 | The poetical works of Lucy Larcom |  |
254
J. G. W.
DECEMBER 17, 1877.
Beside the Merrimack he sung
His earliest songs, a Quaker boy,
His father's mowing-fields among,
With brook and bird to share his joy.
His earliest songs, a Quaker boy,
His father's mowing-fields among,
With brook and bird to share his joy.
And where the Powow glides to meet
The swift rush of the Merrimack,
His manhood's voice rang strong and sweet,
By struggling Freedom echoed back.
The swift rush of the Merrimack,
His manhood's voice rang strong and sweet,
By struggling Freedom echoed back.
He sang beside the solemn sea,
That thrilled through all its vast unrest,
Until the poet's land was free,
To song's wild war-throb in his breast.
That thrilled through all its vast unrest,
Until the poet's land was free,
To song's wild war-throb in his breast.
Among the mountains rose his voice,
When Peace made beautiful the air:
Our souls rose with him to rejoice;
Our lives looked larger, worthier, there.
When Peace made beautiful the air:
Our souls rose with him to rejoice;
Our lives looked larger, worthier, there.
And still he sings, by sea and stream,
The songs that charm a nation's heart;
We dare not guess how earth will seem
When his loved footsteps hence depart.
The songs that charm a nation's heart;
We dare not guess how earth will seem
When his loved footsteps hence depart.
Still sings he, while the year grows gray,
From inner warmth no snows can chill:
Spring breathes through his December lay;
His song might waken bird and rill.
From inner warmth no snows can chill:
Spring breathes through his December lay;
His song might waken bird and rill.
Neither can poet die, nor friend;
To Life, forever, both belong:
Before his human heart we bend,
Far nobler than his noblest song.
To Life, forever, both belong:
Before his human heart we bend,
Far nobler than his noblest song.
| The poetical works of Lucy Larcom | |