340 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



" Come wander with me," she said, 



" Into regions yet untrod, 

 And read what is still unread 



In the manuscripts of God." 



And he wandered away and away 

 With Nature, the dear old nurse, 



Who sang to him night and day 

 The rhymes of the universe. 



And whenever the way seemed long, 



Or his heart began to fail, 

 She would sing a more wonderful song, 



Or tell a more marvellous tale. 



So she keeps him still a child, 



And will not let him go, 

 Though at times his heart heats wild 



For the beautiful Pays de Vaud ; 



Though at times he hears in his dreams 



The Ranz des Yaches of old, 

 And the rush of mountain streams 



From glaciers clear and cold ; 



And the mother at home says, " Hark! 



For his voice I listen and yearn; 

 It is growing late and dark, 



And my boy does not return! " 



This year, 1857, Agassiz received an unexpected 

 honor a call to one of the most coveted places 

 at the Jardin des Plantes ; the chair of palaeontol- 

 ogy in the Museum of Natural History, Paris. 

 Though obliged to refuse it because he considered 

 his life-work to be in America, he appreciated the 

 favor as also the bestowal of the Order of the 



