INSCRIPTION FOR ENTRANCE 149 



In wantonness of spirit; while below 



The squirrel, with raised paws and form erect, 



Chirps merrily. Throngs of insects in the shade 



Try their thin wings and dance in the warm beam 



That waked them into life. Even the green trees 



Partake the deep contentment; as they bend 



To the soft winds, the sun from the blue sky 



Looks in and sheds a blessing on the scene. 



Scarce less the cleft-born wild-flower seems to enjoy 



Existence, than the winged plunderer 



That sucks its sweets. The mossy rocks themselves, 



And the old and ponderous trunks of prostrate trees 



That lead from knoll to knoll a causey rude, 



Or bridge the sunken brook, and their dark roots, 



With all their earth upon them, twisting high, 



Breathe fixed tranquillity. The rivulet 



Sends forth glad sounds, and tripping o'er its bed 



Of pebbly sands, or leaping down the rocks, 



Seems, with continuous laughter, to rejoice 



In its own being. Softly tread the marge, 



Lest from her midway perch thou scare the wren 



That dips her bill in water.* The cool wind, 



That stirs the stream in play, shall come to thee, 



Like one that loves thee nor will let thee pass 



Ungreeted, and shall give its light embrace. 



* The poem, as first published in the North American Review 

 for September, 1817, under the title "A Fragment," ended at 

 this point. The last lines were added in the first edition of the 

 Poems, in 1821. 



