University of Virginia Library


76

THE PINEWOOD

I rode along the wind-swept heath,
Far off the shadowy downland stood;
The billowy land was spread beneath,
With league on league of field and wood.
My empty heart was fed that day;
I entered, where the road declines,
A wood that in the sunshine lay,
A warm keen-scented wood of pines.
A tender incense toward me streamed;
'Twas warm with hope, 'twas sweet with tears;
'Twas rich with all the joys I dreamed
Long since, in old enchanted years.

77

Swift healing did that fragrance bring;
It filled my empty spirit up,
Swift as a little rushing spring
Fills full a thirsty traveller's cup.
Let me remember, when the day
Is weary, when my heart declines,
The wood that in the sunshine lay,
The still sweet-scented wood of pines.