Valliaere and other poems |  |
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THOREAU AT WALDEN.
I.
A little log-hut in the woodland dim,A still lake, like a bit of summer sky,
On the glad heart of which great lilies lie.
“Ah!” he had said, “the Naiads, white of limb.”
In those green glooms fair shapes did come to him,
He saw a Dryad's sheeny drapery
Shimmer at dusk, he heard Pan pipe hereby
A lusty strain to fauns and satyrs grim.
For that he was fair Nature's leal knight
She loved him, taught him all her grammarye;
All the quaint secrets of her magic clime,
He heard the unborn flowers' springing footsteps light,
And the wind's whisper of the enchanted sea,
And the birds sing of love, and pairing-time.
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II.
Seeking this sage in fair fraternityCame Hawthorne here and Emerson, I know.
O happy woods, that watched them to and fro!
Thrice happy woods, that hearkened to the three!
Yet, my rare Thoreau! a thought comes to me
Of one sweet soul you missed, who long ago
Went through Assisi's streets, with eyes aglow
And worn meek face, and lips curved tenderly.
So for God's dumb things was this great heart stirred,
Called he the happy birds his sisters sweet,
The fish his brethren, blessed them, prayed with them.
Now, my sweet-hearted Pagan! had you heard,
You would have wept upon his wounded feet,
And craved a blessing from the hands of him.
| Louise de la Valliaere and other poems | |