 | Poems |  |
138
LAKE CANEPO.
When cradled on thy placid breast,
In hushed content I loved to muse,
Too full the heart, too sweet the rest
For thought and speech to interfuse.
In hushed content I loved to muse,
Too full the heart, too sweet the rest
For thought and speech to interfuse.
But now, when thou art shrined afar,
Like Nature's chosen urn of peace,
Remembrance, like the evening star,
Begins a vigil ne'er to cease.
Like Nature's chosen urn of peace,
Remembrance, like the evening star,
Begins a vigil ne'er to cease.
Each mossy rock, each fairy isle,
Inlets with thickets overhung,
The cloud's rose-tint or fleecy pile,
And Echo's wildly-frolic tongue;
Inlets with thickets overhung,
The cloud's rose-tint or fleecy pile,
And Echo's wildly-frolic tongue;
The light and shade that o'er thee play,
The ripple of thy moonlit wave,
The long, calm, dreamy summer day,
The very stones thy waters lave;
The ripple of thy moonlit wave,
The long, calm, dreamy summer day,
The very stones thy waters lave;
139
The converse frank, the harmless jest,
The reverie without a sigh,
The hammock's undulating rest,
With fair companions seated by;
The reverie without a sigh,
The hammock's undulating rest,
With fair companions seated by;
Yet linger, as if near thee still,
I heard, upon the fitful breeze,
The locust and the whippoorwill,
Or rustle of the swaying trees.
I heard, upon the fitful breeze,
The locust and the whippoorwill,
Or rustle of the swaying trees.
Hills rise in graceful curves around,
Here dark with tangled forest shade,
There yellow with the harvest-ground,
Or emerald with the open glade;
Here dark with tangled forest shade,
There yellow with the harvest-ground,
Or emerald with the open glade;
Primeval chestnuts line the strand,
And hemlocks every mountain side,
While, by each passing zephyr fanned,
Azalia flowers kiss the tide.
And hemlocks every mountain side,
While, by each passing zephyr fanned,
Azalia flowers kiss the tide.
We nestle in the gliding barge,
And turn from yon unclouded sky,
To watch, along the bosky marge,
Its image in thy waters nigh.
And turn from yon unclouded sky,
To watch, along the bosky marge,
Its image in thy waters nigh.
140
Or, gently darting to and fro,
The insects on their face explore,
With speckled minnows poised below,
And tortoise on the pebbly floor.
The insects on their face explore,
With speckled minnows poised below,
And tortoise on the pebbly floor.
Or turn the prow to some lone bay,
Where thick the floating leaves are spread;
How bright and queen-like the array
Of lilies in their crystal bed!
Where thick the floating leaves are spread;
How bright and queen-like the array
Of lilies in their crystal bed!
Like chalices for beauty's lip
Their snowy cones half open lie,
The dewdrops of the morn to sip,
But close to day's intrusive eye.
Their snowy cones half open lie,
The dewdrops of the morn to sip,
But close to day's intrusive eye.
And in their pure and stately grace,
Their shrinking from the noontide glare,
The charm they yield their dwelling-place,
How like the noblest of the fair!
Their shrinking from the noontide glare,
The charm they yield their dwelling-place,
How like the noblest of the fair!
To thy serene and balmy air,
Above life's vain and common things,
Should gentle spirits oft repair,
And fondly plume their drooping wings.
Above life's vain and common things,
Should gentle spirits oft repair,
And fondly plume their drooping wings.
141
O let me thence, in fancy, bear
The dreams of youth by thee renewed;
And hallow the domain of care
With visions born in solitude.
The dreams of youth by thee renewed;
And hallow the domain of care
With visions born in solitude.
| Poems | |