102 PEPACTON 



" Fresh blows the breeze through hemlock-trees, 

 The fields are edged with green below, 

 And naught but youth, and hope, and love 

 We know or care to know! " 



It is characteristic of our Northern and New 

 England fields that they are " edged with green " in 

 spring long before the emerald tint has entirely 

 overspread them. Along the fences, especially 

 along the stone walls, the grass starts early; the 

 land is fatter there from the deeper snows and from 

 other causes, the fence absorbs the heat, and shel- 

 ters the ground from the winds, and the sward 

 quickly responds to the touch of the spring sun. 



Stedman's poem is worthy of his theme, and is 

 the only one I recall by any of our well-known 

 poets upon the much-loved mayflower or arbutus. 

 There is a little poem upon this subject by an 

 unknown author that also has the right flavor. I 

 recall but one stanza : — 



*' Oft have I walked these woodland ways, 

 Without the blest foreknowing, 

 That underneath the withered leaves 

 The fairest flowers were blowing." 



Nature's strong and striking eff'ects are best ren- 

 dered by closest fidelity to her. Listen and look 

 intently, and catch the exact effect as nearly as 

 you can. It seems as if Lowell had done this more 

 than most of his brother poets. In reading his 

 poems, one wishes for a little more of the poetic 

 unction (I refer, of course, to his serious poems; 

 his humorous ones are just what they should be), 

 yet the student of nature will find many close-fit- 



