 | Ballads and other verses |  |
108
AGASSIZ.
Once in the leafy prime of Spring,
When blossoms whitened every thorn,
I wandered through the Vale of Orbe
Where Agassiz was born.
When blossoms whitened every thorn,
I wandered through the Vale of Orbe
Where Agassiz was born.
The birds in boyhood he had known
Went flitting through the air of May,
And happy songs he loved to hear
Made all the landscape gay.
Went flitting through the air of May,
And happy songs he loved to hear
Made all the landscape gay.
I saw the streamlet from the hills
Run laughing through the valleys green,
And, as I watched it run, I said,
“This his dear eyes have seen!”
Run laughing through the valleys green,
And, as I watched it run, I said,
“This his dear eyes have seen!”
Far cliffs of ice his feet have climbed
That day outspoke of him to me;
The avalanches seemed to sound
The name of Agassiz!
That day outspoke of him to me;
The avalanches seemed to sound
The name of Agassiz!
109
And, standing on the mountain crag
Where loosened waters rush and foam,
I felt that, though on Cambridge side,
He made that spot my home.
Where loosened waters rush and foam,
I felt that, though on Cambridge side,
He made that spot my home.
And, looking round me as I mused,
I knew no pang of fear, or care,
Or homesick weariness, because
Once Agassiz stood there!
I knew no pang of fear, or care,
Or homesick weariness, because
Once Agassiz stood there!
I walked beneath no alien skies,
No foreign heights I came to tread,
For everywhere I looked, I saw
His grand, beloved head.
No foreign heights I came to tread,
For everywhere I looked, I saw
His grand, beloved head.
His smile was stamped on every tree,
The glacier shone to gild his name,
And every image in the lake
Reflected back his fame.
The glacier shone to gild his name,
And every image in the lake
Reflected back his fame.
Great keeper of the magic keys
That could unlock the guarded gates
Where Science like a Monarch stands,
And sacred Knowledge waits,—
That could unlock the guarded gates
Where Science like a Monarch stands,
And sacred Knowledge waits,—
110
Thine ashes rest on Auburn's banks,
Thy memory all the world contains,
For thou couldst bind in human love
All hearts in golden chains!
Thy memory all the world contains,
For thou couldst bind in human love
All hearts in golden chains!
Thine was the heaven-born spell that sets
Our warm and deep affections free,—
Who knew thee best must love thee best,
And longest mourn for thee!
Our warm and deep affections free,—
Who knew thee best must love thee best,
And longest mourn for thee!
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