THE WILD LAUREL. 



UNTAUGHT GENIUS. 



B V C. F.HOFFMAN. 



Believe him not, that rhyming, rakish Roman, 

 Who swore so roundly that a lover's quarrel 



Between one Phoebus and some thick-shod woman, 

 First caused to sprout the leaflets of the laurel ! 



Why, long ago, — ere his Deucalion floated 

 Upon that freshet, which was so surprising 



In that small world, where every rill is noted, 

 As if it were a Mississippi rising — 



Yes, long ere then, on Apalachia's* mountains, 

 Nannabozhof had seen the laurel growing, 



* Washington Irving has done the young writers of this country a service, that should at least 

 be appreciated by every versifier, in suggesting that this characteristic name for the United 

 States, should be used in song, instead of the misapplied epithet of " Columbia." 



t For the aboriginal myth of Nannabozho, see Schoolcraft's works. Also, " Wild Scenes of 

 the Forest and Prairie." 



