90 PEPACTON 



fields and woods as few poets do. One may study 

 our flora and fauna in his pages. He puts in the 

 moose and the "surly bear," and makes the latter 

 rhyme with " woodpecker " : — 



"He saw beneath dim aisles, in odorous beds, 

 The slight Linnaea hang its twin-born heads. 



He heard, when in the grove, at intervals, 

 With sudden roar the aged pine-tree falls, — 

 One crash, the death-hymn of the perfect tree, 

 Declares the close of its green century." 



" They led me through the thicket damp, 

 Through brake and fern, the beavers' camp." 



"He saw the partridge drum in the woods; 

 He heard the woodcock's evening hymn; 

 He found the tawny thrushes' broods ; 

 And the shy hawk did wait for him." 



His "Titmouse" is studied in our winter woods, 



and his " Humble-Bee " in our summer fields. He 



has seen farther into the pine-tree than any other 



poet; his "May-Day" is full of our spring sounds 



and tokens; he knows the "punctual birds," and 



the " herbs and simples of the wood : " — ^ 



" Rue, cinque-foil, gill, vervain, and agrimony, 

 Blue-vetch, and trillium, hawk-weed, sassafras, 

 Milk-weeds and murky brakes, quaint pipes and sun-dew." 



Here is a characteristic touch : — 



" A woodland walk, 

 A quest of river-grapes, a mocking thrush, 

 A wild rose, a rock-loving columbine, 

 Salve my worst wounds." 



That " rock-loving columbine " is better than Bry- 

 ant's "columbines, in purple dressed," as our flower 

 is not purple, but yellow and scarlet. Yet Bryant 



