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II The Forest
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II
The Forest

Ghost-flower and mushroom, fungus many hued,
Dot dim mosaics under pine and birch,
That column huge this dim, mysterious church,

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Aisled and clerestoried, which men call a wood.
There!—Is't the shadow of a dream pursued?
Or deer that passes?—What is yonder smirch
Against the sunlight?—Raven on its perch?
Or cowléd doubt addressing solitude?—
A brooklet, brown as Autumn, in its flow
Murmurs a prayer, as pilgrims might at march;
And when the wind, with sibilant silence shod,
Lifts up its voice in organ worship, lo,
Yon woodland vista, with its sunset arch,
Seems a vast casement glorifying God.