 | Poems |  |
103
SLEEPY HOLLOW.
Beneath these gold and azure skies,
The river winds through leafy glades,
Save where, like battlements, arise
The gray and tufted palisades.
The river winds through leafy glades,
Save where, like battlements, arise
The gray and tufted palisades.
The fervor of this sultry time
Is tempered by the humid earth,
And zephyrs born of summer's prime,
Give a delicious coolness birth.
Is tempered by the humid earth,
And zephyrs born of summer's prime,
Give a delicious coolness birth.
They freshen this sequestered nook
With constant greetings bland and free;
The pages of the open book
All flutter with their wayward glee.
With constant greetings bland and free;
The pages of the open book
All flutter with their wayward glee.
As quicker swell their breathings soft,
Cloud shadows skim along the field;
And yonder dangling woodbines oft
Their crimson bugles gently yield.
Cloud shadows skim along the field;
And yonder dangling woodbines oft
Their crimson bugles gently yield.
104
The tulip tree majestic stirs,
Far down the water's marge beside,
And now awake the nearer firs,
And toss their ample branches wide.
Far down the water's marge beside,
And now awake the nearer firs,
And toss their ample branches wide.
How blithely trails the pendent vine!
The grain slope lies in green repose;
Through the dark foliage of the pine
And lofty elms, the sunshine glows.
The grain slope lies in green repose;
Through the dark foliage of the pine
And lofty elms, the sunshine glows.
Like sentinels in firm array
The trees of life their shafts uprear;
Red cones upon the sumac play,
And ancient locusts whisper near.
The trees of life their shafts uprear;
Red cones upon the sumac play,
And ancient locusts whisper near.
From wave and meadow, cliff and sky,
Let thy stray vision homeward fall;
Behold the mist-bloom floating nigh,
And hollyhock white-edged and tall;
Let thy stray vision homeward fall;
Behold the mist-bloom floating nigh,
And hollyhock white-edged and tall;
Its gaudy leaves, though fanned apart,
Round thick and mealy stamens spring,
And nestled to its crimson heart,
The sated bees enamored cling.
Round thick and mealy stamens spring,
And nestled to its crimson heart,
The sated bees enamored cling.
105
Mark the broad terrace flecked with light,
That peeps through trellises of rose,
And quivers with a vague delight,
As each pale shadow comes and goes.
That peeps through trellises of rose,
And quivers with a vague delight,
As each pale shadow comes and goes.
The near, low gurgle of the brook,
The wren's glad chirp, the scented hay,
And e'en the watch-dog's peaceful look
Our vain disquietudes allay.
The wren's glad chirp, the scented hay,
And e'en the watch-dog's peaceful look
Our vain disquietudes allay.
O, were our lives attuned to glide,
Like this serene and balmy day,
Might we arrest its radiant tide,
And breathe its tranquil joy alway;
Like this serene and balmy day,
Might we arrest its radiant tide,
And breathe its tranquil joy alway;
Or were our prisoned hearts to know
The freedom of this cheering air,
And, like this sunshine, ever glow,
Undimmed by doubt, or fear or care;
The freedom of this cheering air,
And, like this sunshine, ever glow,
Undimmed by doubt, or fear or care;
Fond glances e'er would light the eye,
Smiles wreathe the lip, peace crown the brow,
For the content would never die
That can but live in memory now!
Smiles wreathe the lip, peace crown the brow,
For the content would never die
That can but live in memory now!
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