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Where'er thy seat; as well 'neath tropic suns
As where Arcadian realms boast genial skies,
Or arctic winter spreads eternal snows;
O'er the wide world thy magic spell enchains.

  Not many years have rolled since, where now smile
New England's happy Homes, the forest stood,
A mighty wilderness. O'er hills and vales
Spread virgin groves, where never yet had rung
The stroke of woodman's axe, and tangled brakes
And thickets dark, that many a covert wove.
There prowled the cruel wolf. There undisturbed
The bear reared her fierce progeny. The owl
Hooted from his lone seat upon the pine,
And echo answered back. The eagle soared
And screamed, or, pouncing on his quivering prey,
Perched on some naked cliff and fed secure.
Along the river, gliding broad and slow,
Or up the rapid brook, that babbling loud
Rushed from the mountain headlong to the plain,
The trout and salmon darted unensnared.