SONG OF MARION'S MEN. OUR band is few, but true and tried, When MARION's name is told. Our fortress is the good green wood, As seamen know the sea. We know its walls of thorny vines, Its glades of reedy grass, Its safe and silent islands Within the dark morass. Wo to the English soldiery That little dread us near! A mighty host behind, And hear the tramp of thousands Then sweet the hour that brings release We talk the battle over, And share the battle's spoil. The woodland rings with laugh and shout, As if a hunt were up, And woodland flowers are gather'd To crown the soldier's cup. With merry songs we mock the wind That in the pine-top grieves, And slumber long and sweetly, On beds of oaken leaves. Well knows the fair and friendly moon The band that MARION leads The glitter of their rifles, The scampering of their steeds. "Tis life to guide the fiery barb Across the moonlight plain; "Tis life to feel the night-wind That lifts his tossing mane. A moment in the British camp- Grave men there are by broad Santee, For them we wear these trusty arms, TO THE PAST. Thou unrelenting Past! Strong are the barriers round thy dark domain, And fetters, sure and fast, Hold all that enter thy unbreathing reign. Far in thy realm withdrawn, Old empires sit in sullenness and gloom; Lie deep within the shadow of thy womb. Childhood, with all its mirth, Youth, manhood, age, that draws us to the ground. And last, man's life on earth, Glide to thy dim dominions, and are bound. Thou hast my better years, Thou hast my earlier friends-the good-the kind, Yielded to thee with tears The venerable form-the exalted mind. My spirit yearns to bring The lost ones back-yearns with desire intense, And struggles hard to wring Thy bolts apart, and pluck thy captives thence. In vain-thy gates deny All passage, save to those who hence depart; Thou givest them back-nor to the broken heart. In thy abysses hide Beauty and excellence unknown-to thee Earth's wonder and her pride Are gather'd, as the waters to the sea. Labours of good to man, Unpublish'd charity-unbroken faith Love, that midst grief began, And grew with years, and falter'd not in death. Full many a mighty name Lurks in thy depths, unutter'd, unrevered; Forgotten arts, and wisdom disappear'd. Thine, for a space, are they Yet shalt thou yield thy treasures up at last; Thy gates shall yet give way, Thy bolts shall fall, inexorable Past! All that of good and fair Has gone into thy womb, from earliest time, The glory and the beauty of its prime. They have not perish'd-no! Kind words, remember'd voices, once so sweet, Smiles, radiant long ago, And features, the great soul's apparent seat; All shall come back, each tie Of pure affection shall be knit again; Alone shall evil die, And sorrow dwell a prisoner in thy reign. And then shall I behold Him, by whose kind paternal side I sprung, And her, who, still and cold, Fills the next grave-the beautiful and young. THE HUNTER OF THE PRAIRIES. Ar, this is freedom!-these pure skies And her who left the world for me, For here the fair savannas know No barriers in the bloomy grass; The bison is my noble game; Mine are the river-fowl that scream From the long stripe of waving sedge; The bear, that marks my weapon's gleam, Hides vainly in the forest's edge; In vain the she-wolf stands at bay; The brinded catamount, that lies High in the boughs to watch his prey, Even in the act of springing, dies. With what free growth the elm and plane Fling their huge arms across my way, Gray, old, and cumber'd with a train Of vines, as huge, and old, and gray! Free stray the lucid streams, and find No taint in these fresh lawns and shades; Free spring the flowers that scent the wind Where never scythe has swept the glades. Alone the fire, when frostwinds sere The heavy herbage of the ground, Gathers his annual harvest here, With roaring like the battle's sound, And hurrying flames that sweep the plain, And smoke-streams gushing up the sky: I meet the flames with flames again, And at my door they cower and die. Here, from dim woods, the aged past And lonely river, seaward roll'd. Broad are these streams-my steed obeys, O'er woody vale and grassy height; AFTER A TEMPEST. THE day had been a day of wind and storm;— Where the vast plain lay girt by mountains vast, And hills o'er hills lifted their heads of green, With pleasant vales scoop'd out and villages be tween. The rain-drops glisten'd on the trees around, Whose shadows on the tall grass were not stirr'd, Save when a shower of diamonds to the ground Was shaken by the flight of startled bird; For birds were warbling round, and bees were About the flowers; the cheerful rivulet sung [heard And gossip'd, as he hasten'd ocean-ward; To the gray oak the squirrel, chiding, clung, And chirping from the ground the grasshopper upsprung. And from beneath the leaves that kept them dry Flew many a glittering insect here and there, And darted up and down the butterfly, That seem'd a living blossom of the air. The flocks came scattering from the thicket, where The violent rain had pent them; in the way Stroll'd groups of damsels frolicsome and fair; The farmer swung the scythe or turn'd the hay, And 'twixt the heavy swaths his children were at play. It was a scene of peace-and, like a spell, I look'd, and thought the quiet of the scene No more shall beg their lives on bended knee, Nor the black stake be dress'd, nor in the sun The o'erlabour'd captive toil, and wish his life were done. Too long, at clash of arms amid her bowers And pools of blood, the earth has stood aghast, The fair earth, that should only blush with flowers And ruddy fruits; but not for aye can last The storm, and sweet the sunshine when 't is past. Lo, the clouds roll away-they break-they fly, And, like the glorious light of summer, cast O'er the wide landscape from the embracing