So they, who climb to wealth, forget The friends in darker fortunes tried; I copied them-but I regret

That I should ape the ways of pride.

And when again the genial hour Awakes the painted tribes of light, I'll not o'erlook the modest flower

That made the woods of April bright.

INSCRIPTION FOR THE ENTRANCE

TO A WOOD.

STRANGER, if thou hast learned a truth which needs

No school of long experience, that the world Is full of guilt and misery, and hast seen Enough of all its sorrows, crimes, and cares, To tire thee of it, enter this wild wood

And view the haunts of Nature. The calm

shade

Shall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breeze

VOL. I.-2*

That makes the green leaves dance, shall waft

a balm

To thy sick heart. Thou wilt find nothing here Of all that pained thee in the haunts of men And made thee loathe thy life. The primal

curse

Fell, it is true, upon the unsinning earth,

But not in vengeance. God hath yoked to guilt Her pale tormentor, misery. Hence these shades

Are still the abodes of gladness; the thick roof
Of green and stirring branches is alive

And musical with birds, that sing and sport
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

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.