THE SPIRIT OF POETRY. THERE is a quiet spirit in these woods, That dwells where'er the gentle south wind blows; Where, underneath the white-thorn, in the glade, The wild flowers bloom, or, kissing the soft air, It fills the nice and delicate ear of thought, Or when the cowled and dusky-sandaled Eve, 62 EARLIER POEMS. Departs with silent pace! That spirit moves And frequent, on the everlasting hills, Its feet In all the dark embroidery of the storm, And shouts the stern, strong wind. And here, amid The silent majesty of these deep woods, earth, As to the sunshine and the pure, bright air Their tops the green trees lift. Hence gifted bards Have ever loved the calm and quiet shades. For them there was an eloquent voice in all The sylvan pomp of woods, the golden sun, The flowers, the leaves, the river on its way, THE SPIRIT OF POETRY. 63 Blue skies, and silver clouds, and gentle winds, The swelling upland, where the sidelong sun Aslant the wooded slope, at evening, goes,— Groves, through whose broken roof the sky looks in, Mountain, and shattered cliff, and sunny vale, The distant lake, fountains,—and mighty trees, In many a lazy syllable, repeating Their old poetic legends to the wir 1. And this is the sweet spirit, that doth fill The world; and, in these wayward days of youth, My busy fancy oft embodies it. As a bright image of the light and beauty That dwell in nature, of the heavenly forms We worship in our dreams, and the soft hues That stain the wild bird's wing, and flush the clouds When the sun sets. Within her eye 64 EARLIER POEMS. The heaven of April, with its changing light Blushes the richness of an autumn sky, As, from the morning's dewy flowers, it comes To have it round us,-and her silver voice Is the rich music of a summer bird, Hear in the stil night with its passionate cadence. O BURIAL OF THE MINNISINK. ON sunny slope and beechen swell, At sunset, in its brazen leaves. Far upward in the mellow light Rose the blue hills. One cloud of white, Around a far uplifted cone, In the warm blush of evening shun An image of the silver lakes, By which the Indian's soul awakes |