 | Poems by Miss H. F. Gould |  |
184
THE EMIGRANTS FROM THE GRANITE HILLS.
RECITED AT THE BUCKEYE CELEBRATION IN OHIO.
O, why do they go, as a lost, roving planet,
A bright group of souls to a region afar,
Like sparks stricken out from their own hills of granite,
Combined but to make up a wandering star?
A bright group of souls to a region afar,
Like sparks stricken out from their own hills of granite,
Combined but to make up a wandering star?
“To find them a home where the wild deer is leaping
O'er turf that the white man has yet never trod;
Where free and unstartled the foxes are sweeping
The flower from the grass, and the dew from the sod!”
O'er turf that the white man has yet never trod;
Where free and unstartled the foxes are sweeping
The flower from the grass, and the dew from the sod!”
But what will they do, when the heavy rains pouring
Shall stream from the boughs o'er their shelterless heads;
While through the dark forest the night winds are roaring,
And near them the bear, or the Indian treads?
Shall stream from the boughs o'er their shelterless heads;
While through the dark forest the night winds are roaring,
And near them the bear, or the Indian treads?
“While echo to echo is merrily telling
The blows, the tall trees in their pride cannot stand,
They'll smite their firm trunks till they turn to a dwelling
To lodge the bold bosom that's nerving the hand.”
The blows, the tall trees in their pride cannot stand,
They'll smite their firm trunks till they turn to a dwelling
To lodge the bold bosom that's nerving the hand.”
185
And what, for a seed-time and harvest to tame it,
At first, will they do with the wild, fallow ground,
While still, as the land of his fathers, to claim it
The savage is gloomily stalking around?
At first, will they do with the wild, fallow ground,
While still, as the land of his fathers, to claim it
The savage is gloomily stalking around?
“A price they will offer, and prompt to bestow it,
To share with the red man the soil for its worth.
But they too are men, and will soon let him know it,
If still he denies them a portion of earth.”
To share with the red man the soil for its worth.
But they too are men, and will soon let him know it,
If still he denies them a portion of earth.”
And what will they do for their sons and their daughters,
Who hear how their boat glided o'er the blue stream,
And touched the wild shore of the soft, curling waters,
While all seems to them as the things of a dream?
Who hear how their boat glided o'er the blue stream,
And touched the wild shore of the soft, curling waters,
While all seems to them as the things of a dream?
“They'll leave them a beautiful Eden! and Clio,
Delighting to roam o'er a region so fair,
Will waken her lute to the land of Ohio,
And show the green Buckeye LEAF decking her hair!”
Delighting to roam o'er a region so fair,
Will waken her lute to the land of Ohio,
And show the green Buckeye LEAF decking her hair!”
| Poems by Miss H. F. Gould | |