sky, On all the peaceful world the smile of heaven shall lie. THE RIVULET. THIS little rill that, from the springs List the brown thrasher's vernal hymn, And when the days of boyhood came, Years change thee not. Upon yon hill How swift the years have pass'd away, Dost dimple, leap, and prattle yet; Thou changest not-but I am changed, Since first thy pleasant banks I ranged; And the grave stranger, come to see The play-place of his infancy, The radiant beauty, shed abroad A few brief years shall pass away, And I shall sleep-and on thy side, As ages after ages glide, Children their early sports shall try, JUNE. I GAZED upon the glorious sky The sexton's hand, my grave to make, A cell within the frozen mould, A coffin borne through sleet, While fierce the tempests beat- There, through the long, long summer hours, And thick, young herbs and groups of flowers The oriole should build and tell The idle butterfly Should rest him there, and there be heard And what if, in the evening light, Of my low monument? I would the lovely scene around I know, I know I should not see The season's glorious show, Is--that his grave is green; TO THE EVENING WIND. SPIRIT that breathest through my lattice, thou That cool'st the twilight of the sultry day! Gratefully flows thy freshness round my brow; Thou hast been out upon the deep at play, Riding all day the wild blue waves till now, Roughening their crests, and scattering high their spray, And swelling the white sail. I welcome thee To the scorch'd land, thou wanderer of the sea! Nor I alone-a thousand bosoms round Inhale thee in the fulness of delight; Lies the vast inland, stretch'd beyond the sight. Go forth, into the gathering shade; go forth,God's blessing breathed upon the fainting earth! Go, rock the little wood-bird in his nest, Curl the still waters, bright with stars, and rouse The wide, old wood from his majestic rest, Summoning, from the innumerable boughs, The strange, deep harmonies that haunt his breast: Pleasant shall be thy way where meekly bows The shutting flower, and darkling waters pass, And where the o'ershadowing branches sweep the grass. Stoop o'er the place of graves, and softly sway The sighing herbage by the gleaming stone; That they who near the churchyard willows stray, And listen in the deepening gloom, alone, May think of gentle souls that pass'd away, Like thy pure breath, into the vast unknown, Sent forth from heaven among the sons of men, And gone into the boundless heaven again. The faint old man shall lean his silver head To feel thee; thou shalt kiss the child asleep, And dry the moisten'd curls that overspread His temples, while his breathing grows more deep; And they who stand about the sick man's bed, Which is the life of nature, shall restore, Shall tell the home-sick mariner of the shore; And, listening to thy murmur, he shall deem He hears the rustling leaf and running stream. LINES ON REVISITING THE COUNTRY. I STAND upon my native hills again, Orchards, and beechen forests, basking lie, While deep the sunless glens are scoop'd between, Where brawl o'er shallow beds the streams unseen. A lisping voice and glancing eyes are near, And ever restless feet of one, who, now, Gathers the blossoms of her fourth bright year; There plays a gladness o'er her fair young brow, As breaks the varied scene upon her sight, Upheaved and spread in verdure and in light. For I have taught her, with delighted eye, And clouds along its blue abysses roll'd, Here, I have 'scaped the city's stifling heat, And gales, that sweep the forest borders, bear The song of bird, and sound of running stream, Am come a while to wander and to dream. Ay, flame thy fiercest, sun! thou canst not wake, In this pure air, the plague that walks unseen. The maize leaf and the maple bough but take, From thy strong heats, a deeper, glossier green. The mountain wind, that faints not in thy ray, Sweeps the blue streams of pestilence away. The mountain wind! most spiritual thing of all The wide earth knows-when, in the sultry time, He stoops him from his vast, cerulean hall, He seems the breath of a celestial clime; As if from heaven's wide-open gates did flow, Health and refreshment on the world below. M THE OLD MAN'S COUNSEL. AMONG our hills and valleys, I have known Tended or gather'd in the fruits of earth, One such I knew long since, a white-hair'd man, The sun of May was bright in middle heaven, cast A shade, gay circles of anemones Danced on their stalks; the shad-bush, white with flowers, Brighten'd the glens; the new-leaved butternut, On the young grass. My heart was touch'd with joy, At so much beauty, flushing every hour The thoughtful ancient, standing at my side, Gazed on it mildly sad. I ask'd him why. At first, then fast and faster, till at length By swiftly-running waters hurried on nooks, And isles and whirlpools in the stream, appear By other banks, and the great gulf is near. 66 Wisely, my son, while yet thy days are long, And this fair change of seasons passes slow, Gather and treasure up the good they yieldAll that they teach of virtue, of pure thoughts, And kind affections, reverence for thy Gon, And for thy brethren; so, when thou shalt come Into these barren years that fleet away Before their fruits are ripe, thou mayst not bring A mind unfurnish'd, and a wither'd heart." Long since that white-hair'd ancient slept-but still, When the red flower-buds crowd the orchard bough, And the ruff'd grouse is drumming far within AN EVENING REVERIE.* THE summer day has closed-the sun is set: Well have they done their office, those bright hours, The latest of whose train goes softly out In the red west. The green blade of the ground Has risen, and herds have cropp'd it; the young twig Has spread its plaited tissues to the sun; Flowers of the garden and the waste have blown, *From an unfinished poem. |