Poetry of the Farm and Rural Life Connecticut River reeds blown by the "Peasant Bard" |
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ON PLANTING AN ELM TREE. |
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 | Poetry of the Farm and Rural Life |  |
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ON PLANTING AN ELM TREE.
Live now, for shelter and for shade!
And live thou wilt, I trust,
And flourish, when thy planter's laid
To slumber in the dust.
And live thou wilt, I trust,
And flourish, when thy planter's laid
To slumber in the dust.
Out from the snowy north blows high
The bleak, pre-warning gale;
And scudding thro' the heavy sky,
The 'lated wild fowl sail.
The bleak, pre-warning gale;
And scudding thro' the heavy sky,
The 'lated wild fowl sail.
All naked are thy infant limbs,
Benumbed these hands of mine,
And hoarsely sing these wintry hymns
Of summer and “lang syne.”
Benumbed these hands of mine,
And hoarsely sing these wintry hymns
Of summer and “lang syne.”
But all in faith I've digged thy bed,
And fixed thee in the soil,
For fancy has thy future read,
And recompensed my toil.
And fixed thee in the soil,
For fancy has thy future read,
And recompensed my toil.
I see aloft thy branchy head,
Thy good-time-coming prime,
A canopy of verdure spread
Wide, beautiful, sublime.
Thy good-time-coming prime,
A canopy of verdure spread
Wide, beautiful, sublime.
And by the dallying summer air
Thy breezy harps are played;
The warbling birds are sporting there,
And children in thy shade.
Thy breezy harps are played;
The warbling birds are sporting there,
And children in thy shade.
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Here may the way-worn pause to rest
When beats the sultry noon;
Here come the sleepless care oppress'd,
Communing with the moon.
When beats the sultry noon;
Here come the sleepless care oppress'd,
Communing with the moon.
And generations shall arise,
Live, die, forgotten be,
While thou art stretching toward the skies
A time-defying tree.
Live, die, forgotten be,
While thou art stretching toward the skies
A time-defying tree.
So, in the name of God, Amen!
I give, bequeath, devise
Thee to those generations, when
Successive they may rise.
I give, bequeath, devise
Thee to those generations, when
Successive they may rise.
| Poetry of the Farm and Rural Life | |