AT WHITTIER'S BIRTHPLACE 29 



tea without under the lilac bush, brought the 

 romance and legend of the olden time to the 

 threshold, so the crackling draft of the fire up the 

 deep throat of the chimney seemed to draw in to 

 the place the free, hearty, farming, wood-loving 

 life of the men of the earlier centuries out of 

 which the poet drew what was best in him, to be 

 given out in unforgettable verse to us all. If such 

 a place was ever lonely it was that gentle and 

 desirable loneliness which great souls love. 



