But since we sailed

From Wikisource

"But since we sailed" by Henry David Thoreau

From A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.

But since we sailed

Some things have failed,

And many a dream

Gone down the stream.

Here then an aged shepherd dwelt,
Who to his flock his substance dealt,
And ruled them with a vigorous crook,
By precept of the sacred Book;
But he the pierless bridge passed o’er,
And solitary left the shore.

Anon a youthful pastor came,
Whose crook was not unknown to fame,
His lambs he viewed with gentle glance,
Spread o’er the country’s wide expanse,
And fed with “Mosses from the Manse.”
Here was our Hawthorne in the dale,
And here the shepherd told his tale.

This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.