Conversations introducing poetry :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Squirrel, with aspiring mind,
Disdains to be to earth confin'd,
But mounts aloft in air:
The pine-tree's giddiest height he climbs,
Or scales the beech-tree's loftiest limbs,
And builds his castle there.

As Nature's wildest tenants free,
A merry forester is he,
In oak o'ershadow'd dells,
Or glen remote, or woodland lawn,
Where the doe hides her infant fawn,
Among the birds he dwells.

Within some old fantastic tree,
Where time has worn a cavity,
His winter food is stor'd:

122

The cone beset with many a scale,
The chesnut in its coat of mail,
Or nuts complete his hoard.

And of wise prescience thus possess'd,
He near it rears his airy nest,
With twigs and moss entwin'd,
And gives its roof a conic form,
Where safely shelter'd from the storm
He braves the rain and wind.

Though plumeless, he can dart away,
Swift as the woodpecker or jay,
His sportive mate to woo:
His Summer food is berries wild,
And last year's acorn cups are fill'd
For him with sparkling dew.

Soft is his shining auburn coat,
As ermine white his downy throat,
Intelligent his mien;
With feathery tail and ears alert,
And little paws as hands expert,
And eyes so black and keen.

Soaring above the earth-born herd
Of beasts, he emulates the bird,
Yet feels no want of wings:
Exactly pois'd, he dares to launch
In air, and bounds from branch to branch
With swift elastic springs.

123

And thus the Man of mental worth
May rise above the humblest birth,
And adverse Fate control;
If to the upright heart be join'd
The active persevering mind,
And firm unshaken Soul.